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Acoustic signaling among birds is central to intra-species communication, courtship, and reproductive success, and so habitat suitability is partially dependent upon the availability of a suitable acoustic niche. It is well documented that birds may modify their vocal behavior to avoid overlap with anthropogenic noise pollution, but responses to biotic signal making are less well understood. This study uses more than 50,000 h of audio recorded in tropical forest, and machine learning methods for the detection of the vocalizations of nine species of bird and tymbalizations of three species of cicada to examine patterns of signal masking and co-chorusing avoidance among species pairs. Among these focal species, no bird avoided co-chorusing with any other bird. Birds avoided co-chorusing with cicadas only and always when (1) the bird vocalized in a frequency band completely overlapped by the cicada tymbalization, and (2) the cicada tymbalization saturated the majority of that frequency band. These results indicate that avian behavioral modifications in response to biotic noise in longstanding species communities is similar to behavioral modifications observed in populations subjected to high levels of anthropogenic noise pollution—in all cases overlap avoidance is species-specific and dependent upon both frequency and intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluid dynamics computations for tube-like geometries are crucial in biomedical evaluations of vascular and airways fluid dynamics. Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. However, vanilla PINNs often demand longer training times than conventional CFD methods for each specific flow scenario, limiting their widespread use. To address this, multi-case PINN approach has been proposed, where varied geometry cases are parameterized and pre-trained on the PINN. This allows for quick generation of flow results in unseen geometries. In this study, we compare three network architectures to optimize the multi-case PINN through experiments on a series of idealized 2D stenotic tube flows. The evaluated architectures include the 'Mixed Network', treating case parameters as additional dimensions in the vanilla PINN architecture; the "Hypernetwork", incorporating case parameters into a side network that computes weights in the main PINN network; and the "Modes" network, where case parameters input into a side network contribute to the final output via an inner product, similar to DeepONet. Results confirm the viability of the multi-case parametric PINN approach, with the Modes network exhibiting superior performance in terms of accuracy, convergence efficiency, and computational speed. To further enhance the multi-case PINN, we explored two strategies. First, incorporating coordinate parameters relevant to tube geometry, such as distance to wall and centerline distance, as inputs to PINN, significantly enhanced accuracy and reduced computational burden. Second, the addition of extra loss terms, enforcing zero derivatives of existing physics constraints in the PINN (similar to gPINN), improved the performance of the Mixed Network and Hypernetwork, but not that of the Modes network. In conclusion, our work identified strategies crucial for future scaling up to 3D, wider geometry ranges, and additional flow conditions, ultimately aiming towards clinical utility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flowering is an essential process in fruit trees. Flower number and timing have a substantial impact on the yield and maturity of fruit. Ethylene and gibberellin (GA) play vital roles in flowering, but the mechanism of coordinated regulation of flowering in woody plants by GA and ethylene is still unclear. In this study, a lemon (Citrus limon L. Burm) 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid synthase gene (CiACS4) was overexpressed in Nicotiana tabacum and resulted in late flowering and increased flower number. Further transformation of citrus revealed that ethylene and starch content increased, and soluble sugar content decreased in 35S:CiACS4 lemon. Inhibition of CiACS4 in lemon resulted in effects opposite to that of 35S:CiACS4 in transgenic plants. Overexpression of the CiACS4-interacting protein ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR3 (CiERF3) in N. tabacum resulted in delayed flowering and more flowers. Further experiments revealed that the CiACS4–CiERF3 complex can bind the promoters of FLOWERING LOCUS T (CiFT) and GOLDEN2-LIKE (CiFE) and suppress their expression. Moreover, overexpression of CiFE in N. tabacum led to early flowering and decreased flowers, and ethylene, starch, and soluble sugar contents were opposite to those in 35S:CiACS4 transgenic plants. Interestingly, CiFE also bound the promoter of CiFT. Additionally, GA3 and 1-aminocyclopropanecarboxylic acid (ACC) treatments delayed flowering in adult citrus, and treatment with GA and ethylene inhibitors increased flower number. ACC treatment also inhibited the expression of CiFT and CiFE. This study provides a theoretical basis for the application of ethylene to regulate flower number and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather on citrus yield due to delayed flowering. ACC SYNTHASE4 and ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR3 form a complex to inhibit gibberellin biosynthesis and bind to the promoters of flowering-related genes to regulate flowering in citrus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal critical aortic stenosis with evolving hypoplastic left heart syndrome (CAS‐eHLHS) causes biomechanical and functional aberrations, leading to a high risk of progression to hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) at birth. Fetal aortic valvuloplasty (FAV) can resolve outflow obstruction and may reduce progression risk. However, it is currently difficult to accurately predict which patients will respond to the intervention and become functionally biventricular (BV) at birth, as opposed to becoming functionally univentricular (UV). This prediction is important for patient selection, parental counselling, and surgical planning. Therefore, we investigated whether biomechanics parameters from pre‐FAV image‐based computations could robustly distinguish between CAS‐eHLHS cases with BV or UV outcomes in a retrospective cohort. To do so we performed image‐based finite element biomechanics modelling of nine CAS‐eHLHS cases undergoing intervention and six healthy fetal control hearts, and found that a biomechanical parameter, peak systolic myofibre stress, showed a uniquely large difference between BV and UV cases, which had a larger magnitude effect than echocardiography parameters. A simplified equation was derived for quick and easy estimation of myofibre stress from echo measurements via principal component analysis. When tested on a retrospective cohort of 37 CAS‐eHLHS cases, the parameter outperformed other parameters in predicting UV versus BV outcomes, and thus has a high potential of improving outcome predictions, if incorporated into patient selection procedures. Physiologically, high myocardial stresses likely indicate a healthier myocardium that can withstand high stresses and resist pathological remodelling, which can explain why it is a good predictor of BV outcomes. Key points: Predicting the morphological birth outcomes (univentricular versus biventricular) of fetal aortic valvuloplasty for fetal aortic stenosis with evolving HLHS is important for accurate patient selection, parental counselling and management decisions.Computational simulations show that a biomechanics parameter, pre‐intervention peak systolic myofibre stress, is uniquely robust in distinguishing between such outcomes, outperforming all echo parameters.An empirical equation was developed to quickly compute peak systolic myofibre stress from routine echo measurements and was the best predictor of outcomes among a wide range of parameters tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In modern bone biology, the term "remodeling" generally refers to internal bone turnover that creates secondary osteons. However, it is also widely used by skeletal biologists, including biological anthropologists as a catch‐all term to refer to different skeletal changes. In this review, we investigated how "remodeling" is used across topics on skeletal biology in biological anthropology to demonstrate potential problems with such pervasive use of a generalized term. Methods: Using PubMed and Google Scholar, we selected and reviewed 205 articles that use the term remodeling to describe skeletal processes and have anthropological implications. Nine edited volumes were also reviewed as examples of collaborative work by different experts to demonstrate the diverse and extensive use of the term remodeling. Results: Four general meanings of bone "remodeling" were identified, namely, internal turnover, functional adaptation, fracture repair, and growth remodeling. Additionally, remodeling is also used to refer to a broad array of pathological skeletal changes. Discussion: Although we initially identified four general meanings of bone remodeling, they are not mutually exclusive and often occur in combination. The