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Metal sulfide (MS) is regarded as a promising candidate of the anode materials for sodium‐ion battery (SIB) with ideal capacity and low cost, yet still suffers from the inferior cycling stability and voltage degradation. Herein, the coordination relationship between the discharge product Na2S with the Na+ (NaPF6) in the electrolyte, is revealed as the root cause for the cycling failure of MS. Na+‐coordination effect assistants the dissolution of Na2S, further delocalizing Na2S from the reaction interface under the function of electric field, which leads to the solo oxidation of the discharge product element metal without the participation of Na2S. Besides, the higher highest occupied molecular orbital of Na2S suggest the facilitated Na2S solo oxidation to produce sodium polysulfides (NaPSs). Based on these, lowering the Na+ concentration of the electrolyte is proposed as a potential improvement strategy to change the coordination environment of Na2S, suppressing the side reactions of the solo‐oxidation of element metal and Na2S. Consequently, the enhanced conversion reaction reversibility and prolonged cycle life are achieved. This work renders in‐depth perception of failure mechanism and inspiration for realizing advanced conversion‐type anode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract.Rank regression has become increasingly popular for robust inference in statistics. However, there iss no research for the dynamic single index varying coefficient model (DSIVCM), and only the least squares method has been developed for DSIVCM up to now, which is very sensitive to outliers or violations of certain model assumptions. To address these issues, we propose the rank regression estimation method for DSIVCM based on B-splines approximations, which results in robust estimators of coefficient functions for this general class of models. In addition, we develop a practical algorithm for computation and provide a data-driven procedure to select the smoothing parameters. The theoretical properties of proposed estimators are established under some reasonable conditions. The utility of newly proposed method is investigated through simulation studies and a real-data example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practical Application The improper storage of seeds can potentially compromise agricultural productivity, leading to reduced crop yields. Therefore, assessing seed viability before sowing is of paramount importance. Although numerous techniques exist for evaluating seed conditions, this research leveraged hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology as an innovative, rapid, clean, and precise nondestructive testing method. The study aimed to determine the most effective classification model for watermelon seeds. Initially, purchased watermelon seeds were segregated into two groups: One underwent sterilization in a dehydrator machine at 40°C for 36 h, whereas the other batch was stored under favorable conditions. Watermelon seeds’ spectral images were captured using an HSI with a charge‐coupled device camera ranging from 400 to 1000 nm, and the segmented regions of all samples were measured. Preprocessing techniques and wavelength selection methods were applied to manage spectral data workload, followed by the implementation of a support vector machine (SVM) model. The initial hybrid‐SVM model achieved a predictive accuracy rate of 100%, with a test set accuracy of 92.33%. Subsequently, an artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization was introduced to enhance model precision. The results indicated that, with kernel parameters (c, g) set at 13.17 and 0.01, respectively, and a runtime of 4.19328 s, the training and evaluation of the dataset achieved an accuracy rate of 100%. Hence, it was practical to utilize HSI technology combined with the PCA‐ABC‐SVM model to detect different watermelon seeds. As a result, these findings introduce a novel technique for accurately forecasting seed viability, intended for use in agricultural industrial multispectral imaging.The traditional methods for determining the condition of seeds primarily emphasize aesthetics, rely on subjective assessment, are time‐consuming, and require a lot of labor. On the other hand, HSI technology as green technology was employed to alleviate the aforementioned problems. This work significantly contributes to the field of industrial multispectral imaging by enhancing the capacity to discern various types of seeds and agricultural crop products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Femoral neck system (FNS) has exhibited some drawbacks, such as non-fit of the plate with the lateral femoral cortex, postoperative pain, and the potential risk of subtrochanteric fractures. We have developed a low-profile FNS system that addresses some compatibility issues in FNS. In this study, we conducted finite element analysis on the 1-hole FNS (1 H-FNS), 2-holes FNS (2 H-FNS), and low-profile FNS (LP-FNS) and compared their biomechanical performance. Methods: After the mesh convergence analysis, we established three groups of 1 H-FNS, 2 H-FNS, and LP-FNS. The interfragmentary gap, sliding distance, shear stress, and compressive stress and the bone-implant interface compression stress, stiffness, and displacement were determined under the neutral, flexion, or extension conditions of the hip joint, respectively. The stress and displacement of the femur after the implant removal were also investigated. Results: (1) There were no obvious differences among the three FNS groups in terms of the IFM distance. However, the LP-FNS group showed less rotational angle compared with conventional FNS (neutral: 1 H-FNS, -61.64%; 2 H-FNS, -45.40%). Also, the maximum bone-implant interface compression stress was obviously decreased under the neutral, flexion, or extension conditions of the hip joint (1 H-FNS: -6.47%, -20.59%, or -4.49%; 2 H-FNS: -3.11%, 16.70%, or -7.03%; respectively). (2) After the implant removal, there was no notable difference in the maximum displacement between the three groups, but the maximum von Mises stress displayed a notable difference between LP-FNS and 1 H-FNS groups (-15.27%) except for the difference between LP-FNS and 2 H-FNS groups (-4.57%). Conclusions: The LP-FNS may not only provide the same biomechanical stabilities as the 1 H-FNS and 2 H-FNS, but also have more advantages in rotational resistance especially under the neutral condition of the hip joint, in the bone-implant interface compression stress, and after the implant removal. In addition, the 1 H-FNS and 2 H-FNS have similar biomechanical stabilities except for the maximum von Mises stress after the implant removal. The femur after the LP-FNS removal not only is subjected to relatively little stress but also minimizes stress concentration areas. Highlights: We developed a low-profile FNS of screws in sleeves and demonstrated that the LP-FNS might not only provide the same biomechanical stabilities as the 1 H-FNS and 2 H-FNS, but also have more advantages in rotational resistance especially under the neutral condition of the hip joint, in the bone-implant interface compression stress, and after the implant removal. The 1 H-FNS and 2 H-FNS groups had no notable difference in biomechanical stabilities except for the maximum von Mises stress after the implant removal. Our study, for the first time, examined the stress and displacement of the femur after the implant removal and indicated that the femur after the LP-FNS removal not only was subjected to relatively little stress but also minimized stress concentration areas compared with the femur after the 1 H-FNS or 2 H-FNS removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human iPSC-derived airway organoids (iPSC-AOs) exhibit cellular heterogenicity resembling the human native airway. Bioinformatics analysis revealed a robust dysregulation in inflammation, lipid-metabolism pathway, and alternative splicing in SARS-CoV-2 infected airway organoids. Manipulating lipid homeostasis using cholesterol-lowering drugs (e.g. Statins) relocated the viral entry receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2), leading to the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication. [Display omitted] • Single-cell RNA sequencing showed that iPSC-AOs exhibition of the genetic profiles highly resembling the genotypes of human airways. • iPSC-AOs are susceptible to SARS-COV-2 infection and the expressions of S and N proteins after viral infection. • Bioinformatics analysis indicated the involvement of aberrant enrichment of lipid transport and lipid pathways in infected iPSC-AOs. • Statin preincubation relocated ACE2, reduced N protein, and limited SARS-CoV-2 infection in iPSC-AOs. • Lipid modifications consistently inhibited viral entry of various SARS-CoV-2 strains (wild-type, alpha, delta, omicron). Modifications of lipid metabolism were closely associated with the manifestations and prognosis of coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Pre-existing metabolic conditions exacerbated the severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection while modulations of aberrant lipid metabolisms alleviated the manifestations. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, an experimental platform that reproduces human respiratory physiology is required. Here we generated induced pluripotent stem cell-derived airway organoids (iPSC-AOs) that resemble the human native airway. Single-cell sequencing (ScRNAseq) and microscopic examination verified the cellular heterogeneity and microstructures of iPSC-AOs, respectively. We subjected iPSC-AOs to SARS-CoV-2 infection and investigated the treatment effect of lipid modifiers statin drugs on viral pathogenesis, gene expression, and the intracellular trafficking of the SARS-CoV-2 entry receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2). In SARS-CoV-2-infected iPSC-AOs, immunofluorescence staining detected the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins and bioinformatics analysis further showed the aberrant enrichment of lipid-associated pathways. In addition, SARS-CoV-2 hijacked the host RNA replication machinery and generated the new isoforms of a high-density lipoprotein constituent apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) and the virus-scavenging protein deleted in malignant brain tumors 1 (DMBT1). Manipulating lipid homeostasis using cholesterol-lowering drugs (e.g. Statins) relocated the viral entry receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) and decreased N protein expression, leading to the reduction of SARS-CoV-2 entry and replication. The same lipid modifications suppressed the entry of luciferase-expressing SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses containing the S proteins derived from different SARS-CoV-2 variants, i.e. wild-type, alpha, delta, and omicron. Together, our data demonstrated that modifications of lipid pathways restrict SARS-CoV-2 propagation in the iPSC-AOs, which the inhibition is speculated through the translocation of ACE2 from the cell membrane to the cytosol. Considering the highly frequent mutation and generation of SARS-CoV-2 variants, targeting host metabolisms of cholesterol or other lipids may represent an alternative approach against SARS-CoV-2 infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rank regression method has been widely pursued for robust inference in statistical models. Unfortunately, there does not exist related literature for the function-on-scalar model, which is the focus of this paper. We study the robust estimation based on rank regression and B-spline approximations for the function-on-scalar model and further establish the theoretical properties of the proposed method under regularity conditions. Extensive simulation studies and two real data applications are given to illustrate the merits of the proposed approach. Numerical results show that the proposed method is competitive with existing robust estimation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Endothelial cell (EC)-driven intraneural revascularization (INRV) and Schwann cells-derived exosomes (SCs-Exos) both play crucial roles in peripheral nerve injury (PNI). However, the interplay between them remains unclear. We aimed to elucidate the effects and underlying mechanisms of SCs-Exos on INRV following PNI. Results: We found that GW4869 inhibited INRV, as well as that normoxic SCs-Exos (N-SCs-Exos) exhibited significant pro-INRV effects in vivo and in vitro that were potentiated by hypoxic SCs-Exos (H-SCs-Exos). Upregulation of glycolysis emerged as a pivotal factor for INRV after PNI, as evidenced by the observation that 3PO administration, a glycolytic inhibitor, inhibited the INRV process in vivo and in vitro. H-SCs-Exos more significantly enhanced extracellular acidification rate/oxygen consumption rate ratio, lactate production, and glycolytic gene expression while simultaneously suppressing acetyl-CoA production and pyruvate dehydrogenase E1 subunit alpha (PDH-E1α) expression than N-SCs-Exos both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, we determined that H-SCs-Exos were more enriched with miR-21-5p than N-SCs-Exos. Knockdown of miR-21-5p significantly attenuated the pro-glycolysis and pro-INRV effects of H-SCs-Exos. Mechanistically, miR-21-5p orchestrated EC metabolism in favor of glycolysis by targeting von Hippel-Lindau/hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and PDH-E1α, thereby enhancing hypoxia-inducible factor-1α-mediated glycolysis and inhibiting PDH-E1α-mediated oxidative phosphorylation. Conclusion: This study unveiled a novel intrinsic mechanism of pro-INRV after PNI, providing a promising therapeutic target for post-injury peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust evaluation between communicating nodes is a critical requirement for establishing secure and reliable communication links in quantum communication networks. However, existing research on quantum trust evaluation has not considered the impact of noise in the communication environment. In particular, decoherence causes noise that can disrupt the transmission process of trust factors. To address this issue, this paper proposes a quantum trust evaluation model that is immune to decoherent noise by using particles in a decoherence free state. Only a six-particle decoherence free state needs to be prepared, while the remaining particles can be obtained by quantum bit-swapping operations. The security analysis shows that this model exhibits resistance to both internal and external attacks, in addition to better privacy performance and higher particle utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel glass additive of 10Bi2O3‒5Li2O‒7.5Na2O‒7.5K2O‒21Nb2O5‒20.5SiO2‒10.5BaO‒11SrO‒4.5Al2O3‒0.5La2O3‒2TiO2 was melted to improve the energy‐storage properties of (Ba0.94Li0.02La0.04)(Mg0.04Ti0.96)O3 (BLLMT) ceramics (BLLMT‒x wt% G), which overcomes the paradox between polarization and voltage endurance. The dielectric constant and resistance of BLLMT ceramics are improved by glass modification, while the grain size decreases. Consequently, excellent breakdown strength of 565.9 kV/cm is obtained, and the difference between maximum polarization and remnant polarization reaches up to 22.14 µC/cm2. Weibull distribution and finite element simulation prove that grain boundary density, grain size, resistance, and bandgap width have significant effects on the breakdown strength. Finally, outstanding energy‐storage density of 4.82 J/cm3 is obtained at x = 2, accompanied with an excellent pulse discharged energy density of 3.42 J/cm3, current density of 1226.12 A/cm2, and power density of 337.19 MW/cm3. Excellent temperature stability is gained with the variation of the pulse discharged energy density less than 10% at 20°C‒140°C. The outstanding pulse energy‐storage parameters are related to phase structure, small grain size, high grain boundary density, formation of liquid phase, increased ceramic resistance, and destroyed long‐range ordered ferroelectrics. This work provides a novel idea for fabricating glass to obtain excellent energy‐storage performance and promotes practical application of BaTiO3 ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Multiple animal models have previously been utilized to investigate anterior fusion techniques, but a mouse model has yet to be developed. The purpose of this study was to develop murine anterior interbody and posterolateral fusion techniques. Methods: Mice underwent either anterior interbody or posterolateral spinal fusion. A protocol was developed for both procedures, including a description of the relevant anatomy. Samples were subjected to micro-computed tomography to assess fusion success and underwent biomechanical testing with use of 4-point bending. Lastly, samples were fixed and embedded for histologic evaluation. Results: Surgical techniques for anterior interbody and posterolateral fusion were developed. The fusion rate was 83.3% in the anterior interbody model and 100% in the posterolateral model. Compared with a control, the posterolateral model exhibited a greater elastic modulus. Histologic analysis demonstrated endochondral ossification between bridging segments, further confirming the fusion efficacy in both models. Conclusions: The murine anterior interbody and posterolateral fusion models are efficacious and provide an ideal platform for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms mediating spinal fusion. Clinical Relevance: Given the extensive genetic tools available in murine disease models, use of fusion models such as ours can enable determination of the underlying genetic pathways involved in spinal fusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Dual‐plate fixation was thought to be the gold standard for treating complicated bicondylar tibial plateau fractures, yet it was found to be hard to accommodate the posterior column in three‐column fractures. Currently, column‐specific fixation is becoming more and more recognized, but no comprehensive investigation has been performed to back it up. Therefore, the objective of this study was to validate the importance of posterior column fixation in the three‐column tibial fractures by a finite element (FE) analysis and clinical study. Methods: In FE analysis, three models were developed: the longitudinal triple‐plate group (LTPG), the oblique triple‐plate group (OTPG), and the dual‐plate group (DPG). Three loading scenarios were simulated. The distribution of the displacement and the equivalent von Mises stress (VMS) in each structure was calculated. The comparative measurements including the maximum posterior column collapse (MPCC), the maximum total displacement of the model (MTD), the maximum VMS of cortical posterior column (MPC‐VMS), and the maximum VMS located on each group of plates and screws (MPS‐VMS). The clinical study evaluated the indicators between the groups with or without the posterior plate, including operation time, blood loss volume, full‐weight bearing period, Hospital for Special Surgery Knee Scoring system (HSS), Rasmussen score, and common postoperative complications. Results: In the FE analysis, the MPCC, the MPC‐VMS, and the MTD were detected in much lower amounts in LTPG and OTPG than in DPG. In comparison with DPG, the LTPG and OTPG had larger MPS‐VMS. In the clinical study, 35 cases were included. In the triple‐plate (14) and dual‐plate (21) groups, the operation took 115.6 min and 100.5 min (p < 0.05), respectively. Blood loss in both