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Disc cutter has a better hard rock breaking performance due to its undercutting mode. To further improve the mechanized excavation efficiency of hard rock roadway in underground coal mine, the rock wedged performance of disc cutter assisted by circumferential pre-slotting was investigated. Based on the rock wedged tests by disc cutter, the mechanism of rock wedged by disc cutter has been understood, and the influencing mechanism of the circumferential pre-slotting on rock fracturing has been revealed. The effects of cutting parameters and slotting parameters on the rock breaking performance of disc cutters were comprehensively evaluated by taking the cutter load, rock fragments volume and specific energy of rock-breaking as indicators, and the significance of the effects of various factors on the rock breaking performance and the corresponding parameter matching relationship of the optimal rock breaking performance of disc cutter were obtained by orthogonal test. The results show that the rock wedged process by disc cutter can be divided into three stages based on the characteristics of cutter load fluctuation and acoustic emission ringing caused by rock fracturing, namely, compressive stage, stress accumulation stage and fragmentation stage. At the condition of same cutting depth, the cutter load and stress with a slotting depth and width is 16 mm and 3 mm decreases more than 40% and 20% respectively compared to that without pre-slotting condition. Based on the orthogonal test with three-factor and four-level, the matching relationship between cutting depth, slotting depth and slotting width under the optimal rock breaking performance is 30, 16 and 3 mm. The cutting depth has the most significant effect on the rock breaking performance of disc cutter, followed by slotting depth and slotting width. The cutter load and rock fragments volume are positively correlated with cutting depth. The specific energy of rock breaking decreases first and then increases with the increase of cutting depth, and the minimum value is at 30 mm. Each index decreases first and then increases with the increase of slotting depth, and the optimal value is 16 mm. When the slotting width exceeds 3 mm, the influence of slotting width on each index is not significant. Circumferential pre-slotting has a good effect on improving the rock wedged performance of disc cutter. At the same time, it is beneficial to improve the loading conditions of disc cutters and prolong the service life of cutters, so as to provide some guidance and reference for the design of disc cutter.

Abstract Background Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the most frequent causes of heart failure and heart transplantation (HTx). The genetic basis of DCM among patients undergoing HTx remains to be further studied. This study aimed to characterize the genetic basis of DCM HTx in the Chinese population. Methods In total, 208 unrelated DCM patients who underwent HTx at Fuwai Hospital between June 2004 and June 2017 were included in this study. Whole-exome sequencing (WES) was performed for all patients. Gene burden analysis, variant classification, and genotype–phenotype correlation analysis were subsequently performed. Results After completing the bioinformatics analysis, gene burden analysis suggested that titin (TTN), filamin C (FLNC) and lamin A/C (LMNA) were significantly enriched with rare protein-altering variants. The frequencies of TTN and FLNC truncating variants in our cohort were 18.8% and 8.7%, respectively. Among the 165 rare variants in high evidence DCM-related genes, 27 (16.4%) and 59 (35.8%) were interpreted as pathogenic (P) and likely pathogenic (LP), respectively. In addition, 41 (47.7%) and 16 (18.6%) of these 86 P/LP variants are located in TTN and FLNC, respectively. The FLNC group contained more patients with NYHA class IV than the P/LP-negative group (FLNC, 16/18 vs. P/LP-negative, 81/123, P = 0.049). Conclusions Based on WES, we provided a primary genetic spectrum of DCM patients undergoing HTx in the Chinese population. TTN and FLNC harbour the most P/LP variants. FLNC truncation may lead to severe clinical symptoms in DCM patients.

Immune cells are indispensable defenders of the human body, clearing exogenous pathogens and toxicities or endogenous malignant and aging cells. Immune cell dysfunction can cause an inability to recognize, react, and remove these hazards, resulting in cancers, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, and infections. Immune cells regulation has shown great promise in treating disease, and immune agonists are usually used to treat cancers and infections caused by immune suppression. In contrast, immunosuppressants are used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. However, the key to maintaining health is to restore balance to the immune system, as excessive activation or inhibition of immune cells is a common complication of immunotherapy. Nanoparticles are efficient drug delivery systems widely used to deliver small molecule inhibitors, nucleic acid, and proteins. Using nanoparticles for the targeted delivery of drugs to immune cells provides opportunities to regulate immune cell function. In this review, we summarize the current progress of nanoparticle-based strategies for regulating immune function and discuss the prospects of future nanoparticle design to improve immunotherapy.

