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A study published in the journal iMeta highlights the effectiveness of the CRISPR/Mb2Cas12a genome editing system in cotton plants. The system achieved a high efficiency rate of over 90% at target sites and demonstrated tolerance to different temperatures. It also expanded the editing range in the cotton genome. The study also developed a multiplex genome editing system using Mb2Cas12a, allowing for simultaneous editing of eight target sites. These findings suggest that CRISPR/Mb2Cas12a is a precise and efficient tool for genome editing in cotton plants, which has important implications for cotton breeding and genetic studies. [Extracted from the article]

Remote sensing (RS) scene classification has always attracted much attention as an elemental and hot topic in the RS community. In recent years, many methods using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and other advanced machine-learning techniques have been proposed. Their performance is excellent; however, they are disabled when there are noisy labels (i.e., RS scenes with incorrect labels), which is inevitable and common in practice. To address this problem, some specific RS classification models have been developed. Although feasible, their behavior is still limited by the complex contents of RS scenes, excessive noise filtering schemes, and intricate noise-tolerant learning strategies. To further enhance the RS classification results under the noisy scenario and overcome the above limitations, in this paper we propose a multiscale information exploration network (MIEN) and a progressive learning algorithm (PLA). MIEN involves two identical sub-networks whose goals are completing the classification and recognizing possible noisy RS scenes. In addition, we develop a transformer-assistive multiscale fusion module (TAMSFM) to enhance MIEN's behavior in exploring the local, global, and multiscale contents within RS scenes. PLA encompasses a dual-view negative-learning (DNL) stage, an adaptively positive-learning (APL) stage, and an exhaustive soft-label-learning (ESL) stage. Their aim is to learn the relationships between RS scenes and irrelevant semantics, model the links between clean RS scenes and their labels, and generate reliable pseudo-labels. This way, MIEN can be thoroughly trained under the noisy scenario. We simulate noisy scenarios and conduct extensive experiments using three public RS scene data sets. The positive experimental results demonstrate that our MIEN and PLA can fully understand RS scenes and resist the negative influence of noisy samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with extremely severe burns often require rapid wound closure with a tangential excision or escharectomy combined with a skin graft to reduce life-threatening complications such as infection. Traditional tangential excision surgery using the Watson or Humby knife does not allow accurate excision of necrotic tissue and often removes too much active tissue, which is detrimental to the rapid healing of the wound. Importantly, the Versajet hydrosurgical system, with its smaller handle, allows for more precise excision of necrotic burn tissue and preserves more active dermal tissue, positively affecting wound healing and scarring. This study compared the safety and efficacy of hydrosurgical combined with autologous skin grafting to conventional excision combined with autologous skin grafting in patients with extremely severe burn. Information of sixty burn patients with total body surface area (TBSA) > 50 % treated at the first affiliated hospital of Anhui Medical University from January 2019 to August 2022 were analyzed. The patients were divided into a conventional debridement group (n = 37) and a hydrosurgical debridement group (n = 23) according to the approach used. The hydrosurgical debridement group and the conventional debridement group were compared from the difference between the duration of the first debridement surgery, wound healing time, the changes of red blood cells and hemoglobin concentration postoperative, total blood transfusion, hospitalization cost, skin grafting frequency, procalcitonin, wound bacterial culture, albumin and prealbumin. Information on age, gender, weight, inhalation injury, hypovolemic shock, preoperative procalcitonin, preoperative albumin, preoperative prealbumin, the operation frequency (n ≥ 3), preoperative trauma culture and postoperative trauma culture were compared between both groups (P > 0.05). Operative time and wound healing time were significantly shorter in patients with hydrosurgical debridement combined with autologous skin grafting than those in the control group (P < 0.05), while hospitalization costs were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05). The changes of red blood cells and hemoglobin concentration during the postoperative period in the hydrosurgical debridement group were less significantly than those in the conventional debridement group (P < 0.05). The total amount of red blood cells transfused during hospitalization was significantly lower in the hydrosurgical debridement group than that in the conventional debridement group (P < 0.05), but the total amount of fresh frozen plasma transfused during hospitalization was not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05). Albumin on the third day after surgery and prealbumin on the first, third and fifth day after surgery improved more significantly than those in the control group(P < 0.05), however, there were no significant differences between the two groups in albumin on the first and fifth postoperative days (P > 0.05). The PCT level in the conventional debridement group was significantly higher than that in the hydrosurgical debridement group on the first, third and fifth days after surgery(P < 0.05). The hydrosurgical debridement group presented with shorter operative time, less blood loss during surgery, faster postoperative nutritional recovery, less postoperative inflammatory response and faster wounds healing, and did not increase the hospitalization cost, postoperative bacterial culture of the wounds and the number of skin grafting surgeries. In patients with extremely severe burn, hydrosurgical debridement combined with autologous skin grafting group is safer and more effective than those in the conventional debridement combined with autologous skin grafting group. • Extra-severe burns patients recover faster in the waterjet debridement group than in the conventional surgery group. • Waterjet debridement takes significantly less time than conventional debridement for patients with extra-severe burns. • Waterjet debridement for extra-severe burns reduces inflammatory response compared to conventional surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mass transfer efficiency of reaction gas in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) has a great impact on its performance, and the flow field is another important factor affecting the mass transfer performance. A kind of twisted parallel flow field (TPFF) with parallelogram equal cross-sectional area and gradually changing shape along the gas flow direction is presented in this paper. The position of each vertex of a parallelogram changes as a sinusoidal function along the flow direction. The output power density, oxygen concentration, current density, gas flow velocity, and water saturation were compared between TPFF and conventional parallel flow field (CPFF). According to the research results, the gas flow velocity of TPFF is greater than that of CPFF at Channel-GDL interface, the channel is higher than that of the CPFF, which can effectively alleviate flooding. Oxygen is more easily diffused from the bulk phase to the membrane electrode due to the decrease of the mass transfer impedance of oxygen in the TPFF. The oxygen content in membrane electrode is higher than CPFF when the fuel cell operates in the diffusion-polarized zone. Compared with the CPFF, the TPFF fuel cell has better output performance, and the maximum output power is increased by 8%. In addition, due to increasing oxygen transmission efficiency, the uniformity of the reaction is enhanced, so that the low current density region is controlled and the uniformity is improved. • A kind of twisted parallel flow field (TPFF) with changed shape and unchanged cross-sectional area is proposed. • The output power for TPFF is increased by 8% than that of the conventional parallel flow field (CPFF). • TPFF exhibit the outstanding uniformed current density and the lower risk of flooding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of excessive concentration of iron ion (Fe3+) in water will do harm to the environment and biology. Presently, sensitive and selective determination of Fe3+ directly in real environment samples is still a challenging job because of the high complexity of the sample matrix. In this work, we reported a new sensor system for Fe3+ based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) from upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) to Rhodamine derivative probe (RhB). The NaYF4: Yb, Er@SiO2@P(NIPAM-co-RhB) nanocomposites was constructed, in which PNIPAm was used as the probe carrier. The nanocomposites can not only be excited by infrared light to avoid the interference of background light in the Fe3+ detection process, but also enhance the detection signal output through temperature control. Under the optimum conditions, the RSD (Relative standard deviation) of actual sample measurements ranges was from 1.95% to 4.96%, with the recovery rate from 97.4% to 103.3%, which showed high reliability for Fe3+ detection. This work could