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Underwater object detection is a prerequisite for underwater robots to achieve autonomous operation and ocean exploration. However, poor imaging quality, harsh underwater environments and concealed underwater targets greatly aggravate the difficulty of underwater object detection. In order to reduce underwater background interference and improve underwater object perception, we propose a multi-dimensional, multi-functional and multi-level attention module (mDFLAM). The multi-dimensional strategy first enhances the robustness of attention application by collecting valuable information in different target dimensions. The multi-functional strategy further improves the flexibility of attention calibration by capturing the importance of channel semantic information and the dependence of spatial location information. The multi-level strategy finally enriches the diversity of attention perception by extracting the intrinsic information under different receptive fields. In pre-processing and post-processing stages, cross-splitting and cross-linking stimulate the synergistic calibration advantage of multi-dimensional and multi-functional attention by redistributing channel dimensions and restoring feature states. In the attention calibration stage, adaptive fusion stimulates the synergistic calibration advantage of multi-level attention by assigning learnable parameters. In order to meet the high-precision and real-time requirements for underwater object detection, we integrate the plug-and-play mDFLAM into YOLO detectors. The full-port embedding further strengthens the semantic information expression by improving the feature fusion quality between scales. In underwater detection tasks, ablation and comparison experiments demonstrate the rationality and effectiveness of our attention design. In other detection tasks, our work shows good robustness and generalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using time–distance local helioseismology flow maps within 1 Mm of the solar photosphere, we detect inflows toward activity belts that contribute to solar-cycle scale variations in the near-surface meridional flow. These inflows stretch out as far as 30° away from the active region centroids. If active region neighborhoods are excluded, the solar-cycle-scale variation in the background meridional flow diminishes to below 2 m s−1, but still shows systematic variations in the absence of active regions between sunspot cycles 24 and 25. We therefore propose that the near-surface meridional flow is a three-component flow made up of a constant baseline flow profile that can be derived from quiet-Sun regions, variations due to inflows around active regions, and solar-cycle-scale variation of about 2 m s−1. Torsional oscillation, on the other hand, is found to be a global phenomenon, i.e., exclusion of active region neighborhoods does not significantly affect its magnitude or phase. This nonvariation in torsional oscillation with distance away from active regions and the three-component breakdown of the near-surface meridional flow serve as vital constraints for solar dynamo models and surface flux-transport simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principal aim of present study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) induced differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) in a rat acute spinal cord injury (SCI) model. BMSCs were isolated from rats, and then divided into a control and a BMP-7 induction groups. The proliferation ability of BMSCs and glial cell markers were determined. Forty Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham, SCI, BMSC, and BMP7 + BMSC groups (n = 10). Among these rats, the recovery of hind limb motor function, the pathological related markers, and motor evoked potentials (MEP) were identified. BMSCs differentiated into neuron-like cells after the introduction of exogenous BMP-7. Interestingly, the expression levels of MAP-2 and Nestin increased, whereas the expression level of GFAP decreased after the treatment with exogenous BMP-7. Furthermore, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score reached 19.33 ± 0.58 in the BMP-7 + BMSC group at day 42. Nissl bodies in the model group were reduced compared to the sham group. After 42 days, in both the BMSC and BMP-7 + BMSC groups, the number of Nissl bodies increased. This is especially so for the number of Nissl bodies in the BMP-7 + BMSC group, which was more than that in the BMSC group. The expression of Tuj-1 and MBP in BMP-7 + BMSC group increased, whereas the expression of GFAP decreased. Moreover, the MEP waveform decreased significantly after surgery. Furthermore, the waveform was wider and the amplitude was higher in BMP-7 + BMSC group than that in BMSC group. BMP-7 promotes BMSC proliferation, induces the differentiation of BMSCsinto neuron-like cells, and inhibits the formation of glial scar. BMP-7 plays a confident role in the recovery of SCI rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Band selection (BS) is an effective pre-processing way to reduce the redundancy of hyperspectral data. Specifically, the band prioritization (BP) criterion plays an essential role since it can judge the importance of bands from a particular perspective. However, most of the existing methods select bands according to a single criterion, leading to incomplete band evaluation and insufficient generalization against different data sets. To address this problem, this work proposes a multi-criteria-based band selection (MCBS) framework, which innovatively treats BS as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. First, a decision matrix is constructed based on several typical BPs, so as to evaluate the bands from different focuses. Then, MCBS defines the global positive and negative idea solutions and selects bands according to their relative closeness to these solutions. Since each BP has a different capability to discriminate the bands, two weight estimation approaches are developed to adaptively balance the contributions of various criteria. Finally, this work also provides an extended version of MCBS, which incorporates the subspace partition strategy to reduce the correlation of the selected bands. In this paper, the classification task is used to evaluate the performance of the selected band subsets. Extensive experiments on three public data sets verify that the proposed method outperforms other state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • High-performance SERS MXene-coated Au@Ag NP substrate due to the EM and CM. • Exosomes from only 0.4 mL of plasma were analyzed without additional labeling steps. • Diagnostic and staging accuracy of 96.0 %, 86.6 % for thyroid cancer based on ResNet. Exosomes (EVs), serving as one of the optimal subjects for liquid biopsies, have seen broad applications in diagnosing various diseases, including cancers. In this paper, an efficient method has been proposed for label-free profiling of exosomes in biological samples (e.g., plasma) by a combination of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) on MXene-coated gold@silver core@shell nanoparticle (Au@Ag NP) functionalized substrate and deep learning. Due to the contributions of electromagnetic enhancement (EM) and chemical enhancement (CM) of MXene-coated Au@Ag NP substrate, the as-proposed SERS sensing platform exhibits a dynamic range of 0.5 × 1010 to 2.0 × 1011 EVs mL−1 with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 1.7 × 109 EVs mL−1 (three times standard deviation (3σ) of blank sample). Subsequently, a deep-learning classification algorithm has been developed for extracting the features of EVs from complex Raman spectra by residual neural networks. As a proof of principle, the preliminary validation of our approach is demonstrated by discrimination of thyroid cancer patients from healthy controls with diagnostic accuracy of 96.0 %, and staging of the cancer patients with accuracy of 86.6 %, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In early lactation, bovine mammary epithelial cells undergo serious metabolic challenges and oxidative stress both of which could be alleviated by activation of autophagy. Nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (NFE2L2), a master regulator of cellular redox homeostasis, plays an important role in the regulation of autophagy and oxidative stress. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the role of NFE2L2-mediated autophagy on oxidative stress of bovine mammary epithelial cells in response to exogenous free fatty acids (FFA). Results: Exogenous FFA induced linear and quadratic decreases in activities of glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and increases in the contents of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA). Protein abundance of LC3-phosphatidylethanolamine conjugate (LC3-II) and the number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes decreased in a dose-dependent manner, while protein abundance of p62 increased in cells challenged with FFA. Activation of autophagy via pre-treatment with Rap attenuated the FFA-induced ROS accumulation. Importantly, FFA inhibited protein abundance of NFE2L2 and the translocation of NFE2L2 into the nucleus. Knockdown of NFE2L2 by siRNA decreased protein abundance of LC3-II, while it increased protein abundance of p62. Furthermore, sulforaphane (SFN) pre-treatment attenuated the FFA-induced oxidative stress by activating NFE2L2-mediated autophagy. Conclusions: The data suggested that NFE2L2-mediated autophagy is an important antioxidant mechanism in bovine mammary epithelial cells experiencing increased FFA loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• EPO was recommended for sunlight correction. • Results support use of hand-held NIRS with varying sunlight. • Results support use of hand-held NIRS estimation of optimal harvest date. The models for hand-held near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) instrument calibrated in the laboratory are prone to failure during orchard application because of measurement conditions change especially on sunlight interference. The models transfer from lab to orchard for assessment of soluble solids content (SSC) of navel orange on tree was investigated with consideration of sunlight influence to the fruit spectra. Chemometrics methods of global model, external parameter orthogonalization (EPO) and generalized least square weighting (GLSW) were attempted to correct the influence of the sunlight. Comparison of global model, both EPO and GLSW improved the predictive ability of partial least square regression (PLSR) models. With few corrected samples requirement, EPO was recommended and validated in predicting the samples in the different harvest date and blocks. The best results of coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.73 and 0.90, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) 0.85 and 0.63 % and ratio of standard deviation (SD) to RMSEP of 1.94 and 3.27 in predicting the samples in days after full bloom (DAFB) 237 (block A) and 164 (block B) were obtained. The best model corrected by EPO method was also adopted to estimate the optimal harvest date with a good consistency with destructive analysis. The results suggested that EPO correction aided the model transfer from lab to orchard was feasible for assessment of SSC of navel orange on tree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MapReduce is a popular paradigm in distributed computing, but it is not efficient when executing iterative algorithms over a distributed big dataset due to its heavy data communication overhead. Non-MapReduce computing is an alternative for improving computing efficiency and data scalability when using iterative algorithms to process big distributed datasets on clusters. In this paper, we investigate Non-MapReduce approach in distributed computing and use Spark implementations of machine learning algorithms to discuss the problems of MapReduce in executing iterative algorithms over a big distributed dataset and the advantages of Non-MapReduce for the same tasks. We present a method to build a new machine learning library made of sequential algorithms for distributed computing. We use experiment results to show comparisons of computing efficiency and data scalability of MapReduce and Non-MapReduce in executing six machine learning algorithms over big datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are attractive biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and treatment, while it is still a challenge to precise analysis of MMP activities owing to their very low abundance in the biological samples, especially at the early stages of tumors. Herein, a peptide microarray-based metal-enhanced fluorescence assay (PMMEFA) is proposed to simultaneously detect MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, -9, and -13 activities. The assay involves immobilization of Förster resonance energy transfer dye pair decorated peptides (FRET-peptides) on a poly(glycidyl methacrylate-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) coated gold nanorod modified glass slide (GNR@P(GMA-HEMA)). To fabricate the GNR@P(GMA-HEMA) slide, GNRs are self-assembled onto an aminated glass slide, and a polymer brush (P(GMA-HEMA)) is grown through a surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization reaction (SI-ATRP). Upon the addition of MMPs, the FRET pairs are broken due to the specific cleavage of FRET-peptides by enzymes, resulting in the recovery of fluorescence signals and further enhancement by the MEF of GNRs. The fluorescence recovery degree provides a direct indicator for MMP activity. The PMMEFA exhibits excellent sensitivity, which enables to detect MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, -9, and -13 activities, with low limits of detection (LODs) of 1.7 fg mL−1, 0.3 fg mL−1, 2.0 fg mL−1, 1.8 fg mL−1, 2.2 fg mL−1 and 14.0 fg mL−1, respectively. To substantiate the practicability of PMMEFA, MMP activities were measured in a range of matrices, encompassing cell culture medium, serum, and tumor tissue homogenate, and MMP activities can be detected only in 0.15 μL serum and 0.025 mg tumor tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging dimming occurs in isolated solar active regions (ARs) during the early stages of magnetic flux emergence. Observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, it features a rapid decrease in extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) emission in the 171 Å channel images, and a simultaneous increase in the 211 Å images. Here, we analyze the coronal thermodynamic and magnetic properties to probe its physical origin. We calculate the time-dependent differential emission measures for a sample of 18 events between 2010 and 2012. The emission measure (EM) decrease in the temperature range is well correlated with the EM increase in over eight orders of magnitude. This suggests that the coronal plasma is being heated from the quiet-Sun, sub-MK temperature to 1–2 MK, more typical for ARs. Potential field extrapolation indicates significant change in the local magnetic connectivity: the dimming region is now linked to the newly emerged flux via longer loops. We conclude that emerging dimming is likely caused by coronal heating episodes, powered by reconnection between the emerging and the ambient magnetic fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark matter (DM) constitutes 85% of the matter in the Universe. However, its specific particle property is still unclear. The fundamentals of DM particles subject to gravitational interaction, and that the lepton excess in cosmic rays may originate from DM particles, inspired us to investigate DM particle properties beyond the standard model. We assume that a leptophilic SU(2) doublet exists in nature as the mediator connecting DM with visible leptons. Since general relativity is not renormalizable at the quantum level, it should be regarded as an effective field theory's leading order term. One species of the next-to-leading-order term should be operators linear to the Ricci scalar and containing scalar fields, such as the Higgs field, scalar DM, or the newly introduced SU(2) scalar doublet. These operators can cause DM annihilation through gravity portals. We analyzed constraints from the cosmic antiproton flux, DM relic abundance, cosmic positron flux, cosmic microwave background, and direct detection experiments. The result shows that there is a vast parameter space that is compatible with current experiments. DM with a mass of electroweak scale is only allowed to annihilate into leptons. We further show that the purely gravitational DM better explains the DArk Matter Particle Explorer cosmic lepton excess. Our work provides a promising mechanism for DM particles to connect with standard model particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bovine mammary epithelial cells after calving undergo serious metabolic challenges and oxidative stress both of which could compromise autophagy. Transcription factor EB (TFEB)-mediated autophagy is an important cytoprotective mechanism against oxidative stress. However, effects of TFEB-mediated autophagy on the oxidative stress of bovine mammary epithelial cells remain unknown. Therefore, the main aim of the study was to investigate the role of TFEB-mediated autophagy in bovine mammary epithelial cells experiencing oxidative stress. Results: H2O2 challenge of the bovine mammary epithelial cell MAC-T increased protein abundance of LC3-II, increased number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes while decreased protein abundance of p62. Inhibition of autophagy via bafilomycin A1 aggravated H2O2-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and apoptosis in MAC-T cells. Furthermore, H2O2 treatment triggered the translocation of TFEB into the nucleus. Knockdown of TFEB by siRNA reversed the effect of H2O2 on protein abundance of LC3-II and p62 as well as the number of autophagosomes and autolysosomes. Overexpression of TFEB activated autophagy and attenuated H2O2-induced ROS accumulation. Furthermore, TFEB overexpression attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis by downregulating the caspase apoptotic pathway. Conclusions: Our results indicate that activation of TFEB mediated autophagy alleviates H2O2-induced oxidative damage by reducing ROS accumulation and inhibiting caspase-dependent apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active regions (ARs) often possess an observed net electric current in a single magnetic polarity. We show that such “non-neutralized” currents can arise from a geometric projection effect when a twisted