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) can lead to sudden cardiac death and life-threatening heart failure. Due to its high fatality rate and limited therapies, the pathogenesis and diagnosis biomarker of ARVC needs to be explored urgently. This study aimed to explore the lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network in ARVC. The mRNA and lncRNA expression datasets obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were used to analyze differentially expressed mRNA (DEM) and lncRNA (DElnc) between ARVC and non-failing controls. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRs) were obtained from the previous profiling work. Using starBase to predict targets of DEmiRs and intersecting with DEM and DElnc, a ceRNA network of lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA was constructed. The DEM and DElnc were validated by real-time quantitative PCR in human heart tissue. Protein–protein interaction network and weighted gene co-expression network analyses were used to identify hub genes. A logistic regression model for ARVC diagnostic prediction was established with the hub genes and their ceRNA pairs in the network. A total of 448 DEMs (282 upregulated and 166 downregulated) were identified, mainly enriched in extracellular matrix and fibrosis-related GO terms and KEGG pathways, such as extracellular matrix organization and collagen fibril organization. Four mRNAs and two lncRNAs, including COL1A1, COL5A1, FBN1, BGN, XIST, and LINC00173 identified through the ceRNA network, were validated by real-time quantitative PCR in human heart tissue and used to construct a logistic regression model. Good ARVC diagnostic prediction performance for the model was shown in both the training set and the validation set. The potential lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA regulatory network and logistic regression model established in our study may provide promising diagnostic methods for ARVC.

Investigations have shown that storage bugs seriously harm grains during storage. In the interim, essential oils (EOs) have been proven to be a good botanical pesticide. The anti-Lasioderma serricorne properties of Elsholtzia ciliata essential oil, which was obtained by steam distillation, were evaluated using DL-limonene, carvone, and their two optical isomer components using contact, repelling, and fumigation techniques. Simultaneously, the fumigation, contact, and repellent activities of carvone and its two optical isomers mixed with DL-limonene against L. serruricorne were evaluated. The results showed that E. ciliata, its main components (R-carvone, DL-limonene), and S-carvone exhibited both fumigations (LC50 = 14.47, 4.42, 20.9 and 3.78 mg/L) and contact (LD50 = 7.31, 4.03, 28.62 and 5.63 µg/adult) activity against L.serricorne. A binary mixture (1:1) of R-carvone and DL-limonene displayed an obvious synergistic effect. A binary mixture (1:1) of carvone and its two optical isomers exhibited an obvious synergistic effect, too. Furthermore, the repellent activity of the EO, carvone, and its two optical isomers, DL-limonene, and a combination of them varied. To stop insect damage during storage, E. ciliata and its components can be utilized as bio-insecticides.

This study explores the isolation and characterization of two acidic polysaccharides from baobab (Adansonia digitata) fruits, named ADPs40-F3 and ADPs60-F3; the two types of acidic polysaccharides exhibited high sugar content and chemical structural features characterized by O–H, C–H, carbonyl C=O, and COOH carboxyl functional groups. The two fractions showed molecular weights of 1.66 × 105 and 9.59 × 104 Da. ADPs40-F3 residues consist of arabinose (2.80%), galactose (0.91%), glucose (3.60%), xylose (34.70%), and galacturonic acid (58.10%). On the other hand, ADPs60-F3 is composed of rhamnose (1.50%), arabinose (5.50%), galactose (2.50%), glucose (3.10%), xylose (26.00%), and galacturonic acid (61.40%). Furthermore, NMR analysis showed that the main acidic structures of ADPs40-F3 and ADPs60-F3 are formed by 4,6)-α-d-GalpA-(1→, →4)-β-d-Xylf-(1→, →4,6)-β-d-Glcp-(1→, →5)-α-L-Araf-(1→, →4,6)-α-d-Galp-(1→ residues and 4)-α-d-GalpA-(1→, →4)-β-d-Xylf-(1→, →6)-β-d-Glcp-(1→, →5)-α-l-Araf-(1→ 4,6)-α-d-Galp-(4,6→, →2)-α-Rhap- residues, respectively, based on the observed signals. Antioxidant assays against DPPH, ABTS+, and FRAP revealed significant antioxidant activities for ADPs40-F3 and ADPs60-F3, comparable to ascorbic acid (VC). Additionally, both polysaccharides exhibited a dose-dependent inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase activities, suggesting potential anti-diabetic properties. In vivo evaluation demonstrated that ADPs60-F3 significantly reduced blood glucose levels, indicating promising therapeutic effects. These findings underscore the potential utility of baobab fruit polysaccharides as natural antioxidants and anti-diabetic agents.