be extended to sensing other target ions or molecules and may promote the widespread use of FRET technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The CRISPR‐Cas‐based genome editing field in plants is expanding rapidly. Editing plant promoters to obtain cis‐regulatory alleles with altered expression levels or patterns of target genes is a highly promising topic. However, primarily used CRISPR‐Cas9 has significant limitations when editing noncoding sequences like promoters, which have unique structures and regulatory mechanisms, including A‐T richness, repetitive redundancy, difficulty in identifying key regulatory regions, and a higher frequency of DNA structure, epigenetic modification, and protein binding accessibility issues. Researchers urgently require efficient and feasible editing tools and strategies to address these obstacles, enhance promoter editing efficiency, increase diversity in promoter polymorphism, and, most importantly, enable 'non‐silent' editing events that achieve precise target gene expression regulation. This article provides insights into the key challenges and references for implementing promoter editing‐based research in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioactive packaging can improve the shelf‐life of food products and enhance consumer health. It can also alleviate environmental stress on the planet by reducing food waste. Here, the electrospinning of tea tree oil‐loaded 2‐hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan nanofibers was investigated. The fabricated nanofiber films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle meter analysis. The prepared nanofibers have a well‐defined diameter of about 200 nm and a smooth shape. They have good antibacterial properties against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in vitro. Tea tree oil‐loaded chitosan‐based nanofibers were found to be effective in delaying spoilage and extending the shelf life of salmon by sensory evaluation, texture analysis, color, total viable counts, thiobarbituric acid, and total volatile basic nitrogen during storage in the freshness experiments, thus indicating their health benefits in bioactive packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While portability is a key aspect of small mass spectrometers, they also need to be able to effectively screen the analytes from complex matrices. The accuracy and performance of mass spectrometers depend not only on the identification of parent ion signals in targets but also fragment ion signals. This paper reports on the construction of a device that uses a new time-domain excitation waveform called qualitative pre-scan waveform (QPSW) for its quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometry analyzer. This approach uses scanning to eliminate interfering ions, thus improving the sensitivity for the analyte and removing the cumbersome steps required to convert conventional stored waveform inverse Fourier transform (SWIFT) waveforms from the frequency domain to the time domain. Tests show that the target ions can be fragmented just by introducing air at the moment when the pinch valve is opened without any need for a carrier gas. This simplifies the equipment required, making the mass spectrometer more portable. Tests were undertaken to compare the performance with the use of conventional SWIFT waveforms and to optimize its experimental parameters so that the target ions were effectively accumulated in the ion trap. An approximate 5-fold improvement in sensitivity was achieved by QPSW compared to the SWIFT for 2 μg/mL ketamine. A 5-fold reduction in the limit of detection (LOD) to 20 ng/mL was also obtained for enrofloxacin. In addition, the stability was improved by QPSW with a relative standard deviation less than 13% compared to 16% for SWIFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of changes in the height growth of trees can serve as an accurate basis for the simulation of various ecological processes. However, most studies conducted on changes in the height growth of trees are on an annual scale. This makes it difficult to obtain basic data for correcting time differences in the height growth estimates of trees within a year. In this study, the digital elevation models (DEMs) were produced based on stereo images and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data obtained by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Individual tree crowns were segmented by employing the watershed segmentation algorithm and the maximum value within each crown was extracted as the height of each tree. Subsequently, the height growth of each tree on a monthly-scale time series was extracted to simulate the time difference correction of regional tree height estimates within a year. This was used to verify the feasibility of the time difference correction method on a monthly scale. It is evident from the results that the DEM based on UAV stereo images was closely related to the DEM based on UAV LiDAR, with correlation coefficients of R2 = 0.96 and RMSE = 0.28 m. There was a close correlation between the tree height extracted from canopy height models (CHMs) based on UAV images and the measured tree height, with correlation coefficients of R2 = 0.99, and RMSE = 0.36 m. Regardless of the tree species, the total height growth in each month throughout the year was 46.53 cm. The most significant changes in the height growth of trees occurred in May (14.26 cm) and June (14.67 cm). In the case of the Liriodendron chinense tree species, the annual height growth was the highest (58.64 cm) while that of the Osmanthus fragrans tree species was the lowest (34.00 cm). By analyzing the height growth estimates of trees each month, it was concluded that there were significant differences among various tree species. In the case of the Liriodendron chinense tree species, the growth season occurred primarily from April to July. During this season, 56.92 cm of growth was recorded, which accounted for 97.08% of the annual growth. In the case of the Ficus concinna tree species, the tree height was in a state of growth during each month of the year. The changes in the height growth estimates of the tree were higher from May to August (44.24 cm of growth, accounting for 77.09% of the annual growth). After applying the time difference correction to the regional tree growth estimates, the extraction results of the changes in the height growth estimates of the tree (based on a monthly scale) were correlated with the height of the UAV image-derived tree. The correlation coefficients of R2 = 0.99 and RMSE = 0.26 m were obtained. The results demonstrate that changes in the height growth estimates on a monthly scale can be accurately determined by employing UAV stereo images. Furthermore, the results can provide basic data for the correction of the time differences in the growth of regional trees and further provide technical and methodological guidance for regional time difference correction of other forest structure parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Because of its powerful analytical ability, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) plays an important role in the field of mass spectrometry. However, one of the main defects of IMS is its low structural resolution, which leads to the phenomenon of peak overlap in the analysis of compounds with similar mass charge ratio. Methods: A multiobjective dynamic teaching‐learning‐based optimization (MDTLBO) method was proposed to separate IMS overlapping peaks. This method prevents local optimization and identifies peak model coefficients efficiently. In addition, the position information of particles largely reflects the half‐peak width of IMS, which makes single peaks difficult to appear and coefficient identification easier. Results: The performance comparison of MDTLBO with other deconvolution methods (genetic algorithm, improved particle swarm optimization algorithm, and dynamic inertia weight particle swarm optimization algorithm) shows that the maximum deconvolution error of MDTLBO is only 0.7%, which is much lower than that for the other three methods. In addition, robustness is a performance index that reflects the advantages and disadvantages of the algorithm. Conclusion: MBTLBO is more robust than other algorithms for separating overlapping peaks. The algorithm can separate the heavily overlapped mobility peaks, produce better analysis results, and improve the resolution of IMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to human living and health in the 21st century. Whilst a large number of papers have been published addressing the health impact of climate change, there is a lack of comprehensive bibliometric analysis in the crosscutting field. This study evaluated the global scientific output of research in the field of climate change and health between 1990 and 2020, based on the Web of Science Core Collection database. Research themes were identified using a social network analysis technique based on author keywords. Research trends were assessed by the change in overall publication number and the percentage of publications in each research theme. Articles were further categorized by the availability of funding and author affiliation to compare the difference between developed and developing countries. Results showed that the research output in the field of climate change and health has increased dramatically in the past 30 years, mainly dominated by researchers in developed countries. The percentage of research receiving funding was found to be the lowest in those published by developing countries only and the highest in those published by the collaboration