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Abstract Although septal myectomy is the preferred treatment for medication-refractory hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM), the procedure remains subjective. A preoperative planning procedure is proposed using computational fluid dynamics simulations and shape optimization to assist in the objective assessment of the adequacy of the resection. 3 patients with HOCM were chosen for the application of the proposed procedure. The geometries of the preoperative left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) of patients in the systolic phase were reconstructed from medical images. Computaional fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were performed to assess hemodynamics within LVOT. Sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the resection extent on the septal wall, and the depth of the resection was optimized to relieve LVOT obstruction while minimizing damage to the septum. The optimized resection was then transferred from systole to diastole to provide surgeons with instructive guidance for septal myectomy. Comparison between preoperative and postoperative hemodynamics showed an evident improvement with respect to the pressure gradient throughout the LVOT. The resected myocardium in the diastolic phase is more extended and thinner than its state in the systolic phase. The proposed preoperative planning procedure may be a viable addition to the current preoperative assessment of patients with HOCM.

Abstract Objective Total cavo-pulmonary connection (TCPC) is a palliative treatment for single ventricular malformations. For high-risk patients (preoperative mean pulmonary arterial pressure, mPAP > 15 mmHg), between the inhaled and oral targeted medications, the application of intravenous treprostinil as a bridge therapy to achieve “seamless” management is core postoperative treatment. This study intends to explore the effect of different administration regimens on early postoperative recovery. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study. High-risk pediatric patients (age ≤ 14 years) who underwent TCPC procedure in Fu Wai Hospital from 2015 to 2022 were included. Since the regimen of treprostinil was standardized in our center in 2021, the patients in 2020 and before were included in group 1, patients in 2021 and 2022 were included in group 2. The hemodynamic parameters were compared before and after the maintenance dose of treprostinil. The differences of demographic characteristics, surgical data and postoperative recovery were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 51 pediatric patients were included. Group 1 included 35 patients who received treprostinil at 1–3 postoperative days and an average dose of 12 ± 4 ng/(kg·min). Group 2 included 16 patients who received treprostinil within postoperative 1 day and an average dose of 22 ± 7 ng/(kg·min). There were no significant differences between the two groups in terms of age, weight, preoperative percutaneous oxygen saturation and mPAP, heterotaxy syndrome, TCPC procedure type, other concurrent procedure, cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp proportion (p > 0.05). After 24 h of treprostinil treatment, the mPAP in group 1 reduced from 17 ± 3 mmHg to 15 ± 2 mmHg (p

Abstract Background The cold tolerance of rice is closely related to its production and geographic distribution. The identification of cold tolerance-related genes is of important significance for developing cold-tolerant rice. Dongxiang wild rice (Oryza rufipogon Griff.) (DXWR) is well-adapted to the cold climate of northernmost-latitude habitats ever found in the world, and is one of the most valuable rice germplasms for cold tolerance improvement. Results Transcriptome analysis revealed genes differentially expressed between Xieqingzao B (XB; a cold sensitive variety) and 19H19 (derived from an interspecific cross between DXWR and XB) in the room temperature (RT), low temperature (LT), and recovery treatments. The results demonstrated that chloroplast genes might be involved in the regulation of cold tolerance in rice. A high-resolution SNP genetic map was constructed using 120 BC5F2 lines derived from a cross between 19H19 and XB based on the genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technique. Two quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for cold tolerance at the early seedling stage (CTS), qCTS12 and qCTS8, were detected. Moreover, a total of 112 candidate genes associated with cold tolerance were identified based on bulked segregant analysis sequencing (BSA-seq). These candidate genes were divided into eight functional categories, and the expression trend of candidate genes related to ‘oxidation-reduction process’ and ‘response to stress’ differed between XB and 19H19 in the RT, LT and recovery treatments. Among these candidate genes, the expression level of LOC_Os12g18729 in 19H19 (related to ‘response to stress’) decreased in the LT treatment but restored and enhanced during the recovery treatment whereas the expression level of LOC_Os12g18729 in XB declined during recovery treatment. Additionally, XB contained a 42-bp deletion in the third exon of LOC_Os12g18729, and the genotype of BC5F2 individuals with a survival percentage (SP) lower than 15% was consistent with that of XB. Weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) and modular regulatory network learning with per gene information (MERLIN) algorithm revealed a gene interaction/coexpression network regulating cold tolerance in rice. In the network, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to ‘oxidation-reduction process’, ‘response to stress’ and ‘protein phosphorylation’ interacted with LOC_Os12g18729. Moreover, the knockout mutant of LOC_Os12g18729 decreased cold tolerance in early rice seedling stage signifcantly compared with that of wild type. Conclusions In general, study of the genetic basis of cold tolerance of rice is important for the development of cold-tolerant rice varieties. In the present study, QTL mapping, BSA-seq and RNA-seq were integrated to identify two CTS QTLs qCTS8 and qCTS12. Furthermore, qRT-PCR, genotype sequencing and knockout analysis indicated that LOC_Os12g18729 could be the candidate gene of qCTS12. These results are expected to further exploration of the genetic mechanism of CTS in rice and improve cold tolerance of cultivated rice by introducing the cold tolerant genes from DXWR through marker-assisted selection.

BackgroundMigraine is a widespread, recurrent primary headache disorder primarily characterized by severe pulsatile headache, typically on one or both sides. It is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and hypersensitivity to sound and light. Despite the availability of multiple drugs for migraine management, the condition often becomes chronic due to untimely or irrational drug use, significantly distressing patients and increasing the burden on families and society. Over the past two decades, numerous clinical studies on migraine have been published. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive summary of the current status and trends of migraine clinical trials through bibliometric analysis.MethodsWe used visual network tools such as CiteSpace and VOSviewer to perform a knowledge graph analysis of publications related to migraine clinical trials extracted from the WoSCC.ResultsThis study analyzed 1,129 articles published in 389 journals from 61 countries. The number of publications on migraine clinical trials has steadily increased from 2004 to 2023. The United States and Albert Einstein College of Medicine are the leading countries and institutions in this field, respectively. Richard B. Lipton is the most prolific author, making significant contributions to the research. The journal Headache has the highest number of publications and citations in this area. Keywords such as “efficacy,” “RCT,” “CGRP,” “prophylaxis,” “disability,” “depression,” “questionnaire,” and “real-world effectiveness” received significant attention.ConclusionThis study identified reliable research hotspots and provided directions for clinicians. The treatment of migraine continues to be challenging. Future trends may include continued growth in migraine classification, risk factor analysis, and comorbidity studies. Research on CGRP and epigenetics will advance the progress of precision medicine in the migraine field.

Four new species of the genus Anyphaena Sundevall, 1833 collected from Xizang, China, are described: A. cibagou Wang & Mi, sp. nov. (♂♀), A. linzhi Wang & Mi, sp. nov. (♂♀), A. shufui Wang & Mi, sp. nov. (♀) and A. yejiei Wang & Mi, sp. nov. (♀). Diagnostic photos of the habitus and copulatory organs and a distributional map are provided.

Based on the co-combustion principle of coal gangue and biomass, the combustion characteristics, kinetic mechanisms, and pollutant emission characteristics of mixed coal gangue and wheat straw in oxy-fuel atmosphere were investigated by conducting experiments with a thermogravimetric analyzer and a tube furnace in this paper. The results indicated that the comprehensive combustion characteristics, reaction rate and burnout rate of the samples can be improved with the increase of O2 concentration in oxy-fuel atmosphere. When O2 concentration is 50 %, the emission peaks of pollutants SO2 and NOx are the highest. The increase of biomass content can accelerate the combustion reaction rate, increase the total weight loss rate, enhance the comprehensive combustion characteristics of the samples significantly, and reduce the release of SO2. A faster heating rate corresponds to higher ignition temperature, burnout temperature, and the maximum weight loss rate temperature, leading to the improvement of comprehensive combustion characteristics and flammability. The combustion temperature has a significant effect on pollutant release, and the release of CO and SO2 is relatively low under the condition of 900∼1000 °C. Therefore, the use of oxy-fuel co-combustion technology holds the potential to significantly improve the combustion performance of coal gangue, reduce pollutant emissions, and provide a theoretical guidance for the resource utilization of coal gangue and biomass.