Urban sound event detection can automatically preload relevant information for a robot to ensure that it can be applied to various scene-activity tasks. To address the limitations of timbre similarity and scene recognition by audio collection devices, a fusion model based on the self-attention mechanism is proposed in this paper. The model consists of scattering transform and self-attention model. The scattering transform computes modulation spectrum coefficients of multiple orders through cascades of wavelet convolutions and modulus operators. It is learnable compared with Mel-scale Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCC), and can be used to better restore the semantic features of some sound scenes with similar timbres. The transformer has an outstanding effect on Natural Language Processing (NLP) owing to its self-attention mechanism. In this paper, the self-attention mechanism in its encoder was used in the model, mainly to make the feature granularity consistent to refine the features. In addition, Focal Loss function was adopted in the model to curb the sample distribution imbalance. The Google Command and ESC-50 were used to supplement the scene categories of dataset UrbanSound8K. The model parameters of the learnable filters that performed well on the dataset UrbanSound8K were preserved to fine-tune the other two datasets with insufficient data volume and more target categories. The length of slice duration was further explored the in the model. The experimental results show that the model can achieve better performance in a large range of scene models.

The effects of calcium chloride (CaCl2), vitamin B6 (VB6), and monosodium glutamate (MSG) on the synthesis of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the mixed homogeneous suspension of pea and sweet buckwheat (1:1 w/w) were investigated. The composition formula of raw materials in the homogeneous fluid for GABA synthesis was optimized via response surface methodology (RSM). The result showed that the increased content of GABA was dependent on the addition of CaCl2, VB6, and MSG to the mixed suspension. Box-Behnken design indicated that the optimal added components for GABA synthesis were: CaCl2 at a concentration of 0.85 mmol/l, VB6 at a concentration of 2.29 mmol/l, and MSG at a concentration of 2.83 mg/ml. Under optimal conditions, a maximal increase of GABA content (51.29 µg/ml) was obtained. Analysis of variance for the regression model suggested that the model can exactly predict GABA synthesis in the mixed homogeneous suspension.

Scurs is a horn phenotype that exhibits as small corneous structures on the skull due to the deformed development of horn tissues. Previous genome-wide association analysis of scurs in Soay sheep showed a significant association to the polled locus, relaxin-like receptor 2 (RXFP2). However, the molecular mechanism underlying the development of scurs remains largely unknown. In the present study, we performed an iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis of horn tissues from both scurs and normal two-horned and four-horned individuals among Altay sheep to identify the differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) responsible for the scurs phenotype. In total, 232 proteins showed significant differential expression, and the most significant Gene ontology categories were the adhesion processes (biological adhesion (P=4.07×10–17) and cell adhesion (P=3.7×10–16)), multicellular organismal process (single-multicellular organism process (P=2.06x10–11) and multicellular organismal process (P=2.29×10–11)) and extracellular processes (extracellular matrix organization (P=4.77×10–16) and extracellular structure organization (P=4.93×10–16)). Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interactions and focal adhesion pathways were the most significant pathways. This finding is consistent with the reduced formation of extracellular matrix in scurs and the development of deformed horn tissues. Our study helps to elucidate the inheritance pattern of sheep horn traits from the perspectives of downstream expressed proteins.