flux tube obliquely intersects the photosphere. To this end, we emulate surface maps of an emerging AR by sampling horizontal slices of a semi-torus flux tube at various heights. Although the tube has no net toroidal current, its poloidal current, when projected along the vertical direction, amounts to a significant non-neutralized component on the surface. If the tube emerges only partially as in realistic settings, the non-neutralized current will 1) develop as double ribbons near the sheared polarity inversion line, (2) positively correlate with the twist, and 3) reach its maximum before the magnetic flux. The projection effect may be important to the photospheric current distribution, in particular during the early stages of flux emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ketosis is a serious metabolic disorder characterized by systemic and hepatic oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis, as well as reduced milk yield. Because of the paucity of data on mammary responses during ketosis, the aim of this study was to evaluate alterations in oxidative stress, NF-κB signaling, NLRP3 inflammasome, and caspase apoptotic pathways in mammary gland of dairy cows with ketosis. Blood, mammary gland tissue, and milk samples were collected from healthy cows [Control, blood concentration of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) <0.6 m M , n = 10] and cows with subclinical ketosis (SCK, blood concentration of BHB >1.2 m M and <3 m M , n = 10) or clinical ketosis (CK, blood concentration of BHB >3 m M , n = 10) at median 8 d in milk (range = 6–12). Compared with Control, serum concentration of glucose was lower (3.91 vs. 2.86 or 2.12 m M) in cows with SCK or CK, whereas concentrations of fatty acids (0.25 vs. 0.57 or 1.09 m M) and BHB (0.42 vs. 1.81 or 3.85 m M) were greater. Compared with Control, the percentage of milk fat was greater in cows with SCK or CK. In contrast, the percentage of milk protein was lower in cows with SCK or CK. We detected no differences in milk lactose content across groups. Compared with Control, activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase were lower in mammary gland tissue of cows with SCK or CK. In contrast, concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde were greater in cows with SCK or CK. Compared with Control, mRNA abundances of TNFA , IL6 , and IL1B were greater in mammary tissues of cows with SCK or CK. In addition, activity of IKKβ and the ratio of phosphorylated inhibitor of κBα to IκBα, and of phosphorylated NF-κB p65 to NF-κB p65, were also greater in mammary tissues of cows with SCK or CK. Subclinical or clinical ketosis also led to greater activity of caspase 1 and protein abundance of caspase 1, NLRP3, Bax, caspase 3, and caspase 9. In contrast, abundance of the antiapoptotic protein was lower in SCK or CK cows. The data indicate that the mammary gland of SKC or CK cows undergoes severe oxidative stress, inflammation, and cell death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of electric vehicles is an important trend in the automotive industry, in which the performance of power batteries is greatly affected by temperature. In recent years, it has been widely concerned that the performance of power batteries at low temperature will lead to the vehicle failure to start because of the bad thermal equilibrium of power battery heating system. This paper studies the thermal equilibrium performance of battery liquid heating system at low temperature. Inlet temperature, heating time, ambient temperature, and their coupling relationship to battery thermal equilibrium performance are studied by orthogonal experimental design method. It is expected that this study can provide reference for the parameter selection of battery heating system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exogenous molecules derived from catabolic states (e.g., fatty acids, β-hydroxybutyrate) during periods of stress such as the periparturient period or pathogen challenges [e.g., lipopolysaccharide (LPS)] can trigger an inflammatory response in tissues such as the liver and the mammary gland. Butyrate is one of the major short-chain fatty acids produced in the rumen, and work with non-ruminants has demonstrated that it can alter inflammatory processes. The primary objective of this study was to explore the preventive effect of sodium butyrate (SB) on LPS-induced inflammation in bovine mammary epithelial cells along with underlying molecular mechanisms. Immortalized bovine mammary epithelial cells (MAC-T) were treated with SB (0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, or 5 m M) or with the histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin A (TSA; 6.25, 12.5, 25, or 50 n M) for 18 h, followed by a challenge with 1 µg/mL LPS for an additional 6 h. Pretreatment with SB prevented increase in apoptosis of LPS-challenged MAC-T cells in a dose-dependent manner. The LPS treatment upregulated mRNA abundance of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFA), interleukin-6 (IL6), and interleukin-1B (IL1B), whereas inhibition of histone deacetylase with TSA dampened this effect. More importantly, SB had clear dose-dependent effects on the inflammatory response by preventing upregulation of TNFA , IL6 , and IL1B. Furthermore, pretreatment with TSA or SB attenuated the downregulation of histone H3 acetylation protein abundance induced by LPS. The greater ratio of p-IκB α/IκB α and p-p65/p65 protein abundance and the increase in nuclear localization of NF-κB p65 protein in response to LPS were attenuated by pretreatment with SB. Overall, the data indicated that exogenous SB alleviates mammary cell pro-inflammatory responses partly through post-translational mechanisms that diminish NF-κB signaling. Thus, the cytoprotective effect of SB against an inflammatory challenge might represent a preventive tool to help the mammary gland against pathogens such as those causing mastitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a hot topic in the financial engineering, the portfolio optimization aims to increase investors' wealth. In this paper, a portfolio management system based on deep-reinforcement learning is proposed. In contrast to inflexible traditional methods, the proposed system achieves a better trading strategy through Reinforcement learning. The reward signal of Reinforcement learning is updated by action weights from Deep learning networks. Low price, high price and close price constitute the inputs, but the importance of these three features is quite different. Traditional methods and the classical CNN can't deal with these three features separately, but in our method, a designed depth convolution is proposed to deal with these three features separately. In a virtual currency market, the price rise only occurs in a flash. Traditional methods and CNN networks can't accurately judge the critical time. In order to solve this problem, a three-dimensional attention gating network is proposed and it gives higher weights on rising moments and assets. Under different market conditions, the proposed system achieves more substantial returns and greatly improves the Sharpe ratios. The short-term risk index of the proposed system is lower than those of the traditional algorithms. Simulation results show that the traditional algorithms (including Best, CRP, PAMR, CWMR and CNN) are unable to perform as well as our approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of garnet-structured Li 6 Ca(La 0.99- x Yb x Er 0.01) 2 Nb 2 O 12 (0≤ x ≤0.05) phosphors were originally synthesized and examined for upconversion (UC) luminescence and optical temperature sensing under 978 nm laser excitation. It was identified that the optimal content of Yb3+ sensitizer is x =0.04 for Er3+ emission and the non-thermally coupled 2H 11/2 /4F 9/2 energy levels of Er3+ possess a superior capability of optical thermometry, whose maximum absolute sensitivity (~15.20 × 10−3 K−1 at 523 K) is generally ~1.7-6.1 times the values reported to date for most of other UC systems. The optimal Yb3+ content of Li 6 Ca(La 0.99- x Yb x Er 0.01) 2 Nb 2 O 12 is x =0.04 for Er3+ emission and the non-thermally coupled 2H 11/2 /4F 9/2 Er3+ levels were identified to be superior for optical thermometry, whose maximum absolute sensitivity is generally ~1.7-6.1 times those reported for most of other Yb3+/Er3+ codoped systems. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blackheart and soluble solids content (SSC) are critical parameters of pear for quality assessment and export trade guarantee. A non-destructive detection method was developed for measuring blackheart pear and SSC. Three discriminate analysis models, such as principal component analysis (PCA), correlation analysis and partial least square discriminate analysis (PLS-DA), were developed to identify black heart samples. Compared with PCA and correlation analysis, PLS-DA achieved the highest classification accuracy of 100% for identifying blackheart pears. Three sample sets of healthy samples, black heart ones, and their combination were applied to assess the performance of PLS model, and PLS model calibrated with healthy pears yielded better with root-mean-square errors of prediction 0.45°Brix. The overall results suggested that it was feasible to detect blackheart and SSC of pears simultaneously by online visible–NIR spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well established that magnetic free energy associated with electric currents powers solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from solar active regions (ARs). However, the conditions that determine whether an AR will produce an eruption are not well understood. Previous work suggests that the degree to which the driving electric currents, or the sum of all currents within a single magnetic polarity, are neutralized may serve as a good proxy for assessing the ability of ARs to produce eruptions. Here, we investigate the relationship between current neutralization and flare/CME production using a sample of 15 flare-active and 15 flare-quiet ARs. All flare-quiet and four flare-active ARs are also CME-quiet. We additionally test the relation of current neutralization to the degree of shear along polarity inversion lines (PILs) in an AR. We find that flare-productive ARs are more likely to exhibit non-neutralized currents, specifically those that also produce a CME. We find that flare/CME-active ARs also exhibit higher degrees of PIL shear than flare/CME-quiet ARs. We additionally observe that currents become more neutralized during magnetic flux emergence in flare-quiet ARs. Our investigation suggests that current neutralization in ARs is indicative of their eruptive potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of sunflower seed usually influences the load and product quality. The plumpness, expressing as the percent of the kernel and shell (%), is a crucial indicator reflecting the vigor of the sunflower seed. Investigations were carried out to measure the plumpness of intact sunflower seed by the use of terahertz (THz) transmittance imaging. The THz data of the worms, defects, and sound sunflower seeds were scanned using a THz time-domain transmittance imaging system. Followed THz imaging, the shell and kernel of the sample were separated carefully and recorded RGB images as the reference. Compared with the shell, the absorption coefficients and time domain signals of the kernel showed a significant difference in 0.5–2.0 THz. The characteristic images in 0.5–2.0 THz and control groups of 0.5–1.0, 1.0–1.5, and 1.5–2.0 THz were extracted, and the defects, kernel, and shell could be discriminated clearly in 0.5–2.0 THz. The models of the plumpness were developed between the THz and RGB images processed by the threshold segmentation. The determination coefficient and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) were 0.91 and 4% for an independent prediction set, respectively. The results suggested that use of THz transmittance imaging in measurement of plumpness of the intact sunflower seed was feasible. In addition, THz imaging provided a novel quality assessment solution for the coated samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) is a regulator of cellular oxidative stress and is also involved in lipid metabolism in adipocytes. However, it remains unknown as to whether Nrf2 is the link between oxidative stress and the induction of lipid accumulation in adipocytes. Results: Here, we show that oxidative stress is markedly increased in white adipose tissue from mice with high-fat diet-induced or genetically (ob/ob)-induced obesity and from human subjects with obesity. Notably, in response to oxidative stress, Nrf2 expression and activity were induced, further promoting lipid accumulation in adipocytes and exacerbating the development of obesity. In contrast, Nrf2 ablation alleviated oxidative stress-induced lipid accumulation. Mechanistically, oxidative stress promoted Nrf2 recruitment to the sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 promoter, inducing target gene transcription and subsequent lipogenesis. In addition, Nrf2 mediated oxidative stress-inhibited lipolysis in adipocytes via the protein kinase A pathway. Innovation and Conclusion: Our data provide a novel insight that Nrf2, as a critical signaling node, links oxidative stress to the induction of fat accumulation in adipocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In ultra‐high speed (UHS) motor applications, full SIC two‐level (2L) inverters with high switching frequencies are generally used due to their lower cost. However, even with the usage of all WBG power devices, high‐frequency hard‐switched 2L inverters still do not achieve optimal efficiency characteristics. As a result, in order to simultaneously reduce the switching frequency and enhance overall efficiency, recently three‐level (3L) topologies have emerged as a promising solution. Nevertheless, to fully meet the requirements of UHS applications, the switching frequency of 3L inverters should be increased beyond 30 kHz, which necessitates the usage of all SIC power devices. This, in turn, leads to a potential drawback where the cost of the drive system may become prohibitively high due to the requirement of all SIC switches. To address this issue and reduce the cost of a full SIC 3L inverter, a new 3L simplified sparse NPC (SSNPC) topology is proposed in this work. The operational principle of this topology, its distinctive control features, and the advantages it offers specifically for UHS applications are presented. Additionally, to further increase the efficiency and reduce the influence of dead time at low speeds, a new switching sequence is introduced. Finally, the overall performance and efficiency characteristics of the high‐frequency SSNPC inverter were verified across all operational conditions of UHS motor drive system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effect of spectral emissivity on the optimal expansion wavelength of the second-order Taylor expansion of temperature measurement integral equation is insensitive. • The second-order Taylor expansion is used to approximate the temperature measurement integral equation to solve the temperature without proportional coefficient calibration, and the theoretical error is less than 6 %. • Taking the flame as the heat source, compared with the temperature measurement results of the multi-wavelength colorimetric thermometer, the error of the temperature measurement method without proportional coefficient calibration is less than 1.53 %. The physical state and physicochemical properties of matter can be directly affected by high temperature process. Therefore, the measurement of high temperature is of great significance in the fields of scientific research, material processing, and equipment evaluation. However, the existing charge-coupled device (CCD) colorimetric temperature measurement technology fails to deal with the system of integral equations, and it needs to be re-calibrated to obtain the channel proportional coefficient to complete the solution. Thus, the complexity of the preparation process is increased and experimental errors inevitably occur. In this study, Lagrange theorem calculation method of CCD colorimetric temperature measurement is not considered, and a temperature solution method based on Taylor expansion of integral equations is proposed by using the same hypothesis. The theoretical error range is analyzed, and the selection method of optimal expansion wavelength and the calculation steps of actual temperature measurement are presented. The uncertainty of the system is discussed, a comparative experiment of colorimetric temperature measurement is conducted by measuring the flame temperature, and the experimental error is analyzed. To verify the accuracy of theoretical calculations, this study effectively simplifies the calibration steps of temperature measurement equipment, and provides a new idea for multi-wavelength and multi-channel two-dimensional temperature measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy cows with ketosis display excessive lipolysis in adipose tissue. Heat-shock protein B7 (HSPB7), a small heat-shock protein, plays important roles in mediating cytoprotective responses to oxidative stress in rodent adipose tissue. Accordingly, it is assumed that HSPB7 may also play important roles in the antioxidant response in adipose tissue of ketotic cows. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate (1) the redox state of adipose tissue in ketotic cows and (2) the role and mechanism of HSPB7 on the regulation of oxidative stress in adipocytes from preruminant calves. An in vivo study consisting of 15 healthy and 15 clinically ketotic cows was performed to harvest subcutaneous adipose tissue and blood samples. In addition, adipocytes isolated from calves were treated with different concentrations of H 2 O 2 (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, or 200 μ M) for 2 h, transfected with adenovirus-mediated overexpression of HSPB7 for 48 h, or transfected with small interfering RNA of HSPB7 for 48 h followed by exposure to H 2 O 2 (200 μ M) for 2 h. Serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate were greater in cows with clinical ketosis, whereas serum concentration of glucose was lower. Compared with healthy cows, the malondialdehyde content was greater but the activity of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase was lower in adipose tissue of clinically ketotic cows. The abundance of HSPB7 and nuclear factor, erythroid 2 like 2 (NFE2L2) was greater in adipose tissue of clinically ketotic cows. In vitro, H 2 O 2 treatment induced the overproduction of reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde, and inhibited the activity of antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in adipocytes from preruminant calves. The low concentration of H 2 O 2 (12.5, 25, and 50 μ M) increased the abundance of HSPB7 and NFE2L2, but high concentrations of H 2 O 2 (100 or 200 μ M) reduced the abundance of HSPB7 and NFE2L2. The overexpression of HSPB7 improved the H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress in adipocytes via increasing the abundance of NFE2L2 and its downstream target genes heme oxygenase-1 (HMOX1) and NADH quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1). Knockdown of HSPB7 markedly inhibited the expression of NFE2L2, HMOX1, and NQO1 and further exacerbated H 2 O 2 -induced oxidative stress. Overall, these results indicate that activation of the HSPB7-NFE2L2 pathway increases cellular antioxidant capacity, thereby alleviating oxidative stress in bovine adipocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigations were carried out to develop terahertz (THz) techniques combined with machine learning methods for rapidly measuring benzoic acid (BA) additive in wheat flour. The absorption coefficient had a significant characteristic peak at 1.94 THz, which usually varies with the increase of BA additive concentrations. Correlation analysis was initiated to choose a frequency pair of 1.94 and 1.86 THz that improved the predictive ability of multiple linear regressions (MLR) model. Then, quantitative determination models were modeled between BA concentrations and THz absorption coefficients using partial least square (PLS) regression and least square support vector machine (LS-SVM). Compared with MLR and PLS models, the LS-SVM model could be regarded as an effective tool for quality control of wheat flour with a correlation coefficient of prediction (Rp) of 0.994 and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.12%. The results suggest that combining THz spectroscopy with LS-SVM has the potential to quantitatively analyze BA additive in wheat flour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High blood concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) during ketosis represent a source of fatty acids for milk fat synthesis and explain the increase in milk fat content in ketotic cows. Cell death-inducing DFFA-like effector a (CIDEA) is a lipid droplet coat protein with important roles in the regulation of milk fat synthesis and secretion in mice. Whether ketosis alters the expression of CIDEA in mammary gland tissue and the extent to which it may contribute to regulation of milk fat synthesis and secretion are unknown. Mammary gland tissue and blood samples were collected from healthy (n = 15) and clinically ketotic (n = 15) cows. Mammary epithelial cells isolated from cows were infected with CIDEA overexpression adenovirus for 48 h, treated with 0, 0.3, 0.6, or 1.2 mM NEFA for 24 h, or infected with CIDEA-silencing adenovirus for 48 h and treated with 1.2 mM NEFA for 24 h. Serum concentrations of NEFA and β-hydroxybutyrate were greater in cows with clinical ketosis, and milk production and dry matter intake were lower in cows with clinical ketosis. However, compared with healthy cows, the content of milk fat of cows with clinical ketosis was greater. Compared with healthy cows, abundance of mRNA and protein of CIDEA, fatty acid synthase (FASN), acetylcoA carboxylase 1 (ACACA), butyrophilin (BTN1A1), and xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) was greater in mammary tissue of cows with clinical ketosis. Overexpression of CIDEA in cultured mammary epithelial cells increased the abundance of FASN, ACACA, XDH, and BTN1A1, and increased triacylglycerol (TAG) content in mammary epithelial cells. Exogenous NEFA increased the abundance of CIDEA, FASN, ACACA, XDH, and BTN1A1, and increased TAG content in mammary epithelial cells. Importantly, knockdown of CIDEA reversed the upregulation of FASN, ACACA, XDH, and BTN1A1 abundance and TAG content induced by NEFA treatment. Overall, these data suggest that high levels of NEFA stimulate the expression of CIDEA and enhance de novo fatty acid synthesis and milk fat secretion. As such, these mechanisms explain in part the elevation of milk fat content in dairy cows with clinical ketosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficiency of many cerium-based redox flow batteries is limited by the sluggish kinetics of the cerium redox reactions and it is thus of great importance to develop electrode materials with high catalytic activity. Herein, an available activation approach for markedly boosting the electrochemical performance of commercially available graphite felts by employing surface-functionalization is developed. The activated graphite felt demonstrates promising catalytic activity towards Ce(IV)/Ce(III) redox couples and excellent durability when used as an electrode for the cerium redox reaction. The reason for the improved performance is found to be the faster charge transfer allowed by the integration of the oxygen functional groups, in particular O−C=O groups, on the activated graphite felt electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes of temperature and sunlight disturb the spectra and furtherly influence the prediction outcome of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in assessment of fruit quality during field measurement. The hand-held NIRS device combination of chemometrics method was investigated for correcting the influence of temperature and sunlight to the grape spectra. The distribution of the soluble solids content (SSC) within one bunch was analyzed, and the middle region of the bunch was recommended for NIRS sampling position. Chemometrics algorithms of global model, external parameter orthogonalisation (EPO) and generalised least square weighting (GLSW) were employed to correct the influence of temperature and sunlight. Comparison of global model and GLSW, EPO improved the performance of the partial least square regression (PLSR) models with coefficient of determination (R p 2) of 0.88–0.90, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP iv) in the internal validation set of 0.89–0.94% and ratio of standard deviation (SD) to RMSEP iv (RPD) of 3.27–3.14 in predicting the samples at three temperatures and R p 2 of 0.98, RMSEP iv of 0.50% and RPD of 7.00 outdoor measurement. The results suggested that it was feasibility for correcting the influence of temperature and sunlight to the hand-held NIRS device to assess the grape bunch quality for outdoor use. • Middle position within one bunch was recommended for instrument sampling. • EPO was recommended for temperature and sunlight correction. • Results support use of portable NIRS with varying fruit temperature and sunlight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a new face detection scheme using deep learning and achieve the state-of-the-art detection performance on the well-known FDDB face detection benchmark evaluation. In particular, we improve the state-of-the-art Faster RCNN framework by combining a number of strategies, including feature concatenation, hard negative mining, multi-scale training, model pre-training, and proper calibration of key parameters. As a consequence, the proposed scheme obtained the state-of-the-art face detection performance and was ranked as one of the best models in terms of ROC curves of the published methods on the FDDB benchmark. 1 1 The result of this work ranked #1 on the FDDB leaderboard in Feb 2017. An earlier version of this work was submitted to published in arXiv.org on 28 Jan 2017 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topic sentiment joint model aims to deal with the problem about the mixture of topics and sentiment simultaneously from online reviews. Most of existing topic sentiment modeling algorithms are mainly based on the state-of-art latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) and probabilistic latent semantic analysis (PLSA), which infer sentiment and topic distributions from the co-occurrence of words. These methods have been proposed and successfully used for topic and sentiment analysis. However, when the training corpus is small or when the documents are short, the textual features become sparse, so that the results of the sentiment and topic distributions might be not very satisfied. In this paper, we propose a novel topic sentiment joint model called weakly supervised topic sentiment joint model with word embeddings (WS-TSWE), which incorporates word embeddings and HowNet lexicon simultaneously to improve the topic identification and sentiment recognition. The main contributions of WS-TSWE include the following two aspects. (1) Existing models generate the words only from the sentiment-topic-to-word Dirichlet multinomial component, but the WS-TSWE model replaces it with a mixture of two components, a Dirichlet multinomial component and a word embeddings component. Since the word embeddings are trained on a very large corpora and can be used to extend the semantic information of the words, they can provide a certain solution for the problem of the textual sparse. (2) Most of previous models incorporate sentiment knowledge in the β priors. And the priors are usually set from a dictionary and completely rely on previous domain knowledge to identify positive and negative words. In