of developed and developing countries. A total of nine major research themes was identified. Research related to 'risk assessment and adaptation', 'sustainable development' and 'infectious diseases' were relatively underfunded. A significant research trend was observed between 2006 and 2020, with increased attention on research themes related to 'risk assessment and adaptation', 'sustainable development', 'extreme events' and 'air pollution', and reduced attention on research themes related to 'ocean', 'infectious disease' and 'phenology'. The shift of the research trend was mainly driven by research in developed countries. Suggestions, recommendations and future priorities identified by experts in the field of atmospheric sciences, epidemiology, public health, climate change, environmental sciences, and policy development are also provided to guide future research. It is important to shift our focus from single health aspects to an integrated system (such as One Health framework, which considers environmental health, animal health and human health as a whole), with future research focusing more on the systemic impact of climate change in order to achieve better, more effective and efficient risk governance. More funding should be mobilized to support the research capacity building in developing countries and to support climate change adaptation strategies for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heparanase has been identified as a universal tumor-associated antigen, but heparanase epitope peptides are difficult to recognize. Therefore, it is necessary to explore novel strategies to ensure efficient delivery to antigen-presenting cells. Here, we established a novel immunotherapy model targeting antigens to dendritic cell (DC) receptors using a combination of heparanase CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitope peptides to achieve an efficient cytotoxic T-cell response, which was associated with strong activation of DCs. First, pegylated poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were used to encapsulate a combined heparanase CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitope alone or in combination with Toll-like receptor 3 and 7 ligands as a model antigen to enhance immunogenicity. The ligands were then targeted to DC cell-surface molecules using a DEC-205 antibody. The binding and internalization of these PLGA NPs and the activation of DCs, the T-cell response and the tumor-killing effect were assessed. The results showed that PLGA NPs encapsulating epitope peptides (mHpa399 + mHpa519) could be targeted to and internalized by DCs more efficiently, stimulating higher levels of IL-12 production, T-cell proliferation and IFN-γ production by T cells in vitro. Moreover, vaccination with DEC-205-targeted PLGA NPs encapsulating combined epitope peptides exhibited higher tumor-killing efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, delivery of PLGA NP vaccines targeting DEC-205 based on heparanase CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell epitopes are suitable immunogens for antitumor immunotherapy and have promising potential for clinical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a fractional-order model of the gas film is proposed for the dynamic characteristics of an air bearing. Based on the dynamic characteristics common between gas film and viscoelastic body, the idea of the fractional-order equivalent modeling of the dynamic characteristics of the gas film is presented to improve the modeling accuracy. Four fractional-order gas film (FOGF) models are introduced based on generalization of traditional viscoelastic models. The analysis of the characteristics of the FOGF models shows that the FOGF model can capture more complex dynamic characteristics and fit the real dynamic data of the gas film better than traditional models. A genetic algorithm particle swarm optimization (GA-PSO) method is used for parameter identification of the proposed models. The experimental results tested on the air bearing motion platform show that the FOGF models are superior in accuracy to the traditional equivalent models for the gas film. In particular, the fractional-order Maxwell gas film (FOMGF) model has the best capture accuracy compared to the other FOGF models and traditional models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, convolutional neural network (CNN)-based methods have been widely used for remote sensing (RS) scene classification tasks and have achieved excellent results. However, CNNs are not good at exploring contextual information, which is essential for fully understanding RS scenes. A new model named transformer attracts researchers’ attention to address this problem, which is skilled in mining the latent contextual information in RS scenes. Nevertheless, since the contents of RS scenes are diverse in type and various in scale, the performance of the original transformer in RS scene classification cannot reach what we expect. In addition, due to the specific self-attention mechanism, the time costs of the transformer are high, which hinders its practicability in the RS community. To overcome the above limitations, we propose a new model named efficient multiscale transformer and cross-level attention learning (EMTCAL) for RS scene classification in this article. EMTCAL combines the advantages of CNN and transformer to mine information within RS scenes fully. First, it uses a multilayer feature extraction module (MFEM) to acquire global visual features and multilevel convolutional features from RS scenes. Second, a contextual information extraction module (CIEM) is proposed to capture rich contextual information from multilevel features. In CIEM, taking the characteristics of RS scenes and the computational complexity into account, we propose an efficient multiscale transformer (EMST). EMST can mine the abundant knowledge with various scales hidden in RS scenes and model their inherent relations at small time costs. Third, a cross-level attention module (CLAM) is developed to aggregate and explore correlations of multilevel features. Finally, a class score fusion module (CSFM) is designed to integrate the contributions of global and aggregated multilevel features for discriminative scene representations. Extensive experiments are conducted on three public RS scene datasets. The positive results demonstrate that our EMTCAL can achieve superior classification performance and outperform many state-of-the-art methods. Our source codes are available in https://github.com/TangXu-Group/Remote-Sensing-Images-Classification/tree/main/EMTCAL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Objective: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Methods: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Results: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults.Conclusion: Epidemiological evidences regarding the association between whole grain intake and the risk of new-onset hypertension are still controversial.We aimed to investigate the relationship between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension and examine possible effect modifiers in the general population.A total of 10,973 participants without hypertension from the China Health and Nutrition Survey were enrolled, with follow-up beginning in 1997 and ending in 2015. Whole grain intake was assessed by 3 consecutive 24-h dietary recalls combined with a household food inventory. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression model after adjusting for potential risk factors.During a median follow-up of 7.0 years, 3,733 participants developed new-onset hypertension. The adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were as follows: for quartile 2 (HR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.47–0.57), quartile 3 (HR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.42–0.51), and quartile 4 (HR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.31–0.38), compared with quartile 1. Different types of whole grain types, including wheat (adjusted HR, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.32–0.39), maize (adjusted HR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.42–0.59), and millet (adjusted HR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.30–0.48), showed significant associations with a reduced risk of hypertension. The association between whole grain intake and new-onset hypertension was stronger in individuals with older age (P for interaction < 0.001) and higher BMI (P for interaction < 0.001).Higher consumption of whole grains was significantly associated with a lower risk of new-onset hypertension. This study provides further evidence supporting the importance of increasing whole grain intake for hypertension prevention among Chinese adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A cyanine-based fluorescent probe (Cy-H) with built-in self-calibration ratio mode was successfully synthesized. • This probe Cy-H exhibits specific recognition performance for hypochlorite with an LOD of 0.49 μM. • The probe showed good biocompatibility and relatively low biological toxicity, and was successfully applied to the detection and analysis of ClO− labeled imaging in live cells and zebrafish. Hypochlorite (ClO−), a weakly acidic reactive oxygen species, plays a crucial role in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory defense mechanisms. However, elevated levels of ClO− or disruptions in endogenous sites can lead to tissue damage and various diseases including cardiovascular disease, neuronal degeneration, and arthritis. To address this, the development of a specific fluorescent probe with a built-in self-calibration