Abstract Background Long intergenic noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) have been recognized in recent years as key regulators of biological processes. However, lincRNAs in goat remain poorly characterized both across various tissues and during different developmental stages in goat (Capra hircus). Results We performed the genome-wide discovery of the lincRNAs in goat by combining the RNA-seq dataset that were generated from 28 cashmere goat skin samples and the 12 datasets of goat tissues downloaded from the NCBI database. We identified a total of 5546 potential lincRNA transcripts that overlapped 3641 lincRNA genes. These lincRNAs exhibited a tissue-specific pattern. Specifically, there are 584 lincRNAs expressed exclusively in only one tissue, and 91 were highly expressed in hair follicle (HF). In addition, 2350 protein-coding genes and 492 lincRNAs were differentially expressed in the skin of goat. The majority exhibited the remarkable differential expression during the transition of the goat skin from the May–June to August–October time point, which covered the different seasons. Fundamental biological processes, such as skin development, were significantly enriched in these genes. Furthermore, we identified several lincRNAs highly expressed in the HF, which exhibited not only the co-expression pattern with the key factors to the HF development but also the activated expression in the August to October time point. Intriguingly, one of spatiotemporal lincRNAs, linc-chig1598 could be a potential regulator of distal-less homeobox 3 expression during the secondary hair follicle growth. Conclusions This study will facilitate future studies aimed at unravelling the function of lincRNAs in hair follicle development.

The essential oil from Curcumae wenyujin (CWEO) has antibacterial activity, but the antibacterial compounds in the CWEO have not been identified. The spectrum-effect relationship between chemical compositions and pharmacological activity is regarded as a potentially useful tool to screen bioactive compounds. The binary chromatographic fingerprint of CWEO was established by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography/diode-array (HPLC-DAD). A data-level information integration method was used to investigate the chemical characteristics encoded in two chromatographic fingerprints. Additionally, the antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli）was determined by the liquid dilution method. The spectrum-effect relationship between the binary chromatographic fingerprint and antibacterial activity was investigated with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal projection to latent structures (OPLS) analysis. Compared with a single data matrix, the combined data matrix allowed more accurate identification of the strong outliers in the PCA. Additionally, the results of OPLS were used to establish a spectrum-effect relationship with a closer correlation than that generated with the single data matrix. The results indicated that germacrone, curdione, and furanodiene were detected in HPLC and GC-MS fingerprints, and may be the main antibacterial components. Abbreviations: CWEO, essential oil from C. wenyujin; MIC, minimum inhibitory concentration; OPLS, orthogonal projection to latent structures.

ObjectiveThe American Urological Association guidelines recommend 24-hour urine testing in patients with urinary stone disease to decrease the risk of stone recurrence; however, national practice patterns for 24-hour urine testing are not well characterized. Our objective is to determine the prevalence of 24-hour urine testing in patients with urinary stone disease in the Veterans Health Administration and examine patient-specific and facility-level factors associated with 24-hour urine testing. Identifying variations in clinical practice can inform future quality improvement efforts in the management of urinary stone disease in integrated healthcare systems.Materials and methodsWe accessed national Veterans Health Administration data through the Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), hosted by the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI), to identify patients with urinary stone disease. We defined stone formers as Veterans with one inpatient ICD-9 code for kidney or ureteral stones, two or more outpatient ICD-9 codes for kidney or ureteral stones, or one or more CPT codes for kidney or ureteral stone procedures from 2007 through 2013. We defined a 24-hour urine test as a 24-hour collection for calcium, oxalate, citrate or sulfate. We used multivariable regression to assess demographic, geographic, and selected clinical factors associated with 24-hour urine testing.ResultsWe identified 130,489 Veterans with urinary stone disease; 19,288 (14.8%) underwent 24-hour urine testing. Patients who completed 24-hour urine testing were younger, had fewer comorbidities, and were more likely to be White. Utilization of 24-hour urine testing varied widely by geography and facility, the latter ranging from 1 to 40%.ConclusionsFewer than one in six patients with urinary stone disease complete 24-hour urine testing in the Veterans Health Administration. In addition, utilization of 24-hour urine testing varies widely by facility identifying a target area for improvement in the care of patients with urinary stone disease. Future efforts to increase utilization of 24-hour urine testing and improve clinician awareness of targeted approaches to stone prevention may be warranted to reduce the morbidity and cost of urinary stone disease.

