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Abstract Purpose To evaluate the macular development in preterm infants with spontaneously regressed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) utilizing handheld spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) during the early postnatal period. Design A cross-sectional observational study. Methods Using handheld SD-OCT, OCT images were acquired in non-sedated infants ages about 37 weeks(w) post-menstrual-age (PMA = gestational age in weeks + chronological age). Central foveal thickness (CFT), mean parafoveal thickness (PT, mean of the temporal and nasal-lateral retinal thickness 1000 μm from the foveal center), the thickness of inner retina layers (IRL) and outer retina layers (ORL) of the foveal center and parafoveal, the depth of the macular fovea (FD), and the angle of the macular fovea (FA) were measured and analyzed. Results In contrast to the infants without ROP (group 1), OCT images of the infants with spontaneously regressed ROP (group 2) were more immature. The FD of Group 2 was shallower than Group 1 (P 0.05). Furthermore, in preterm infants, ROP was moderately correlated with FD, CFT, PT, FIRL, and PIRL (P

Abstract Background The present study explored the association between biological aging (BA), healthy eating index-2015 (HEI-2015) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the general population of the United States. Methods We used data from the NHANES database between 2017–2018 years to conduct the study. Weighted multivariable logistic regression analysis, restricted cubic spline (RCS), and subgroup analysis were performed to analyze the association of BA and HEI-2015 with prevalence of NAFLD and the mediation effect of HEI-2015 was also discussed. Additionally, generalized additive model was conducted to investigate the association of BA and HEI-2015 with ZJU index, BARD score, and NAFLD fibrosis score. Results There was a total of 2,421 individuals. RCS shown that BA was positively correlated with prevalence of NAFLD, while HEI-2015 was negative correlated with NAFLD risk. After adjusting for interfering factors, compared with the lowest quartiles of BA and HEI-2015, the odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals for NAFLD across the quartiles were (1.24 (0.84, 1.84), 2.07 (1.15, 3.73) and 2.49 (1.16, 5.38)) and (0.89 (0.66, 1.18), 0.87 (0.65, 1.16) and 0.64 (0.46, 0.87)), respectively. The BA was linear positive with ZJU index, BARD score and NAFLD fibrosis score. However, the linear negative correlation existed between HEI-2015 and ZJU index, BARD score and NAFLD fibrosis score. Mediation analysis showed that the positive correlation between BA and NAFLD could be mediated and weakened by HEI-2015. Conclusions The prevalence of NAFLD gradually increases with BA, but this positive association can be weakened by the healthy diet.

Abstract Soft-magnetic fibers (SMFs) play a crucial role in energy conversion, transmission, and storage within electronic devices. However, conventional SMFs have poor plasticity and are therefore difficult to withstand long-term tensile, torsional, and shear deformation. A high fraction of grain boundaries could improve plastic deformability of conventional SMFs, but deteriorates the coercivity. This severely limits their applications in flexible electronics and multifunctional components. Herein, we propose a strategy to overcome this dilemma, which is realized by coarsening the grains of a Fe34Co29Ni29Al3Ta3Si2 high entropy alloy (HEA) fiber containing ordered coherent nanoprecipitates with small lattice misfit via a simple one-step in-rotating-water spinning method. This allows to reduce domain wall pinning and improve dislocation mobility. The resultant micron-diameter soft-magnetic HEA fiber has a tensile strength of 674 MPa at 23% elongation, a low coercivity of 8.1 Oe, a moderate magnetization of 116 emu/g at 10 kOe and a high Curie temperature of 770 K.

Abstract Background Over the years, with the improvement of diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities for hip joint diseases and the advancements in surgical technology, hip arthroscopy has been extensively used. At present, there is ongoing controversy among scholars about whether it is necessary to close the joint capsule after hip arthroscopy. In addition, the clinical effect of repairing the hip joint capsule after hip arthroscopy remains uncertain. Purpose To evaluate the effect of our modified shoelace suture technique on postoperative hip function and to investigate whether complete closure of the hip capsule is reliable and safe. Study Design Retrospective study; Levels of evidence: III. Methods A retrospective review was conducted on patients undergoing hip arthroscopy by a solitary high-volume hip arthroscopic surgeon. The patients were categorized into two groups. The first group consisted of patients who underwent the modified shoelace continuous capsular closure technique. The other group consisted of those who did not receive capsular closure after hip arthroscopy. Patient-reported outcomes including modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Hip Outcome Score of Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL), Hip Outcome Score Sport-Specific Subscale (HOS-SSS), and visual analogue scale (VAS) were obtained at a minimum of 12 months. Any complications during follow-up were identified and recorded. Results A total of 100 patients were followed up for 12–15 months, with an average of (12.3 ± 5.3) months in the study. There were 50 patients in the shoelace capsular closure group (CC group) and 50 patients in the non-capsular closure group (NC group). The surgical time in the suture group was significantly longer than that in the non-suture group. However, there was no statistically significant disparity in the length of hospital stay between the two groups. The mHHS, HOS-SSS, HOS-ADL, and VAS of the CC and NC group were significantly improved compared to preoperative scores at 6 and 12 postoperative months (P