Abstract Surgical indications for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and congenital heart defects are controversial. The treat and repair strategy has demonstrated efficacy in adult populations, but there have been no studies on pediatric patients. This study included pediatric patients with PAH and simple congenital heart defects who underwent corrective repair between 2012 and 2021. According to the preoperative treatment strategies, the patients were divided into a regular strategy group (Group 1) and a treat‐and‐repair strategy group (Group 2). Postoperative recovery and follow‐up results were compared between the two groups. A total of 33 patients were included in this study. Group 1 consisted of 19 patients, whereas Group 2 consisted of 14 patients. The pulmonary vascular resistance index in Group 2 was higher than that in Group 1 (10.9 ± 4.1 vs. 8.2 ± 1.6 WU, p = 0.031). There were no differences in postoperative recovery between the two groups (p > 0.05). During follow‐up, five patients were lost (three in Group 1 and two in Group 2). The median follow‐up period was 59 months. One patient died in Group 1, and two patients died in Group 2. There was no significant difference in the survival curve (p = 0.39). At the last follow‐up, another seven patients had experienced a non‐low‐risk condition, with a total of three non‐low‐risk patients in Group 1 and seven in Group 2, including one patient in each group who had a history of ICU admission. According to the ROC curve, a preoperative PVRi

In the last decade, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for plant protection have rapidly developed worldwide as a new method for pesticide application, especially in China and other Asian countries. To improve the deposition quality in UAV applications, adding appropriate types of spray adjuvants into pesticide solutions is one of the most effective ways to facilitate droplet deposition and control efficacy. At present, research on spray adjuvants for UAVs are mainly based on droplet drift and laboratory tests. Few studies have been conducted on the physicochemical properties of spray adjuvants and the effects of droplet deposition characteristics. To explore the properties of four different kinds of spray adjuvants (Mai Fei, Bei Datong, G-2801, and Agrospred 910) and the deposition characteristics of spray adjuvants on litchi leaves, an automatic surface tension meter, a contact angle measuring device, an ultraviolet visible spectrophotometer, and a DJI AGRAS T30 plant protection UAV was used to measure the surface tension, contact angle, and droplet deposition characteristics on litchi under UAV spraying operations. The results showed that the addition of spray adjuvants could significantly reduce the surface tension of the solution. The surface tension value of the solution after adding the spray additives was reduced by 53.1–68.9% compared with the control solution. Among them, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect on reducing the surface tension of the solution. The contact angle of the control solution on the litchi leaves varied from 80.15° to 72.76°. With the increase in time, the contact angle of the spray adjuvant solution gradually decreased, the Agrospred 910 spray adjuvant had the best effect, and the contact angle decreased from 40.44° to 20.23° after the droplets fell on the litchi leaves for 60 s. The adjuvant solutions increased the droplet size, but the uniformity of the droplet size decreased. The Dv0.5 of different spray solutions ranged from 97.3 to 117.8 μm, which belonged to the fine or very fine droplets, and the Dv0.5 of adjuvants solutions were significantly greater than that of the control solution. The RSs of adjuvant solutions were very similar and ranged from 0.92 to 0.96, all of which were significantly greater than the result of the control solution (0.57). Compared with the deposition of the control solution, the Mai Fei, Bei Datong, and G-2801 solutions clearly increased spray deposition, with total depositions of 0.776, 0.705, and 0.721 μL/cm2, which are all greater than the total deposition of the control solution of 0.645 μL/cm2. The addition of tank-mixed adjuvants could effectively increase the uniformity of the spray deposition, and all the average CVs of adjuvant solutions were lower than 96.86%. On the whole, Mai Fei performed best in increasing the spray deposition and promoting penetration, followed by Bei Datong and G-2801. Meanwhile, the test can also provide a reference for improving the utilization rate of UAV pesticide applications.

Abstract Background Laparoscopic common bile duct exploration with primary closure (LCBDE‐PC) exhibits more benefits than other surgeries for patients with choledocholithiasis. It remains unclear whether it is feasible for and beneficial to elderly individuals. This study aimed to clarify and stratify elderly patients who would benefit from LCBDE‐PC. Methods A retrospective study of 1240 patients with choledocholithiasis who underwent laparoscopic procedures between 2011 and 2019 was conducted. Patients were divided into the young group (

Grassland degradation is a prevalent issue at the interface of shrubland and grassland ecosystems, particularly susceptible to environmental changes. To counteract the degradation, grazing exclusion has been proposed as a dominant restoration strategy on the Tibetan plateau, the world's largest and highest plateau. However, the impact of degradation and subsequent restoration on the carbon dynamics consist of carbon sink / source capacity of shrub-grassland ecotones remain unclear. Therefore, in this study, using a transparent chamber (0.8 m in length × 0.8 m in width × 0.6 m in height) attached to an infrared gas analyzer, the in situ field investigation was performed to measure the gross ecosystem primary productivity (GEP), ecosystem respiration (Re), net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE), and environmental factors over a four-year continuous period in lightly and heavily degraded shrub-grassland ecotones during recover process on the Tibetan Plateau. Our result showed that: 1). Shrub-grassland ecotone acts as a net CO2 sink, with the maximum NEE occurring in July during the growing season. 2). Ecotone degradation diminishes the carbon sequestration capacity. Specifically, the annual GEP, Re, and NEE rates decrease by 14.1 %, 7.3 %, and 27.2 %, respectively, in the heavily degraded ecotone compared to the lightly degraded counterpart. 3). Grazing exclusion positively influenced the carbon sequestration capacity, particularly in heavily degraded ecotone, which leads to a substantial increase in the annual GEP, Re, and NEE rates of 15.4 % and 33.4 %, 12.3 % and 20.9 %, 22.25 % and 64.9 % for lightly and heavily degraded ecotones, respectively. 4). A piecewise structural equation model reveals that soil moisture and soil temperature are pivotal drivers influencing NEE. 5) Correlation analysis shows that NEE was negatively correlated with soil temperature during April to June and September to October but was positively correlated with soil temperature during July to August. In contrast, NEE displays a consistent negative correlation with soil moisture throughout the growing season. This research provides new insights on grassland degradation and restoration for carbon sequestration in alpine shrub-grassland ecotones and highlights their implications for sustainable management of alpine ecosystems.

ABSTRACT To explore the downwash airflow characteristics of a multi-rotor UAV and its effect on droplet movement and deposition, a comparative experiment between static-state and hovering-state spraying was carried out with a DJI MG-1P eight-rotor plant protection UAV. The results showed that the overall strength of the downwash airflow decreased further below the UAV. The direction of the airflow directly under the UAV was almost vertically downward and first increased and then decreased in speed. Closer to the ground, the airflow was directed outward with angles in the vertical direction of 71.3° and 81.5°. In general, the downwash airflow velocity and direction on both sides of the UAV were nearly symmetrically distributed. Compared with the static-state spraying, the high-speed downwash airflow in the hovering-state spraying significantly increased droplet velocity and size. The downwash airflow increased the amount of spray deposition in the different measurement layers but reduced the uniformity of the deposition. For the section (L-B-F-J-M) perpendicular to the flight direction, the near ground deposition was the best for the hovering-state spraying, with an average deposition of 5.85 μL/cm2 and an RSD of 36.87%. This study can be a reference for the optimization of the downwash airflow and the improvement of the spray application uniformity of multi-rotor UAVs.

Grazing exclusion (GE) is an effective measure for restoring degraded grassland ecosystems. However, the effect of GE on methane (CH4) uptake and production remains unclear in dominant bacterial taxa, main metabolic pathways, and drivers of these pathways. This study aimed to determine CH4 flux in alpine meadow soil using the chamber method. The in situ composition of soil aerobic CH4-oxidizing bacteria (MOB) and CH4-producing archaea (MPA) as well as the relative abundance of their functional genes were analyzed in grazed and nongrazed (6 years) alpine meadows using metagenomic methods. The results revealed that CH4 fluxes in grazed and nongrazed plots were −34.10 and −22.82 μg‧m−2‧h−1, respectively. Overall, 23 and 10 species of Types I and II MOB were identified, respectively. Type II MOB comprised the dominant bacteria involved in CH4 uptake, with Methylocystis constituting the dominant taxa. With regard to MPA, 12 species were identified in grazed meadows and 3 in nongrazed meadows, with Methanobrevibacter constituting the dominant taxa. GE decreased the diversity of MPA but increased the relative abundance of dominated species Methanobrevibacter millerae from 1.47 to 4.69%. The proportions of type I MOB, type II MOB, and MPA that were considerably affected by vegetation and soil factors were 68.42, 21.05, and 10.53%, respectively. Furthermore, the structural equation models revealed that soil factors (available phosphorus, bulk density, and moisture) significantly affected CH4 flux more than vegetation factors (grass species number, grass aboveground biomass, grass root biomass, and litter biomass). CH4 flux was mainly regulated by serine and acetate pathways. The serine pathway was driven by soil factors (0.84, p

Background: Image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) has gradually been widely promoted in clinical procedure. However, there has been no consensus on the effects of IGRT on toxicity and survival, and no clear level 1 evidence has even been promulgated. Methods: Medline, EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane databases and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched for studies comparing IGRT vs non-IGRT or higher frequency IGRT vs lower frequency IGRT during prostate radiotherapy, indexed from database inception to April 2022. Results: The review included 18 studies (3 randomized clinical trial and 15 cohort studies) involving 6521 men, with a median duration of patient follow-up of 46.2 months in the IGRT group vs 52.7 months in the control group. The meta-analysis demonstrated that IGRT significantly reduced acute GU (risk ratio [RR], 0.78; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.69–0.88; P