contrast, the WS-TSWE model calculates the sentiment orientation of each word with the HowNet lexicon and automatically infers sentiment-based β priors for sentiment analysis and opinion mining. Furthermore, we implement WS-TSWE with Gibbs sampling algorithms. The experimental results on Chinese and English data sets show that WS-TSWE achieved significant performance in the task of detecting sentiment and topics simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wide applications of face recognition techniques, spoofing detection is playing an important role in the security systems and has drawn much attention. This research presents a multispectral face anti-spoofing method working with both visible (VIS) and near-infrared (NIR) spectra imaging, which exploits VIS-NIR image consistency for spoofing detection. First, we use part-based methods to extract illumination robust local descriptors, and then the consistency is calculated to perform spoofing detection. In order to further exploit multispectral correlation in local patches and to be free from manually chosen regions, we learn a confidence factor map for all the patches, which is used in final classifier. Experimental results of self-collected datasets, public Msspoof and PolyU-HSFD datasets show that the proposed approach gains promising results for both intra-dataset and cross-dataset testing scenarios, and that our method can deal with different illumination and both photo and screen spoofing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is a common disease in highproducing lactating cows. Rumenitis is the initial insult of SARA and is associated with the high concentrations of histamine produced in the rumen of dairy cows during SARA. However, the exact mechanism remains unclear. The objective of the current study is to investigate whether histamine induces inflammation of rumen epithelial cells and the underlying mechanism of this process. Methods: Bovine rumen epithelial cells were cultured and treated with different concentrations of histamine and pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC, an NF-κB inhibitor) cultured in different pH medium (pH 7.2 or 5.5). qRT-PCR, Western-blotting, ELISA and immunocytofluorescence were used to evaluate whether histamine activated the NF-κB pathway and inflammatory cytokines. Results: The results showed that histamine significantly increased the activity of IKK β and the phosphorylation levels of IκB α, as well as upregulated the mRNA and protein expression levels of NF-κB p65 in the rumen epithelial cells cultured in neutral (pH=7.2) and acidic (pH=5.5) medium. Furthermore, histamine treatment also significantly increased the transcriptional activity of NF-κB p65. High expression and transcriptional activity of NF-κB p65 significantly increased the mRNA expressions and concentrations of inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), thereby inducing the inflammatory response in bovine rumen epithelial cells. However, inhibition of NF-κB p65 by PDTC significantly decreased the expressions and concentrations of the inflammatory cytokines induced by histamine in the rumen epithelial cells cultured in the neutral and acidic medium. Conclusion: The present data indicate that histamine induces the inflammatory response of bovine rumen epithelial cells through the NF-κB pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overexpression of miR319 in plants results in delayed senescence, and high levels of miR319-targeted TCP4 transcription factor cause premature onset of this process. However, the underlying mechanisms of this pathway remain elusive. Here, we found that miR319 overexpression results in a decrease in TCP4 abundance and secondary cell wall formation in the stem. Conversely, constitutive expression of miR319-resistant TCP4 promotes secondary cell wall formation, indicating that miR319-mediated TCP4 controls secondary cell wall formation during development. Further analysis revealed that TCP4 might directly bind the promoter of VND7 to activate its expression, which triggers the expression of a VND7 transcriptional network associated with secondary cell wall biosynthesis and programmed cell death and accelerates vessel formation. In addition, the development process gradually increased TCP4 expression. These results suggest that miR319 and its target TCP4 can act as switches that turn on secondary cell wall synthesis and programmed cell death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein 2-cyanoethoxy- N,N,N′,N′ -tetraisopropyl-phosphorodiamidite(10 , PIII, 3.5 eq.) could synergistically react with 3′,5′-dihydroxyl groups in a dinucleotide(PV) at the cyclization step for the synthesis of cyclic dinucleotides (CDNs) (c-di-GMP, cGAMP etc.) and their phosphorothioated analogues. A dynamic PIII-PV coordination mechanism has been proposed for the cyclization procedure which is confirmed by the variant 31P NMR data and molecular simulation. Among the mono -phosphorothioated CDNs, two stereoisomers showed different capacity for STING activation and the reason was predicted by molecular modeling. While compound 12b 1 showed most potent ability to elicit cytokines (IFNβ, IL-6, Cxcl9 and Cxcl10) induction compared to another stereoisomer. Also, 12b 1 significantly inhibited the tumor growth in the EO771 model with both 0.1 μg (i.t.) and 2 μg (i.v.) administration through the aid of a Mix delivery system developed by our group, and achieved a 31% long-term survival rate of tumor-bearing mice. 12b 1 /Mix significantly improved the percentage of CD8+ or CD4+ effector memory T (Tem, CD44highCD62Llow) cells and CD8+ central memory T (Tcm, CD44highCD62Lhigh) cells in the blood of EO771 mice, inducing the immune memory against EO771 tumor cells. Relatively lower dose regimens of 12b 1 (0.1 μg)/Mix displayed better tumor suppression by more potent STING pathway activation and higher levels of cytokines induction in the tumor. Outline: c-di-GMP analogues were synthesized by phosphoramidite approach via PIII-PV coordination in the cyclization step. Compound 12b 1 delivered with DNCA/CLD potently inhibited the EO771 tumor growth and induced anti-tumor memory. [Display omitted] • Phosphorothioated CDNs analogues were prepared using phosphoramidite method. • PIII-PV coordinating cyclization mechanism was proposed and confirmed basically. • 12b 1 , 12d 2 and 12e 2 significantly improved the cytokine levels. • 12b 1 potently inhibited the EO771 tumor growth and induced anti-tumor memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional imbalance in development is amongst the most important challenges for China. As the country’s leading economic engines, three major economic circles representing 6.5% of the national land territory contributed to more than 2/5 of national gross domestic product (GDP). This paper focuses on the impact of these three growth poles in China’s regional development, particularly for their embodied energy uses in light of multi-regional input-output analysis. Significantly, the three developed areas generated huge demands for embodied energy, 1237.52 Mtce and 40.1% of the total domestic supply in 2010, but far from self-sufficient. In Yangtze-River-Delta , Pearl-River-Delta and Jing-Jin-Ji , 93.1%, 85.1% and 63.4% of their embodied energy uses respectively can be traced back to the energy-supply provinces such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia and Shaanxi and other trade partners. Over a half of the national interregional transfers of embodied energy via domestic trade were induced by the three economic circles’ final demand, largely resulted from their large-scale infrastructure construction, upgraded consumption structures, high export dependency and ongoing urbanization process. The results indicate that demand-driven embodied energy is a comprehensive indicator to reflect the real energy use patterns of developed regions or megacities and reveal their industrial positions in domestic and even global supply chains. Understanding the temporal and spatial energy transition along with regional development from consumption-based insights is a vital step toward appropriately targeted policy making for the nationwide energy saving and emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The previous research found that aluminum trichloride (AlCl 3 ) inhibited rat osteoblastic differentiation through inactivation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in vitro. On that basis, the experiment in vivo was conducted in this study. Rats were orally exposed to 0 (control group) and 0.4 g/L AlCl 3 (AlCl 3 -treated group) for 30, 60, 90 or 120 days, respectively. We found that mRNA expressions of type I collagen and insulin-like growth factor-1, mRNA and protein expressions of Runx2 and survivin, ratio of p-GSK3β/GSK3β and protein expression of β-catenin were all decreased, whereas the mRNA and protein expressions Dkk1 and sFRP1 and the mRNA expressions and activity of Caspase-3 were increased in the AlCl 3 -treated group compared with the control group with time prolonged. These results suggest that AlCl 3 inhibits bone formation and induces bone impairment by inhibiting the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in young growing rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile approach for preparation of hydrophilic polysaccharide-functionalized