Abstract Aims To investigate the fundus characteristics and macular optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) metrics in patients with myelinated retinal nerve fibers (MRNF) and to identify the associations among myopic parameters, fundus metrics, and OCTA metrics. Methods The single-center case-control study included 15 patients with monocular MRNF and 15 patients without MRNF, matched for age, affected eyes’ spherical equivalent error (SER), and axial length (AL) between May 2021 and December 2021. Fundus features, including the entire MRNF area (Area1), the denser MRNF area (Area2), and the shortest distance from the fovea to the MRNF border (Df−m), along with ocular parameters, including SER, AL, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and OCTA metrics at the fovea, including choroidal (ChT) and retinal (ReT) thicknesses at the fovea, the foveal avascular zone area (FAZ), foveal avascular zone perimeter (FAZP), FAZ-circularity index (FAZ-CI), and foveal vessel density in a 300-µm wide region (FD-300), were assessed. Results The SER, AL, and BCVA were significantly different, and the ChT was thinner in the affected eyes than in the contralateral eyes. Compared with matched eyes, affected eyes had reduced BCVA and thinner ReT. In the affected eyes, both Area1 and Area2 were negatively correlated with SER (r 1 = -0.84, r 2 = -0.65), △SER (r 1 = -0.86, r 2 = -0.61), ReT at the vertical superior 3 mm (VS) (r 1 = -0.78, r 2 = -0.67), and ChT_VS (r 1 = -0.64, r 2 = -0.62), and positively correlated with AL (r 1 = 0.82, r 2 = 0.52) and BCVA (r 1 = 0.54, r 2 = 0.59). Df−m was negatively correlated with BCVA (r = -0.57). Conclusion The presence of MRNF affects BCVA and ReT at the fovea. The area of the MRNF, as well as the distance from the MRNF to the fovea, are closely associated with the affected eyes’ BCVA, SER, AL, and the degree of anisometropia.

Aims: In this study, we aimed to visualize the spatial distribution characteristics of femoral head necrosis using a novel measurement method. Methods: We retrospectively collected CT imaging data of 108 hips with non-traumatic osteonecrosis of the femoral head from 76 consecutive patients (mean age 34.3 years (SD 8.1), 56.58% male (n = 43)) in two clinical centres. The femoral head was divided into 288 standard units (based on the orientation of units within the femoral head, designated as N[Superior], S[Inferior], E[Anterior], and W[Posterior]) using a new measurement system called the longitude and latitude division system (LLDS). A computer-aided design (CAD) measurement tool was also developed to visualize the measurement of the spatial location of necrotic lesions in CT images. Two orthopaedic surgeons independently performed measurements, and the results were used to draw 2D and 3D heat maps of spatial distribution of necrotic lesions in the femoral head, and for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that the LLDS has high inter-rater reliability. As illustrated by the heat map, the distribution of Japanese Investigation Committee (JIC) classification type C necrotic lesions exhibited clustering characteristics, with the lesions being concentrated in the northern and eastern regions, forming a hot zone (90% probability) centred on the N4-N6E2, N3-N6E units of outer ring blocks. Statistical results showed that the distribution difference between type C2 and type C1 was most significant in the E1 and E2 units and, combined with the heat map, indicated that the spatial distribution differences at N3-N6E1 and N1-N3E2 units are crucial in understanding type C1 and C2 necrotic lesions. Conclusion: The LLDS can be used to accurately measure the spatial location of necrotic lesions and display their distribution characteristics. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2024;13(6):294–305.

IntroductionHIV-1 envelope (Env) is the key target for antibodies (Abs) against the virus and thus an important HIV-1 vaccine component. Env is synthesized from a gp160 precursor with a signal peptide (SP) at its N-terminus. This study investigated the influence of the SP on Env antigenicity and immunogenicity.MethodsEnv proteins from two HIV-1 isolates, AA05 and AC02, were analyzed as gp120 and gp160 in their native wild-type (WT) forms and as chimeras with swapped SPs (AA05-02 and AC02-05). The WT and chimeric Env were assessed for antigenicity and glycosylation using monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and glycan probes. Immunogenicity was tested in mice using three vaccine types: gp120 protein, gp120 DNA+gp120 protein, and gp120 DNA+gp160 DNA.ResultsThe recombinant AC02 gp120 protein was antigenically superior to AA05 as indicated by higher reactivity with most mAbs tested. When SPs were swapped, the antigenicity of the chimeric gp120s (AA05-02 and AC02-05) resembled that of the gp120s from which the SPs were derived; AA05-02 was similar to AC02 and vice versa. Glycan probe reactivity followed a similar pattern: AA05-02 and AC02 showed similar affinity to high-mannose specific mAbs and lectins. Interestingly, the antigenicity of gp160s showed an opposite pattern; membrane-bound gp160 expressed with the AA05 SP (AA05 and AC02-05) showed greater mAb binding than gp160 with the AC02 SP (AC02 and AA05-02). Mice immunized with gp120 protein showed that AA05-02 induced stronger cross-reactive binding Ab responses than AA05 WT, and AC02 elicited stronger responses than AC02-05, indicating AC02 SP enhanced gp120 immunogenicity. However, when DNA vaccines were included (gp120 DNA+gp120 protein and gp120 DNA+gp160 DNA), the use of heterologous SPs diminished the immunogenicity of the WT immunogens. Among the three vaccine regimens tested, only gp120 DNA+gp160 DNA immunization elicited low-level Tier 2 neutralizing Abs, with AA05 WT inducing Abs with greater neutralization capabilities than AA05-02.ConclusionThese data demonstrate that the SP can significantly impact the antigenicity and immunogenicity of HIV-1 Env proteins. Hence, while SP swapping is a common practice in constructing Env immunogens, this study highlights the importance of careful consideration of the effects of replacing native SPs on the immunogenicity of Env vaccines.