term "remodeling" has become an extensively used catch‐all term to refer to different processes and outcomes of skeletal changes, which inevitably lead to misunderstanding and a loss of information. Such ambiguity and confusion are potentially problematic as the field of biological anthropology becomes increasingly multidisciplinary. Therefore, we advocate for precise, context‐specific definitions and explanations of bone remodeling as it continues to be used across disciplines within and beyond biological anthropology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The development, maintenance, and use of immune defences are costly. Therefore, animals face trade-offs in terms of resource allocation within their immune system and between their immune system and other physiological processes. To maximize fitness, evolution may favour investment in one immunological defence or subsystem over another in a way that matches a species broader life history strategy. Here, we used phylogenetically-informed comparative analyses to test for relationships between two immunological components. Natural antibodies and complement were used as proxies for the innate branch; structural complexity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region was used for the acquired branch. Results: We found a negative association between the levels of natural antibodies (i.e., haemagglutination titre) and the total MHC gene copy number across the avian phylogeny, both at the species and family level. The family-level analysis indicated that this association was apparent for both MHC-I and MHC-II, when copy numbers within these two MHC regions were analysed separately. The association remained significant after controlling for basic life history components and for ecological traits commonly linked to pathogen exposure. Conclusion: Our results provide the first phylogenetically robust evidence for an evolutionary trade-off within the avian immune system, with a more developed acquired immune system (i.e., more complex MHC architecture) in more derived bird lineages (e.g., passerines) being accompanied by an apparent downregulation of the innate immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NifA is the primary activator of nitrogenase, and the N-terminal domain of nifA is sensitive to ammonium concentration. In this work, a mutant Rhodobacter capsulatus ZX01 with a genetically engineered deletion in the N-terminal region of nifA1 was constructed by employing overlap extension PCR to mitigate the inhibition of ammonium on nitrogenase expression in photosynthetic bacteria. The effects of different ammonium ion concentrations on the growth and photo-fermentative hydrogen production performance of wild-type strain R. capsulatus SB1003 and mutant ZX01 with glucose and volatile fatty acids as the carbon sources were studied, respectively. When the ratio of NH 4 +-N was 20% and 30%, the hydrogen yield of the mutant ZX01 was enhanced by 14.8% and 20.9% compared with that of R. capsulatus SB1003 using 25 mM acetic acid and 34 mM butyric acid as the carbon source, respectively. In comparison, using 30 mM glucose as the carbon source, the hydrogen yield of ZX01 was increased by 17.7% and 22.2% compared with that of R. capsulatus SB1003 when the ratio of NH 4 +-N was 20% and 30%, and the nitrogenase activity of ZX01 was also enhanced by 38.0% and 47.6%, respectively. When using 10 mM NH 4 + as a single nitrogen source, ZX01 showed a 2.6-fold increase in H 2 production. These results indicated that ZX01 demonstrated higher ammonium tolerance and better hydrogen production performance than the wild-type. The deletion in the N-terminal region of nifA1 could partially de-repress the nitrogenase activity inhibited by ammonium. [Display omitted] • The mutant with a deletion in the N-terminal region of nifA1 was constructed by overlap extension PCR. • The deletion in the N-terminal of nifA1 appeared to partially derepress the NH 4 + inhibition on nitrogenase activity. • The H 2 yield of ZX01 was increased by up to 22.3% compared with that of wild-type in the presence of ammonium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left ventricle myocardium has a complex micro-architecture, which was revealed to consist of myocyte bundles arranged in a series of laminar sheetlets. Recent imaging studies demonstrated that these sheetlets re-orientated and likely slided over each other during the deformations between systole and diastole, and that sheetlet dynamics were altered during cardiomyopathy. However, the biomechanical effect of sheetlet sliding is not well-understood, which is the focus here. We conducted finite element simulations of the left ventricle (LV) coupled with a windkessel lumped parameter model to study sheetlet sliding, based on cardiac MRI of a healthy human subject, and modifications to account for hypertrophic and dilated geometric changes during cardiomyopathy remodeling. We modeled sheetlet sliding as a reduced shear stiffness in the sheet-normal direction and observed that (1) the diastolic sheetlet orientations must depart from alignment with the LV wall plane in order for sheetlet sliding to have an effect on cardiac function, that (2) sheetlet sliding modestly aided cardiac function of the healthy and dilated hearts, in terms of ejection fraction, stroke volume, and systolic pressure generation, but its effects were amplified during hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and diminished during dilated cardiomyopathy due to both sheetlet angle configuration and geometry, and that (3) where sheetlet sliding aided cardiac function, it increased tissue stresses, particularly in the myofibre direction. We speculate that sheetlet sliding is a tissue architectural adaptation to allow easier deformations of the LV walls so that LV wall stiffness will not hinder function, and to provide a balance between function and tissue stresses. A limitation here is that sheetlet sliding is modeled as a simple reduction in shear stiffness, without consideration of micro-scale sheetlet mechanics and dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different varieties of fresh lotus seeds have varying levels of amylose content. It has a direct impact on the following processing and final product quality, so the non-destructive detection of amylose content is meaningful before lotus seed production. This study proposed a non-destructive method to detect the amylose content of fresh lotus seeds. Hyperspectral images of 120 fresh lotus seeds of three different varieties were obtained, and different pretreatments were applied to the average spectra obtained from the region of interest (ROI). The calibration and prediction set were divided by the sample set joint x–y distances algorithm (SPXY). Then, the partial lease square regression (PLSR) method was established for modeling, with Savitzky–Golay pretreatment-based PLSR showing the best results. To further improve the stability of the predictive model, different methods of feature variables selection were compared. The results showed that the best PLSR model was established with the inputs of 15 feature bands selected from 472 bands by the successive projection algorithm (SPA). The correlation coefficient of the prediction set (Rp), root mean square error of the prediction set (RMSEP), and residual predictive deviation (RPD) were 0.890, 15.154 mg g−1, and 2.193, respectively. Meanwhile, this study visualized the amylose content distribution maps from which it could estimate the content level directly. This study could provide a reference for further development of portable detection equipment for the amylose content of fresh lotus seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing therapies for type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) show limited efficacy or have adverse effects. Numerous genetic variants associated with T2DM have been identified, but progress in translating these findings into potential drug targets has been limited. Here, we describe the tools and platforms available to identify effector genes from T2DM-associated coding and non-coding variants and prioritize them for functional studies. We discuss QSER1 and SLC12A8 as examples of genes that have been identified as possible T2DM candidate genes using these tools and platforms. We suggest further approaches, including the use of sequencing data with increased sample size and ethnic diversity, single-cell omics data for analyses, glycaemic trait associations to predict gene function and, potentially, human induced pluripotent stem cell 'village' cultures, to strengthen current gene functionalization workflows. Effective prioritization of T2DM-associated genes for experimental validation could expedite our understanding of the genetic mechanisms responsible for T2DM to facilitate the use of precision medicine in its treatment. More genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus are being identified. This Perspective article outlines various tools and platforms that can be applied to prioritize candidate genes associated with an increased risk of disease for functional validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The helix angle configuration of the myocardium is understood to