IntroductionAortic aneurysms (AA) are prevalent worldwide with a notable absence of drug therapies. Thus, identifying potential drug targets is of utmost importance. AA often presents in the elderly, coupled with consistently raised serum inflammatory markers. Given that ageing and inflammation are pivotal processes linked to the evolution of AA, we have identified key genes involved in the inflammaging process of AA development through various bioinformatics methods, thereby providing potential molecular targets for further investigation.MethodsThe transcriptome data of AA was procured from the datasets GSE140947, GSE7084, and GSE47472, sourced from the NCBI GEO database, whilst gene data of ageing and inflammation were obtained from the GeneCards Database. To identify key genes, differentially expressed analysis using the “Limma” package and WGCNA were implemented. Protein-protein intersection (PPI) analysis and machine learning (ML) algorithms were employed for the screening of potential biomarkers, followed by an assessment of the diagnostic value. Following the acquisition of the hub inflammaging and AA-related differentially expressed genes (IADEGs), the TFs-mRNAs-miRNAs regulatory network was established. The CIBERSORT algorithm was utilized to investigate immune cell infiltration in AA. The correlation of hub IADEGs with infiltrating immunocytes was also evaluated. Lastly, wet laboratory experiments were carried out to confirm the expression of hub IADEGs.Results342 and 715 AA-related DEGs (ADEGs) recognized from GSE140947 and GSE7084 datasets were procured by intersecting the results of “Limma” and WGCNA analyses. After 83 IADEGs were obtained, PPI analysis and ML algorithms pinpointed 7 and 5 hub IADEGs candidates respectively, and 6 of them demonstrated a high diagnostic value. Immune cell infiltration outcomes unveiled immune dysregulation in AA. In the wet laboratory experiments, 3 hub IADEGs, including BLNK, HLA-DRA, and HLA-DQB1, finally exhibited an expression trend in line with the bioinformatics analysis result.DiscussionOur research identified three genes - BLNK, HLA-DRA, and HLA-DQB1- that play a significant role in promoting the development of AA through inflammaging, providing novel insights into the future understanding and therapeutic intervention of AA.

BackgroundThis multicenter, three-armed, parallel, single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) primarily aims to compare the efficacy of virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) with that of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and treatment as usual (TAU) to depreciate the degree of alcohol craving among alcohol use disorder patients who have undergone in-patient detoxification across four timelines (t0 = baseline prior to intervention, t1 = 4 weeks after baseline, t2 = 12 weeks after baseline, and t3 = 24 weeks after baseline). The secondary aims of this RCT are to compare the efficacy of VRET with that of ACT and TAU to alleviate the severity of alcohol use disorder, dissipate comorbid depressive and anxiety symptoms, and normalize event-related potential (ERP) in electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring across the four timelines.MethodsInitially, after 2 weeks of in-patient detoxification, 120 patients with alcohol use disorder will be randomized into three groups (VRET, ACT, and TAU control groups) via stratified permuted block randomization in a 1:1:1 ratio. Baseline assessment (t0) commences, whereby all the participants will be administered with sociodemographic, clinical, and alcohol use characteristics questionnaire, such as Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), while event-related potential (ERP) detection in electroencephalogram (EEG) will also be carried out. Then, 4 weeks of VRET, ACT, and non-therapeutic supportive activities will be conducted in the three respective groups. For the subsequent three assessment timelines (t1, t2, and t3), the alcohol use characteristic questionnaire, such as AUDIT, PACS, HAM-D, HAM-A, and ERP monitoring, will be re-administered to all participants.DiscussionAs data on the effects of non-pharmacological interventions, such as VRET and ACT, on the treatment of alcohol craving and preventing relapse in alcohol use disorder are lacking, this RCT fills the research gap by providing these important data to treating clinicians. If proven efficacious, the efficacy of VRET and ACT for the treatment of other substance use disorders should also be investigated in future.Clinical trial registrationNCT05841823 (ClinicalTrials.gov).

Seabed soils can undergo liquefaction under cyclic loading, resulting in a rapid decrease in strength and stiffness, which may lead to the destruction of offshore structures. Therefore, the assessment of seabed soil liquefaction will become an important factor in disaster prevention and risk analysis in coastal and offshore engineering construction. In this study, the ocean ambient noise with low-frequency, long-wavelength, and wide-band characteristics was used to conduct and analysis noise based on the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method. The shear wave velocity of the seabed soil was obtained by inverting the ocean ambient noise dataset. Then, we proposed a shear wave velocity threshold that can be used for liquefaction assessment of Holocene unconsolidated fine-grained soils by statistical analysis, and the liquefaction potential of the soils was evaluated according to 1-D shear wave velocity structures and 2-D shear wave velocity profiles. The results showed that the distribution of the shear wave velocity obtained by inverting ocean ambient noise was generally consistent with the measured shear wave velocity in the field, indicating that the inversion results have a certain degree of accuracy. A shear wave velocity threshold of 200 m/s was proposed for liquefaction assessment, determining that the soils within 0-10 m depth in the coastal area of Yellow River Delta have liquefaction potential. This result is in accordance with the assessment based on the critical shear wave velocity, indicating that this threshold is applicable to the assessment of seabed soil liquefaction in the Yellow River Delta. The in-situ observations of ocean ambient noise provide a more convenient, economical, and environmentally friendly method, which can help to investigate marine geology disasters and serve marine engineering construction.

BackgroundIn observational and experimental studies, allergic diseases (AD) have been reported to be associated with some types of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), as both share common pathophysiological processes involving inflammation and metabolic disorders. However, the direction of the causal association between them remains unclear. This Mendelian randomization (MR) study aims to examine the bidirectional causality between AD and CVD.MethodsWe utilized publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics data from European participants in the UK Biobank and the IEU Open GWAS database. Genetic variants associated with AD, asthma, and CVD were identified and used as instrumental variables to investigate the genetically causal association between them. MR analyses were performed using various analytical methods, including inverse variance weighted-fixed effects (IVW-FE), inverse variance weighted-multiplicative random effects (IVW-RE), MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and maximum likelihood. Sensitivity tests were conducted to assess the validity of the causality.ResultsThe MR analysis with the IVW method revealed a genetically predicted association between AD and essential hypertension [odds ratio (OR)=0.9987, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.9976-0.9998, P=0.024], as well as between asthma and atrial fibrillation (OR=1.001, 95% CI: 1.0004-1.0017, P=6.43E-05). In the reverse MR analyses, heart failure was associated with allergic diseases (OR=0.0045, 95% CI: 1.1890E-04 - 0.1695, P=0.004), while atherosclerosis (OR=8.7371E-08, 95% CI: 1.8794E-14 - 4.0617E-01, P=0.038) and aortic aneurysm and dissection (OR=1.7367E-07, 95% CI: 3.8390E-14 – 7.8567E-01, P=0.046) might be protective factors of asthma. However, after a Bonferroni correction, only the association between asthma and atrial fibrillation remained robust.ConclusionThe MR study revealed that asthma is a predominant risk of atrial fibrillation in European individuals, consistent with most experimental and observational studies. Whether AD affects other CVD and the causality between them needs further investigation.

Aquaculture has become the fastest growing sector in global agriculture. The environmental degradation, diseases, and high density of mariculture has made for an inevitable shift in mariculture production from coastal to deep-sea areas. The influence that traditional coastal and emerging deep-sea farming environments exert on aquatic growth, immunity and gut microbial flora is unclear. To address this question, we compared the growth performance, physiological indicators and intestinal microbiological differences of deep-sea and coastal aquaculture in the Guangxi Beibu Gulf of China. The results showed that the growth performance and the complement of C3 and C4 (C3, C4), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and lysozyme (LYS), these physiological and biochemical indicators in the liver, kidney, and muscle of Trachinotus ovatus (T. ovatus), showed significant differences under different rearing conditions. Metagenome sequencing analysis showed Ascomycota, Pseudomonadota, and Bacillota were the three dominant phyla, accounting for 52.98/53.32 (coastal/deep sea), 24.30/22.13, and 10.39/11.82%, respectively. Aligned against the CARD database, a total of 23/2 (coastal/deep-sea) antibiotic resistance genes were screened and grouped into 4/2 genotypes. It indicated that compared with deep-sea fish, higher biological oxygen levels (3.10 times), inorganic nitrogen (110.00 times) and labile phosphate levels (29.00 times) in coastal waters might contributed to the existence of eutrophication with antibiotic resistance. The results of the study can provide complementary data on the study of the difference between deep-sea farming and traditional coastal farming, serving as a reference to future in-depth work on the transformation of fisheries development and scientific standardization of deep-sea farming.