Abstract Cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Although both tumor metabolism and tumor immune microenvironment are recognized as driving factors in tumorigenesis, the relationship between them is still not well-known, and potential combined targeting approaches remain to be identified. Here, we demonstrated a negative correlation between the expression of NAMPT, an NAD+ metabolism enzyme, and PD-L1 expression in various cancer cell lines. A clinical study showed that a NAMPTHigh PD-L1Low expression pattern predicts poor prognosis in patients with various cancers. In addition, pharmacological inhibition of NAMPT results in the transcription upregulation of PD-L1 by SIRT-mediated acetylation change of NF-κB p65, and blocking PD-L1 would induce NAMPT expression through a HIF-1-dependent glycolysis pathway. Based on these findings, we designed and synthesized a dual NAMPT/PD-L1 targeting compound, LZFPN-90, which inhibits cell growth in a NAMPT-dependent manner and blocks the cell cycle, subsequently inducing apoptosis. Under co-culture conditions, LZFPN-90 treatment contributes to the proliferation and activation of T cells and blocks the growth of cancer cells. Using mice bearing genetically manipulated tumors, we confirmed that LZFPN-90 exerted target-dependent antitumor activities, affecting metabolic processes and the immune system. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the relevance of NAD+-related metabolic processes in antitumor immunity and suggest that co-targeting NAD+ metabolism and PD-L1 represents a promising therapeutic approach.

Lactic acid is an important platform feedstock for synthesizing various chemicals. Lactic acid is normally converted from any sugar such as glucose, and Sn-β zeolite is an effective catalyst. In this study, β zeolite with different Si/Al ratios was prepared and characterized. Sn precursor is reacted with β zeolite by high-energy mixing and introduced into the framework of β zeolite to obtain Sn-β zeolite with different Si/Al ratios. The physicochemical properties of Sn-β zeolite were characterized by XRD, FTIR, N2 physical adsorption, UV Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and pyridine adsorption FTIR. The results showed that when the Si/Al molar ratio of β zeolite was less than 45, the skeleton load of Sn in β zeolite increased effectively with the decrease in aluminum content, and the Lewis acid and Brønsted acid site numbers could be improved. As the Si/Al ratio exceeded 45, the increase in Sn load in β zeolite slowed down, and the Lewis acid and Brønsted acid site numbers were decreased. The results from the catalytic conversion of glucose to lactic acid confirmed that the too high Si/Al ratio caused a decrease conversion rate. The highest performance of the prepared Sn-β zeolites with the highest catalytic efficiency had a glucose conversion rate of 96.69% and lactic acid yield of 39.42% within 7 h at 190 °C in a pressure reactor.

ABSTRACT HIV-1 replication is tightly regulated in host cells, and various restriction factors have important roles in inhibiting viral replication. SAMHD1, a well-known restriction factor, suppresses HIV-1 replication by hydrolyzing intracellular dNTPs, thereby limiting the synthesis of viral cDNA in quiescent cells. In this study, we revealed an additional and distinct mechanism of SAMHD1 inhibition during the postviral cDNA synthesis stage. Using immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analysis, we demonstrated the interaction between SAMHD1 and MX2/MxB, an interferon-induced antiviral factor that inhibits HIV-1 cDNA nuclear import. The disruption of endogenous MX2 expression significantly weakened the ability of SAMHD1 to inhibit HIV-1. The crucial region within SAMHD1 that binds to MX2 has been identified. Notably, we found that SAMHD1 can act as a sensor that recognizes and binds to the incoming HIV-1 core, subsequently delivering it to the molecular trap formed by MX2, thereby blocking the nuclear entry of the HIV-1 core structure. SAMHD1 mutants unable to recognize the HIV-1 core showed a substantial decrease in antiviral activity. Certain mutations in HIV-1 capsids confer resistance to MX2 inhibition while maintaining susceptibility to suppression by the SAMHD1-MX2 axis. Overall, our study identifies an intriguing antiviral pattern wherein two distinct restriction factors, SAMHD1 and MX2, collaborate to establish an alternative mechanism deviating from their actions. These findings provide valuable insight into the complex immune defense networks against exogenous viral infections and have implications for the development of targeted anti-HIV therapeutics.IMPORTANCEIn contrast to most restriction factors that directly bind to viral components to exert their antiviral effects, SAMHD1, the only known deoxynucleotide triphosphate (dNTP) hydrolase in eukaryotes, indirectly inhibits viral replication in quiescent cells by reducing the pool of dNTP substrates available for viral cDNA synthesis. Our study provides a novel perspective on the antiviral functions of SAMHD1. In addition to its role in dNTP hydrolysis, SAMHD1 cooperates with MX2 to inhibit HIV-1 nuclear import. In this process, SAMHD1 acts as a sensor for incoming HIV-1 cores, detecting and binding to them, before subsequently delivering the complex to the molecular trap formed by MX2, thereby immobilizing the virus. This study not only reveals a new antiviral pathway for SAMHD1 but also identifies a unique collaboration and interaction between two distinct restriction factors, establishing a novel line of defense against HIV-1 infection, which challenges the traditional view of restriction factors acting independently. Overall, our findings further indicate the intricate complexity of the host immune defense network and provide potential targets for promoting host antiviral immune defense.