contribute to the heart function, as finite element (FE) modeling of postnatal hearts showed that altered configurations affected cardiac function and biomechanics. However, similar investigations have not been done on the fetal heart. To address this, we performed image-based FE simulations of fetal left ventricles (LV) over a range of helix angle configurations, assuming a linear variation of helix angles from epicardium to endocardium. Results showed that helix angles have substantial influence on peak myofiber stress, cardiac stroke work, myocardial deformational burden, and spatial variability of myocardial strain. A good match between LV myocardial strains from FE simulations to those measured from 4D fetal echo images could only be obtained if the transmural variation of helix angle was generally between 110 and 130°, suggesting that this was the physiological range. Experimentally discovered helix angle configurations from the literature were found to produce high peak myofiber stress, high cardiac stroke work, and a low myocardial deformational burden, but did not coincide with configurations that would optimize these characteristics. This may suggest that the fetal development of myocyte orientations depends concurrently on several factors rather than a single factor. We further found that the shape, rather than the size of the LV, determined the manner at which helix angles influenced these characteristics, as this influence changed significantly when the LV shape was varied, but not when a heart was scaled from fetal to adult size while retaining the same shape. This may suggest that biomechanical optimality would be affected during diseases that altered the geometric shape of the LV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The American landscape is well defined by the presence of turfgrass. To maintain the lush, green carpet, irrigation, fertilizer, and other necessary inputs are required. When these inputs are excessively applied, which is not uncommon, they are harmful to the natural environment. To mitigate potential adverse impacts, local and state governments are interested in policies that incentivize homeowners to maintain their lawns sustainably. But are there homeowners who are environmentally conscious and are willing to minimize their use of fertilizers or water? In this study, we evaluate the Floridian homeowners' preferences for high- and low-level inputs of irrigation water and fertilizer using latent class logit (LCL) regression models based on data collected from an online choice experiment survey. Results indicated that there are heterogeneous preferences for the level of irrigation water and fertilizer application by Floridian homeowners, including high-input users (33% of the sample), irrigation-conscious users (27%), fertilizer-conscious users (23%), and moderate-input users (17%). The policy and marketing implications for relevant stakeholders are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article collected papers published by Chinese archaeologists in Chinese and World core journals (CCJs and WCJs for short) in the past century. Based on bibliometric analysis, the general characteristics and trends of Chinese archaeology were summarized. In a macroscopic perspective, historiography-rooted archaeology focusing on historical periods and central areas of China and preferring traditional archaeological methods (mainly a culture-historical paradigm) will continue to occupy a leading position in China. Simultaneously, interdisciplinary research and internationalisation will likely continue to develop and diversify Chinese archaeology, though the speed is unknown due to the impact of the pandemic. In comparison, more attention needs to be paid to theoretical research and to publishing more results of historical archaeology in WCJs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection in top-view fisheye cameras is more difficult than standard cameras. This article summarizes the issues regarding object detection accuracy in top-view fisheye cameras into two challenges: Rotation and Distortion. There is a lack of methods to deal with both challenges simultaneously. To solve this problem, we propose the Rotation-Mask Deformable Convolution, named RMDC, which rotates convolution filters adaptively and introduces the Center-Fixed Deformable Convolution. The RMDC improves the learning ability of the convolution kernels for rotated objects in top-view fisheye images and addresses the spatial distortion problem. The effectiveness of the RMDC is verified on the SEU-fisheye which contains 10233 top-view fisheye images and annotates 127053 people. Finally, we confirm the optimal network structure in the baseline with the RMDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Furfural, as a typical byproduct produced during the hydrolysis of lignocellulose biomass, is harmful to the photo fermentation hydrogen production. In this work, the effects of furfural on the photo fermentation hydrogen production by Rhodobacter capsulatus using glucose as substrate were investigated. The characteristics of cell growth, hydrogen production, and fermentation end-products with the addition of different concentrations of furfural (0–20 mM) were studied. The results showed that furfural negatively affected the maximum hydrogen production rate and total hydrogen yield. The maximum hydrogen yield of 2.59 ± 0.13 mol-H2/mol-glucose was obtained without furfural. However, 5 mM furfural showed a 40% increase in cell concentration. Furfural in high concentrations can favor the overproduction and accumulation of inhibitive end-products. Further analysis of energy conversion efficiency showed that most of the energy in the substrate was underused and unconverted when the furfural concentration was high. The maximum glucose consumption (93%) was achieved without furfural, while it dramatically declined to 7% with 20 mM furfural addition. The index of half-maximal inhibitory concentration was calculated as 13.40 mM. Moreover, the possible metabolic pathway of furfural and glucose was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient classification of flue-cured tobacco by automated machines continues to pose a significant challenge. Producers are grappling with escalating labor shortages in the grading of flue-cured tobacco due to the demanding working conditions and a robust workforce. This paper proposes an innovative approach to ascertain the grades of folded flue-cured tobacco using hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology in conjunction with a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) model. Initially, a comprehensive dataset comprising 405 hyperspectral images capturing ten grades of folded flue-cured tobacco was meticulously collected, illustrating various degrees of folding. Subsequently, diverse preprocessing techniques were applied to the spectra obtained from the regions of interest. Moreover, advanced algorithms, including the least angle regression algorithm (LAR), successive project algorithm (SPA), and competitive adaptive reweighted sampling algorithm (CARS), were employed to select the most pertinent feature bands. Finally, based on the feature wavelengths, a 1D-CNN grading model was established and compared with random forest (RF), artificial neural network (ANN), backpropagation neural network (BPNN), and residual neural network (ResNet) classification models. Comparative analysis of these models reveals that the LAR-CNN algorithm outperforms others, achieving a classification accuracy of 96.3% and a minimum loss function value of 0.1. Notably, the LAR algorithm implemented in this study successfully reduces the number of bands used in the model from 360 to 20. In summary, this fusion of HSI and 1D-CNN not only conveys a distinct advantage in discerning leaf folds and intricate morphological traits but also heralds an innovative era for the automation of flue-cured tobacco classification, offering unprecedented precision and efficiency. This methodology paves the way for remarkable strides in augmenting the efficacy and precision of automated flue-cured tobacco grading, mitigate subjective biases in manual grading methods, and offer essential technical support for the development of automatic grading devices for folded flue-cured tobacco leaves. Hence, continued research and development initiatives stand as indispensable to realize the full potential of such innovative technologies. [Display omitted] • Hyperspectral imaging and deep learning were used to grade folded flue-cured tobacco. • Last angle regression (LAR) selected 20 feature bands out of 360 bands. • LAR-CNN accurately classifies seven grades of tobacco with accuracy of 96.3%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present research, the impacts of high-pressure homogenization (HPH) (20, 60, 90, 120 and 150 MPa) on the physicochemical, rheological and sensory properties of soybean oil body (SOB) fermented milks were explored. Experimental results showed that with the increase of HPH pressure, acidity and water-holding capacity (WHC) of SOB fermented milk significantly increased, while its pH, peroxide value (PV) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) significantly decreased. The SOB