groups was 287.0 mL and 206.6 mL (p < 0.05), and the full‐weight bearing period was 14.5 weeks and 16.2 weeks (p < 0.05). At the final follow‐up, the HSS score was 85.0 in the triple‐plate group and 77.5 in the dual‐plate (p < 0.05), the Rasmussen score was 24.1 and 21.6 (p < 0.05), there were two cases with reduction loss (9.5%) in the dual‐plate group and one case of superficial incision infection found in the triple‐plate group. Conclusion: The posterior implant was beneficial in optimizing the biomechanical stability and functional outcomes in the three‐column tibial plateau fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inductive Logic Programming (ILP) is a research field at the intersection between machine learning and logic programming, focusing on developing a formal framework for inductively learning relational descriptions in the form of logic programs from examples and background knowledge. As an emerging method of ILP, Meta-Interpretive Learning (MIL) leverages the specialization of a set of higher-order metarules to learn logic programs. In MIL, the input includes a set of examples, background knowledge, and a set of metarules, while the output is a logic program. MIL executes a depth-first traversal search, where its program search space expands polynomially with the number of predicates in the provided background knowledge and exponentially with the number of clauses in the program, sometimes even leading to search collapse. To address this challenge, this study introduces a strategy that employs the concept of reuse, specifically through the integration of auxiliary predicates, to reduce the number of clauses in programs and improve the learning efficiency. This approach focuses on the proactive identification and reuse of common program patterns. To operationalize this strategy, we introduce MILER, a novel method integrating a predicate generator, program learner, and program evaluator. MILER leverages frequent subgraph mining techniques to detect common patterns from a limited dataset of training samples, subsequently embedding these patterns as auxiliary predicates into the background knowledge. In our experiments involving two Visual Question Answering (VQA) tasks and one program synthesis task, we assessed MILER's approach to utilizing reusable program patterns as auxiliary predicates. The results indicate that, by incorporating these patterns, MILER identifies reusable program patterns, reduces program clauses, and directly decreases the likelihood of timeouts compared to traditional MIL. This leads to improved learning success rates by optimizing computational efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single‐layer organic light‐emitting devices provide a promising way for low‐cost, large‐area displays. Iridium (III) complex may play an important role to achieve this target due to its unique ionic characteristics. To achieve high‐performance single‐layer devices, blending the salt additives into the active layer is an effective strategy. However, the effects of different cation and anion additives on the device's performance are still unclear. Herein, the single‐layer light‐emitting devices are fabricated by using solution‐processed iridium (III) complex mixed with various molecular salts. It is implied in the results that the improvement of the device luminescence and recombination efficiency is owing to the enhanced carrier injection and improved carrier balance in the emitting layer by the ion‐additive‐induced electrical double layer at the interface. The smaller cation can improve the carrier injection of the device more efficiently due to the stronger ion mobility and the anion with the smaller association coefficient shows a better device performance since the stronger dissociation ability of the ions can lead to a better ion migration ability. In addition, the introduction of poly (methyl methacrylate) into the active film can improve the single‐layer device performances by reducing leak current in bulk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lichen planus pemphigoides (LPP) is a rare autoimmune subepidermal disease that can occur in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. Its clinical manifestations are combined with the characteristics of lichen planus with bullous pemphigoid that can occur on either skin or oral mucosa. It should be noted that oral LPP is very rare. Here, we report a novel case of oral LPP induced by an anti‐PD‐1 agent. The patient presented with typical clinical features in oral mucosa, and the diagnosis was based on histopathology and immunological studies. Given that the patient was receiving an anti‐PD‐1 agent, topical therapy was chosen, and a nice therapeutic effect was obtained. No significant recurrence was observed after a 2‐year follow‐up. A good and stable therapeutic effect achieved by rapid and local symptomatic medication suggests that accurate and sensitive diagnosis is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[(Ba0.85Ca0.15)1-xDyx](Zr0.1Ti0.9)O3 (x mol% Dy-BCZT, x = 0.05, 0.2, 0.5, 1 and 3 mol%) multifunctional lead-free ceramics were prepared by traditional solid-state reaction method, where the influence of Dy doping amount and sintering condition was investigated. All sintered x mol% Dy-BCZT ceramics exhibit pure perovskite structure, large density, and high resistivity, which are affected greatly by Dy doping amount and sintering temperature. The phase structure changes from mainly tetragonal phase to pseudo-cubic phase with the increase of Dy doping amount, and presents irregular change on sintering temperature. Most samples have excellent dielectric, ferroelectric and stain, piezoelectric and fluorescent properties, which can be improved by changing Dy doping amount and tailoring sintering condition. Maximum piezoelectric-fluorescent coupling effect is obtained by selecting composition, optimizing Dy doping amount, and tailoring sintering condition due to morphotropic phase boundary effect and concentration quenching effect, which provides broad application prospect in the field of optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme‐powered micro/nanomotors that can autonomously move in biological environment are attractive in the fields of biology and biomedicine. The fabrication of enzyme‐powered micro/nanomotors normally focuses on constructing Janus structures of micro/nanomaterials, based on the intuition that the Janus coating of enzymes can generate driving force from asymmetric catalytic reactions. Here, in the fabrication of catalase‐powered silica micro/nanomotors (C‐MNMs), an archetypical model of enzyme‐powered micro/nanomotors, we find the silica size rather than asymmetric coating of catalase determines the motion ability of C‐MNMs. The effects of size and asymmetry have been investigated by a series of C‐MNMs at various sizes (0.5, 2, 5 and 10 μm) and asymmetric levels (full‐, half‐ and most‐coated with catalase). The motion performance indicates that 500 nm and 2 μm C‐MNMs show obvious increases (varying from 134% to 618%) of diffusion coefficient, but C‐MNMs bigger than 5 μm have no self‐propulsion behaviour at all, regardless of asymmetric levels. In addition, although asymmetry facilitates enhanced diffusion of C‐MNMs, only 2 μm C‐MNMs are sensitive to asymmetric level. This work elucidates the primary and secondary roles of size and asymmetry in the preparation of C‐MNMs, paving the way to fabricate enzyme‐powered micro/nanomotors with high motion performance in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the actual design process of traditional power amplifiers, there is a problem of being cumbersome and unable to simultaneously meet low power and saturation modes. Therefore, an improved multi-objective optimization algorithm proposed by decomposition is introduced to optimize its matching network to achieve overall optimization design of power amplifiers. The algorithm, matching network, and optimized power amplifier performance are simulated and verified. The experimental outcomes denote that on the logic function with Zener diode transistor, the proposed algorithm has a mean generation distance index of 5.03E-3, which is lower than most algorithms. Its overall comprehensive performance is better than the comparison algorithm, and compared to the comparison algorithm, it converges more quickly in the early stage of iteration on 1 and 2, and tends to stabilize in the 40th generation, and completes convergence in the 80th generation. In addition, the optimal solution has already begun to appear around the 25th generation and reached saturation around the 70th generation. At the same time, in the actual working bandwidth, the optimized power amplifier saturation efficiency reaches 51.5%~61.9%, and the efficiency at 6dB power backoff is about 44.4%~56.5%. Overall, the algorithm proposed in the study is effective in optimizing power amplifiers and their matching networks, effectively solving the problem of insufficient efficiency in low power modes in traditional designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Litopenaeus vannamei is one of the most economically significant aquatic species globally. However, the emergence of acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) in recent years has resulted in substantial losses within the L. vannamei farming industry. Phage therapy holds promise as an effective strategy for preventing and controlling bacterial infections like AHPND, thereby promoting the healthy and sustainable growth of the shrimp aquaculture sector. In this study, a novel and unique Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteriophage, named vB_VpaP_SJSY21, was successfully isolated from sewage samples. Using transmission electron microscopy, it was observed that phage SJSY21 