Deep learning methods based on convolutional neural networks can identify subtle disease features in plant leaves, thereby improving the accuracy and efficiency of plant leaf disease detection. Traditional convolutional neural network models have more parameters, lower training efficiency, and require a large amount of computing resources. A TTN-MobileNetV2 neural network model based on memristors for plant leaf disease detection is proposed in this paper. Firstly, integrate the Triplet attention module into the backbone structure of the network to capture local features, and utilize Cross-Norm and Self-Norm(CNSN) normalization techniques to enhance the generalization robustness under distribution changes. In addition, a Mish activation function with enhanced nonlinear characteristics was introduced to improve the accuracy of neural network detection. Experimental results on the Plant Village and Rice leaf disease datasets showed identification accuracies of 99.03% and 99.16%, respectively. On this basis, using the MemTorch simulation environment, the weights of all convolutional layers and fully connected layers in the convolutional neural network are mapped to the conductance values of the memristors in the cross array of memristors, completing the implementation of the memristor TTN-MobileNetV2 network. The performance of the memristor network was tested using two types of memristor models: linear ion drift model and data-driven Verilog-A RRAM. The recognition accuracy losses of the TTN-MobileNetV2 memristor network corresponding to the two memristor models were 0.32, 0.34, and 0.52, 0.61, respectively. So the memristor convolutional neural network can meet the performance requirements of plant leaf disease recognition and has inherent advantages of high speed and low power consumption.

Abstract Background Myopia is one of the most common eye diseases causing visual impairment and blindness, and the high prevalence in adolescents remains a major public health concern. Based on clinical studies using optical defocus to regulate ocular growth and refractive changes through visual feedback, we hypothesize that early wearing of peripheral myopic defocusing spectacles in children with high risk of myopia may slow the process of emmetropization and even prevent the onset of myopia by inducing more peripheral myopic defocus. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the wearing of peripheral focus-out glasses can be effective in delaying emmetropization in non-myopic children aged 6–8 years. Methods The study is a 2-year randomized controlled trial. A total of 160 subjects will be randomized into the experimental group or the control group. The experimental group will be fitted with direct emmetropia with focus-out glasses (DEFOG) to guide the emmetropization process. The control group will not receive any treatment and will serve as a blank control group. The primary aim is to determine whether non-myopic children wearing DEFOG lenses are superior to those who do not receive any intervention on the progression of cycloplegic objective refraction over 2 years. Discussion This is the first randomized controlled trial aiming at myopic prevention by non-invasive intervention in non-myopic children. This study aims to initially investigate whether wearing peripheral focus-out glasses can effectively delay the process of emmetropization in children aged 6–8 years with high risk of myopia, which might give potential clues for further exploration on early prevention of myopia. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05689567. Registered on 10 January 2023.

The rapidly developing additive Manufacturing (AM) technology could overcome the critical dimension limit of metallic glasses (MGs). This permits to obtain MG components with complex geometry and large dimensions. However, the residual defects, such as pores and cracks in AMed MGs, significantly deteriorate their performance. Thus, it is essential to suppress and eliminate the pores and cracks that remain after additive manufacturing.This paper critically reviews the pores and cracks in the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) fabricated MGs, including recent achievements and challenges in depressing their initiation, alleviating their propagation, and eliminating their collapse. The recent advances in LPBFed MGs and the suppression strategies of pores and cracks, such as parameters optimization, scanning strategy alteration, second phase's introduction, substrate and MG system selection as well as components performance improvement with designed porosity, are reviewed and commented, especially for several specific MG systems. The pores and cracks initiation and alleviation mechanisms are further analyzed. Also, the unsolved issues, challenges, and future research directions are evaluated. Finally, concluding remarks and an outlook concerning the pores and cracks issues in LPBFed MGs are further provided.