macroporous adsorption resin (MAR) was presented. Polydisperse MAR with approximately 250 μm in diameter was synthesized via suspension polymerization and then modified with polysaccharides, sodium hyaluronate (HA) and chitosan (CS), through layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly process. The preparation method was facile, low cost and easy to expand production from tens of grams to one kilogram. The resulting MAR@(HA/CS) 20 possesses highly hydrophilic property and rapid adsorption behavior. The specificity and efficiency of MAR@(HA/CS) 20 to glycopeptide was demonstrated by trapping N-linked glycopeptide from tryptic digests of human immunoglobulin G (IgG) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) with a homemade solid-phase extraction (SPE) column. The detection sensitivity for glycopeptide determined by MALDI-TOF MS was as low as 5 fmol for standard tryptic digest of human IgG. The enrichment recoveries were higher than 73%. Furthermore, in the analysis of real biological sample, 745 unique N-glycosylation sites in 1353 unique glycopeptides mapped to 379 N-glycosylated proteins were identified in three replicate analyses of protein sample extracted from mouse liver, showing the great potential of MAR@(HA/CS) 20 in the enrichment and identification of low-abundance N-linked glycopeptides in complicated biological samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to clarify the association of IL-1RN variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism and H. pylori infection. We performed a meta-analysis of studies retrieved by systematic searches of Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library. Data were analyzed with STATA 13.1 using pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). A total of 18 studies were included in our meta-analysis, and IL-1RN VNTR was found to be significantly associated with H. pylori infection in the comparisons of 22+2L vs. LL (OR = 1.17, 95% CI = 1.02–1.33) and 2 allele vs. L allele (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.00–1.40). Stratified analyses on study designs and ethnicities were also conducted. IL-1RN VNTR was positively correlated with H. pylori infection in Asian subgroup and Hospital-Based subgroup (i.e., study samples obtained from hospital inpatients). In conclusion, our study demonstrated that IL-1RN VNTR polymorphism might increase the risk of H. pylori infection, especially in Asians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Stipa purpurea, the dominant species of the alpine steppe in the Tibetan Plateau, survives well under various abiotic stresses including drought, hypoxia and chilling. Aims: To understand the molecular mechanism by which alpine plants includingS. purpureaadapt to the abiotic environmental factors of the Tibetan Plateau. Methods: We cloned the coding domain sequence of onePhytogbgene fromS. purpureausing the rapid amplification of cDNA ends method and analysed its function by heterologous expression inArabidopsis. Results: ThePhytogbgene, which we namedStipurPhytogb1, included 474 nucleotides and encoded a protein of 157 amino acids. Functional analyses showed thatStipurPhytogb1could improve the resistance of transgenicArabidopsisto drought and hypoxia caused by waterlogging. Further analyses suggested thatStipurPhytogb1improved the above resistance by inhibiting nitric oxide accumulation and mediating the induction of antioxidant enzyme activities to scavenge reactive oxygen species. Conclusion: These findings indicate thatStipurPhytogb1may play an essential role in the adaptation ofS. purpureato drought and the hypoxic environment of the Tibetan Plateau and has potential as a candidate gene for genetic transformation to improve plant stress tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally, the visible (VIS) image (RGB image is used here) captured by the VIS band sensor is often blurred by the influence of haze, strong light, or dark environment. However, the near-infrared (NIR) band sensor can avoid the interference of harsh environments, and the captured NIR image has advantages in details that the VIS image does not have. In this paper, we propose a multi-scale decomposition (MSD) framework based on rolling weighted least squares filter (Rolling WLSF) for image fusion. This method combines the details of the VIS and NIR images to generate an enhanced fusion image. The proposed method first dehazes the original VIS image and extracts the details hidden under the influence of haze and other factors. Then, the designed MSD module decomposes the VIS image and the NIR image into detail layers of different scales, which can well retain the detailed texture of the image, and the multi-scale structure can avoid artifacts. In addition, a detail enhancement module (Boosting) is used to enhance the medium detail layer, which can well enhance the large-scale detail contour in the image. The weighted fusion of the detail layer can prevent the degraded NIR image from affecting the details of the fused image. We have used a variety of evaluation methods to evaluate its performance, and experiments have verified that the proposed method has excellent performance and can better enhance the detailed texture of the image. • A rolling multi-scale decomposition framework is proposed to extract detail layers. • The detail layer of defogging image is introduced to enhance the sharpness of fused image. • The fused image has richer details and is more suitable for human visual perception. • Proposed method is assessed with help of various fusion metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aluminum (Al) is recognized worldwide as serious inorganic contaminants. Exposure to Al is associated with low BMD and an increased risk of osteoporosis. However, the precise molecular mechanisms remains unclear. Thus, in this study, rats were orally exposed to 0 (control group, CG) and 0.4 g/L AlCl 3 (AlCl 3 treated group, AG) in drinking water for 120 days; osteoblasts were treated with AlCl 3 (0.12 mg/mL) and/or TGF-β1 (4.5 ng/mL) for 24 h. We found that AlCl 3 decreased the BMD, damaged femoral ultrastructure, decreased the activities of GSH-Px and SOD, and increased the levels of ROS and MDA in bone, decreased the activity of B-ALP and content of PINP, and increased the activity of TRACP-5b and content of NTX-I in serum, decreased mRNA expressions of TGF-β1, TβRI, TβRII and Smad4, protein expressions of TGF-β1, p-Smad2/3 and Smad2/3/4 complex, and increased Smad7 mRNA expression in bone and in osteoblasts. Moreover, we found exogenous TGF-β1 application reversed the inhibitory effect of AlCl 3 on osteoblasts activity by activating the TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway and increasing the mRNA expressions of ALP and Col I in osteoblasts. These results demonstrate that AlCl 3 induces bone impairment through inactivation of TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electromagnetic vibration feed and HSI were employed for detection of foreign bodies. • An accuracy of 97.56 % was obtained by LDA model. • The images at 785.6 nm were adopted for foreign bodies detection. Tea stalks and insect bodies are the major food foreign materials (FMs) insensitivity to X-ray image in the finishing tea products. Electromagnetic vibration feeding combination of hyperspectral imaging system was developed to detect tea stalks and insect FMs mixed in the finishing tea products. The characteristic wavelengths were selected by correlation analysis, and six parameters of maximum long (L), maximum width (W), L/W, circularity, area and perimeter were extracted from the corresponding images for developing linear discriminant analysis (LDA) model. Comparison of the extracted images, the LDA model with characteristic parameters extracted from the image (785.6 nm channel) achieved the best performance. The precision, recall and accuracy were 100 %, 100 % and 97.56 %, respectively. The results suggested it was feasible for tea stalks and insect FMs to recognize using electromagnetic vibration feeding combination of hyperspectral imaging system. It also provides a fast and non-destructive testing framework for on-line detection of FMs in food products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely known that the challenge of making good electrical contact at the back electrode interface will always follow us for high-efficient kesterite-type CZTSSe thin-film solar cells. Aiming at clarifying the correlation of device performance on the micro-structure of back interface, we come up with a new fresh design that introducing in-situ anodized MoO 3 porous arrays with regulated structural parameters acts as the back interfacial contact. Regards the such array-structures of interpenetrated CZTSSe and MoO 3 , the study reveals that the overall device performance is closely related to the micro-structure of the MoO 3 interface layer, and the optimized device efficiency can be improved to 9.00% from 6.31% (Ref. Mo-based cells), having a 32% increased J SC together with a 64% increase in FF. The performance improvement mechanism is analyzed in details. The interesting preliminary finding would indicate that the new strategy is very effective to form reliable electrical contact at the back interface for high-efficient CZTSSe solar cells. • New design of interpenetrated CZTSSe/MoO 3 arrays for innovative interfacial contact of CZTSSe solar cells. • Nearly 43% increase of efficiency from 6.31% to 9.00% is achieved. • Increase of J SC from 25.49 to 33.63 mA/cm2 and FF from 60.4% to 63.65%. • Potential for revealing the effect of back contact structure on device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility of brown core and soluble solids content (SSC) simultaneously online by visible and near infrared (visible–NIR) transmittance spectroscopy. Visible–NIR spectra of brown core and sound pears were recorded at a moving speed of five samples per second. Different combinations of two wavelengths were searched by correlation analysis in the wavelength range of 600–904 nm to discriminate brown core and sound pears. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models calibrated with sound samples yielded better results then PLS models built with brown core pears and the combinations of brown core and sound ones. Then a novel strategy was proposed for simultaneous measuring brown core and SSC by on-line visible and NIR spectroscopy. The new samples, including 8 brown core pears and 32 sound ones, were applied to evaluate the performance of the classification and quantitative analysis models. The classification accuracy of brown core pears was 98.3%. The percentages of SSC predictive precision were 97.8% and 99% within deviations of ±0.5 and ±1%, respectively. The results suggested that classification using two wavelengths and quantitative analysis using PLS were suitable to measure brown core and SSC of pears simultaneously by on-line visible and NIR spectroscopy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of near-infrared spectroscopy and pattern recognition methods, including soft independent modeling of class analogy, least squares support machine, and extreme learning machine, was employed for textile fabrics classification. The fabrics of cotton, viscose, acrylic, polyamide, polyester, and blend fabric of cotton-viscose were divided into training and prediction sets (60:60) for developing models and evaluating the classification abilities of the models. The classification accuracy and speed of soft independent modeling of class analogy, least squares support machine, and extreme learning machine were compared. Both least squares support machine and extreme learning machine achieved the classification accuracy of 100% for the prediction set. However, extreme learning machine performed much faster than least squares support machine, which suggested that extreme learning machine may be a promising method for real-time textile fabrics classification with a comparable accuracy based on near-infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, it might have commercial and regulatory potential to avoid time-consuming work, and costly and laborious chemical analysis for textile fabrics classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several host genetic factors are thought to affect susceptibility to Helicobacter pylori infection-related diseases, including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. Previous studies have evaluated the association between TNFA gene polymorphisms and H. pylori infection, but the results were inconclusive. We conducted this meta-analysis to clarify the association between TNFA polymorphisms and H. pylori infection. Methods: Published literature within PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were used in our meta-analysis. Data were analyzed with the Stata13.1 software package using pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: A total of 24 studies were included in our study. The TNFA -308G>A polymorphism was associated with decreasing H. pylori infection (AA vs. AG+GG, OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.43–0.97; AA vs. GG, OR = 0.64, 95% CI = 0.43–0.97). A significantly decreased risk was also found for -1031T>C polymorphism (CC vs. CT+TT, OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.44–0.84). -863C>A polymorphism was associated with increasing risk of H. pylori infection (AA+AC vs. CC, OR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.16–1.86; A allele vs. C allele, OR = 1.40, 95% CI = 1.14–1.72). There was no significant association between -857C>T polymorphism and H. pylori infection. When stratified analysis was conducted on H. pylori infection detection methods, -857C>T and -863C>A polymorphisms were associated with H. pylori infection for the non-ELISA subgroup. When stratified for ethnicity or study design, -863C>A significantly increased the risk and -1031T>C decreased the risk for the Asian subgroup and hospital-based subgroup. Conclusion: Results of our meta-analysis demonstrate that TNFA -308G>A and -1031 T>C polymorphisms may be protective factors against H. pylori infection, and -863C>A may be a risk factor, especially in Asian populations. Further studies with larger sample sizes are required to validate these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoporosis is a major global public health problem. Aluminum (Al) exposure inhibits osteoblast mineralization and induces osteoporosis. However, the exact mechanism is not fully understood. The transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)/Smad pathway is a major signaling cascade in regulating osteoblast mineralization. To investigate whether TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway was involved in the Al-induced inhibition of osteoblast mineralization, osteoblasts were cultured and exposed to different concentrations of aluminum trichloride (AlCl 3 ) (containing 0, 0.01, 0.02 and 0.04 mg/mL Al 3+ ) for 24 h. We found that mineralized matrix nodules, mRNA expressions of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), type I collagen (Col I), TGF-β1, TGF-β type I receptor, TGF-β type II receptor and Smad4, protein expressions of TGF-β1 and p-Smad2/3, Smad2/3/4 trimeric complex were all decreased, whereas the mRNA expressions of Smad7 were increased in the AlCl 3 -treated groups compared with those in control. In conclusion, these results indicated that AlCl 3 inhibited osteoblast mineralization via TGF-β1/Smad signaling pathway in rat osteoblasts. Our findings could provide novel insights into the mechanisms of action of AlCl 3 in osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Members of the WUSCHEL- related homeobox ( WOX) gene family encode plant-specific transcription factors that play key roles in controlling gene expression at all stages of plant development. In the present study, we isolated and characterized SpWOX13 (GenBank accession no. KJ713172), a member of the WOX gene family, from Stipa purpurea. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses showed that SpWOX13 belongs to an ancient clade of WOX genes. A subcellular localization analysis indicated that SpWOX13 localizes in the nucleus. The transcript levels of SpWOX13 were higher in young leaves and the vegetative apex than in other tissues of S. purpurea. Ectopic expression of SpWOX13 in Arabidopsis resulted in late flowering plants as these showed more rosette leaves. Histological analyses of the transgenic plants showed aberrant arrangements in the tunica cell layers of the shoot apical meristem. Scanning electron microscopy analyses revealed that the leaf pavement cells were larger in SpWOX13-overexpressing transgenic plants than in wild type. Our results suggest that SpWOX13 is involved in delaying and/or inhibiting cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Host genetic factors that control the production of cytokines, including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), possibly affect susceptibility to many Helicobacter pylori -related diseases. There is a complex interplay between H. pylori infection, the subsequent production of certain cytokines, and H. pylori- related diseases. We conducted a meta-analysis to clarify the association between the IL1B −31C > T polymorphism and H. pylori infection, and possible subsequent pathogenic mechanisms. Methods Published literature contained within PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library was used in our meta-analysis. Data were analyzed with the STATA 13.1 software package using pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Egger's regression test, Begg's rank correlation test, and Begg's funnel plot were used to test publication bias. Results A total of 12 case–control studies comprising 5827 subjects (3335 cases and 2492 controls) were available for our meta-analysis. The IL1B −31C > T polymorphism was associated with an increased risk of H. pylori infection in Asian and Latin American population (TT + CT vs . CC, OR = 1.29, 95% CI = 1.14–1.46; TT vs. CT + CC, OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.09–1.39; TT vs. CC, OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.22–1.67; T allele vs. C allele, OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.10–1.29). A significant association was also found for all genetic models in various subgroups (cancer and no-cancer, hospital- and population-based). Conclusion Our meta-analysis demonstrated that IL1B −31C > T polymorphism might increase H. pylori infection risk in Asian and Latin American population. Further studies with different ethnicities and larger sample size are required to validate this result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]