Removing heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater is one of the most important and difficult areas of the water treatment industry. In this study, Bacterial Cellulose/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Graphene Oxide/Attapulgite (BC/PVA/GO/APT) composites were successfully prepared via a repeated freeze-thaw method using bacterial cellulose, polyvinyl alcohol as the skeleton, and graphene oxide, attapulgite as fillers. The capacities of adsorbing Cu2+ and Pb2+ ions in solution were investigated. FTIR, XRD, SEM, BET, and TG-DSC analyses showed that the BC/PVA/GO/APT hydrogel has a better hydrophilicity, a larger specific surface area and a better thermal stability than traditional materials. We found that the adsorption of Cu2+ and Pb2+ ions can be accurately predicted by the Freundlich kinetic model, and the optimal adsorption capacities of these ions were found to be 150.79 mg/g and 217.8 mg/g respectively. Thermodynamic results showed that the adsorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. BC/PVA/GO/APT composites are suggested to be an ideal adsorption material for removing heavy metal ions from industrial wastewater.

The Tibetan cashmere goat is one of the main goat breeds used by people living in the plateau. It exhibits the distinct phenotypic characteristics observed in lowland goats, allowing them to adapt to the challenging conditions at high altitudes. It provides an ideal model for understanding the genetic mechanisms underlying high-altitude adaptation and hypoxia-related diseases. Our previous exome sequencing of five Chinese cashmere breeds revealed a candidate gene, DSG3 (Desmoglein 3), responsible for the high-altitude adaptation of the Tibetan goat. However, the whole DSG3 gene (44 kbp) consisting of 16 exons in the goat genome was not entirely covered by the exome sequencing. In this study, we resequenced all the 16 exons of the DSG3 gene in ten Chinese native goat populations. Twenty-seven SNP variants were found between the lowland and highland goat populations. The genetic distance (FST) of significant SNPs between the lowland and highland populations ranged from 0.42 to 0.58. By using correlation coefficient analysis, linkage disequilibrium, and haplotype network construction, we found three non-synonymous SNPs (R597E, T595I, and G572S) in exon 5 and two synonymous SNPs in exons 8 and 16 in DSG3. These mutations significantly segregated high- and low-altitude goats in two clusters, indicating the contribution of DSG3 to the high-altitude hypoxia adaptation in the Tibetan goat.

A strand-specific transcriptome sequencing strategy, directional ligation sequencing or DeLi-seq, was employed to profile antisense transcriptome of Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Under both normal and heat shock conditions, we found that polyadenylated antisense transcripts are broadly expressed while distinct expression patterns were observed for protein-coding and non-coding loci. Dominant antisense expression is enriched in protein-coding genes involved in meiosis or stress response pathways. Detailed analyses further suggest that antisense transcripts are independently regulated with respect to their sense transcripts, and diverse mechanisms might be potentially involved in the biogenesis and degradation of antisense RNAs. Taken together, antisense transcription may have profound impacts on global gene regulation in S. pombe.

Abstract Background Many injection drug users (IDUs) in China have high risk sexual behaviors that contribute to the spread of HIV infection. Although many IDUs in China move through drug rehabilitation centers, this opportunity for sexual health education has largely been overlooked. Methods A convenience sample of 667 drug users from two rehabilitation centers in South China was recruited in the study. Two hundred and forty seven drug users from a single Guangdong Province rehabilitation center received the peer-based education intervention, while 420 drug users from another rehabilitation center received routine HIV/STI education and was used as the control. One hundred and eighty nine (22.1%) individuals refused to participate in the study. HIV/STI behavioral and knowledge domains were assessed at 3 months in rehabilitation centers after the intervention (first follow-up) and at 2-23 months in the community after release (second follow-up). Results Drug users who completed the intervention reported more frequent condom use with casual sex partners (60.0% vs. 12.5% condom use every time, p = 0.011) and less frequent injection (56.7% vs. 26.4% no injection per day, p = 0.008) at the second follow-up compared to those in the routine education group. Loss to follow up was substantial in both control and intervention groups, and was associated with living far from the detention center and having poor HIV knowledge at baseline. Conclusions This study shows that rehabilitation centers may be a useful location for providing behavioral HIV/STI prevention services and referral of individuals to community-based programs upon release. More research is needed on behalf of detained drug users in China who have complex social, medical, and legal needs.