Background: The impact of capsular closure vs non-closure in hip arthroscopy for femoracetabular impingement (FAI) was assessed by a meta-analysis. Methods: With the most recent search update occurring in August 2022, relevant studies were found by searching the Pubmed and EMBASE databases. A collection of studies was made that conducted hip arthroscopy for FAI. Review Manager 5.3 was used to carry out the meta-analysis. The dichotomous and continuous factors were compared using the odds ratios (OR) and mean differences (MD). A fixed-effect or random-effect model was chosen, depending on the degree of heterogeneity (I2). Forest plots were used to assess the results. A significance level of P

Corneal transplantation is an effective clinical treatment for corneal diseases, which, however, is limited by donor corneas. It is of great clinical value to develop bioadhesive corneal patches with functions of “Transparency” and “Epithelium & Stroma generation”, as well as “Suturelessness” and “Toughness”. To simultaneously meet the “T.E.S.T.” requirements, a light-curable hydrogel is designed based on methacryloylated gelatin (GelMA), Pluronic F127 diacrylate (F127DA) & Aldehyded Pluronic F127 (AF127) co-assembled bi-functional micelles and collagen type I (COL I), combined with clinically applied corneal cross-linking (CXL) technology for repairing damaged cornea. The patch formed after 5 min of ultraviolet irradiation possesses transparent, highly tough, and strongly bio-adhesive performance. Multiple cross-linking makes the patch withstand deformation near 600% and exhibit a burst pressure larger than 400 mmHg, significantly higher than normal intraocular pressure (10–21 mmHg). Besides, the slower degradation than GelMA-F127DA&AF127 hydrogel without COL I makes hydrogel patch stable on stromal beds in vivo, supporting the regrowth of corneal epithelium and stroma. The hydrogel patch can replace deep corneal stromal defects and well bio-integrate into the corneal tissue in rabbit models within 4 weeks, showing great potential in surgeries for keratoconus and other corneal diseases by combining with CXL.

Summary: Drug resistance is the leading problem in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) therapy. The contribution of histone methylation in mediating malignant phenotypes of NSCLC is well known. However, the role of histone methylation in NSCLC drug-resistance mechanisms remains unclear. Here, our data show that EZH2 and G9a, two histone methyltransferases, are involved in the drug resistance of NSCLC. Gene manipulation results indicate that the combination of EZH2 and G9a promotes tumor growth and mediates drug resistance in a complementary manner. Importantly, clinical study demonstrates that co-expression of both enzymes predicts a poor outcome in patients with NSCLC. Mechanistically, G9a and EZH2 interact and promote the silencing of the tumor-suppressor gene SMAD4, activating the ERK/c-Myc signaling pathway. Finally, SU08, a compound targeting both EZH2 and G9a, is demonstrated to sensitize resistant cells to therapeutic drugs by regulating the SMAD4/ERK/c-Myc signaling axis. These findings uncover the resistance mechanism and a strategy for reversing NSCLC drug resistance.

The Technical Note aims to present an arthroscopic capsular closure technique at the end of the hip arthroscopy. The technology employs a dual-channel approach and modified shoelace suture technique to continuously suture the hip capsule. Recent studies have indicated that routine intraoperative repair of the articular capsule at the end of the hip arthroscopy is advocated. However, the majority of the hip capsular closure techniques are relatively complex, time-consuming, and bring many complications, which has hindered their widespread use in clinical practice. Herein, we provide an arthroscopic capsular closure technique using the modified shoelace continuous suture in combination with a dual cannula for correcting hip instability during hip arthroscopic surgery of femoroacetabular impingement.

Abstract Aims The purpose of this study is to elucidate the correlation between thyroid hormone, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), vitamin D and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT), and to seek the independent predictors affecting disease development. Methods The study included 44 T2DM with HT, 94 T2DM, and 112 healthy subjects. We investigated some laboratory factors like thyroid hormone and compared the levels. Independent predictors determination by logistic univariate regression analysis were analyzed. The diagnostic value of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and threshold concentration were determined by ROC curve. Results In T2DM with HT group, levels of PTH, HbA1c were lower and levels of TSH were significantly higher, when compared with T2DM group. But there was no significant difference in vitamin D between these two groups. In both logistic univariate regression analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis, TSH, HbA1c were independent predictors for T2DM with HT. Based on the ROC curve, the best cut-off value of the TSH was 4 mIU/L (sensitivity 72.7%, specificity 94.6%, AUC = 0.832) for predicting T2DM with HT in T2DM patients. Conclusions TSH has increased risk for T2DM evolving into T2DM complicated with HT, so it is important to monitor the concentrations of TSH in patients with T2DM. Although vitamin D was not the independent predictor in T2DM with HT development, effect of vitamin D deficiency on the progress of diabetes and its complications should be taken into consideration.

Core fucosylation of N-linked glycoproteins has been linked to physiological and pathological processes. Here, the authors develop a mass spectrometry-based method that utilizes Endo F3 followed by PNGase F treatment to quantify site-specific glycoprotein core fucosylation in protein mixtures.