ratio mode for the analysis and biological imaging of ClO− is essential. In this study, a cyanine-based fluorescent probe (Cy-H) was designed for ratiometric fluorescent detection of ClO−, utilizing its aggregation behavior as a novel approach in this field. Upon exposure to ClO−, the phenolic hydroxyl group in probe Cy-H was oxidized into benzoquinone, leading to the formation of cyanine products that displayed a strong tendency to aggregate. As a result, the maximum emission peak of the probe shifted from 700 nm to 485 nm. Notably, a linear relationship was observed between the peak intensity ratio (I 485 /I 700) and the concentration of hypochlorite, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.49 μM. Furthermore, this probe was successfully employed for imaging analysis of hypochlorite in living cells and zebrafish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Cervical cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy, and its incidence has tended to be younger in recent years. Through the analysis of high-throughput expression data, the identification of key genes in cancer and healthy individuals as predictors of cervical cancer is of great significance for the early detection and early treatment of cervical cancer. Method. Granular computing is a concept and computing paradigm to deal with problems through information granulation, and the process of granulation can be realized by means of clustering. Based on this, this paper proposes an AB method to obtain representative elements in a multiattribute data system. First, the evaluation index FHEI of the clustering structure is introduced, and Algorithm 1 is designed to obtain the optimal clustering structure of each attribute of the data system and use it as the base cluster. Secondly, based on the clustering ensemble technology of granular computing, Algorithm 2 is designed with the help of the concept of information entropy. The algorithm takes the base cluster as the input to obtain the optimal ensemble clustering structure. Finally, using the nearest center principle, the representative elements of each class in the optimal ensemble clustering structure are obtained. Results. In this paper, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) are screened out by using the gene expression data of cervical cancer, and the scores of the four interaction relationships among the DEGs are used as a multiattribute data system and input into the AB method. The five representative elements obtained are RTTN, SAMD10, ZNF207, WAC, and METTL14, which are the predictors of cervical cancer. The classification accuracy of these predictors is as high as 98.82%. This paper also conducts a comparative study between the AB method and other classical methods on six independent gene expression datasets. The results show that the number of predictors obtained by the AB method is small but has a high classification accuracy in the classification of patient samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Improved PPP is used in kinematic model for oscillating displacement monitoring. • The improved PPP has better convergence performance with high cut off angle. • Better accuracy can be achieved by ZWD augmented PPP in kinematic model. This paper developed the tropospheric correction augmented PPP for the purpose of bridge displacement monitoring. ZWD is estimated from undifferenced observations collected by UK CORS, and further applied to augment PPP client for displacement at the bridge surveying points. Coordinate time series obtained by GPS DD are treated as the true bridge displacement, which is used to assess the standard and CORS ZWD augmented PPP solutions obtained by varying cutoff angles. The experimental results reveal that the displacement precision of standard PPP severely depends on the satellite geometry. Meanwhile, the CORS ZWD augmented PPP results are less affected. The RMSE of improved PPP time series in the vertical component drops by 12%, 49% and 66% for the 5°, 10° and 15° cutoff angle cases, respectively. CORS ZWD augmented PPP can improve the monitoring precision and eliminate irregular displacement time series due to poor satellite geometry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the explosive growth of the volume and resolution of high-resolution remote-sensing (HRRS) images, the management of them becomes a challenging task. The traditional content-based remote-sensing image retrieval (CBRSIR) technologies cannot meet what we expect due to the large volume of image archives and complex contents within HRRS images. As a successful approximate nearest neighborhood (ANN) search technique, Hash learning has received wide attention, especially when deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) appear. Due to DCNNs’ strong capacity of feature learning, many DCNN-based hashing methods have been proposed and achieved good performance for large-scale CBRSIR tasks. Nevertheless, their limitation is that a large of labeled training samples should be collected for training the deep models. To overcome this limitation, this article, therefore, develops a new supervised hash learning method for the large-scale HRRS CBRSIR task based on meta-learning, which could achieve well-retrieval performance with a few labeled training samples. First, taking the characteristics of HRRS into account, we develop a self-adaptive convolution (SAP-Conv) block and design a hashing net based on the block. SAP-Conv can learn robust features from HRRS images by exploring their multiscale information. Second, to enhance the generalization of the hashing net under a few labeled training samples, the hash learning is formulated in a meta-way, and we name it meta-hashing. Meta-hashing can effectively preserve the similarities between support and query set, and the similarities between samples within support set by the developed loss function. To further improve the performance of meta-hashing, we expand it to a dynamic version named dynamic-meta-hashing, in which the numbers of support and query are changeable in the training phase. Experimental results counted on the three widely used HRRS datasets demonstrate our dynamic-meta-hashing and meta-hashing can achieve promising performance in large-scale HRRS CBRSIR tasks based on a few training samples. Our source codes are available at https://github.com/TangXu-Group/Meta-hashing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the planet, which is seriously affecting the planetary health including human health. Adapting climate change should not only be a slogan, but requires a united, holistic action and a paradigm shift from crisis response to an ambitious and integrated approach immediately. Recognizing the urgent needs to tackle the risk connection between climate change and One Health, the four key messages and recommendations that with the intent to guide further research and to promote international cooperation to achieve a more climate-resilient world are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most recently, worldwide interest in butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) as a potential target for treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) has increased. In this study, the previously obtained selective BChE inhibitors with benzimidazole-oxadiazole scaffold were further structurally modified to increase their aqueous solubility and pharmacokinetic (PK) characteristics. S16 – 1029 showed improved solubility (3280 μM, upgraded by 14 times) and PK parameters, including plasma exposure (AUC 0-inf = 1729.95 ng/mL*h, upgraded by 2.6 times) and oral bioavailability (F po = 48.18%, upgraded by 2 times). S16 – 1029 also displayed weak or no inhibition against Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) and human ether a-go-go related gene (h ERG) potassium channel. In vivo experiments on tissue distribution revealed that S16 – 1029 could cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and reach the central nervous system (CNS). In vivo cognitive improvement efficacy and good in vitro target inhibitory activity (eq BChE IC 50 = 11.35 ± 4.84 nM, h BChE IC 50 = 48.1 ± 11.4 nM) were also assured. The neuroprotective effects against several AD pathology characteristics allowed S16 – 1029 to successfully protect the CNS of progressed AD patients. According to the findings of this study, altering molecular planarity might be a viable strategy for improving the drug-like property of CNS-treating drugs. [Display omitted] • Improving aqueous solubility through disrupting molecular plane. • Detailed analyzation of relationship between melting point and solubility. • Good in vitro BChE inhibitory activity and in vivo cognitive-enhancing effects. • Neuroprotective effects against multiple AD-related nerve damage. • Good in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Rapid and direct detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from sterile body fluids. • Magnetic separation enriched bacteria and identified specific protein peaks by MALDI-TOF MS. • The enrichment efficiency in cerebrospinal fluid and blood was greater than 80.95 % and 83.6 %. • The whole detection process could be completed within 1.5 h. • It breaks through the problems of long time and high technical requirements of traditional bacterial culture. As a result of the extensive use of antibiotics, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged, leading to serious clinical and epidemiological problems. This study established a rapid and accurate method for detection of MRSA in clinical samples. The MRSA detection procedure involved a magnetic separation technique and Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and