has an elongated shell. Notably, phage SJSY21 exhibited high infection efficiency, with an optimal multiplicity of infection (MOI) of only 0.01 and a remarkably short latent period of 10 min, resulting in a lysis quantity of 508. Furthermore, phage SJSY21 demonstrated notable heat resistance and the capacity to withstand high temperatures during preservation, thus holding potential for application in phage therapy. Whole-genome sequencing and analysis confirmed that phage SJSY21 has a genome size of 110,776 bp, classifying it as a new member of the short-tailed bacteriophage family. Additionally, cultivation experiments indicated that phage SJSY21 has the potential to enhance the survival of L. vannamei in culture systems, thereby offering innovative prospects for the application of phage therapy in aquaculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cortical buttress are important factors for postoperative stable reconstruction of per/inter-trochanteric fractures. The study aimed to measure the remnant axial cortical length (RACL) of the proximal circumference of the femur, and to determine which part of the RACL can be used reliably to postoperatively sustain the head–neck fragment as a cortical support pattern. Methods: Eighty patients with trochanteric hip fractures admitted from January 2015 to January 2016 were included in a retrospective study. Their pre-operative computed tomography (CT) images were used to form 3D-CT reconstructions via Mimics software. After simulated rotation and movement for fracture reduction, the RACL, its three component parts—namely, the remnant anterior cortex (RAC), remnant lateral cortex (RLC), and remnant posterior cortex (RPC) —the γ angle between the anterior and posterior cortex, and the Hsu's lateral wall thickness (LWT) were evaluated. Results: Patients with an A1 fracture (21/80) had a longer RACL (88.8 ± 15.8 mm) than those with an A2 fracture (60.0 ± 11.9 mm; P < 0.01). The RAC, RLC, and RPC of the RACL in A1 fractures were also significantly longer than those in A2 fractures (P < 0.001). However, the most significant difference among the three components of the RACL was in the RPC, which was 27.3 ± 7.8 mm in A1 fractures and 9.2 ± 6.6 mm in A2 fractures. In addition, the coefficient of variation of the RAC was only 20.0%, while that of the RPC was 75.5%. The average γ angle in A1 fractures was 16.2 ± 13.1°, which was significantly smaller than that in A2 fractures, which was 40.3 ± 14.5° (P < 0.001). There was a significant statistical difference in the LWT between A1 and A2 fractures (P < 0.001). There were significant differences in the RACL, RAC, RLC, RPC, γ angle, and LWT among the five subtypes (P < 0.001). Conclusions: The RAC is relatively stable in pertrochanteric fractures. Fracture reduction through a RAC buttress may help to enhance the postoperative stable reconstruction of per/inter-trochanteric fractures and make possible good mechanical support for fracture healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The local Walsh-average regression has been shown to be a comparable method to the others in nonparametric regression. In this paper, we develop a new estimation procedure based on local Walsh-average regression for single index varying coefficient models. Under some general assumptions, we establish the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimators for both the parametric and nonparametric parts. We further demonstrate that the proposed estimates have great efficiency gains across a wide spectrum of non-normal error distributions and almost not lose any efficiency for the normal error compared with that of local polynomial regression estimates under the least squares loss. Even in the worst case scenarios, the asymptotic relative efficiency owns a lower bound equaling to 0.864 for estimating the single-index parameter and a lower bound being 0.8896 for estimating the nonparametric link functions respectively, versus the least squares estimators. A simulation study is conducted to assess the finite sample properties of the proposed procedure, and a real data analysis is followed to further illustrate the application of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the fact that it serves as both a pump and a compressor, the helico-axial multiphase pump is better suited for mixed-transport oil-gas two-phase flow and is frequently used for deep-sea oil extraction. The gas–liquid separation caused by the asynchrony of the gas–liquid two-phase medium is the primary cause of the damage or failure of the helico-axial multiphase pump in the project, resulting in the pump's damage or inability to operate. To investigate the variation of phase separation in the helico-axial multiphase pump under diverse operating conditions, a test system was designed and the theory of fluid flow mechanics was applied. The effects of different flow fields on the energy conversion characteristics of the pump were investigated. The results indicate that the gas–liquid separation position in the impeller occurs near the 2/3 of the airfoil bone line. After the gas–liquid separation, gas mass will be formed, pocket flow will be readily induced, and the gas block-up phenomenon will result in energy loss in the compression unit. Simulations indicate that the static pressure recovery and total pressure loss in a diffuser fluctuate over time. The static pressure recovery efficacy of the diffuser is highest when the imported gas volume fraction is 10% and lowest when the imported gas volume fraction is 60%. On the surface of the impeller blade, perpendicular to the flow direction, the separation phenomenon near the hub side is more severe than that near the rim. Along the flow direction, the pattern of phase separation is comparable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to add expanded perlite (EP) immobilized microorganisms that replace part of the standard sand in mortar to improve the self-healing ability of mortar cracks and reduce the water absorption of mortar after healing. Design/methodology/approach: Bacilluspseudofirmus spores were immobilized with EP particles as self-healing agents. The effects of adding self-healing agents on the compressive strength of mortar specimens were observed. The ability of mortar specimens to heal cracks was evaluated using crack microscopic observation and water absorption experiments. The filler at the cracks was microscopically analyzed by scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction experiments. Findings: First, the internal curing effect of EP promotes the hydration of cement in mortar, which generates more amount and denser crystal structure of Ca(OH)2 at mortar cracks and improves the self-healing ability of mortar. Second, the self-healing ability of mortar improves with the increase of self-healing agent admixture. Adding a self-healing agent of high admixture makes the planar undulation of calcite crystal accumulation at mortar cracks more significant. Finally, the initial crack widths that can be completely healed by adding EP and self-healing agents to the mortar are 200 µm and 600 µm, respectively. Originality/value: The innovation points of this study are as follows. (1) The mechanism of the internal curing effect of EP particles on the self-healing ability of mortar cracks was revealed by crack microscopic observation tests and microscopic experiments. (2) The effect of different self-healing agent amounts on the self-healing ability of mortar cracks has been studied. (3) The effects of EP particles and self-healing agents on healing different initial widths were elucidated by crack microscopic observation tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A photo-driven self-powered aptasensor was constructed based on a matching capacitor and the ZnIn2S4/Ti3C2 heterojunction as the photoanode and Cu2O as the photocathode in a dual-photoelectrode sensing matrix for multiple signal amplification for the ultrasensitive detection of microcystin-RR (MC-RR). The introduction of Ti3C2 MXene nanosheets on the photoanode surface can not only accelerate the transfer and separation of photoinduced electron/hole pairs, thus enhancing the output signal of the photo-driven self-powered system, but also provide a larger specific surface area for the immobilization of the bio-recognition unit aptamer. More importantly, for a portable and miniaturized device, a micro-workstation with the size of a universal serial bus (USB) disk and a novel short-circuit current access was proposed to capture the instantaneous output electrical signal for real-time data tracking. In such a way, a sensitivity of 2.7 mA pM−1 was achieved when the matching capacitor was integrated into the self-powered system, which was 22 times that without a capacitor. After the interaction between MC-RR and the corresponding aptamer, a 'signal-off' detection configuration was formed via the steric hindrance effect. Therefore, such a multiple signal amplification system realized the ultrasensitive and selective determination of MC-RR successfully. Under optimal conditions, the linear range of the self-powered aptasensor was 0.1 to 100 pM and the detection limit was 0.033 pM (S/N = 3). The aptasensor was applied to the detection of MC-RR in fish, exhibiting good reproducibility (≈3.88%), paving the way for detecting microcystins in real-life samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a single‐layer light‐emitting transistor with a good on/off ratio of more than 106 is presented based on the iridium complex as a light‐emitter layer. Comprehensive experiments and simulations demonstrate that the thickness of the emitting layer can significantly improve the majority carrier injection in the source electrode. The electrode work function determines the minority carrier