Abstract Purpose To determine the pattern of axial variation in subjects with initial shortened axial length during the entire period of orthokeratology and to discuss the possibility of shortened AL after one month of orthokeratology becoming a predictor of myopia control. Method This study retrospectively included 106 children with myopia aged 8 to 14 wearing OK lenses. Fifty-four eyes with shortened axial length (AL) at the first-month visit were enrolled in the axial length shortening (ALS) group, and fifty-two eyes without shortened AL were enrolled in the no axial length shortening (NALS) group. Axial length and refractive error at baseline and within the entire period of orthokeratology (20 months), including fitting, washout period and re-wear, were measured. Eighty-five children who started wearing single vision spectacle were also included as a control group. Results In the ALS group, AL became longer after shortening and slowly exceeded baseline; afterward, AL experienced a rebound during the washout period and shortened again if OK lenses were re-worn. After washout period, significant difference in AL (ALS:0.28 ± 0.19 mm, NALS: 0.52 ± 0.17 mm) and spherical equivalent (ALS:-0.43 ± 0.44D, NALS:-0.91 ± 0.40D) between the two groups were found(P

In indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research, the meticulous design and optimization of laser parameters are crucial for achieving high-gain ignition. The intensity of the toe laser, used for ablating the hohlraum sealing membrane, is a subtle but equally critical parameter. This study introduces a novel experimental approach using the Velocity Interferometer System for Any Reflector (VISAR) to assess the impact of toe laser intensity on the compression of fusion capsules. By tracking the reflectivity of tracer layers and shock velocities in liquid deuterium, the adverse effects of insufficient toe laser intensity on capsule compression have been unveiled for the first time. From a comparison with hydrodynamic simulations, we show that below a critical threshold of 0.23 × 10 ^14 W cm ^−2 , the adiabat, a measure of the fuel’s compression efficiency, increases markedly with the toe laser intensity decreases, whereas it remains stable within the range of (0.23 ∼ 7) × 10 ^14 W cm ^−2 . Our findings provide critical insights on toe laser parameter design, enhancing our understanding of the role of toe laser intensity in ICF experiments. This research not only refines the parameters for laser operation but also underscores the importance of precision in achieving the desired implosion efficiency, contributing to the development of nuclear fusion as a clean energy source.

Abstract Conceptual design is the crucial stage of selecting and determining product composition and configuration, which greatly affects product performance and cost. In conceptual design stage, designers have the maximum design freedom in order to put forward to the optimal design solution in terms of assembly, manufacturing and cost. However, the above product aspects are analyzed independently in current industry, and a guided decision-making method based on multi-objective criteria is missing. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce a multi-objective analysis method to obtain an optimal conceptual scheme considering various aspects of product. Due to the complexity of product conceptual solution generation, this study divides the multi-objective analysis process into multi-objective solution optimization and multi-objective solution selection. The non-dominated solution set can be obtained from all the potential solutions in the former step. Then, the optimal conceptual solution can be obtained from the non-dominated solutions set in the latter step. The two-stage multi-objective analysis method has two advantages: (1) large dominated solutions can be quickly eliminated which can reduce the workload of solution selection; (2) TOPSIS method is easy to implement, which can work with attribute weights and scores of each design option. Finally, using the conceptual design of a centrifugal compressor as an example, the method's availability and practicality are demonstrated.

In order to promote sustainable development of Chinese fishery resources and aquatic products trade, researching relevant international and domestic practice, this paper analyzed legislative status and insufficiency regarding Chinese legitimacy labeling system of aquatic products, tried to answer a key problem which was the legal attribute of this labeling system, and put forward some suggestions on the improvement of relevant legislation. The results showed that the legitimacy labeling system of aquatic products was an important institution for international community to solve the problem of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. China had carried out relevant practice and promoted legislative process; at present, the legislative status of the legitimacy labeling system of aquatic products in China mainly included the issuance of relevant normative documents and the revision of fishery laws, but there were still deficiencies on the legal basis of this labeling system; this legitimacy label should be recognized as a mandatory sign in law, which should be a compulsory administrative confirmation and could also be applied to domestic trade of aquatic products. During the process of revising Chinese fishery law, this legitimacy labeling system should be further improved by perfecting its implementing procedure and clarifying relevant legal consequences.

Although shipping is a relatively energy-saving and environmentally friendly mode of transportation, the growth rate of its energy consumption and carbon emissions far exceeds that of other industries. As an important response to climate change, shipping decarbonization is not only an important part of achieving the temperature control goal of the Paris Agreement but is also an important direction for the future development of China’s ecological civilization construction. China has formulated and promulgated legislation and policies on shipping decarbonization both at the national and local levels. The proposal in 2020 of the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality has accelerated this process. In this context, this paper aims at reflecting on legislation and policies for decarbonization of shipping under China’s “double carbon” target, and proposing suggestions for improvement. Firstly, we systematically review China’s legislation and policies on shipping decarbonization to outline the normative system of China’s shipping carbon reduction. Secondly, this paper evaluates China’s legislation and policies on shipping decarbonization from the perspective of both achievements and challenges. Finally, this paper proposes that China’s legislation and policies for decarbonization of shipping should be further improved from two aspects: enhancing mandatory force and expanding normative content.