Abstract Objective To explore the clinical effect of antibiotic artificial bone implantation and external fixation in the treatment of infection after intramedullary nail fixation. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical data of patients with infection after intramedullary nail fixation treated from March 2010 to August 2020. There were 27 males and 6 female, aged from 12 to 67 years (average 42.27 years), 18 cases on the left side and 15 cases on the right side. Among them, 20 cases were open fractures with initial injury and 13 cases were closed fractures. All patients were treated with intramedullary nail removal, local debridement, antibiotic artificial bone implantation and external fixation. Because of bone defects, 19 patients underwent secondary autologous cancellous bone grafting after infection control. Postoperative wound healing, related inflammatory indicators, fixation time, and bone healing time were recorded and followed up. Results The 33 patients were followed up with period of 10 ~ 98 months (average 62.7 months). One patients failed to control the infection effectively after treatment, so received antibiotics artificial bone implantation again. Two patients also received antibiotic artificial bone implants again due to the recurrence of the infection. After treatment, infection was controlled and the fracture healed well. One patient received vacuum sealing drainage (VSD) due to persistent postoperative exudation, and five patients were also cured successfully after continuous dressing. Two patients had sinus tract after surgery, and the wound was cured by continuous dressing change. Nineteen patients received autogenous iliac bone grafts for healing due to bone defects ranging from 3 to 6.5 cm (average 4.15 cm) after infection control. The external fixation time of 33 patients ranged from 4 to 16 months (average 7.79 months), the bone healing time ranged from 4 to 13 months (average 6.67 months), and the related inflammatory indexes returned to normal within 2–8 weeks (average 4.48 weeks). Conclusion Antibiotic artificial bone implantation and external fixation is an effective method for the treatment of infection after intramedullary nail fixation.

Nozzles are the most critical component of a sprayer for pesticide applications. Recently, air-induction nozzles and twin flat-fan air-induction nozzles have started to be used for herbicide applications. In order to evaluate the potential of compact air-induction nozzles for herbicide spraying, this paper compares the effects of air-induction nozzles and standard flat-fan nozzles on spray atomization, deposition, drift, and weed control efficacy in maize and wheat. Droplet spectra were measured by a laser particle size analyzer, and drift potential values were determined using a drift test bench (ISO 22401). A field study was conducted to compare the spray drift and biological efficacy between Lechler standard flat-fan nozzles and compact air-induction nozzles including different nozzle sizes. In the range from 0.2 to 0.4 MPa, the droplet size classes of the LU and ST nozzles were very similar and ranged from fine to very fine, while the droplets of the air-induction nozzles IDK and IDKT were medium or coarse depending on the spray pressure and nozzle size. The drift potential trials showed that the droplet size characteristics, mainly V100, are strongly linked with the drift reduction potential. Both drift potential and field results showed that the compact air-induction nozzles had a good performance in drift reduction. In terms of weed control biological efficacy, there were no significant differences between standard flat-fan nozzles and air-induction nozzles. In all cases, the efficacy values were above 80% both in maize and in wheat. In conclusion, air-induction nozzles are recommended for herbicide applications as they provide good biological efficacy while significantly reducing the amount of spray drift, which is of great significance for the protection of the environment and the surrounding sensitive crops.

Soil microorganisms found in shrub-meadow ecosystems are highly heterogeneous and extremely sensitive to grazing, but changes in microbial compositional and functional heterogeneity during grazing exclusion (GE) have been largely overlooked compared to community diversity. We collected soil samples from heavily grazed plots (6.0 sheep/ha) and GE plots (matrix and patch areas in both), and used a combination of next-generation sequencing, vegetation features, and the associated soil property data to investigate the effect of GE on the composition and function of microbial communities (bacteria fungi, and archaea) in 0–10 cm soils. Regarding community composition, the proportions of species in bacteria, fungi, and archaea were 97.3, 2.3, and 0.4%, respectively. GE significantly affected the species diversity of fungi and archaea but not that of bacteria. GE decreased the heterogeneity of bacteria (2.9% in matrix and 6.2% in patch) and archaea (31.1% in matrix and 19.7% in patch) but increased that of fungi by 1.4% in patch. Regarding community function, enzyme diversity and heterogeneity were increased by 10.4 and 9.4%, respectively, in patch after 6 years of fencing, exemplifying a high level of microbial functional redundancy. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome pathways—cell growth and death, translation, digestive system, and nucleotide metabolism—were functional biomarkers (linear discriminant analysis effect size method) in matrix-non-grazed plots, whereas lipid metabolism, xenobiotics biodegradation and metabolism, and metabolism of terpenoids and polyketides, cell motility, cancer: overview, endocrine system, and membrane transport were biomarkers in patch-non-grazed plots. Additionally, GE improved the capacity for fatty acid metabolism but decreased the abundance of methane-producing archaea by 42.9%. Redundancy analysis revealed that the factors that affected microbial composition the most were soil aggregates, soil moisture, and the number of plant species, whereas those that affected microbial function the most were soil available phosphorus, soil temperature, and shrub canopy diameter. Our results quantified soil microbial heterogeneity, emphasizing the different responses of the composition and function of bacteria, fungi, and archaea to GE in alpine shrubs and meadows.

Shrub encroachment and expansion have been widely reported globally and are particularly severe in arid saline land. Shrubs in harsh habitats have fertile island effects, but the promoting effect of fertile island soil on shrub patch restoration remains unclear. To clarify the role of fertile island soils in shrub patch recovery, we took single Tamarix ramosissima shrubs with different volume sizes (3.62–80.21 m3) as experimental subjects. The fertile island effect was quantified, and the 5-year natural recovery of shrub patches in the burned area was measured. The results strongly support that shrubs formed a fertile island soil in unburned areas; soil nutrient content beneath the canopy was 1.34–3.09 times higher than those outside the shrubs, while the soil salinity was 0.03–0.48 times lower than that of intercanopy spaces. The diversity of herbaceous plants beneath shrubs was significantly lower than that of outside shrubs, while the herbage biomass first increased and then decreased with the increase in the volume of shrubs. The maximum biomass of herbage was found when the shrub volume was 30.22 m3, but oversized shrubs could inhibit the growth of herbage. In terms of burned area, the recovery of burned area mainly depends on resprouts and seedlings. The mean values of seedling density, height, coverage, and biomass beneath the canopies were 0.47, 2.53, 2.11, and 5.74 times higher, respectively, than those of the intercanopy spaces. The results of the structural equation models showed the weight coefficient of the fertile island soils for the vegetation recovery in burned shrubland was 0.45; low salinity contributed more to vegetation recovery than high nutrient and moisture contents. Thus, compared with intercanopy spaces, shrub patches reinforce fertile island effects through direct and indirect effects and enhance the recovery of shrubland vegetation in the burned area. Our results demonstrate the positive implications of shrub expansion in the context of global climate change and also deepen the understanding of the sustainable development of burned shrubland.

Application marketplaces collect ratings and reviews from users to provide references for other consumers. Many crowdturfing activities abuse user reviews to manipulate the reputation of an app and mislead other consumers. To understand and improve the ecosystem of reviews in the app market, we investigate the existence of crowdturfing based on the App Store. This paper reports a measurement study of crowdturfing and its reviews in the App Store. We use a sliding window to obtain the relationship graph between users and the community detection method to binary classify the detected communities. Then, we measure and analyze the crowdturfing obtained from the classification and compare them with genuine users. We analyze several features of crowdturfing, such as ratings, sentiment scores, text similarity, and common words. We also investigate which apps crowdturfing often appears in and reveal their role in app ranking. These insights are used as features in machine learning models, and the results show that they can effectively train classifiers and detect crowdturfing reviews with an accuracy of up to 98.13%. This study reveals malicious crowdfunding practices in the App Store and helps to strengthen the review security of app marketplaces.

A better understanding of reservoir densification mechanisms is very important for petroleum exploration and controlling the reservoir quality distribution in low-permeability reservoirs. Low porosity and low permeability, difficult reconstruction, and economic infeasibility are important factors restricting its efficient production. Systematic analysis was performed to study the evolution of different microfacies in the deltaic depositional setting of the Paleogene deep low-permeability Gaoshangpu reservoir, define their genetic mechanisms, delineate the dominant facies belts, and define the favorable diagenetic sequences that are important for exploration of high-quality reservoirs. To understand the tight genesis of the low-permeability reservoirs, we analyzed the sedimentological and diagenetic evolution characteristics of various microfacies (i.e., underwater distributary channel, distributary bay, mouth bar, and front sheet sand) using core data and physical property analysis of the reservoir sand body. The results show the underwater distributary channel and estuary bar sand body with medium-to fine-grained and poor–medium sorting. The diagenesis is dominated by strong compaction, calcareous, argillaceous cementation, and dissolution during stage B in early diagenesis and stage A in middle diagenesis. In the fan delta environment, the weak anti-compaction resistance of low-permeability reservoirs is mainly due to the large content of plastic particles, finer grain size, and medium–poor sorting, with an average porosity reduction rate of 65%. This is a key factor for densification of reservoirs above 3000 m. Comparison among different sandstone microfacies of the deltaic setting shows that the sand body of the underwater distributary channel with low shale content has slightly stronger compaction resistance. The porosity reduction is not obvious at the depth of 3,000–4,000 m, but the loss of permeability at this depth section is significant, and the reservoir improvement from later dissolution is most obvious at this depth section. Calcareous cementation is the cause for densification of some mouth bars in the early stage and of underwater distributary channels in the middle and late stage. Under the influence of strong compaction and calcareous-filling pore throat, the sand body of the mouth bar has been basically densified at 3,000 m, resulting in limited reservoir transformation from later dissolution. The study shows that compaction is the main cause of reservoir densification, argillaceous and calcareous cementation is the secondary cause, and later dissolution is another main cause of reservoir enhancement. The research results can provide a reference and direction for reservoir development and search for the high-quality sweet spot in the deep and low-permeability reservoir.