injection in the drain electrode, which is crucial for the light emission of the transistor. Furthermore, the increased source injection allows for a higher channel current, thereby increasing drain injection. Most importantly, although the above methods can improve the device channel current and light‐emitting brightness, the electroluminescence efficiency cannot be optimized since the increased minority carriers are much less than the increased majority carriers, resulting in most increased majority carriers cannot be contributed to the charge recombination. To achieve a higher efficient device, the channel current is supposed to be low when a conductive channel is well formed. This goal is achieved by using an ionic liquid gate to replace SiO2 gate for fabricating the light‐emitting single‐layer transistor. The efficiency is improved from ≈0.1 to 1.5 cd A−1. This work provides a new strategy for constructing high‐performance single‐layer light‐emitting transistors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature stability and temperature stability range of barium titanate-based pulse energy-storage ceramics were modified by Bi 2 O 3 tailoring in (Ba 0.98- x Li 0.02 Bi x) (Mg 0·04 Ti 0.96)O 3 (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, 0.1) and (Ba 1.03-1.5 x Li 0.02 Bi x) (Mg 0·04 Ti 0.96)O 3 (x = 0.125, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25) ceramics. Excellent pulse energy-storage performances of ceramic films are achieved via the new dual priority strategy of establishing cationic vacancies and forming a liquid phase. The dielectric constant plateau appears due to the cubic phase and space charges. Outstanding temperature stability, frequency stability and antifatigue performance are obtained in the ceramics, and their variations are all less than 15%. The comprehensive energy-storage properties with dual priority parameters of energy-storage density and efficiency of 3.13 J/cm3 and 91.71%, accompanied by an excellent pulse discharge energy density of 2.48 J/cm3, current density of 1313.23 A/cm2 and power density of 195.26 MW/cm3 are gained at x = 0.1. The perfect pulse energy-storage performances as well as ultrahigh stability are correlated with synergistic effects of multiphase coexistence, cubic phase, liquid-phase sintering, grain size, ceramic resistance, space charges and polar nanoregions. The comprehensive parameters indicate that the (Ba 0·88 Li 0·02 Bi 0.1) (Mg 0·04 Ti 0.96)O 3 ceramics have potential application in high precision fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear cell and non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are distinguishable based on microscopic fat, detectable by chemical shift MRI. However, these assessments are often subjective. Conversely, Dixon MRIs and the "2 standard deviations" rule (2SDR) are quantitative methods that may decrease diagnostic subjectivity. Therefore, this study assessed the value of the 2SDR for detecting microscopic fat and thus differentiating clear cell and non-clear cell RCC using Dixon MRI. This retrospective study included patients with RCC who underwent preoperative Dixon MRI. The patients were grouped based on tumor type: clear cell RCC and non-clear cell RCC. The 2SDR value was calculated based on in-phase and opposed-phase images and then compared between the two groups. 2SDR values >0 indicated clear cell RCCs, whereas values <0 indicated non-clear cell RCC. We included 151 patients; 114 patients had clear cell RCC, of which 106 had a 2SDR value >0. Furthermore, 37 patients had non-clear cell RCC, of which 3 had a 2SDR value >0. The 2SDR value was significantly higher in the clear cell RCC group than in the non-clear cell RCC group (p = 0.000). Overall, 93.0% (106/114) and 8.1% (3/37) of patients with clear cell and non-clear cell RCC, respectively, had microscopic fat. The evaluation indices for this 2SDR method were: accuracy: 92.72%, sensitivity: 92.98%, specificity: 91.89%, positive predictive value: 97.25%, and negative predictive value: 80.95%. 2SDR values calculated from Dixon magnetic resonance images can differentiate clear cell from non-clear cell RCCs by detecting microscopic fat. The "2 standard deviations" rule value calculated from Dixon MR images differentiates clear cell from non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma with high efficiency by detecting microscopic fat. • Clear and non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are distinguishable based on microscopic fat, but it is subjective. • Dixon MRIs and "2 standard deviations" rule (2SDR) are quantitative methods that may decrease diagnostic subjectivity. • This study assessed the value of 2SDR with a cutoff value of 0 for detecting microscopic fat to differentiate RCC types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to developing a more refined mathematical theory for designing the previously proposed membrane deflection-based rain gauges. The differential-integral equations governing the large deflection behavior of the membrane are improved by modifying the geometric equations, and more accurate power-series solutions of the large deflection problem are provided, resulting in a new and more refined mathematical theory for designing such rain gauges. Examples are presented to illustrate how to analyze the convergence of the power-series solutions and how to numerically calibrate membrane deflection-based linear rain gauges. In addition, some important issues are demonstrated, analyzed, and discussed, such as the superiority of the new mathematical theory over the old one, the reason why the classical geometric equations cause errors, and the influence of changing design parameters on the input–output relationships of rain gauges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) are potential cancer biomarkers. Little is known about the role of HNRNPR, an essential member of the hnRNP family, in human tumours. This study aims to explore the potential value of HNRNPR across cancers, based on The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The expression level, mutation, DNA methylation, phosphorylation status, survival status, pathological stage, tumor mutation burden (TMB), microsatellite instability (MSI), immune cell infiltration, and immune signature related to HNRNPR were analyzed. HNRNPR expression level was increased in several types of cancer and was associated with poor prognosis, especially in liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC). HNRNPR was also correlated with antitumour immunity, and associated with TMB, MSI, and immune cell activation status across cancers. Furthermore, nomograms were established to predict the prognosis of LIHC, based on HNRNPR and other clinical characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis showed the mechanisms of HNRNPR‐mediated LIHC progression. Loss‐of‐function experiments demonstrated that inhibition of HNRNPR could remarkably suppress hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and Epithelial‐Mesenchymal Transition abilities. Our study offers a comprehensive understanding of the oncogenic roles of HNRNPR across different tumours, and demonstrates that HNRNPR might foster the proliferation, migration, and invasion abilities of HCC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the existing literature, there are only two in-plane equilibrium equations for membrane problems; one does not take into account the contribution of deflection to in-plane equilibrium at all, and the other only partly takes it into account. In this paper, a new and exact in-plane equilibrium equation is established by fully taking into account the contribution of deflection to in-plane equilibrium, and it is used for the analytical solution to the well-known Föppl-Hencky membrane problem. The power series solutions of the problem are given, but in the form of the Taylor series, so as to overcome the difficulty in convergence. The superiority of using Taylor series expansion over using Maclaurin series expansion is numerically demonstrated. Under the same conditions, the newly established in-plane equilibrium equation is compared numerically with the existing two in-plane equilibrium equations, showing that the new in-plane equilibrium equation has obvious superiority over the existing two. A new finding is obtained from this study, namely, that the power series method of using Taylor series expansion is essentially different from that of using Maclaurin series expansion; therefore, the recurrence formulas for power series coefficients of using Maclaurin series expansion cannot be derived directly from that of using Taylor series expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic segmentation of Polarimetric SAR (PolSAR) images is an important research topic in remote sensing. Many deep neural network-based semantic segmentation methods have been applied to PolSAR image segmentation tasks. However, a lack of effective means to deal with the similarity of object features and speckle noise in PolSAR images exists. Thisstudy aims to improve the discriminative capability of neural networks for various intensities of backscattering coefficients while reducing the effects of noise in PolSAR semantic segmentation tasks. Firstly, we propose pre-processing methods for PolSAR image data, which consist of the fusion of multi-source data and false color mapping. Then, we propose a Multi-axis Sequence Attention Segmentation Network (MASA-SegNet) for semantic segmentation of PolSAR data, which is an encoder–decoder framework. Specifically, within the encoder, a feature extractor is designed and implemented by stacking Multi-axis Sequence Attention blocks to efficiently extract PolSAR features at multiple scales while mitigating inter-class similarities and intra-class differences from speckle noise. Moreover, the process of serialized residual connection design enables the propagation of spatial information throughout the network, thereby improving the overall spatial awareness of MASA-SegNet. Within the decoder, it is used to accomplish the semantic segmentation task. The superiority of this algorithm for semantic segmentation will be explored through feature visualization. The experiments show that our proposed spatial sequence attention mechanism can effectively extract features and reduce noise interference and is thus able to obtain the best results on two large-scale public datasets (the AIR-POlSAR-Seg and FUSAR-Map datasets). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphor-in-ceramic (PiC) has garnered considerable attention in high-power white laser lighting owing to its advantages, such as high efficiency and good thermal stability. In this study, a transparent hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramic was successfully prepared via spark-plasma sintering (SPS) under relatively mild conditions. A series of ultra-high efficiency green-emitting PiCs were obtained by pure HA ceramics with 1–12% Lu 3 Al 5 O 12 : Ce (LuAG) phosphors. Owing to the rapid sintering of SPS and the stability of HA ceramics, HA ceramic matrix has high transparency, and does not damage the crystal structure of the LuAG phosphor. When excited by a blue laser, the HA-LuAG PiC exhibited an excellent luminous efficacy of 300.48 lm·W−1. The fluorescence saturation threshold of the laser power was approximately 7.90 W. These results demonstrate that HA-LuAG PiCs have great potential for applications as efficient green-emitting phosphor conversion materials for high-power laser lighting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, three typical and most extreme precipitation events in the history of North China are analyzed and compared in terms of accumulated precipitation and synoptical circulation using surface station observations of China and the ERA5 dataset. The three events happened in August 1963 ("63.8" event, hereafter), August 1975 ("75.8" event), and July 2021 ("21.7" event), respectively, mainly in Hebei and Henan Provinces of North China. The results show that the maximum daily and 4-day accumulated precipitation of all three events exceeded 500 mm and 800 mm, with many stations' daily precipitation ranking Top 1. The "63.8" event persisted for the longest time, affected the largest area, and rained the most in 7 days (over 1000 mm). The "75.8" event was characterized by the most extreme daily precipitation and a concentrated area. All three events characterize a normal northward subtropical high that was located in North China and Northeast China. At 500 hPa, the area from South China to the South China Sea was dominated by a uniform pressure field. In the upper levels, there were troughs and divergence anomalies in all three events. In the low levels, there were anomalous low-level jets and the associated water vapor flux anomalies, which were located at different levels and came from different directions. Stable synoptical circulation and persistent jet and water vapor flux anomalies are the key factors in these extreme events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this article, we propose a new estimation procedure based on modal regression for dynamic single index varying coefficient models, where the index coefficient functions and the link functions are approximated by B-spline basis, respectively. Under some mild regularity conditions, we establish the asymptotic normalities of the obtained spline-based estimators. By introducing an additional tuning parameter (e.g. h), the proposed method can produce robust estimates when the data are not well behaved (e.g. in the presence of outliers and/or heavy-tailed error distributions), and we further calculate the robust estimates by using a modified expectation-maximization-type iteration algorithm, and develop a data driven procedure to select the tuning parameters for the proposed approaches. Finally, some simulations and a real data application are conducted to illustrate the utility of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improper drying processes or poor storage conditions negatively affect the storage period and quality of wolfberries and consequently affect their long-term utilization. As a result, to effectively, fast, and subjectively determine the degree of moisture content of dried wolfberry fruits, this study investigated a rapid nondestructive method for the detection and classification grounded on hyperspectral imaging (HSI). Ten wolfberry’s hyperspectral image sample sets of varying moisture grades were collected using an HSI device within a spectral range of 400.885–1002.193 nm. First-order derivative (FD) with Savitzky–Golay (SG) preprocessing method was selected for data cleaning and a support vector machine (SVM) and sparrow search algorithm–SVM (SSA–SVM) were utilized for the detection of wolfberry moisture gradient content. Also, competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) was applied to the preprocessed data for wavelength selection to simplify the calibration model, and the characteristic wavelengths were settled as 27. From the result, the SVM model built in the integrated FD–SG smoothing algorithm and CARS showed a 100% training set, and a prediction set accuracy of 84.00%. The SSA improved the conventional SVM classification accuracy, and consequently, the SSA–SVM model provided the best prediction accuracy, improving from 91.66 to 100% at an elapsed time of 1.76 s. The kernel parameter g and penalty factor c were set at 0.1641 and 0.2176, respectively. Conclusively, a combination of HSI technology and the CARS–SSA–SVM model could precisely detect wolfberry moisture gradient content and can be potentially developed for the detection of other related food/fruit in the processing industry. The moisture content of wolfberry has a direct connection with its quality. Dried wolfberry storage time is reduced when it contains a considerable level of moisture content in the fruit either due to improper drying process or bad storage conditions, making the wolfberry more likely to deteriorate quickly in quality. Therefore, limiting its long-term use. Traditional methods for detecting wolfberry moisture focus mostly on attractiveness and rely on the opinions of individuals. These methods are arduous, require a lot of time, and are highly impacted by biased elements. HSI technology, on the other hand, is non-destructive, quick/fast, subjective, reproducible, accurate, and pollution-free. The findings revealed that the HSI technique for wolfberry moisture detection is viable and capable of determining wolfberry moisture gradient content. Hence, could be used in the fruit processing industry for fast and accurate moisture content determination for safe storage, shelf-life extension, and processed products’ quality preservation for long-term utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐oxide (DOPO) derivative is prepared. At first, an intermediate 4,4'‐((triazole)bis(azaneylylidene)bis(2,6‐dimethoxyphenol)) (SGA) is obtained from the Schiff‐base reaction between syringaldehyde (S) and 3,5‐diamino‐1,2,4‐triazole (GA). The further product DOPO‐SGA is then introduced into epoxy by blending to improve flame retardancy and mechanical properties. The flammability evaluation is implemented by limited oxygen index (LOI), UL‐94, and cone calorimeter tests. The presence of 3wt.% DOPO‐SGA increases the LOI to 33.2%, upgrades the UL‐94 rating to V‐0, and reduces the release of smoke and heat of epoxy. The tensile strength and impact strength are also enhanced after the introduction of DOPO‐SGA. The addition of 5% DOPO‐SGA increases the tensile strength and impact strength by 47% and 42%, respectively, compared with that of the control EP sample. It is suggested that the mechanical strengthening is ascribed to the ternary cross‐linked network among epoxy monomer, curing agent, and DOPO‐SGA. This work provides a feasible solution to obtain flame‐retardant epoxy resin with enhanced mechanical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) algorithm, a variant of particle swarm optimization (PSO), has been proven to be an effective tool to solve various of optimization problems. However, like other PSO variants, it often suffers a premature convergence, especially when solving complex optimization problems. Considering this issue, this paper proposes a hybrid QPSO with dynamic grouping searching strategy, named QPSO-DGS. During the search process, the particle swarm is dynamically grouped into two subpopulations, which are assigned to implement the exploration and exploitation search, respectively. In each subpopulation, a comprehensive learning strategy is used for each particle to adjust its personal best position with a certain probability. Besides, a modified opposition-based computation is employed to improve the swarm diversity. The experimental comparison is conducted between the QPSO-DGS and other seven state-of-art PSO variants on the CEC'2013 test suit. The experimental results show that QPSO-DGS has a promising performance in terms of the solution accuracy and the convergence speed on the majority of these test functions, and especially on multimodal problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are few studies that focus on the impact of online physical education teaching on college students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. This research focuses on the impact of online physical education among medical school students in China by comparing physical fitness test results for three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021. Method: This study is a longitudinal