Ulva torta (Mertens) Trevisan, 1841 was a global temperate widespread species. Green tide blooms caused by the green algae of the Ulva species occurred frequently in China. As a newly discovered species in the green tide bloom area, it was necessary to explore the relationship between U. torta and other green algae of the Ulva species. The complete chloroplast genome of U. torta was 105,423 bp in size. A total of 100 genes were annotated in the genome, containing 70 protein-coding genes, 27 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and three rRNA genes. The chloroplast genome had high AT content (74.76%). Phylogenetic analysis showed U. torta was clustered with Ulva meridionalis. This work could be useful for studying the evolution and genetic diversity of U. torta.

Tungsten-doped diamond is employed as a promising ablator material in high-gain laser fusion target design. Unlike for pure carbon, reports on the equation of state (EOS) of tungsten-doped carbon are limited, particularly in the high-pressure range over Mbar, which is relevant to laser fusion. To complement the radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of laser fusion, we developed the EOS of tungsten-doped carbon by combining the quotidian EOS model and large-scale atomistic simulations, which provide fundamental material parameters. In this manner, the EOS of doped carbon can be efficiently constructed. The influence of tungsten doping on the diamond material parameters and EOS was observed. The application of the developed EOS was shown via typical radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of laser fusion.

Objective: GALNT2, encoding polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase 2 (GalNAc-T2), was initially discovered as a regulator of high-density lipoprotein metabolism. GalNAc-T2 is known to exert these effects through post-translational modification, i.e., O-linked glycosylation of secreted proteins with established roles in plasma lipid metabolism. It has recently become clear that loss of GALNT2 in rodents, cattle, nonhuman primates, and humans should be regarded as a novel congenital disorder of glycosylation that affects development and body weight. The role of GALNT2 in metabolic abnormalities other than plasma lipids, including insulin sensitivity and energy homeostasis, is poorly understood. Methods: GWAS data from the UK Biobank was used to study variation in the GALNT2 locus beyond changes in high-density lipoprotein metabolism. Experimental data were obtained through studies in Galnt2−/− mice and wild-type littermates on both control and high-fat diet. Results: First, we uncovered associations between GALNT2 gene variation, adiposity, and body mass index in humans. In mice, we identify the insulin receptor as a novel substrate of GalNAc-T2 and demonstrate that Galnt2−/− mice exhibit decreased adiposity, alterations in insulin signaling and a shift in energy substrate utilization in the inactive phase. Conclusions: This study identifies a novel role for GALNT2 in energy homeostasis, and our findings suggest that the local effects of GalNAc-T2 are mediated through posttranslational modification of the insulin receptor.

Abstract Background To investigate the impact of the ablation ratio on 5-year postoperative posterior corneal stability in myopic eyes after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) and femtosecond laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (FS-LASIK) surgery. Methods A prospective, nonrandomized, cohort study: 80 eyes of 43 patients underwent SMILE surgery and 63 eyes of 32 patients underwent FS-LASIK surgery at the EYE & ENT Hospital, Fudan University. Ablation ratio was defined as lenticule thickness (SMILE cases) or ablation depth (FS-LASIK cases) divided by central corneal thickness (CCT). Posterior corneal elevation changes were recorded as posterior central elevation (PCE), posterior corneal surface at thinnest point (PTE) and posterior corneal mean elevation (PME). Patients were followed up at 6-month and 5-year interval to investigate the impact of the ablation ratio on posterior corneal elevation after SMILE and FS-LASIK surgery. Results PCE dropped at the 6-month follow-up for both SMILE (decreased by −1.11 ± 2.93 μm, P 0.05) and PTE (elevation change: SMILE −0.08 ± 4.28 μm; FS-LASIK 1.42 ± 3.85 μm, P > 0.05) for both groups were recorded at the 5-year follow-up compared to the 6-month visit. Ablation ratio was strongly correlated with 5-year postoperative PCE (β = 2.68 ± 1.05, P

Diabetic cardiovascular disease is a common complication of diabetes, which can lead to high-mortality diseases such as diabetic cardiomyopathy and atherosclerosis in serious cases. Therefore, effective prevention and management of diabetic cardiovascular disease is demanded. Clinical medical data officers are faced with a situation of a small amount of data and uneven data distribution. In this paper, we propose data oversampling synthesis techniques based on weight and extension algorithms. It can combine 1D-convolutional neural networks and long short-term memory neural networks to solve the problem of a lack of original data. First of all, a few samples based on feature weight are synthesized to make the original unbalanced data evenly distributed. Secondly, the original data are extended and corrected to expand the number of samples. Finally, the deep learning algorithm is used to extract features and classify whether the data have diabetic cardiovascular disease. Data synthesis based on weight and extension algorithms was evaluated on the actual medical datasets and obtained an accuracy of 93.53% and specificity of 94.37%, which confirms that it is an improved solution compared to the other algorithms. Hence, this paper contributes not only a substantial saving of human resources but also improves the efficiency of the clinical diagnosis of diabetic cardiovascular disease, which is conducive to the early detection and treatment of diseases.