fermented milk was found to be pseudoplastic fluids and the SOB fermented milk at 150 MPa had the highest apparent viscosity. Meanwhile, the SOB fermented milk of 150 MPa possessed the highest sensory score. Finally, principal component analysis (PCA) and heatmap showed that SOB fermented milk had the best characteristics after HPH treatment at 150 MPa. Therefore, HPH pressure could observably improve sensory, textural and rheological properties of SOB fermented milk. These results provide theoretical reference for HPH treatment to develop high-quality fermented dairy products. • SOB fermented milk was treated by high-pressure homogenization (HPH). • The increase of HPH pressure improves the physicochemical properties of SOB fermented milk. • HPH treatment reduced PV and TBARS values in SOB fermented milk. • SOB fermented milk of 150 MPa possessed attractive organoleptic acceptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent home energy management system (IHEMS) manages various home appliances depending on user preferences in order to save energy cost and assure user satisfaction. To realize cooperation between the distribution system operator (DSO) and end-user, a two-stage scheduling optimization model is developed based on the flexibility quantification, with the user privacy in demand-side management in a specific cluster taken into account. It also aids to reduce the network operation cost, and the distribution system's uncertainty caused by wind power is represented using chance constraints. The user uploads the IHEMS-calculated offered flexibility to DSO via cluster; DSO optimizes the optimal flexibility to minimize the operation cost; then, clusters distribute the flexibility requirement based on the flexibility index; finally, the user updates the optimal schedule. The numerical results using MATLAB are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Distinguishing strangulated bowel obstruction (StBO) from simple bowel obstruction (SiBO) still poses a challenge for emergency surgeons. We aimed to construct a predictive model that could distinctly discriminate StBO from SiBO based on the degree of bowel ischemia.Methods: The patients diagnosed with intestinal obstruction were enrolled and divided into SiBO group and StBO group. Binary logistic regression was applied to identify independent risk factors, and then predictive models based on radiological and multi-dimensional models were constructed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and the area under the curve (AUC) were calculated to assess the accuracy of the predicted models. Via stratification analysis, we validated the multi-dimensional model in the prediction of transmural necrosis both in the training set and validation set.Results: Of the 281 patients with SBO, 45 (16.0%) were found to have StBO, while 236(84.0%) with SiBO. The AUC of the radiological model was 0.706 (95%CI, 0.617-0.795). In the multivariate analysis, seven risk factors including pain duration ≤ 3 days (OR = 3.775), rebound tenderness (OR = 5.201), low-to-absent bowel sounds (OR = 5.006), low levels of potassium (OR = 3.696) and sodium (OR = 3.753), high levels of BUN (OR = 4.349), high radiological score (OR = 11.264) were identified. The AUC of the multi-dimensional model was 0.857(95%CI, 0.793-0.920). In the stratification analysis, the proportion of patients with transmural necrosis was significantly greater in the high-risk group (24%) than in the medium-risk group (3%). No transmural necrosis was found in the low-risk group. The AUC of the validation set was 0.910 (95%CI, 0.843-0.976). None of patients in the low-risk and medium-risk score group suffered with StBO. However, all patients with bowel ischemia (12%) and necrosis (24%) were resorted into high-risk score group.Conclusion: The novel multi-dimensional model offers a useful tool for predicting StBO. Clinical management could be performed according to the multivariate score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method of simple static loadings is developed for existing space trusses to assess the key structural stiffness, which provides the main resistance to the structural deformation caused by the load that dominates the deformation check in the structural design. For a space truss under a given dominant load, the structural displacement can be characterized by the generalized displacements along a few eigenvectors, which form a so-called key set, of the stiffness matrix of its numerical (finite-element) model. When the stiffness of the space truss deteriorates, the structural displacement can still be described by the pseudo-generalized displacements along those eigenvectors included in the key set and a small number of their adjacent eigenvectors. Moreover, the pseudo-generalized displacement can be approximately expressed as a linear combination of the generalized displacements along its neighboring eigenvectors included in the key set. Any combination coefficient can be estimated by the measured nodal displacements of the existing (deteriorated) structure under a constructed simple static load. The strategies for selecting the loaded degrees of freedom and optimizing the magnitude of loads are proposed. The selection of the measured degrees of freedom of displacement responses caused by the simple load is also discussed. For two illustrative space trusses with randomly assigned member stiffness deviations, the deterioration of their key structural stiffness is evaluated by comparing the displacement, which is indirectly obtained by simple static loadings, of the existing structure and that of the numerical model. The accuracy and validity of the proposed method are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought rapid and radical changes to higher education, and academic libraries adapted and devised solutions. This article will review the initiatives that the University of Manitoba Libraries (UML) implemented prior to the pandemic, as well as the library's response, focusing on the performance of these initiatives in the past two years. These initiatives are new service models including a fully virtual library, new technologies, such as self-service lockers, and structural reorganization, for example, the creation of functional teams. The review will demonstrate how the above initiatives ensured the continuity of library services during the pandemic. The pandemic is viewed as a touchstone that tested the trends of the academic library community in an extreme situation. The success of the library services provided by the UML inspires positive thinking about the forward direction for public research university libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the complexity of living donor hepatectomy, it is expected that high hospital volume will better outcomes. This study aims to evaluate post-operative outcomes for living donor hepatectomy in a medium volume liver transplant centre and compare to outcomes in high volume centres. Also, it serves as a validation tool for framework of structure-process-outcome model for safe living donor hepatectomy program. 204 donors who underwent donor hepatectomy between June 1996 to September 2019 were reviewed retrospectively and compared to outcomes in high volume centres. At 6 months, overall donor morbidity rate was 20/204 (9.8%). Wound complications were most common at 5/204 (2.5%). Majority of complications were either Clavien grade 1 or 2 and only 3 donors had Clavien grade 3 complications. There was zero donor mortality. Our centre's donor morbidity rate of 9.8% is the one of the lowest reported in the published literature. With increased experience, stringent donor selection and enhanced perioperative care by a multi-disciplinary team, outcomes in a medium volume centre can match the outcomes reported in high volume centres. The framework for quality in terms of structure, process and outcomes is presented which can be adopted for developing programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The potential protective role of eosinophils in the COVID-19 pandemic has aroused great interest, given their potential virus clearance function and the infection resistance of asthma patients to this coronavirus. However, it is unknown whether eosinophil counts could serve as a predictor of the severity of COVID-19. Methods: A total of 1004 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were admitted to Leishenshan Hospital in Wuhan, China, were enrolled in this study, including 905 patients in the general ward and 99 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). We reviewed their medical data to analyze the association between eosinophils and ICU admission and death. Results: Of our 1004 patients with COVID-19, low eosinophil counts/ratios were observed in severe cases. After adjusting for confounders that could have affected the outcome, we found that eosinophil counts might not be a predictor of ICU admission. In 99 ICU patients, 58 of whom survived and 41 of whom died, low eosinophil level was an indicator of death in severe COVID-19 patients with a cutoff value of 0.04 × 109/L, which had an area under the curve of 0.665 (95% CI=1.089-17.839; P =.045) with sensitivity and specificity of 0.569 and 0.7317, respectively. Conclusion: Our research revealed that a low eosinophil level is a predictor of death in ICU patients rather than a cause of ICU admission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Highly-efficient purification of CH 3 F electronic gas was realized using carbon adsorbent C-HCP-1. • C-HCP-1 performs C 3 H 8 uptake of 0.164 mmol g−1 at 0.01 kPa and 298 K, and record C 3 H 8 /CH 3 F IAST selectivity up to 40.0. • C-HCP-1 demonstrates one-step CH 3 F purification from 4 N to 7 N-grade with a CH 3 F breakthrough capacity of 3715 L kg−1. Ultra-pure fluoride electronic gas is an indispensable cleaning and etching gas in the semiconductor industry. Adsorptive separation based on porous materials can be a promising technology to effectively separate ultra-pure CH 3 F (>99.9999 %) from trace C 3 H 8 impurity (∼100 ppm). Herein, a series of glucose-derived carbon adsorbents (GCAs) were prepared using a combination strategy of pre-oxidation and KOH activation. Among obtained adsorbents, C-HCP-1 showed a high micropore surface area of 1472 m2 g−1 and ultramicropore (<8 Å) volume of 0.332 cm3 g−1. The rich ultramicroporosity enabled C-HCP-1 to exhibit a remarkable C 3 H 8 uptake of 0.164 mmol g−1 at 0.01 kPa and 298 K, and C 3 H 8 /CH 3 F IAST selectivity of 40.0. A highly linear correlation (R2 > 0.98) has been observed between C 3 H 8 /CH 3 F selectivity and ultramicropore volume. Breakthrough experiments verified that 7 N-grade CH 3 F could be produced from C 3 H 8 /CH 3 F mixtures (1/9999, v/v) with a record productivity of 3715 L kg−1. Meanwhile, excellent cycle stability and moisture stability suggest C-HCP-1 as a competitive candidate for highly-efficient purification of industrial electronic gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Differences on aroma profiles between Fujian and Yunnan white teas were revealed. • 28 Chiral free and glycosidically bound volatiles were identified and compared. • Linalool and α-terpineol showed the opposite major configurations in two white teas. • Glycosidically bound linalool oxides were directly quantified for the first time. • Fujian and Yunnan white teas could be distinguished based on nine key compounds. The Fujian and Yunnan provinces in China are the most representative origins of white tea. However, the key differences in the chemical constituents of the two white teas have rarely been revealed. In this study, a comprehensive comparison of the aroma profiles, chiral volatiles, and glycosidically bound volatiles (GBVs) in Fujian and Yunnan white teas was performed, and 174 volatiles and 28 enantiomers, including 22 volatiles and six GBVs, were identified. Linalool, linalyl-β-primeveroside (LinPrim), and α-terpineol presented the opposite dominant configurations in Fujian and Yunnan white teas, and the chiral GBVs were firstly quantified with significant differences in the contents of R -LinPrim and β- d -glucopyranosides of (2 R , 5 R)-linalool oxide A and (2 R , 5 S)-linalool oxide B. Moreover, discrimination functions for Fujian and Yunnan white teas were created using nine key variables with excellent reliability and efficiency. These results provide a new method for objectively distinguishing authentic white teas according to geographical origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To accurately and rapidly predict the collapse time of steel frame structures subjected to fire conditions, a three-story steel frame structure with floor slabs was chosen as the research subject. A thermo-mechanical coupled analysis model, based on beam and shell elements, was developed using the finite element software ABAQUS. A realistic fire scenario was created in the FDS software, and the fire dynamic simulation was performed to obtain the temperature curve throughout the entire duration of a single-room fire. The fire responses of the steel frame structure including failure modes, displacement-time curves and deformation rate-time curves of the beam and column components were investigated by the numerical simulation. Subsequently, the key parameters affecting the failure of steel frame structures under fire conditions were determined, and a collapse criterion was proposed. Through extensive parameter analysis, a total of 3888 models were established, and a dataset of collapse times for steel frame structures under fire conditions was obtained. Machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), LightGBM, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks, were utilized to establish nonlinear mapping relationships between design parameters and collapse times. The results indicate that the Random Forest algorithm shows superior accuracy and robustness in predicting the collapse time of steel frame structures under fire conditions. • An innovative thermo-mechanical coupling modeling method for steel frame structures was proposed. • The fire response of steel frame structures under single-room fire conditions was analyzed by numerical simulation. • A collapse criterion for steel frame structures in fire conditions was proposed. • The collapse time of steel frame structures under fire conditions was predicted using machine learning algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fetal critical aortic stenosis with evolving hypoplastic left heart syndrome (CAS-eHLHS) can progress to a univentricular (UV) birth malformation. Catheter-based fetal aortic valvuloplasty (FAV) can resolve stenosis and reduce the likelihood of malformation progression. However, we have limited understanding of the biomechanical impact of FAV and subsequent LV responses. Therefore, we performed image-based finite element (FE) modeling of 4 CAS-eHLHS fetal hearts, by performing iterative simulations to match image-based characteristics and then back-computing physiological parameters. We used pre-FAV simulations to conduct virtual FAV (vFAV) and compared pre-FAV and post-FAV simulations. vFAV simulations generally enabled partial restoration of several physiological features toward healthy levels, including increased stroke volume and myocardial strains, reduced aortic valve (AV) and mitral valve regurgitation (MVr) velocities, reduced LV and LA pressures, and reduced peak myofiber stress. FAV often leads to aortic valve regurgitation (AVr). Our simulations showed that AVr could compromise LV and LA depressurization but it could also significantly increase stroke volume and myocardial deformational stimuli. Post-FAV scans and simulations showed FAV enabled only partial reduction of the AV dissipative coefficient. Furthermore, LV contractility and peripheral vascular resistance could change in response to FAV, preventing decreases in AV velocity and LV pressure, compared with what would be anticipated from stenosis relief. This suggested that case-specific post-FAV modeling is required to fully capture cardiac functionality. Overall, image-based FE modeling could provide mechanistic details of the effects of FAV, but computational prediction of acute outcomes was difficult due to a patient-dependent physiological response to FAV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finite Element simulations are a robust way of investigating cardiac biomechanics. To date, it has only been performed with the left ventricle (LV) alone for fetal hearts, even though results are likely different with biventricular (BiV) simulations. In this research, we conduct BiV simulations of the fetal heart based on 4D echocardiography images to show that it can capture the biomechanics of the normal healthy fetal heart, as well as those of fetal aortic stenosis better than the LV alone simulations. We found that performing LV alone simulations resulted in overestimation of LV stresses and pressures, compared to BiV simulations. Interestingly, inserting a compliance between the LV and right ventricle (RV) in the lumped parameter model of the LV only simulation effectively resolved these overestimations, demonstrating that the septum could be considered to play a LV-RV pressure communication role. However, stresses and strains spatial patterns remained altered from BiV simulations after the addition of the compliance. The BiV simulations corroborated previous studies in showing disease effects on the LV, where fetal aortic stenosis (AS) drastically elevated LV pressures and reduced strains and stroke volumes, which were moderated down with the addition of mitral regurgitation (MR). However, BiV simulations enabled an evaluation of the RV as well, where we observed that effects of the AS and MR on pressures and stroke volumes were generally much smaller and less consistent. The BiV simulations also enabled investigations of septal dynamics, which showed a rightward shift with AS, and partial restoration with MR. Interestingly, AS tended to enhance RV stroke volume, but MR moderated that down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • LCA of biohydrogen production via dark-photo fermentation from wheat straw. • Energy and material flow with a sensitivity of each module is analyzed. • A cascade process for energy utilization of crop residues is proposed. • 340.48 mL H 2 /g biomass is achieved from this energy cascade utilization system. This study presents a life-cycle analysis using energy conversion