the characteristic peaks of proteins were compared to achieve the detection of MRSA. We treated PBS, blood and cerebrospinal fluid with MRSA, and identified it after short-term culture. The time and detection limit for identifying MRSA were determined. At the same time, we used the method to detect different proportions of mixed bacteria. The results revealed that the enrichment efficiency of Amp-MBs for MRSA in PBS, blood and cerebrospinal fluid was greater than 95 %, 80.95 % and 83.6 %, respectively. The whole detection process could be completed within 1.5 h. The negative and positive percent agreement of MRSA detection were 83 % and 95 %, respectively. In mixed bacterial samples, bacteria can be detected when the proportion of MRSA is greater than 50 %. Overall, this study provides an effective method for bacterial preconcentration and detection, which has high potential for rapid and sensitive diagnosis of MRSA infection [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ship detection plays a significant role in the high-resolution remote sensing (HRRS) community, but it is a challenging task due to the complex contents within HRRS images and the diverse orientation of ships. Recently, with the development of deep learning, the performance of the HRRS ship detection model has been improved greatly. Most of them employ deep networks and complicate anchor mechanism to get well ship detection results. Nevertheless, this kind of combination limits the detection efficiency. To address this problem, a new approach named accurate and real-time rotational ship detector (AR2Det) is proposed in this article to detect ships without the anchor mechanism. Based on the extracted features by the feature extraction module (FEM) and the central information of ships, AR2Det adopts two simple modules, ship detector (SDet) and center detector (CDet), to generate and improve the detection results, respectively. AR2Det is efficient due to the simple postprocessing and the lightweight network. Also, AR2Det performs satisfactorily due to the effective generation and enhancement strategy of bounding boxes. The extensive experiments are conducted on a public HRRS image ship detection dataset HRSC2016. The promising results show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art approaches in terms of both accuracy and speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the characteristics of cold events affecting eastern China during November–March of 1979–2018 using station observations and the ERA5 reanalysis, focusing five major cities (Beijing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai and Guangzhou) for their high vulnerability and distinct local thermal conditions than the broader climate regimes. For each city, cold day (CD) (one or more continuous days where the temperature falls below the local 5th percentiles) and cold surge (CS) (a period of 1–3 days with a total temperature decrease exceeding 8°C) were both examined in aspects of occurrence frequency, circulation characteristics and health impacts. Results show that the northern cities are relatively more/less exposed to CD/CS than the southern cities. At all five cities, the two types of events rarely coincide and exhibit distinct multiple‐year variations, as CD and CS are, respectively, dominated by continental‐ and regional‐scale circulations. However, both types of events are associated with the interplay of the East Asia trough at 300 hPa and the Siberian high, Aleutian low and subtropical high at 850 hPa. Results also show that during CDs in these cities, the effective temperatures (ET), which take into account of the near‐surface wind speed and humidity, are often about 5°C lower than the actual temperatures. The ET decreases are larger than the actual temperature drops in most CSs, yet in specific scenarios (primarily in Beijing and Zhengzhou when the temperature drop is relatively small), the ET drop can be less pronounced, as the possible decrease of wind speed and/or humidity can partially mitigate the ET decrease caused by dropping temperatures. These underline the complexity of health impacts of cold events, which vary regionally due to differences in covariations of temperature, wind speed and relative humidity. There aspects are worthy of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity problem has become a major constraint in energy development. In this paper, we calculated virtual water flows and virtual water scarcity risk transfers driven by interprovincial energy consumption in China using multi-regional input–output analysis. The results of virtual water scarcity risk transfers show that major virtual water scarcity risk importers will be the "victims" suffering the consequences of increasing virtual water scarcity risks in the national energy system. For major virtual water scarcity risk exporters, they will transfer virtual water scarcity risks to downstream provinces along energy supply chains, threatening the stability of the national energy system. The promotion of energy policies and the energy consumption of developed regions make the water-deficient northwest regions export a large amount of water resources to the east and south regions. Therefore, it is necessary to fully consider local water scarcity and evaluate the impact on water environment before the construction of energy bases. Our findings can be used to provide a reference value for policymakers to develop new energy strategies and manage water resources sustainably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The first report of RGAE from P. polymyxin and applied in cinnamyl acetate synthesis. • A cold-adapted acetylesterase maintained high activity at 0 °C. • A variant with improved thermal stability and catalytic activity. The rhamnogalacturonan acetylesterase gene (named pp 1113), encoding a novel cold-adapted rhamnogalacturonan acetylesterase, was cloned from Paenibacillus polymyxa. pp 1113 was functionally expressed in Escherichia coli by inducing expression at 20 °C for 16 h. The pH and temperature optimums for the recombinant enzyme were 8.5 and 30 °C, respectively. As an SGNH-type acetylesterase, pp1113 demonstrated high activity against acetyl ester substrates and could maintain approximately 60 % activity at 0 °C.The specific activity of purified pp 1113 was 65.95 U/mg (C2). The Km and Vmax values of purified pp 1113 were 3.89 mM and 81.07 μmol/min, respectively. We obtained an R232L variant with improved thermal stability and catalytic activity through site-directed mutagenesis. T 1/2 of R232L at 50 °C increased from less than 30 min to 6 h when compared to wild-type pp 1113, and T 1/2 extended to 8 h after immobilization. The R232L mutant improved the conversion rate of 0.1 M cinnamyl alcohol at 40 °C to 94 % in the reaction of synthesis of cinnamyl acetate. After purification, the R232L mutant was immobilized (pH 8.0 phosphate buffer 0.5 M, 20 h at 20 °C, protein loading reached 17 mg/g). This was the first report of the rhamnogalacturonan acetylesterase gene obtained from Paenibacillus polymyxa with detailed enzymatic properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the development of deep learning (DL), the hyperspectral image (HSI) classification methods based on DL have shown superior performance. Although these DL-based methods have great successes, there is still room to improve their ability to explore spatial–spectral information. In this article, we propose a 3-D octave convolution with the spatial–spectral attention network (3DOC-SSAN) to capture discriminative spatial–spectral features for the classification of HSIs. Especially, we first extend the octave convolution model using 3-D convolution, namely, a 3-D octave convolution model (3D-OCM), in which four 3-D octave convolution blocks are combined to capture spatial–spectral features from HSIs. Not only the spatial information can be mined deeply from the high- and low-frequency aspects but also the spectral information can be taken into account by our 3D-OCM. Second, we introduce two attention models from spatial and spectral dimensions to highlight the important spatial areas and specific spectral bands that consist of significant information for the classification tasks. Finally, in order to integrate spatial and spectral information, we design an information complement model to transmit important information between spatial and spectral attention features. Through the information complement model, the beneficial parts of spatial and spectral attention features for the classification tasks can be fully utilized. Comparing with several existing popular classifiers, our proposed method can achieve competitive performance on four benchmark data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of spacecraft terminal intercept game with incomplete-information, the multiple mode adaptive intercept strategy is proposed. In the game, both sides try their effort to pursuit or evade with minimal cost. Associated to the saddle point equilibrium, the spacecraft game strategy pair with the complete-information assumption is derived through differential game theory. Whereas, the scenario where the interceptor cannot obtain the target information is formulated as the incomplete-information game. Assume that the target information belongs to a finite set and is fixed throughout the game. A multiple mode adaptive identification scheme, with a bank of filters matching different target information modes in parallel, is proposed to identify the unknown information and derive the estimation-dependent strategy. In addition, the probability-weighted adaptive strategy is derived through the multiple mode adaptive control approach, and the estimation is input into a controller that matches the specific mode. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed strategies is demonstrated by numerical simulations. • The interceptor cannot obtain the target complete information in a two-sided interception game. • The multiple model adaptive estimator is used to identify the target strategy. • The probability-fusion-based strategy is derived via the multiple model adaptive control. • The adaptive interception can be guaranteed using the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kristen rat sarcoma (KRAS) is one of the most common oncogenes in human cancers. As a guanine nucleotide exchange factor, Son of Sevenless Homologue 1 (SOS1) represents a potential therapeutic concept for the treatment of KRAS-mutant cancers because of its activation on KRAS and downstream signaling pathways. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the structure, biological function, and regulation of SOS1. We also focus on the recent advances in SOS1 inhibitors and emphasize their binding modes, structure-activity relationships and pharmacological activities. We hope that this publication can provide a comprehensive compendium on the rational design of SOS1 inhibitors. [Display omitted] • SOS1 is a novel target to treat KRAS-mutant cancers. • Structures and biological activities of small molecule inhibitors and PROTACs. • Analysis of the crystal structures and binding mechanisms of small molecule inhibitors. • The design strategy of SOS1 small molecule inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With higher requirements for living comfort, heating demand continue rising. Currently, heating in northern urban region is still dominated by coal consumption, which combined with inefficient equipment systems, presents a severe challenge for building sector to achieve net-zero emissions. In this study, by predicting final heating demand in northern urban region to 2060 and inputting it into Northern Urban Region Heating System Model, we solve the production structure of heating technologies with cost-optimal way and then account for energy consumption and carbon emissions. Finally, the energy conservation and emission reduction potential of clean and low-carbon strategies were analyze. The results show that the share of clean heating technologies is 91%, 97%, and 100%, and coal-fired CHP technology still accounts for approximately 37%–46% in 2060 under different scenarios. In two abatement scenarios, heating energy consumption decreased by 31% and 55%, and carbon emissions reduced by 71% and 88% by 2060. From the energy conservation and emission reduction potential analysis, clean heating technology application and low-carbon technology application will contribute the main force to future. This research is of great significance, on the one hand, it provides a theoretical basis for the modeling heating system. On the other hand, it provides feasible heating transition paths, which assist building sector achieving net-zero emissions. • Northern urban region heating system was modeled by a bottom-up approach. • Heating demand was predicted with fully consider the changes of building stock. • Heating transformation roadmap in different mitigation scenarios were given. • Strategies' energy conservation and emission reduction potential were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulfides are important accessary minerals in lunar rocks and have great implications for lunar magma activity and subsequent evolution. Pentlandite, as one of important sulfides, has been found over 40 years. Its origin is however remain controversial. Here, we studied the texture, chemistry and crystallography of pentlandite and associated sulfides in Chang'e-5 (CE-5) lunar soils. Pentlandites occurred as lamella and veinlets in troilites, forming a troilite-pentlandite assemblage in basalt but troilite-pentlandite-taenite assemblage in breccia. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses provide the first robust evidence in lunar samples that pentlandites from both basalts and breccias were exsolved from troilite, rather than originate from the reaction between mobilized sulfur and metallic FeNi, or mobilized Ni with troilite. Considering that troilites in breccias have higher Ni content than basalts, we speculated the origin of pentlandite in breccia might involve a geological process with addition of exotic meteorites. These findings provide new clues for exploring the origin and geological evolution of sulfides on the Moon. • Pentlandites occurred as lamella and veinlets in the interior of troilites. • Troilite-pentlandite and pentlandite-taenite pairs have topotaxial relationships. • TEM demonstrated pentlandites were formed by exsolution in CE-5 basalt and breccia. • Pentlandites might indicate two geological processes in lunar soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The lower fault system conforms to the constant-length fault model, while the upper fault system mainly conforms to the isolated fault model. • The change of extension direction in two deformation stages of the post-rift led to the left-stepping or right-stepping patterns of the minor faults. • The pre-existing basement faults affect the nucleation position, orientation, and scale of the lower fault system. • A four-stage evolution model of the LF15 fault zone is proposed for the first time. Oblique-slip faults are common in multi-phase rift basins. Many complex fault zones are formed by the growth and linkage of several fault segments under oblique extension settings. The LF15 fault zone is the boundary fault zone of the LF15 subsag, which is located in the southern part of the Lufeng Sag in the Pearl River Mouth Basin. Based on the 3D seismic and drilling data, we used seismic interpretation, detailed fault throws analysis, fault activity rate, and isochron map analysis to investigate the geometry and kinematic characteristics of the LF15 fault zone. The growth and linkage process, and three-dimensional evolution of the LF15 fault zone were established. The LF15 fault zone is an E-W-trending oblique-slip fault system which is composed of the lower and the upper fault systems. The lower fault system consists of a zig-zag fault with multiple strike segments, which conforms to the constant-length fault model. The upper fault system contains several overlapped and linked large-scale faults, and a series of left-stepping or right-stepping en-echelon minor faults developed in the hanging wall of the boundary fault. Most faults of the upper fault system conform to the isolated fault model, which grows by radial propagation of tip-lines and forms hard links with adjacent faults. The east side of the fault segments F15 in the upper fault system was formed by the upward propagation of the underlying fault F1, while the west side of the fault segments F11-F14 propagated downward and physically linked with the underlying fault F1. The change of extension direction in two deformation stages of the post-rift affects the strike-slip displacement components and sinistral or dextral movement of the boundary fault, which lead to the left-stepping or right-stepping patterns of the minor faults. Based on the analysis results, we speculate that the pre-existing basement faults affect the nucleation position, orientation, and scale of the lower fault system, and the lower fault system affect the orientation and the direction of oblique-slip motion of the minor faults in the upper fault system. A four-stage evolution model of the LF15 fault zone is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method based on the Looking-Around-and-Into (LAaI) mode is proposed for the task of change detection in large-scope Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PolSAR) image. Specifically, the LAaI mode consists of two processes named Look-Around and Look-Into, which are accomplished by attention proposal network (APN) and recurrent convolutional neural network (CNN) (Recurrent CNN), respectively. The former provides certain subregions efficiently, and the latter detects changes in subregions accurately. In Look-Around, difference image (DI) of whole PolSAR images is calculated first to get global information; then, APN is established to locate the position of interested subregions intentionally by paying special attention to; next interested subregions that contain changed area in high probability are picked out as candidate-regions. Moreover, candidate-regions are sorted in importance descending order so that highly interested regions have priority to be detected. In Look-Into, candidate-regions of different scales are selected at first; then, Recurrent CNN is constructed and employed to deal with multiscale PolSAR subimages so that clearer and finer change detection results are generated. The process is repeated until all candidate-regions are detected. As a whole, the proposed algorithm based on the LAaI mode looks around whole images first to find out the possible position of changes (candidate-regions generation in Look-Around) and then reveal the exact shape of changes in different scales (multiscale change detection in Look-Into). The effect of APN and Recurrent CNN is verified in experiments, and it shows that the proposed method performs well in the task of change detection in the large-scope PolSAR image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the problem of 3-D localization of an underwater target using a 2-D active sonar with unknown oceanographic factors in a multipath environment with heavy clutter, a novel iterative framework based on Maximum Likelihood Probabilistic