survey. The subjects of the experiments were students enrolled in a medical school who completed a physical fitness test for three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021. The student subjects were divided into two groups, namely, male and female. The test indices included body mass index (BMI), vital capacity (VC), 50-metre run, sit-and-reach, standing long jump, pull-up (male), 1000-metre run (male), sit-ups (female) and 800-metre run (female). Repeated measures ANOVA method was used in physical fitness test indices at three consecutive time points ranging from 2019 to 2021. The Greenhouse-Geisser correction was applied when Mauchly's hypothesis test did not meet the assumption of sphericity, and the Bonferroni method was used for pairwise comparisons. Results: A total of 3360 students (1490 males and 1870 females) completed physical fitness tests in three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021. The proportion of overweight and obesity in male students was significantly higher than that in female students (28.0% vs. 12.7%). For all subjects, in 2020, the BMI and VC indexes improved, while the 800-/1000-metre running indexes declined. In 2021, all indexes except sit-and-reach increased. Conclusion: The pairwise comparisons of physical fitness test results from 2019 to 2021 show that online physical education is effective in improving all items except long-distance running. Future research needs to involve a larger and geographically more dispersed sample to further analyse the effectiveness of online physical education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an entropy-based grey wolf optimizer (IEGWO) algorithm is proposed for solving global optimization problems. This improvement is proposed to alleviate the lack of population diversity, the imbalance between exploitation and exploration, and the premature convergence of grey wolf optimizer algorithm and consists of three aspects: Firstly, we proposed an information entropy-based population generation strategy to optimize the distribution of initial grey wolf pack. Secondly, a modified dynamic position update equation based on information entropy is introduced to maintain the population diversity in the process of iteration, thus avoiding premature convergence. Thirdly, a nonlinear convergence strategy is proposed to balance the exploration and exploitation. The performance of the proposed IEGWO algorithm is assessed on the CEC2014 and CEC2017 test suites and compared with other meta-heuristic algorithms. Furthermore, two engineering design problems and one real-world problem are also solved using the IEGWO algorithm. The experimental and statistical results indicate that the IEGWO algorithm has better solution accuracy and robustness than the compared algorithms in solving global optimization problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computed tomography angiography (CTA) is very popular because it is characterized by rapidity and accessibility. However, CTA is inferior to digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in the diagnosis of intracranial artery stenosis or occlusion. DSA is an invasive examination, so we optimized the quality of cephalic CTA images. We used 5000 CTA images to train multi-scale residual denoising generative adversarial network (MRDGAN). And then 71 CTA images with intracranial large arterial stenosis were treated by Super-Resolution based on Generative Adversarial Network (SRGAN), Enhanced Super-Resolution based on Generative Adversarial Network (ESRGAN) and post-trained MRDGAN, respectively. Peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) and structural similarity index measurement (SSIM) of the SRGAN, ESRGAN, MRDGAN and original CTA images were measured respectively. The qualities of MRDGAN and original images were visually assessed using a 4-point scale. The diagnostic coherence of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) with MRDGAN and original images was analyzed. The PSNR was significantly higher in the MRDGAN CTA images (35.96 ± 1.51) than in the original (31.51 ± 1.43), SRGAN (25.75 ± 1.18) and ESRGAN (30.36 ± 1.05) CTA images (all P < 0.001). The SSIM was significantly higher in the MRDGAN CTA images (0.95 ± 0.02) than in the SRGAN (0.88 ± 0.03) and ESRGAN (0.90 ± 0.02) CTA images (all P < 0.01). The visual assessment was significantly higher in the MRDGAN CTA images (3.52 ± 0.58) than in the original CTA images (2.39 ± 0.69) (P < 0.05). The diagnostic coherence between MRDGAN and DSA (κ = 0.89) was superior to that between original images and DSA (κ = 0.62). Our MRDGAN can effectively optimize original CTA images and improve its clinical diagnostic value for intracranial large artery stenosis. • SRCTA we proposed, is the first application of super-resolution technology in cephalic CTA images. • SRCTA can generate more high-quality cephalic CTA images than the state-of-the-art models ESRGAN and SRGAN. • SRCTA has excellent diagnostic coherence with DSA in intracranial large artery stenosis or occlusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the feasibility and clinical outcomes of tension-band wiring through a single cannulated screw combined with two suture anchors in treating inferior pole fracture of the patella. Between September 2018 and September 2021, a total of 22 patients with a mean age of 55 years who sustained inferior pole fracture of the patella and were treated by tension-band wiring through a single cannulated screw combined with two suture anchors were enrolled. X-ray radiographs were performed to observe the bone union time. The duration of each operation was recorded to reflect the complexity of surgical treatment. Functional measurements, comprising range of motion (ROM), the Böstman scale, and the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), were taken. Postoperative complications including fixation failure, incision infection, loss of reduction, and malunion were evaluated. All patients were followed up for an average of 17 months (range: 12–25 months). The average clinical bone union time was 8 weeks (range: 6–12 weeks), and the radiographic bone union time was 11 weeks (range: 8–12 weeks). At the final follow-up, the mean ROM was 136° (range: 115°-140°), the KOOS was 85 (range: 68–100) and the Böstman score was 28 (range: 20–30); these outcomes were classified as excellent in 17 cases and good in 5 cases, with no instances of poor results. Loss of reduction occurred in one case, while no cases of incision infection, fixation failure or malunion were observed. For inferior pole fracture of the patella, tension-band wiring through a single cannulated screw combined with suture anchors can offer sufficient fixation stability to achieve a satisfactory clinical outcome with reduced operational complexity; this procedure should be recommended in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates an adaptive, distributed, and cooperative control strategy for the problem of spacecraft swarm reconfiguration, which involves assembling the spacecraft at a close distance to one another while avoiding collisions and keeping spacecraft far from an obstacle. The key idea is to transform their opposite indices into equivalent ones by using soft and hard constraints. The proposed control strategy is inspired by the actor–critic framework of reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms: The soft constraint is designed by using a critic neural network (NN) for assembling and avoiding obstacles, while collisions among the spacecraft are prevented based on the hard constraint established in an artificial potential field (APF). By drawing support from this idea of equivalent transformation, the adaptive, distributed, and cooperative controller is devised by using an actor NN of the RL algorithm, an APF, and Backstepping control technology. The action NNs are used to estimate the input signals of the desired control and the undesired effects due to disturbance from the APF, and the expected control performance is then obtained by minimizing the output of the critic NN. The computational burden incurred by the NNs is significantly reduced by reducing the number of parameters that need to be learned by NNs. Lyapunov stability theory is used to guarantee that all signals in this closed-loop system are ultimately uniformly bounded to ensure its stability. The results of simulations of a swarm of spacecraft demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. • A distributed cooperative control strategy is proposed for spacecraft swarm collision-free and connectivity. • The collision-free and connectivity mdnechanism is developed by the soft and hard constraints. • The less control parameters are chosen through minimal learning parameter approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum communication networks are gradually moving toward practicality, and giving rise to the rapid development of quantum information industry. The decentralized quantum distributed communication network (QDCN) based on quantum node information transfer can meet more realistic scenarios, such as direct node information interaction. However, the prerequisite for two nodes to complete secure and stable communication is the establishment of mutual trust evaluation between nodes. In this paper, a practical mutual trust evaluation model in QDCN is proposed to enhance node's privacy and security. Only Bell states measurement and two-qubit projective measurement are needed to complete the trust evaluation between two communication nodes. The quantum circuit diagram required for model building is presented, and the security analysis proved that this model has a better privacy and security performance and higher particle efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Oilseed