characteristics as an evaluation index to assess the feasibility of this production method. The results indicate that for a system processing 1000 kg/h of wheat straw, the addition of 12000 kg/h of 2 wt% H 2 SO 4 and 120 kg/h of CH 3 COONa yields 340,000 L/h of H 2 and 348.6 kW of electricity. The energy conversion efficiency from the feedstock to the product is 21.4 %, while the efficiency from the hydrolysate to the product is 62.2 %. The total CO 2 emission is 27.1 kg/h. Variations in the hydrolysate have the most significant impact on energy conversion efficiency. This study explores the feasibility of industrial-scale biohydrogen production via dark-photo fermentation from wheat straw and analyzes the energy characteristic indices and the sensitivity of these indices to key parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an efficient technique to manage massive distributed energy resources (DER), the virtual power plant (VPP) can leverage the aggregated flexibility to enhance the economy and security of the system. However, few efforts have been reported on the carbon emission reduction benefit of the VPP. In this paper, a novel incentive mechanism for low-carbon demand response is designed, which is based on dynamic pricing and carbon intensity. Considering the uncertainty of renewable energy output characterized by the chance-constrained approach, a coordinated optimization model in the joint day-ahead energy, reserve and carbon market for the VPP operator and flexible consumers is proposed, including the pre-dispatch model, the energy storage systems (ESSs) incorporated carbon emission flow calculation model, and the bi-level final-dispatch model. Numerical simulations of both small-scale and large-scale cases demonstrate that the proposed low-carbon dispatch strategy can boost the payoff of the VPP operator, reduce carbon emissions in the joint energy-reserve-carbon market, and improve the robustness of the power system against uncertainty. • Low-carbon demand response (DR) to fully utilize the potential of the demand side. • Carbon emission flow model integrating energy storage systems. • Chance constrained approach to compensate for the uncertainties based on the versatile distribution. • The VPP engages in the joint energy-reserve-carbon market considering renewable energy uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting product adoption intentions on social media could yield significant value in a wide range of applications, such as personalized recommendations and targeted marketing. In the literature, no study has explored the detection of product adoption intentions on social media, and only a few relevant studies have focused on purchase intention detection for products in one or several categories. Focusing on a product category rather than a specific product is too coarse-grained for precise advertising. Additionally, existing studies primarily focus on using one type of text representation in target social media posts, ignoring the major yet unexplored potential of fusing different text representations. In this paper, we first formulate the problem of product adoption intention mining and demonstrate the necessity of studying this problem and its practical value. To detect a product adoption intention for an individual product, we propose a novel and general multiview deep learning model that simultaneously taps into the capability of multiview learning in leveraging different representations and deep learning in learning latent data representations using a flexible nonlinear transformation. Specifically, the proposed model leverages three different text representations from a multiview perspective and takes advantage of local and long-term word relations by integrating convolutional neural network (CNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) modules. Extensive experiments on three Twitter datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed multiview deep learning model compared with the existing benchmark methods. This study also significantly contributes research insights to the literature about intention mining and provides business value to relevant stakeholders such as product providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing group study rooms is an important service offered by a university library to support learning and collaboration. A good room booking system should be convenient for students to use and would require a minimum involvement of library staff regarding managing bookings and keys. This article studied the implementation of the Juno Secure Room Booking system at the library to replace LibCal, which is a popular room booking system used by a large number of university libraries in North America. This article discussed the advantages that the Juno system has compared to LibCal, the design of an online booking website using the Juno Application Programming Interface (API), and the enhancement the library designed and developed based on student feedback. This article also discussed how the library successfully engaged a college to use this system to manage study rooms for classes and exams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the discontinuous Galerkin time-domain (DGTD) method, a new conformal perfectly matched layer (PML) is introduced to truncate the 3-D open domain. Compared with the traditional (rectangular or cubic) PML, the conformal PML is a smooth convex shell, which significantly reduces the buffer space in the computational domain. In this article, we construct the conformal PML in an orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system. Conductivities are defined to absorb the outgoing waves, depending on the distance from the sampling point to the non-PML region and the principal curvature radii of the sampling point, which are calculated utilizing the Weingarten transformation. The analytical expression of 3-D conformal PML is derived with the complex coordinate stretching technique. Furthermore, to reduce the total degrees of freedom (DoFs) while maintaining accuracy, the hierarchical vector basis functions are chosen to discretize the conformal PML and physical region. Numerical results validate its good absorption performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Left atrial ligation (LAL) of the chick embryonic heart at HH21 is a model of the hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) disease, demonstrating morphological and hemodynamic features similar to human HLHS cases. Since it relies on mechanical intervention without genetic or pharmacological manipulations, it is a good model for understanding the biomechanics origins of such HLHS malformations. To date, however, the fluid mechanical environment of this model is poorly understood. In the current study, we performed 4D ultrasound imaging of LAL and normal chick embryonic hearts and 4D cardiac flow simulations to help shed light on the mechanical environment that may lead to the HLHS morphology. Results showed that the HH25 LAL atrial function was compromised, and velocities in the ventricle were reduced. The HH25 LAL ventricles developed a more triangular shape with a sharper apex, and in some cases, the atrioventricular junction shifted medially. These changes led to more sluggish flow near the ventricular free wall and apex, where more fluid particles moved in an oscillatory manner with the motion of the ventricular wall, while slowly being washed out, resulting in lower wall shear stresses and higher oscillatory indices. Consequent to these flow conditions, at HH28, even before septation is complete, the left ventricle was found to be hypoplastic while the right ventricle was found to be larger in compensation. Our results suggest that the low and oscillatory flow near the left side of the heart may play a role in causing the HLHS morphology in the LAL model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the extent to which individuals' perceptions and attitudes toward pesticides and pollinator related labeling influence their preferences for eco-labeled products. An incentive compatible second-price auction and a hypothetical discrete choice experiment were used to elicit individual preferences for ornamental plants grown with or without controversial (neonicotinoid) pesticides. Positive attitudes toward pollinators, neonicotinoid labeling regulations, and labeling of sustainable production methods were found to be significant predictors of individual choice behavior. Individuals with attitudes expressing concern for pollinators and agreement with mandatory labeling and disclosure of neonicotinoids, showed a stronger preference for neonicotinoid-free plants. Our results suggest that both hypothetical and non-hypothetical experiments are consistent in predicting the general direction of consumer preferences despite the elicitation mechanism. Implications for relevant stakeholders are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mycogone perniciosa disease of Agaricus bisporus is highly contagious, with insignificant early symptoms and a long infestation period. Currently, there is a lack of a convenient and rapid means to detect the disease for early control. By using the transmission route of the disease, this paper focuses