Vegetation patchiness is common in degraded grasslands. Vegetation patchiness enhances the spatial variability of grassland soil organic carbon and total nitrogen. Stripped vegetation patches have a great impact on ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) storage. Using field surveys, we examined the effects of patches on the ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage of four typical alpine grass species patches (viz: Leymus secalinus, Koeleria pers, Stipa aliena, and Leontopodium nanum). The results indicated that ecosystem C, N, and respiration were significantly higher in intact vegetation patches than in stripped vegetation patches. Also, stripped vegetation patches recorded higher quantities of soil gravel content than the intact patches. In Leymus secalinus and Koeleria pers species patches, soil approximately contributed about 62% and vegetation about 38% to ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage, whereas in Stipa aliena and Leontopodium nanum species patches, close to 80% of ecosystem carbon and nitrogen were found in the soil while close to 20% were stored in the vegetation. Soil total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), available phosphorus (AP), soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and soil microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) were higher in intact vegetation patches than in the stripped vegetation patches. Ecosystem carbon and nitrogen were observed to have a significant correlation with soil gravel content and vegetation productivity. Stripped vegetation patches resulted in decreased plant biomass input and an increased rate of soil erosion. We conclude that grassland patchiness resulted in the decline of ecosystem carbon and nitrogen storage due to a reduction in vegetation input and an increase in soil erosion. Grasslands are likely to have a higher possibility of serving as a C sink if the input of organic matter exceeds its output via sustainable management practices.

The pore structure is an important factor affecting reservoir capacity and shale gas production. The shale reservoir of the Longmaxi Formation in the Changning area, Southern Sichuan Basin, is highly heterogeneous and has a complex pore structure. To quantitatively characterize the shale’s pore structure and influencing factors, based on whole rock X-ray diffraction, argon ion polishing electron microscopy observations, and low-temperature nitrogen adsorption-desorption experiments, the characteristics of the shale pore structure are studied by using the Frenkel-Halsey-Hill (FHH) model. The research reveals the following: 1) The pores of the Longmaxi Formation shale mainly include organic pores, intergranular pores, dissolution pores and microfractures. The pore size is mainly micro-mesoporous. Both ink bottle-type pores and semiclosed slit-type pores with good openness exist, but mainly ink bottle-type pores are observed. 2) The pore structure of the Longmaxi Formation shale has self-similarity, conforms to the fractal law, and shows double fractal characteristics. Taking the relative pressure of 0.45 (P/P0 = 0.45) as the boundary, the surface fractal dimension Dsf and the structural fractal dimension Dst are defined. Dsf is between 2.3215 and 2.6117, and the structural fractal dimension Dst is between 2.8424 and 2.9016. The pore structure of micropores and mesopores is more complex. 3) The mineral components and organic matter have obvious control over the fractal dimension of shale, and samples from different wells show certain differences. The fractal dimension has a good positive correlation with the quartz content but an obvious negative correlation with clay minerals. The higher the total organic carbon content is, the higher the degree of thermal evolution, the more complex the pore structure of shale, and the larger the fractal dimension. The results have guiding significance for the characterization of pore structure of tight rocks.

Macrophages are one of the most important cells in the innate immune system, they are converted into two distinct subtypes with completely different molecular phenotypes and functional features under different stimuli of the microenvironment: M1 macrophages induced by IFN-γ/lipopolysaccharides(LPS) and M2 macrophages induced by IL-4/IL-10/IL-13. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) differentiate from macrophages through various factors in the tumor microenvironment (TME). TAMs have the phenotype and function of M2 macrophages and are capable of secreting multiple cytokines to promote tumor progression. Both tumor cells and macrophages can meet the energy needs for rapid cell growth and proliferation through metabolic reprogramming, so a comprehensive understanding of pro-tumor and antitumor metabolic switches in TAM is essential to understanding immune escape mechanisms. This paper focuses on the functions of relevant signaling pathways and cytokines during macrophage polarization and metabolic reprogramming, and briefly discusses the effects of different microenvironments and macrophage pathogenicity, in addition to describing the research progress of inhibitory drugs for certain metabolic and polarized signaling pathways.

Akashiwo sanguinea is a marine algal species associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs). We found that Vibrio brasiliensis H115, isolated from the seawater of Dameisha Bay (Shenzhen), China, can lyse A. sanguinea. At bacteria-to-algae cell ratios of 7,000:1 and 8,000:1, 73.9 ± 1.8 and 81.4 ± 2.8%, respectively, of A. sanguinea were lysed in just 10 min. V. brasiliensis H115 attacks A. sanguinea by secreting extracellular active compounds. Single-factor experiments showed that the optimum growth conditions for strain H115 were medium 2216E with extra sorbitol (1.0%) and peptone (2.0%), pH 7.5, a shaking speed of 200 rpm, and incubated at 40°C for 54 h. Under these optimized conditions, the algicidal efficiency of strain H115 against A. sanguinea improved by 69.4%. Large biomasses were obtained when strain H115 was incubated in 5- and 100-L bioreactors, with algicidal efficiencies against A. sanguinea reaching 94.2 ± 0.5 and 97.1 ± 0.6%, respectively, in 4 h of co-incubation. These results suggest that strain H115 and its active algicidal compounds may be viable for controlling the outbreaks of A. sanguinea.

Background: Iron is closely related to metabolism. However, the relationship between iron and hepatic steatosis has not been fully elucidated. Objective: We aimed to investigate the triangular relationship between iron and hepatic steatosis and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) in patients with obesity. Methods: A total of 297 patients with obesity and 43 healthy individuals with a normal BMI were enrolled. Eighty-two patients underwent LSG. Anthropometrics, glucose-lipid metabolic markers, and hepatic steatosis assessed by FibroScan (CAP value and E value) were measured at baseline, and again at follow-up time intervals of 6 months and 1 year after surgery. Results: (1) Iron was significantly higher in patients with obesity or overweight than in the individuals with normal BMI (8.18 ± 1.47 vs. 7.46 ± 0.99 mmol/L, p = 0.002). Iron was also higher in subjects with high blood pressure, dyslipidemia, and hyperuricemia than non-corresponding disorders (all p < 0.05). Moreover, iron was significantly higher in the severe than mild or moderate non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) group (p = 0.046 and 0.018). (2) Iron was positively associated with body weight, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, uric acid, liver enzymes, postprandial blood glucose, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, triglycerides, free fatty acid, and hepatic steatosis (CAP value), and negatively associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (all p < 0.05). Iron was also positively associated with the visceral adipose area in patients with obesity and negatively associated with the subcutaneous adipose area in patients with overweight (all p < 0.05). (3) Iron levels and CAP values were decreased gradually 6 months and 1 year after surgery (all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Overall, our results indicated that iron is associated with hepatic steatosis in obesity. The iron level was significantly higher in patients with severe NAFLD than with mild or moderate NAFLD. LSG may reduce iron levels while improving fat deposition in the liver.

The application of mobile robots is an important link in the development of intelligent greenhouses. In view of the complex environment of a greenhouse, achieving precise positioning and navigation by robots has become the primary problem to be solved. Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology is a hot spot in solving the positioning and navigation in an unknown indoor environment in recent years. Among them, the SLAM based on a two-dimensional (2D) Lidar can only collect the environmental information at the level of Lidar, while the SLAM based on a 3D Lidar demands a high computation cost; hence, it has higher requirements for the industrial computers. In this study, the robot navigation control system initially filtered the information of a 3D greenhouse environment collected by a 3D Lidar and fused the information into 2D information, and then, based on the robot odometers and inertial measurement unit information, the system has achieved a timely positioning and construction of the greenhouse environment by a robot using a 2D Lidar SLAM algorithm in Cartographer. This method not only ensures the accuracy of a greenhouse environmental map but also reduces the performance requirements on the industrial computer. In terms of path planning, the Dijkstra algorithm was used to plan the global navigation path of the robot while the Dynamic Window Approach (DWA) algorithm was used to plan the local navigation path of the robot. Through the positioning test, the average position deviation of the robot from the target positioning point is less than 8 cm with a standard deviation (SD) of less than 3 cm; the average course deviation is less than 3° with an SD of less than 1° at the moving speed of 0.4 m/s. The robot moves at the speed of 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 m/s, respectively; the average lateral deviation between the actual movement path and the target movement path is less than 10 cm, and the SD is less than 6 cm; the average course deviation is