rape, as one of the most important oil crops, is an important source of vegetable oil and protein for mankind. As a non‐essential element for plant growth, heavy metal cadmium (Cd) is easily absorbed by plants. Cd will inhibit the photosynthesis of plants, destroy the cell structure, slow the growth of plants, and affect their development and yield. It is necessary to develop a method based on visible near‐infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology to quickly and nondestructively determine the Cd content in rape leaves. Results: Two‐layer estimation models were established by combining visible–NIR HSI with ensemble learning methods (stacking and blending). One layer used support vector regression, extreme learning machine, decision tree, and random forest (RF) as basic learners, and the other layer used support vector regression or RF as a meta learner. Different models were used to analyze the spectra of rape treated with five Cd concentrations to obtain the best prediction method. The results showed that the best model to predict Cd content was the stacking ensemble model with RF as the meta learner, with coefficient of determination for prediction of 0.9815 and root‐mean‐square error for prediction of 5.8969 mg kg−1. A pseudo‐color image was developed using this stacking model to visualize the content and distribution of Cd. Conclusion: The combination of visible–NIR HSI technology and the stacking ensemble learning method is a feasible method to detect the Cd content in rape leaves, which has the potential of being rapid and nondestructive. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although deep learning has achieved great success in image classification, large amounts of labelled data are needed to make full use of the advantages of deep learning. However, annotating a large number of images is expensive and time-consuming, especially annotating medical images, which requires professional knowledge. Therefore, semi-supervised learning has shown its potential for medical image classification. In this paper, we propose a novel pseudo-labelling semi-supervised learning method for medical image classification. Firstly, we utilize the anti-curriculum strategy for model training to prevent the model from producing predictions with a high value from the samples which are similar with existed labeled data. Secondly, to produce more stable and accurate pseudo labels for unlabeled data, we generate the pseudo labels with ensemble predictions provided by the model with samples augmented by different augmentations. In addition, we refine the generated pseudo labels using the prediction of the model at the current epoch in order to make the model learn from itself and improve the model performance. Comparative experiments on the Chest X-ray14 dataset for a multi-label classification task and the ISIC 2018 dataset for a multi-class classification task are performed, and the experimental results show the effectiveness of our method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of science and technology, we can get many groups of data for the same object. There is a certain relationship with each other or structure between these data or within the data. To characterize the structure of the data in different datasets, in this paper, we propose a multiple sparse constraint problem (MSCP) to process the problem with multiblock sparse structure. We give three types of stationary points and present the relationships among the three types of stationary points and the global/local minimizers. Then we design a gradient projection Newton algorithm, which is proven to enjoy the global and quadratic convergence property. Finally, some numerical experiments of different examples illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Cell surface molecules play important roles in cell signal transduction pathways during microbial infection. OBJECTIVE: In this study, the expression and the functions of CD59 was investigated in H. pylori infected gastric cancer (GC). METHODS AND RESULTS: The differential expression of CD59 and the influence of H. pylori on the expression of CD59 were analyzed via bioinformatics through Gene Set Enrichment in GC. In addition, the expression of CD59 in GES-1, AGS cells and GC tissues infected with H. pylori was confirmed by Western blot. Bioinformatics results and H. pylori infection experiments showed CD59 decreased obviously in H. pylori infected GC cells and tissues. The expression of CD59 was linked to the survival rate of GC patients, and influenced various immune cells in the immune microenvironment of GC. CD59 interacts with other genes to form a network in H. pylori infected GC. Certainly, CD59 decreased significantly in H. pylori infected GC tissues, GES-1 and AGS cells in vitro. CONCLUSION: H. pylori infection could influence the expression of CD59 in GC indicating that CD59 may be a promising treatment target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The space Brayton nuclear reactor system usually adopts the helium–xenon gas mixture (He–Xe) as the working fluid. The flow of He–Xe in the micro channel regenerator of the system is generally laminar. Since the properties of He–Xe are significantly different from those of common pure gases, the impact of this difference on the laminar flow and heat transfer needs to be evaluated. In present study, the numerical simulations of laminar convective heat transfer for helium, nitrogen and He–Xe are conducted by Ansys Fluent. Compared with simulation results, the applicability of existing laminar friction factor (f) and Nusselt number correlations is evaluated. By establishing the functions of property ratios with the temperature ratio and the mixing ratio, a new laminar f correlation for property-variable He–Xe is proposed. Results show that the calculation error of existing f correlations for He–Xe is obviously large, exceeding 13%. With the new f correlation, the predictions of laminar f for He–Xe are in good agreement with the simulation results in the fully developed region, and the calculation error is reduced to 3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an increase in ocean warming and acidification that is expected to increase the number of harmful algal species worldwide, the population of the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo has been reported to be reduced. However, how this species physically and metabolically modifies transitional C:N:P ratio and macromolecule accumulation is unknown. Considering 1st, 10th, and 20th culture generations under present (low-temperature; low-carbon-dioxide [LTLC] 21 °C; pCO2 400 ppm) and future (high-temperature; high-carbon-dioxide [HTHC] 25 °C; pCO2 1000 ppm) ocean conditions, we examined transitional C:N:P ratio and macromolecule level changes and performed transcriptome sequencing. The results showed that compared to 1st generation cells, 20th generation cells under HTHC conditions showed a large decrease in carbon quota (QC: 34%), nitrogen quota (QN: 36%), and phosphorus quota (QP: 32%), which were reflected in an overall reduction in DNA and RNA quantity. Decreased activation of photosynthetic, carbon fixation and lipid metabolic pathways coincided with changes in photosynthetic efficiency, carbon concentration, and lipid accumulation after long-term (20th generation) exposure to HTHC conditions. We observed that these variations in internal metabolic pathways were caused by external changes in temperature, which activated the (Ca+) signaling pathway, and external changes in pCO2, which altered proton exchange pathways. Our results suggest that H. akashiwo in a temperate environment will undergo profound changes in C:N:P ratio and macromolecular properties, leading to programmed cell death, in the future. Physiological experiments in Heterosigma akashiwo provide metabolic insights to the future of algal blooms under warming and acidifying ocean conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite an increase in ocean warming and acidification that is expected to increase the number of harmful algal species worldwide, the population of the raphidophyte Heterosigma akashiwo has been reported to be reduced. However, how this species physically and metabolically modifies transitional C:N:P ratio and macromolecule accumulation is unknown. Considering 1st, 10th, and 20th culture generations under present (low-temperature; low-carbon-dioxide [LTLC] 21 °C; pCO2 400 ppm) and future (high-temperature; high-carbon-dioxide [HTHC] 25 °C; pCO2 1000 ppm) ocean conditions, we examined transitional C:N:P ratio and macromolecule level changes and performed transcriptome sequencing. The results showed that compared to 1st generation cells, 20th generation cells under HTHC conditions showed a large decrease in carbon quota (QC: 34%), nitrogen quota (QN: 36%), and phosphorus quota (QP: 32%), which were reflected in an overall reduction in DNA and RNA quantity. Decreased activation of photosynthetic, carbon fixation and lipid metabolic pathways coincided with changes in photosynthetic efficiency, carbon concentration, and lipid accumulation after long-term (20th generation) exposure to HTHC conditions. We observed that these variations in internal metabolic pathways were caused by external changes in temperature, which activated the (Ca+) signaling pathway, and external changes in pCO2, which altered proton exchange pathways. Our results suggest that H. akashiwo in a temperate environment will undergo profound changes in C:N:P ratio and macromolecular properties, leading to programmed cell death, in the future. Physiological experiments in Heterosigma akashiwo provide metabolic insights to the future of algal blooms under warming and acidifying ocean conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]