on M. perniciosa chlamydospore detection in contaminated soil. Microscopic hyperspectral images of M. perniciosa chlamydospore in contaminated soil were obtained to establish a detection model. Given a small target and a complex background, we proposed an improved spore detection model based on a faster regional convolutional neural network (Faster R-CNN). Furthermore, we combined the residual network Resnet50 and feature pyramid network (FPN) to extract thick spore target features at multiple scales. Meanwhile, we optimized the region proposal network (RPN) region proposal generation by adding two small scales to improve the performance of the detection model. The first three principal components (with 95% or more information) and RGB images were selected as model inputs, respectively, and the final average precision (AP) was 94.68% and 92.35%, respectively. This PC-based model also was compared to the VGG16 and Resnet50-based feature extraction networks of Faster R-CNN and Darknet53-based feature extraction network of the YOLOv3 model, and the AP was found to improve by 5.41%, 4.78%, and 6.34%, respectively. The results showed that micro-hyperspectral imaging combined with deep learning methods could accurately detect the chlamydospore in the soil, providing new methods and ideas for the early prevention and detection of M. perniciosa disease of A. bisporus. [Display omitted] • A new means of early warning of disease infection in A. bisporus cultivation. • Micro-hyperspectral imaging were combined with deep learning for target detection. • An improved spore detection model based on Faster-RCNN was proposed. • PCA images got from micro-hyperspectral images provide richer feature information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom‐doped polymers or carbon nanospheres have attracted broad research interest. However, rational synthesis of these nanospheres with controllable properties is still a great challenge. Herein, we develop a template‐free approach to construct cross‐linked polyphosphazene nanospheres with tunable hollow structures. As comonomers, hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene provides N and P atoms, tannic acid can coordinate with metal ions, and the replaceable third comonomer can endow the materials with various properties. After carbonization, N/P‐doped mesoporous carbon nanospheres were obtained with small particle size (≈50 nm) and high surface area (411.60 m2 g−1). Structural characterization confirmed uniform dispersion of the single atom transition metal sites (i.e. Co‐N2P2) with N and P dual coordination. Electrochemical measurements and theoretical simulations revealed the oxygen reduction reaction performance. This work provides a solution for fabricating diverse heteroatom‐containing polymer nanospheres and their derived single metal atom doped carbon catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteroatom‐doped polymers or carbon nanospheres have attracted broad research interest. However, rational synthesis of these nanospheres with controllable properties is still a great challenge. Herein, we develop a template‐free approach to construct cross‐linked polyphosphazene nanospheres with tunable hollow structures. As comonomers, hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene provides N and P atoms, tannic acid can coordinate with metal ions, and the replaceable third comonomer can endow the materials with various properties. After carbonization, N/P‐doped mesoporous carbon nanospheres were obtained with small particle size (≈50 nm) and high surface area (411.60 m2 g−1). Structural characterization confirmed uniform dispersion of the single atom transition metal sites (i.e. Co‐N2P2) with N and P dual coordination. Electrochemical measurements and theoretical simulations revealed the oxygen reduction reaction performance. This work provides a solution for fabricating diverse heteroatom‐containing polymer nanospheres and their derived single metal atom doped carbon catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary MitoFlex is a linux-based mitochondrial genome analysis toolkit, which provides a complete workflow of raw data filtering, de novo assembly, mitochondrial genome identification and annotation for animal High Throughput Sequencing data. The overall performance was compared between MitoFlex and its analogue MitoZ, in terms of protein-coding gene recovery, memory consumption and processing speed. Availabilityand implementation MitoFlex is available at https://github.com/Prunoideae/MitoFlex under GPLv3 license. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a series of three elderly patients with cutaneous I M. haemophilum i infection (Table 1) with approval from the SingHealth Institutional Review Board (2019/2923). After dermatology review, patients 1 and 2 received empirical courses of doxycycline and clarithromycin or ciprofloxacin and clarithromycin for 2-3 months prior to the identification of I M. haemophilum i . Dear Editor, I Mycobacterium haemophilum i ( I M. haemophilum i ) is an uncommon cutaneous pathogen.1 Immunocompetent patients present with cervicofacial lesions, lymphadenitis, or skin lesions from traumatic inoculation, while immunocompromised patients have a polymorphic cutaneous presentation as well as systemic involvement.2 I M. haemophilum i skin infection in the elderly without additional risks factors for immunosuppression has rarely been reported. [Extracted from the article]

By means of an integrated approach, including molecular, morphological, anatomical and histological data, we describe a new species of freshwater flatworm of the genus Dugesia from southwest China, representing the third species recorded for the country. Morphologically, the new species, Dugesia umbonata Song & Wang, sp. nov., is particularly characterised by the presence of a muscularised hump immediately antero-dorsally to a knee-shaped bend in its bursal canal and by an ejaculatory duct that opens subterminally through the dorsal side of the penis papilla. Four molecular datasets (18S rDNA; ITS-1; 28S rDNA; COI) facilitated determination of the phylogenetic position of the new species, which belongs to a clade comprising other species from the Australasian and Oriental regions. We also analysed the structure of its major nervous system by means of the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) histochemical method and compared these results with data available for three other species of Dugesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is now one of the most lethal and commonest cancers in the world, among which over 90% is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Recent studies have confirmed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are implicated in carcinogenesis. It has been reported lncRNA LINC00668 serves as an oncogene in several cancers. However, the mechanism where LINC00668 regulates HCC is still unclear. qRT-PCR analysis was adopted to detect the expression of relative RNAs. Cytoplasmic and nuclear RNA fraction analysis was conducted to verify the underlying molecular mechanism. Cell colony formation was carried out to test cell colony formation ability and transwell assays were performed to testify cell migratory and invaded abilities. Relevant protein expression level was measured by Western blot assay. LINC00668 was significantly up-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines. LINC00668 knockdown inhibited cell proliferative, migratory and invasion abilities and slowed down the epithelial--mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. Mechanistically, LINC00668 positively modulates the expression of YY1 by competitively binding to miR-532-5p. It was revealed that LINC00668 up-regulation accelerated cell proliferation and motility in HCC and suggested LINC00668 could be a potential therapeutic target for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an empirical analysis of return migrants' entrepreneurial decisions after returning home using individual survey data in Jiangxi Province. We apply an extended hurdle model to investigate how social-economic factors, in particular, social network, local government support and previous migration experience may play different roles in affecting return migrants' entrepreneurial decisions in different stages. A standard probit model is incorporated in the first stage to separate potential return migrant entrepreneurs from those who are not willing to consider establishing enterprises. In the second stage, a lognormal hurdle model is used to identify factors affecting return migrants' entrepreneurial establishment and investment amount decisions. Results from the extended hurdle model suggest that government policy support is the most important factor for successfully attracting return migrant entrepreneurs back in Jiangxi Province. In addition, previous migration experience and household attributes are crucial and play different roles in affecting both return migrants' willingness to consider entrepreneurship decisions and entrepreneurial investment decisions. On the other hand, individual characteristics are shown to affect only return migrants' entrepreneurial investment decisions but not willingness to consider