PurposeFactors related to the occurrence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) in obesity have not been fully clarified. The aim of this study was to identify the association between OSAS and abdominal fat distribution in a cohort of Chinese obese patients.MethodsThis cross-sectional study collected demographic data of 122 obese patients who were admitted into the in-patient unit of the Department of Endocrinology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital from July 2018 to January 2021. OSAS was diagnosed based on the results of overnight polysomnography, and the abdominal fat distribution was measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to investigate the association between OSAS and the distribution of abdominal fat.Results(1) The mean age (SD) of the obese patients included was 32.44 (11.81) years old, and the overall incidence rate of OSAS was 51.06%. Twenty-four (25.53%) patients had mild OSAS, 10 (10.64%) had moderate OSAS, and 14 (14.89%) had severe OSAS. The apnea hypopnea index (AHI) of men was significantly higher than that of women (5.50, interquartile range (IQR) 3.80–30.6 vs. 4.2, IQR 1.4–12 events/h, p = 0.014). Meanwhile, men had a significantly higher visceral fat area when compared with women (180.29 ± 51.64 vs. 143.88 ± 53.42 cm2, p = 0.002). (2) Patients with OSAS had a significantly higher waist circumference, fasting plasma glucose, 2 h postprandial plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and visceral fat area than patients without OSAS (all p

Structural fractures have a significant control effect on the large-scale accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Yanchang Formation. Previous studies have affirmed the important role of fractures in hydrocarbon accumulations in strongly deformed zones. However, for low-amplitude structural areas, the degree of fracture development is relatively low, and their control on sweet spots of hydrocarbons has not yet formed a unified understanding. In this paper, taking the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation in the western Ordos Basin as an example, the development characteristics, prediction method, and the distribution of fractures in tight sandstone reservoirs in low-amplitude structural areas have been systematically studied using a large number of cores, thin sections, paleomagnetism, FMI logging, acoustic emission, productivity data, and finite element method. The research results showed that the Yanchang Formation in the study area mainly develop high-angle and vertical fractures, which were formed by regional tectonic shearing. Fractures are mainly developed in the fine-grained and ultra-fine-grained sandstones of the distributary channel and estuary bar microfacies, while the fractures in the medium-grained sandstones of the distributary channel and the mudstones of the distributary bay are relatively underdeveloped. The core fractures and micro-fractures of the Yanchang Formation all have the regional distribution characteristics, and the fracture strikes are mainly between NE50° and NE 70°. Moreover, the finite element method was used to predict the fractures in the target layer, and the prediction results are consistent with the actual distribution results of the fractures. The coupling analysis of fractures and tight oil sandstone distribution showed that the existence of fractures provided conditions for the accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Yanchang Formation. The confluence and turning areas of the river channels were repeatedly scoured by river water, and the rocks were brittle and easy to form fractures. The thickness of the fractured sandstone in these areas is usually greater than 0.4 m. Moderately developed fracture zones are prone to form hydrocarbon accumulation “sweet spots,” and the fracture indexes of these areas are usually distributed between 0.8 and 1.2. However, when the fracture index exceeds 1.2, over-developed fractures are unfavorable for the accumulation of hydrocarbons.

While the beneficial roles of dietary phospholipids on health status and overall performances of fish larvae have been well demonstrated, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To address this gap, the present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary phospholipids on growth performance, intestinal development, immune response and microbiota of larval largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides). Five isonitrogenous and isolipidic micro-diets were formulated to contain graded inclusion levels of phospholipids (1.69, 3.11, 5.23, 7.43 and 9.29%). Results showed that the supplementation of dietary phospholipids linearly improved the growth performance of largemouth bass larvae. The inclusion of dietary phospholipids increased the activity of digestive enzymes, such as lipase, trypsin and alkaline phosphatase, and promoted the expression of tight junction proteins including ZO-1, claudin-4 and claudin-5. Additionally, dietary phospholipids inclusion alleviated the accumulation of intestinal triacylglycerols, and further elevated the activity of lysozyme. Dietary phospholipids inhibited the transcription of some pro-inflammatory cytokines, including il-1β, and tnf-α, but promoted the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines tgf-β, with these modifications being suggested to be mediated by the p38MAPK/Nf-κB pathway. The analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA V3-4 region indicated that the intestinal microbiota profile was significantly altered at the genus level with dietary phospholipids inclusion, including a decreased richness of pathogenic bacteria genera Klebsiella in larval intestine. In summary, it was showed that largemouth bass larvae have a specific requirement for dietary phospholipids, and this study provided novel insights on how dietary phospholipids supplementation contributes to improving the growth performance, digestive tract development and intestinal health.

Grazing is the main grassland management strategy applied in alpine shrubland ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. However, how different intensities of long-term grazing affect plant diversity, biomass accumulation and carbon (C) stock in these ecosystems is poorly understood. In this study, alpine shrubland with different long-term (more than 30 years) grazing intensities (excluded from grazing for 5 years (EX), light grazing (LG), moderate grazing (MG) and heavy grazing (HG)) on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau were selected to study changes in plant diversity, aboveground biomass and C accumulation, as well as distribution of C stock among biomass components and soil depths. A structural equation model was used to illustrate the impact of grazing on the soil carbon stock (SOC). The results showed that the Shannon–Wiener diversity index and richness index of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and communities first significantly increased and then decreased with increasing grazing intensity, reaching maxima at the LG site. The aboveground and belowground and litter biomass of understory herbaceous plants, shrubs and communities decreased with increasing grazing intensity, reaching maxima at the EX site. The aboveground and belowground biomass C storage decreased with increasing grazing intensity, reaching maxima at the EX site. The SOC stock and total ecosystem C stock decreased with increasing grazing intensity, reaching maxima at the EX and LG sites. A structural equation model showed that grazing-induced changes in the belowground biomass of understory herbaceous plants greatly contributed to the SOC stock decrease. Thus, considering the utilization and renewal of grassland resources, as well as local economic benefits and ecological effects, LG may be a more rational grazing intensity for species diversity conservation and ecosystem C sequestration in alpine shrubland. Our results provide new insights for incorporating grazing intensity into shrub ecosystem C stock and optimizing grazing management and grassland ecosystem C management.

Preservation conditions are the key factors that determine the effective accumulation of shale gas. The damage of faults formed by differential structures to the roof and floor and the shielding of lateral edges are the direct reasons for the difference in preservation conditions. Taking the organic-rich shale of the Wufeng–Longmaxi Formation in the south of the Sichuan Basin as an example, this paper reveals different types of shale gas-rich structures by using typical seismic profiles and puts forward the main controlling factors of different gas-rich structures and their influence on preservation. The results show that three kinds of gas-rich structures are developed in the Wufeng–Longmaxi Formation in southern Sichuan: positive type, negative type, and fault transformed slope type. The basin is dominated by a wide and gentle syncline, fault spreading fold, and low scope concealed anticlines. Wide and gentle anticline, arc anticline, and fault transformation slope are developed at the basin edge. Fault sealing is the main controlling factor for the preservation of shale gas in wide and gentle anticlines. The main controlling factors for the preservation of circular arc anticlines and hidden anticlines are anticline curvature and the distance between faults. The preservation of shale gas in a syncline is mainly controlled because it includes formation buried depth, foliation development degree, and formation dip angle. The preservation of fault transformed syncline is mainly affected by formation buried depth, dip angle, and fault sealing. Foliation and faults form a three-dimensional migration system, which jointly controls the intensity of gas escape. Positive structures such as wide and gentle anticline and circular arc anticline at the basin edge, and deep buried gentle syncline and low scope concealed anticline in the basin are favorable shale gas-rich structures.

BackgroundThere is little level 1 evidence regarding the relative efficacy and toxicity of whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT) compared with prostate-only radiotherapy (PORT) for localized prostate cancer.MethodsWe used Cochrane, PubMed, Embase, Medline databases, and ClinicalTrials.gov to systematically search for all relevant clinical studies. The data on efficacy and toxicity were extracted for quality assessment and meta-analysis to quantify the effect of WPRT on biochemical failure-free survival (BFFS), progression-free survival (PFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), overall survival (OS), gastrointestinal (GI) toxicity, and genitourinary (GU) toxicity compared with PORT. The review is registered on PROSPERO, number: CRD42021254752.ResultsThe results revealed that compared with PORT, WPRT significantly improved 5-year BFFS and PFS, and it was irrelevant to whether the patients had undergone radical prostatectomy (RP). In addition, for the patients who did not receive RP, the 5-year DMFS of WPRT was better than that of PORT. However, WPRT significantly increased not only the grade 2 or worse (G2+) acute GI toxicity of non-RP studies and RP studies, but also the G2+ late GI toxicity of non-RP studies. Subgroup analysis of non-RP studies found that, when the pelvic radiation dose was >49 Gy (equivalent-doses-in-2-Gy-fractions, EQD-2), WPRT was more beneficial to PFS than PORT, but significantly increased the risk of G2+ acute and late GU toxicity.ConclusionsMeta-analysis demonstrates that WPRT can significantly improve BFFS and PFS for localized prostate cancer than PORT, but the increased risk of G2+ acute and late GI toxicity must be considered.Systematic Review RegistrationPROSPERO CRD42021254752.