Data Association (ML-PDA), which considers ocean sound speed profile (SSP) uncertainty and utilizes multiple detections to realize 3-D position estimation with only bearing and time of flight (ToF) measurements, is proposed. ML-PDA is highly effective in low SNR target detection. However, it is limited by its assumption of at most one target-originated detection within a scan. To estimate the 3-D target state with multipath detections under weak observability conditions, we first extend the ML-PDA into a multipath ML-PDA by enumerating the combined association events formed from multiple detection patterns. In contrast to the situation in air target tracking, the water column is nonhomogeneous and the underwater sound speed profile varies, influenced by uncertain ocean factors, e.g., temperature, salinity, and pressure. The resultant acoustic signal travels in a curvilinear path instead of a straight line. In this article, an SSP-dependent ToF measurement model is derived for both the direct path and the surface-reflected path between two remote nodes, so that the SSP uncertainty can be addressed systematically. By adopting an iterative prediction-update methodology, we first propagate the SSP uncertainty into the modified measurement covariance with the help of the unscented sampling technique. Then, we formulate a new joint likelihood ratio (JLLR) function based on the modified measurement covariance within the multidetection ML-PDA framework. A hybrid optimization method with grid search and particle swarm optimization is applied to solve the complex JLLR objective function and to find the optimal target state estimate from a large surveillance region. Finally, a sequential update technique is used to update the SSP state with the estimated target state and sensor measurements. In subsequent iterations, a more accurate JLLR can be rebuilt based on the updated SSP state, which can help find a better parameter estimate eventually. In addition, the Cramér–Rao lower bound, which quantifies the best possible accuracy in the presence of SSP uncertainties, is derived and analyzed. Numerical simulations confirm the underwater target localization performance of the proposed method in the presence of heavy clutter in an unknown ocean environment with a realistic sound propagation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Z-scheme MoS2/CuO photocatalyst is successfully developed using a hydrothermal and calcination method, which has excellent activity (96%) in the degradation of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) under visible light irradiation. The reaction rate constants of MBT degradation on the MoS2/CuO heterojunction are 8 and 6 times higher than those of pure MoS2 and the original CuO, respectively. The as-prepared photocatalyst was characterized using XRD, SEM, XPS and electrochemistry measurement. From the experimental results, the significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity is mainly ascribed to the formation of a Z-scheme heterostructure between MoS2 nanosheets and flower spherical CuO, effectively improving the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers. What is remarkable is that the Z-scheme electron transfer process leads to a large accumulation of photogenerated electrons and holes, improving the oxidation and reduction properties of CuO and MoS2. Moreover, an intensive study of the mechanism has proved that holes, superoxide radicals and hydroxyl radicals are all active substances in the degradation process. This study opens up a new way to devise novel and highly efficient MoS2-based photocatalysts for the degradation of organic pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the clinical effects of allogeneic acellular dermal matrix (ADM) in the surgical therapy of anterior urethral stricture (AUS). Methods: We retrospectively collected the clinical data of 49 patients with AUS who underwent urethral repair surgery with ADM in the Department of Urology of the Peking University People's Hospital, and in the First Affiliated Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, from September 2015 to January 2019. The changes in urine flow rate and conditions of urethral mucosal coverage were observed as well as complications and outcomes, and statistical analysis was performed. Results: The average maximum urine flow rates at the 1st, 6th, and 12th month post-surgery were 16.3 ± 1.5, 15.0 ± 1.9, and 14.6 ± 2.1 mL/s, respectively. These values were significantly higher than the preoperative maximum urine flow rate, 1.3 ± 0.5 mL/s (p < 0.05). Cystoscopy was performed in 11 patients 12 months after surgery, with microscopic assessment revealing good urethral epithelial mucosal coverage. Only 2 patients developed infection 2–4 weeks after surgery, while 7 patients developed noninfective urethral restricture 6–10 months after surgery and 1 patient developed urinary fistula 5 months after surgery. All of these statuses improved after receiving appropriate treatment. Conclusions: Use of ADM represents a new option for the surgical management of AUS repair and reconstruction, with positive clinical effects. In addition, it has the advantages of convenient for operation procedures and access, with no need for additional sampling surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During summers with intensive rainfall, water droplets and/or rock moisture are observed in some of the ancient caves of the Yungang Grottoes, northern China. There is debate on whether the water is derived from infiltrating precipitation or from condensation of water vapor, and this restricts the choice of appropriate methods to alleviate weathering of the stone carvings. By monitoring soil water content at the top of the vadose zone and analyzing responses to rainfall events, it is found that the silt overlying the rock mass plays the role of barrier to rainfall infiltration. By monitoring rock moisture in a cave wall at shallow depth, using frequency domain reflectometry, it was found that variations in rock moisture are directly controlled by the fluctuating vapor concentration. Moreover, there is a significant linear relationship between the magnitude of rock wetting (moisture addition) and the cumulative difference in vapor concentration between the inside and outside of the cave. Thus, the condensation of water vapor, which leads to decreased vapor concentration in the cave atmosphere, is the source of the rock moisture. Also, the period associated with rapidly increasing rock moisture and the highest rock moisture corresponds to the period with occurrence of water droplets in some caves. This study confirms that the water vapor is an important source of water which is responsible for weathering in caves, and indicates that the approach of estimating groundwater recharge based on cave drip rates should be used with caution, especially in arid environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructural evolution and tribological characteristics of a laser additive manufactured 12CrNi2V steel heat‐treated with four conditions are thoroughly studied to provide beneficial guidance to the prospective application of additive manufactured Cr–Ni–V steels. First, the four conditions of heat treatments are identified via a differential scanning calorimeter test. Subsequently, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, and electron backscattering diffraction are performed to characterize the morphologies, phase composition, and crystallographic textures of the experimental specimens. The microhardness and tribology tests are then conducted. Experimental results illustrate that the homogeneity of the microstructure is a significant factor in determining the tribological characteristic, which is mainly controlled by the type and distribution of the carbides. The heat treatments adopted in this work can remarkably modify the laser‐induced microstructural inhomogeneity, thereby promoting the tribological characteristic of the steel. Furthermore, the specimen tempered at 620 °C demonstrates an excellent combination of microhardness and toughness. Therefore, it is concluded that 620 °C is the optimal tempering temperature for the laser additive manufactured 12CrNi2V steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Sirtuin 6 gene (SIRT6) is a longevity gene that is involved in a variety of metabolic pathways, but the relationship between SIRT6 methylation and longevity has not been clarified. Methods: We conducted a case-control study on 129 residents with a family history of longevity (1 of parents, themselves, or siblings aged ≥90 years) and 86 individuals without a family history of exceptional longevity to identify the association. DNA pyrosequencing was performed to analyze the methylation status of SIRT6 promoter CpG sites. qRT-PCR and ELISA were used to estimate the SIRT6 messenger RNA (mRNA) levels and protein content. Six CpG sites (P1–P6) were identified as methylation variable positions in the SIRT6 promoter region. Results: At the P2 and P5 CpG sites, the methylation rates of the longevity group were lower than those of the control group (p < 0.001 and p = 0.009), which might be independent determinants of longevity. The mRNA and protein levels of SIRT6 decreased in the control group (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.038). The mRNA level negatively correlated with the methylation rates at the P2 (rs = −0.173, p = 0.011) and P5 sites (rs = −0.207, p = 0.002). Furthermore, the protein content positively correlated with the methylation rate at the P5 site (rs = 0.136, p = 0.046) but showed no significant correlation with the methylation rate at the P2 site. Conclusion: The low level of SIRT6 methylation may be a potential protective factor of Chinese longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on similar single-phase flux-switching permanent magnet linear motor (FSPMLM), a comparable modular longitudinal FSPMLM (LFSPMLM) and transverse FSPMLM (TFSPMLM) are presented and investigated in this article. The modular LFSPMLM and TFSPMLM have no magnetic coupling among modules. Single-phase piecewise-linear inductance models of LFSPMLM and TFSPMLM are proposed, and corresponding comparative studies are conducted. Comparative calculation results show that an optimized design scheme is established, and a set of structural parameter is proposed. The results of finite element analysis (FEA) show that the LFSPMLM has higher efficiency than TFSPMLM. However, the TFSPMLM has a small detent force, and controlling its thrust force performance is feasible. Prototype experiments of no-load detent force and average thrust force are performed, and the experimental results agree with the FEA results. This finding further verifies the conclusions of comparative investigation on characteristics between the proposed LFSPMLM and TFSPMLM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of myricetin derivatives bearing ferulic acid amide scaffolds were designed and synthesized. The structures of all title compounds were determined by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 19F NMR and HRMS. Preliminary bioassays suggested that some of the target compounds exhibited remarkable antiviral activities. In particular, compound 4l possessed significant protective activity against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), with a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) value of 196.11 μg mL−1, which was better than that of commercial agent ningnanmycin (447.92 μg mL−1). Meanwhile, microscale thermophoresis (MST) indicated that compound 4l has strong binding capability to the tobacco mosaic virus coat protein (TMV-CP) with a dissociation constant (Kd) value of 0.34 μmol L−1, which was better than that of ningnanmycin (0.52 μmol L−1). These results suggested that novel myricetin derivatives bearing ferulic acid amide scaffolds may be considered as an activator for antiviral agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a two-dimensional (2D) photocatalyst by the BiOCl ultrathin nanosheet modification of biochar (derived from biomass bamboo leaves) was successfully prepared via a facile one-pot hydrothermal process. The synthesized C/BiOCl photocatalysts showed a satisfactory performance on the degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl). The enhanced photocatalytic activity originating from the introduction of biochar facilitated the rapid transfer of electrons generated from the defect states of the BiOCl ultrathin nanosheets. Moreover, the more the photo-electrons transferred in biochar, the more the quantities of active ˙O2− generated during the photocatalytic reaction, which was confirmed from the free radical capture tests. This work can be extended to the modified routes of BiOCl in the further applications of environmental wastewater treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Synthesize the MIC via surface imprinting technique. • The MIC based on degreasing cotton is environmental and economical. • The MIC has good stability and acceptable reusabilitye. We have developed a bovine hemoglobin (BHb) surface molecularly imprinted cotton based on degreasing cotton via surface imprinting technique for the efficient selective adsorption of BHb. The morphological structure of the samples was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and the chemical modification steps were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The maximum adsorption capacity of the molecularly imprinted cotton (MIC) and non-imprinted cotton (NIC) for BHb was 62.95 mg/g and 8.32 mg/g, respectively, at the optimum pH value of 6.2. The kinetics studies demonstrated that the adsorption follows a pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The adsorption isotherm analysis indicated that the Langmuir adsorption isotherm fits well with the adsorption equilibrium data. Also, the selective adsorption shows the MIC has a good selectivity for BHb. In addition, the assessment of the reusability of the MIC was tested for five successive cycles revealed no significant decrease of the adsorption capacity. Electrophoretic analysis suggests the MIC were successfully applied to capture template proteins from the bovine blood sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ion‐imprinted degreasing cotton (IIC) was synthesized using a surface imprinting technique for the efficient selective adsorption of Cu2+ from aqueous solutions. The morphological structure of the samples was characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and the chemical modification steps were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The maximum adsorption capacity of the IIC and non‐imprinted degreasing cotton (NIC) for Cu2+ was 41.49 mg/g and 19.17 mg/g, respectively, at the optimum pH value of 6. The kinetics studies demonstrated that the adsorption follows a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model. The dsorption isotherm analysis indicated that the Langmuir adsorption isotherm fits well with the adsorption equilibrium data. Also, the competitive studies show that the IIC has a good selectivity for Cu2+. In addition, the assessment of the reusability of a the IIC was tested for five successive cycles revealed no significant decrease of the adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel biomass carbon quantum dots@Bi2WO6 (BC-QDs@Bi2WO6) photocatalyst with uniform dispersivity was prepared via a dialysis-assisted hydrothermal process. Multiple techniques including HR-TEM, XPS, UV-Vis, PL, photocurrent analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy were employed to investigate the morphology and structures as well as the optical and electronic properties of the as-prepared samples. The photocatalytic activity of BC-QDs@Bi2WO6 was assessed by the degradation of antibiotics (tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, and gatifloxacin). The improved photocatalytic activity was attributed to the quantum effect of BC-QDs, which acted as the light harvesting center, electron reservoir, and reaction center for degrading the pollutants. Furthermore, a plausible mechanism for photocatalysis was put forward according to the ESR and quenching experiments. The present work can have significant advantages in the construction of biomass carbon-based photocatalysts in pollutant degradation and improved light utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In practical target tracking scenarios, targets of different sizes (or extents) may be near or far away from the sensor, which may result in targets appearing as point sources or as extended targets spanning one or more resolution cells, respectively, depending on distance and sensor resolution. In this paper, a new Gaussian Process (GP) measurement model is proposed to explicitly describe the observation about each basis point of GP by an individual dynamic Poisson measurement rate. By employing this model, a novel algorithm to track multiple point targets and extended targets, simultaneously and seamlessly, in the presence of clutter and missed detections is proposed within the Probabilistic Multi-Hypothesis Tracker (PMHT) framework. The proposed algorithm can adapt to spatio-temporally varying target sizes or extents of extended targets and temporally varying target cardinality. In addition, the posterior Cramer-Rao lower bound (PCRLB) for extended targets, which quantifies the accuracies of estimates of multiple extended target states in scenarios with clutter, is derived. Simulations with a scenario consisting of multiple extended targets and point targets are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm and to compare its performance with the extended target PCRLB and with those of existing extended target tracking algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reported here is a novel ratiometric and colorimetric fluorescent probe 1 for hypochlorite based on cyanobiphenyl and diaminomaleonitrile. This probe 1 was designed based on the mechanism that ClO− selectively cleaved the hydrazone bond (-C=N-) in this probe and released the fluorophore, 3'-formyl-4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarbonitrile. The addition of ClO− to the solution of probe 1 resulted in a very large blue-shift in both fluorescence (107 nm) spectra and an obvious fluorescence color change from red to green. Furthermore, this probe displays a rapid response (30 s) and a low detection limit (3.34 × 10−7 M, based on LOD = 3σ/slope) in detecting ClO−. Importantly, practical utility of this probe for the selective detection of ClO− in living cells has been successfully demonstrated, illustrating the great potential for biological analysis. Additionally, the probe 1 was also successfully applied to the detection of ClO− in real water sample. Unlabelled Image • A ratiometric and colorimetric fluorescent probe for ClO− was designed and synthesized. • The addition of ClO− resulted in a very large blue-shift in emission spectra and an obvious fluorescence color change. • This probe displays a rapid response and a low detection limit in detecting ClO−. • This probe for the selective detection of ClO− in living cells has been successfully demonstrated. • The probe 1 was also successfully applied to the detection of ClO− in real water sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]