entrepreneurship decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of atypical femoral shaft fractures with abnormal bowing provides a unique challenge for surgeons. Whilst intramedullary fixation of atypical femoral shaft fractures affords both mechanical and biological benefits, the mismatch between standard intramedullary devices and the abnormal femoral bowing in these patients makes this method of fixation challenging for the surgeon. The purpose of this manuscript is to illustrate the evolution of our surgical technique through a series of four patients. The critical factors we identified include lateral positioning of the patient for reduction, the use of a piriformis-start nail, and an entry point that was anterior in the sagittal profile and lateral in the coronal profile. This technique was easily replicable, facilitated more anatomical reduction and aided in avoiding complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we describe a new species for the genus Oregoniplana from the coast of China, representing the third species for the genus and the first record of this genus for Asia. The other species are known from Oregon, USA, and from South Africa. Specimens of the South African species, Oregoniplana pantherina , were recently rediscovered, forming the second record for the species, which provided the basis for a necessary re-description. Molecular data (18S rDNA and 28S rDNA) obtained for the new Chinese species facilitated determination of the position of the genus Oregoniplana in the phylogenetic tree of the marine triclads. We report molecular data also for species previously discovered in China, viz. Miroplana shenzhensis and Pentacoelum sinensis , thus enabling us to determine for the first time the phylogenetic position of the genus Miroplana. These new molecular data revealed that Pentacoleum sinensis occupies an unexpected position in the phylogenetic tree. Laboratory cultures of the new Chinese species provided information on food preferences and reproduction. Oregoniplana pantherina exhibits a peculiar kind of locomotion and an unusual resting position in which the animal has three points of contact on either side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The embryonic outflow tract (OFT) eventually undergoes aorticopulmonary septation to form the aorta and pulmonary artery, and it is hypothesized that blood flow mechanical forces guide this process. We performed detailed studies of the geometry, wall motions, and fluid dynamics of the HH25 chick embryonic OFT just before septation, using noninvasive 4D high-frequency ultrasound and computational flow simulations. The OFT exhibited expansion and contraction waves propagating from proximal to distal end, with periods of luminal collapse at locations of the two endocardial cushions. This, combined with periods of reversed flow, resulted in the OFT cushions experiencing wall shear stresses (WSS or flow drag forces) with elevated oscillatory characteristics, which could be important to signal for further development of cushions into valves and septum. Furthermore, the OFT exhibits interesting double-helical flow during systole, where a pair of helical flow structures twisted about each other from the proximal to distal end. This coincided with the location of the future aorticopulmonary septum, which also twisted from the proximal to distal end, suggesting that this flow pattern may be guiding OFT septation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiac trabeculae are uneven ventricular muscular structures that develop during early embryonic heart development at the outer curvature of the ventricle. Their biomechanical function is not completely understood, and while their formation is known to be mechanosensitive, it is unclear whether ventricular tissue internal stresses play an important role in their formation. Here, we performed imaging and image‐based cardiac biomechanics simulations on zebrafish embryonic ventricles to investigate these issues. Microscopy‐based ventricular strain measurements show that the appearance of trabeculae coincided with enhanced deformability of the ventricular wall. Image‐based biomechanical simulations reveal that the presence of trabeculae reduces ventricular tissue internal stresses, likely acting as structural support in response to the geometry of the ventricle. Passive ventricular pressure‐loading experiments further reveal that the formation of trabeculae is associated with a spatial homogenization of ventricular tissue stiffnesses in healthy hearts, but gata1 morphants with a disrupted trabeculation process retain a spatial stiffness heterogeneity. Our findings thus suggest that modulating ventricular wall deformability, stresses, and stiffness are among the biomechanical functions of trabeculae. Further, experiments with gata1 morphants reveal that a reduction in fluid pressures and consequently ventricular tissue internal stresses can disrupt trabeculation, but a subsequent restoration of ventricular tissue internal stresses via vasopressin rescues trabeculation, demonstrating that tissue stresses are important to trabeculae formation. Overall, we find that tissue biomechanics is important to the formation and function of embryonic heart trabeculation. Key points: Trabeculations are fascinating and important cardiac structures and their abnormalities are linked to embryonic demise.However, their function in the heart and their mechanobiological formation processes are not completely understood.Our imaging and modelling show that tissue biomechanics is the key here. We find that trabeculations enhance cardiac wall deformability, reduce fluid pressure stresses, homogenize wall stiffness, and have alignments that are optimal for providing load‐bearing structural support for the heart.We further discover that high ventricular tissue internal stresses consequent to high fluid pressures are needed for trabeculation formation through a rescue experiment, demonstrating that myocardial tissue stresses are as important as fluid flow wall shear stresses for trabeculation formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We consider the three-layer communication architecture of P2P-based virtual power plants (P2PVPPs) for P2P energy trading in market. • A novel two-stage game model is proposed to explore the optimal pricing strategy of P2PVPPs to charge for energy sharing services with the prosumers, where the preferences of prosumers on selection of P2PVPPs are characterized using a Hotelling model. • Pricing and deployment strategies of P2PVPPs are analyzed by investigating the dynamics of profit and corresponding optimal prices through sensitivity analysis. • Two-part tariffs has more significant effect than subscription fees for P2PVPP development. Aiming to deal with the fundamental transition of power networks and efficiently achieve sustainable development in the energy sector, virtual power plants for peer-to-peer (P2P) energy transactions among prosumers have been encouraged around the world. Successful implementation of P2P-based virtual power plants (P2PVPPs) requires a pricing and deployment strategy to charge for energy sharing services with the prosumers. In this study, we propose a two-stage game model to guide the pricing and deployment strategy for P2PVPPs to charge for sharing services with the prosumers, where the preferences of prosumers on the selection of their P2PVPPs are characterized using a Hotelling model. Moreover, we provide a numerical example to determine the optimal pricing and deployment strategy for the P2PVPPs, and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to demonstrate how relevant influential factors, which are presented in the model, can affect the P2PVPP operators' profit and corresponding optimal prices, i.e., subscription fees, for prosumers, which includes buyers and sellers. The results indicate that the two-part tariffs have a more significant effect than subscription fees for P2PVPPs' development and appropriately raising the per-transaction charge for prosumers in the two-part tariffs can help improve the effect of two-part tariffs to more effectively promote the development of P2PVPPs. While high per-agent serving costs for prosumers, including both buyers and sellers, and the generation-demand difference (GDD) level of sellers are not conducive to the development of P2PVPP, increasing the per-transaction charge for prosumers, promoting technological progress and improving the degree of product differentiation can help P2PVPP implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to vendor-provided data, Transaction Log Analysis (TLA) can provide unique benefits to a library in analyzing database usage. Meanwhile, it also requires librarians to have a broad knowledge of Information Technology in order to implement a TLA. This article will present an in-house database system developed at the University of Manitoba Libraries to analyze EZProxy's Starting Point Uniform Resource Locator logs. The database visits that happened in the past two years have been imported into this system and are split into two categories, on-campus and offcampus visits. Unique statistical information from each category is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]