The special width approach lane (SWAL) is a newly proposed unconventional design, whereby a wide approach lane is divided into two narrower lanes. The design entails the use of a single lane by two passenger cars or one heavy vehicle. Such design has been applicated at signalized intersections of Karlsruhe, Germany. This paper focuses on the saturation flow rate analysis since most existing studies on such design rely on the default highway capacity manual (HCM) values. Saturation flow rate data was collected at four SWAL design based signalized intersections with procedural steps of the HCM 2010 using the video camera. The two-sample t-test was performed to explore the potential influencing factors, and then the non-linear regression analysis was conducted to estimate the saturation flow rate of SWAL. The proposed model can effectively depict the saturation flow rate with lane marking, presence of cyclists, and rainfall being the influencing factors. The overall accuracy of the proposed model is about 95%. The results indicate that the three influencing factors are independent of each other. The existence of cyclists and rainfall lead to a decrease in the saturation flow rate, while the lane markings can improve the saturation flow rate. Moreover, the SWAL works well in Karlsruhe, Germany. The model predicts a base saturation flow rate value of 1652 pcu/h/ln, which is plausible with comparison of the base saturation flow rate recommended in the German Highway Capacity Manual.

Silt liquefaction can occur due to the rapid cyclic loading of sediments. This can result in the loss of the bearing capacity of the underlying sediments and damage to the foundations and infrastructure. Therefore, assessing liquefaction hazards is an important aspect of disaster prevention and risk assessment in geologically unstable areas. The purpose of this study is to assess the liquefaction hazards of silt sediments by using the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method. Single-station noise recording was carried out in the northern plain of the Yellow River Delta, and a new method was adopted to identify the fundamental frequency. The dynamic parameters of the silt, such as the fundamental frequency, amplification, and vulnerability index, were used as indicators to assess the liquefaction potential. The results show that the silty soils in different areas have different stable ranges of values of the fundamental frequency. Moreover, the distribution of the observations is in good agreement with the geological conditions in the area, which indicates the potential applicability and reliability of the new method for identifying fundamental frequency. The vulnerability index is inversely related to the fundamental frequency, with the southwestern part of the study area having a lower fundamental frequency and a higher vulnerability index, meaning a greater liquefaction risk compared to other areas. The horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio method has great advantages in characterizing subsurface dynamic parameters and can be applied to liquefaction hazard assessments of silt sediments in large areas, which is critically important in terms of providing information and guidance for urban construction and planning.

Annexins are a multifunctional class of calcium-binding proteins in plants, and their physiological functions and regulation in response to drought stress remain to be elucidated. Here, we found that AtANN2 and AtANN3 conferred to drought tolerance under short-day and long-day conditions, respectively. Under their functional photoperiod, AtANN2 and AtANN3 gene expression was enhanced in the mannitol-treated roots, and their encoded proteins were rapidly targeted to the plasma membrane, and mediated significant Ca2+ flows across the plasma membrane. Cryptochromes as photoreceptors can not only sense the photoperiod and regulate ion channels on the plasma membrane to influence ion flow but also induce downstream physiological responses. AtCRY2 repressed the functions of AtANN2 and AtANN3 by affecting their plasma membrane localization and inhibited AtANN2- and AtANN3-dependent transmembrane Ca2+ flow in response to drought stress. Taken together, these results uncover a mechanism linking Annexins-AtCRY2 to transmembrane Ca2+ flow and resulting in enhanced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis.

Grazing exclusion by fencing is a common and effective grassland management strategy for degraded grassland restoration. Soil bacteria, the most important decomposers of soil organic matter, is the linkage between plant and soil. However, soil bacterial α-diversity and community composition in the recover process of degraded shrubland – grassland ecotone on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has not been well understood. Thus, in this research, lightly and heavily degraded shrubland – grassland ecotone and its adjacent communities (alpine shrubland and alpine meadow) during recover process on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau were selected to study α-diversity and community composition of soil bacteria, as well as the relationships among soil bacterial community, plant community and soil properties. Our results demonstrated that: 1) Dominant taxa at the phylum and genera level in all samples were similar. Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Bacteroidetes were dominant phyla, RB41, H16 and Ferruginibacter were dominant genera. 2) Grazing exclusion had no effect on soil bacterial α-diversity. However, grazing exclusion significantly decreased relative abundance of the Chloroflexi phylum, but grazing exclusion significantly increased the Elusimicrobia phylum relative abundance in the alpine meadow plot. 3) There were no significant differences on soil bacterial α-diversity between the heavily and lightly degraded grassland. However, relative abundance of the Planctomycetes phylum, Deltaproteobacteria class and RB41 genus in the alpine meadow plot of heavily degraded grassland were significantly lower than those in the lightly degraded grassland. 4) The higher plant community α-diversity and soil nutrition of shrubland – grassland ecotone did not result in a higher soil bacterial α-diversity. However, relative abundances of Chloroflexi phylum, Deltaproteobacteria class and Nitrospira class in the shrubland – grassland ecotone were significantly higher than those in the alpine meadow and alpine shrubland plots inside fence of the lightly degraded grassland. 5) Structural equation model (SEM) showed that soil organic carbon and soil total nitrogen were dominant factors affecting soil bacterial α-diversity. 6) Redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that soil nitrate nitrogen and soil total nitrogen were the main driving factors for soil bacterial community composition. Our research found that the changes of soil bacterial α-diversity is incongruous with plant community α-diversity, while soil bacterial community composition is paralleled with plant community α-diversity and soil characteristics, especially the soil chemical property. These findings can provide management support for the restoration of degraded alpine shrubland.

Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) was cloned and characterized in the present study and the influence of SIRT1 activation induced by resveratrol inclusion on the expression of genes related to lipid metabolism and antioxidation was also investigated. The SIRT1 of largemouth bass, with full-length cDNA sequence of 3395bp encoding 695 amino acids, was mainly expressed in gonad, heart and liver. The analysis of multiple sequence alignment revealed that, in accordance with other species, SIRT1 of largemouth bass contained highly conserved substrate-binding site and NAD+ binding site. The result of subcellular localization displayed that SIRT1 of largemouth bass was mainly localized in the nucleus. The inclusion of 1.0 and 2.5‰ dietary RSV, a natural SIRT1 activator, significantly elevated the SIRT1 protein expression. Meanwhile, the phosphorylation of AKT1 and FoxO1 followed similar pattern with that of SIRT1, indicating the activation of insulin pathway, which may result in the inhibition of lipogenesis and activation of lipolysis, and reduced hepatic triglycerides content. Additionally, the activation of SIRT1 induced by dietary RSV elevated the antioxidant capacity at both transcriptional level and enzymatic level, which was probably mediated by the transcription factor Nrf2. In above, SIRT1 was suggested to be involved in improving antioxidant capacity and alleviating hepatic lipid deposition in largemouth bass.

Urban renewal projects typically involve redevelopments of under-utilized old buildings and revitalizing precious land resources. Due to architectural and social-economic reasons, historical façades are sometimes retained, and new constructions are built behind them. This allows the historical façade, typically the street elevation, to remain while new real estate can be redeveloped. In the profession of architecture, this is called façadism. In many cases, these historical façades are constructed with unreinforced masonry (URM). When these facades are retained and the remaining of the building is demolished, they become free-standing walls. Temporary supports are required throughout construction works and the retained façades must be designed to prevent excessive movements, allowed for differential movements and to resist wind forces. These historical façades were made of brittle materials and were constructed many decades ago before modern design standards and materials are available. They possess very little ductility and become vulnerable when subjected to ground shaking. The present study suggests a structural system that attempts to mitigate seismic risk of façadism constructions effectively. The structural system divides the new construction, which can be a reinforced concrete structure or a steel frame structure, into two separate frames. A seismic gap is introduced between them and produces two systems of different vibrational characteristics. Supplemental energy dissipating devices such as viscous fluid or friction dampers are placed in-between adjacent floors. The proposed structural system utilizes the different vibrational responses of two frames to facilitate energy dissipation in dampers. In this article, governing equations are presented, followed by numerical simulations using historical earthquake acceleration histories. Results demonstrate that the suggested structural system is an effective methodology to suppress seismic responses of the façade and the new construction. It is concluded that damage on the retained façades can be prevented, and at the same time seismic responses to the newly constructed structure can be controlled.

Abstract Soil respiration (Rs) plays a critical role in the global carbon (C) balance, especially in the context of globally increasing nitrogen (N) deposition. However, how N-addition influences C cycle remains unclear. Here, we applied seven levels of N application (0 (N0), 54 (N1), 90 (N2), 126 (N3), 144 (N4), 180 (N5) and 216 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (N6)) to quantify their impacts on Rs and its components (autotrophic respiration (Ra) and heterotrophic respiration (Rh)) and C and N storage in vegetation and soil in alpine meadow on the northeast margin of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. We used a structural equation model (SEM) to explore the relative contributions of C and N storage, soil temperature and soil moisture and their direct and indirect pathways in regulating soil respiration. Our results revealed that the Rs, Ra and Rh, C and N storage in plant, root and soil (0–10 cm and 10–20 cm) all showed initial increases and then tended to decrease at the threshold level of 180 kg N ha−1 yr−1. The SEM results indicated that soil temperature had a greater impact on Rs than did volumetric soil moisture. Moreover, SEM also showed that C storage (in root, 0–10 and 10–20 cm soil layers) was the most important factor driving Rs. Furthermore, multiple linear regression model showed that the combined root C storage, 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm soil layer C storage explained 97.4–97.6% variations in Rs; explained 94.5–96% variations in Ra; and explained 96.3–98.1% in Rh. Therefore, the growing season soil respiration and its components can be well predicted by the organic C storage in root and topsoil in alpine meadow of the north-eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Our study reveals the importance of topsoil and root C storage in driving growing season Rs in alpine meadow on the northeast margin of Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Deep learning methods have got fantastic performance on lots of large-scale datasets for machine learning tasks, such as visual recognition and neural language processing. Most of the progress on deep learning in recent years lied on supervised learning, for which the whole dataset with respect to a specific task should be well-prepared before training. However, in the real-world scenario, the labeled data associated with the assigned classes are always gathered incrementally over time, since it is cumbersome work to collect and annotate the training data manually. This suggests the manner of sequentially training on a series of datasets with gradually added training samples belonging to new classes, which is called incremental learning. In this paper, we proposed an effective incremental training method based on learning automata for deep neural networks. The main thought is to train a deep model with dynamic connections which can be either “activated” or “deactivated” on different datasets of the incremental training stages. Our proposed method can relieve the destruction of old features while learning new features for the newly added training samples, which can lead to better training performance on the incremental learning stage. The experiments on MNIST and CIFAR-100 demonstrated that our method can be implemented for deep neural models in a long sequence of incremental training stages and can achieve superior performance than training from scratch and the fine-tuning method.

The cutting device in the seedling grafting process was studied, which provided a reference for optimizing the structural parameters and working parameters of important shearing components in the seedling grafting line, thereby improving the performance of the cutting device. The dynamic cutting process of the cutting device was numerically simulated. The effects of four factors, the average cutting speed (X1), the sliding angle (X2), the cutting edge angle (X3), and the cutter clearance (X4) on the cutting force, were studied. The optimal combination of structural parameters and working parameters of the cutting device was determined. The simulation results showed that the sliding angle (X2) and the cutting edge angle (X3) affect the ultimate cutting stress. The average cutting speed (X1) and the cutter clearance (X4) affect the ultimate cutting force. When X1, X2, X3, and X4 are 579 mm/s, 39°, 25°, and 1.4 mm, respectively, it is the better combination parameter, and the ultimate cutting equivalent stress of the cutting device is 0.32 Mpa. A high-speed cutting device for grafted seedlings was built, and the cutting experiment was carried out. The experiment results showed that the simulated values fit well with the experimental data. Under the optimal combination of cutting parameters, the cutting stress of the cutting device was smaller. The finite element simulation of the seedling grafting cutting device reduces the experiment cost and provides a reference for developing the seedling grafting line.

Algicidal bacteria offer an eco-friendly and promising approach for controlling harmful algae blooms (HABs). In this study, repeated batch fermentation of immobilized algicidal bacterium Vibrio brasiliensis H115 was preformed to enhance the productivity of the algicidal compounds. The highest algicidal efficiency of the fermentation products against Akashiwo sanguinea (100%) was achieved when the fermentation time was decreased from 24 to 14 h. The cell-free fermentation broth was then spray-dried and floating microcapsules were prepared from the dried powder. The optimum preparation conditions for floating microcapsules were: sodium alginate (SA), 3%; CaCO3: SA (mass ratio), 3:4; CaCl2, 3%; citric acid, 4%; ethylcellulose, 2%; crosslinking time, 30 min. Under the optimal conditions, the floating microcapsules displayed efficient A. sanguinea cell lysis ability and the algicidal efficiency increased from 10.62% (4 h) to 100% (24 h). These results suggest that the floating microcapsules could potentially be practically used for controlling the outbreaks of A. sanguinea.

The toxic aggregates of amyloid beta (Aβ) disrupt the cell membrane, induce oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction, and eventually lead to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Intervening with this cytotoxic aggregation process has been suggested as a potential therapeutic approach for AD and other protein misfolding diseases. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been used to treat AD and related cognitive impairment for centuries with obvious efficacy. Extracts or active ingredients of TCMs have been reported to inhibit the aggregation and cytotoxicity of Aβ. However, there is a lack of systematic research on the anti-Aβ aggregation effects of TCM components. In this study, we performed a systematic screening to identify the active ingredients of TCM against the cytotoxic aggregation of Aβ42. Through a literature and database survey, we selected 19 TCM herbals frequently used in the treatment of AD, from which 76 major active chemicals without known anti-amyloid effects were further screened. This took place through two rounds of MTT-based screening detection of the cytotoxicity of these chemicals and their effects on Aβ42-induced cytotoxicity, respectively. Tetrahydroxystilbene-2-O-β-D-glucoside (TSG) and sinapic acid (SA) were found to be less toxic, and they inhibited the cytotoxicity of Aβ42. Further studies demonstrated that TSG and SA concentration-dependently attenuated the amyloidosis and membrane disruption ability of Aβ42. Thus, we identified two novel chemicals (TSG and SA) against the cytotoxic aggregation of Aβ42. Nonetheless, further exploration of their therapeutic potential is warranted.

The effective quantification of deposition rate is of vital importance in optimizing the application performance and the utilization of pesticides; meanwhile, the canopies of fruit tree orchards are large, with dense branches and leaves shading each other, making it difficult to quantify spraying efficiency. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a facile methodology for assessing the performance of different spraying techniques in terms of distribution and utilization rate in orchards. To evaluate spraying efficacy in orchards, a canopy segmentation method was developed in to be able to determine the spray deposition rate. The distribution and deposition rate of spray liquid applied using three kinds of orchard sprayer were measured in a pear orchard and a peach orchard. The test results showed that the trailer sprayer had the highest deposition rates, with values of 31.54% and 56.92% on peach and pear trees, respectively. The deposition rates of the mounted sprayer in the peach and pear canopies were 21.75% and 40.61%, and the rates of the hand-held sprayer were 25.19% and 29.97%, respectively. The spray gun had the best droplet distribution uniformity, with CVs of the spray in the peach and pear canopies of 20.54% and 25.06%, respectively. The CVs in the peach and pear canopies were 35.98% and 26.54% for the trailer sprayer, and the CVs of the mounted sprayer were 92.52% and 94.90%, respectively. The canopy segmentation method could effectively be used to calculate the deposition rate and drioplet distribution in orchard application, while a great deal of time was consumed by counting the number of leaves in the different areas of the fruit tree canopies. Therefore, research on the density of branches and leaves in fruit tree canopies should be carried out in order to improve the efficiency of fruit tree canopy information extraction.

To reduce the cutting force and cutting power consumption during harvest, the cutting mechanical properties of the root of little cabbage were studied. The cutting experiment was carried out using a texture analyzer, and the influence of the individual factors, the cutting bevel angle, the sliding angle, and the cutting gap on the maximum cutting stress and specific cutting energy were studied, respectively. On the basis of single factor experiments, multi-factor experiments were carried out using the central composite design scheme of the response surface method (RSM), and finally, the cutting parameters were optimized. The single factor test results showed that the maximum cutting stress and specific cutting energy first decreased and then increased with the increase in the cutting bevel angle, decreased with the increase in the sliding angle, and first dropped and then went up with the increase in the cutting gap. Response surface test results showed that the order of significance of factors affecting the maximum cutting stress of the root were the oblique angle, sliding angle, and cutting gap in sequence, and the order of the significance of factors affecting the specific cutting energy are cutting gap, oblique angle, and sliding angle. The interaction between the sliding angle and the cutting gap had a significant impact on the maximum cutting stress, and the interaction between the oblique angle and the cutting gap had a significant impact on the cutting energy. The optimal parameter combination is as follows: oblique angle of 9.1°, sliding angle of 30°, and cutting gap of 1.3 mm. At this time, the predicted maximum cutting stress was 7.43 × 104 Pa, and the specific cutting energy was 0.28 mJ mm−2. Finally, a verification experiment was carried out, and the errors of the predicted and measured values of cutting under the optimal parameter combination were 6.9% and 10.8%, respectively, showing that the cutting parameter optimization results were reliable. This research can provide data support for the design and improvement in the cutting device of the little cabbage combine harvester.