Purpose. To investigate the microbial profile of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO) in Chinese children. Methods. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 330 consecutive children (330 eyes) who were diagnosed with tear duct infections secondary to CNLDO and were admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University from January 2013 to January 2020. Bacterial cultures were grown from tear duct samples of each patient. Samples from conjunctival secretions were cultivated on blood or chocolate agar. Clinically significant bacterial growth was reported. Results. Of the 330 eyes considered, 62.7% (207/330) were associated with positive bacterial cultures. A total of 223 isolates were detected from 207 culture-positive eyes. Among the 223 isolates, 52.0% (116/223) were Gram-positive bacteria and 47.1% (105/223) were Gram-negative bacteria. The most prevalent Gram-positive bacteria were Streptococcus viridans (67 isolates, 30%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (36 isolates, 16.1%) and Streptococcus pneumoniae (5 isolates, 2.2%). The most prevalent Gram-negative bacteria were Neisseria (nonpathogenic) (25 isolates, 11.2%), followed by Escherichia coli (16 isolates, 7.2%) and Haemophilus influenzae (16 eyes, 7.2%). Antibiotic susceptibility test results suggested that both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were highly sensitive to most of the tested antibiotics. Conclusions. S. viridans and S. aureus are the most prevalent bacteria in tear duct infections secondary to CNLDO. Broad-spectrum antibacterial eye drops are suggested as empirical antibiotic treatments.

Topographic maps comprise a rich data source for the processing and analysis of geographic information. However, the management of paper topographic maps is still dominated by an inefficient manual method, and there is no counting equipment for topographic maps that is suitable for narrow map warehouse passages. The existing algorithms relating to paper counting require paper hardness and cannot directly obtain the internal information of topographic maps. To address the above problems, using a map inventory machine transformed from a paddle-type paper counting machine to perform a preliminary count and obtain the video data of the counting progress, an automatic counting algorithm for topographic maps for map management is proposed in this study. First, the periodic feature changes of all the targets and each individual target in the videos are analyzed. Second, a deformable parts model accelerated by fast feature pyramids and by reducing the region of interest is used for the object detection of mechanical wheels. The grayscale variance function is selected to quantify the quality change in the images. Finally, a fusion window counting model is constructed with the adaptive window and fixed window methods. The experimental results show that the average counting accuracy of the model is about 95%, which can verify the initial counting results of the machine and provide high-quality keyframes for the subsequent sheet designation recognition.

Abstract Background Hydrocephalus is a common and major complication that affects outcome after intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH). While aging impacts the occurrence of hydrocephalus in patients with IVH this and the underlying mechanisms have received little attention. The present investigation, therefore, studied the impact of aging on hydrocephalus after IVH in a rat model. Methods Young and aged (3 and 18 months old, respectively) male Fischer 344 rats had an intraventricular injection of 200 μl autologous blood or saline. Ventricular volume was estimated using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), while ventricular wall damage, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and epiplexus cell activation were quantified by histological staining and Western blot. Additionally, the impact of intraventricular iron injection was examined in young and aged rats. Results Intraventricular injection of autologous blood induced hydrocephalus in both young and aged rats but ventricular volumes were larger in aged rats compared to young rats from day 3 to day 14 followed IVH. In addition, ventricular wall damage and periventricular HO-1 upregulation were greater in aged versus young rats on day 1 after IVH. Aged rats also had more choroid plexus epiplexus cells on day 14 after IVH. Additionally, organized hematomas were observed in 23% (3/13) of aged rats but not in young rats after IVH. Organized hematomas in aged rats showed larger T2* lesions on MRI compared to rats with non-organized hematomas. Similar to the effects of IVH, intraventricular injection of iron resulted in more epiplexus cells activation and more severe hydrocephalus in aged compared to young rats. Conclusions IVH causes more severe hydrocephalus in aged compared to young rats. Enhanced ventricular wall damage, epiplexus cell activation and iron overload may contribute to this aggravated hydrocephalus development in aged animals.

Purpose: To report the clinical outcomes of phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) for pediatric band keratopathy after treatment for retinoblastoma.Methods: A 5-year-old boy presented with a 2-year history of poor visual acuity and a horizontal gray-white band across the central cornea in the right eye. He was diagnosed with band keratopathy after chemo-laser-cryotherapy for retinoblastoma. The band keratopathy was treated via PTK using the Mel-90 excimer laser with an optical treatment zone of 7.0 mm and ablation depth of 120 μm. The patient was followed at 1 week and 3 months postoperatively.Results: Surgery and postoperative follow-up were uneventful. At the 3-month follow-up, the uncorrected distant visual acuity of the right eye improved to 20/125, and the corrected distance visual acuity improved to 20/70 with a refraction of +10.00 D/−2.50 DC × 15. The clarity of the ablated area was evidently improved. The central corneal thickness decreases from 612 to 584 μm. The optical coherence tomography showed the thin band of hyperreflectivity in the ablated area disappeared, corneal transparency improved and the corneal surface smoothened.Conclusions: PTK is a safe and effective procedure to treat band keratopathy following treatment of retinoblastoma in children. Early intervention can reduce the risk of developing deprivation amblyopia.

In inertial confinement fusion (ICF), polycrystalline diamond—referred to as high density carbon (HDC)—has become a promising ablator candidate. However, with smaller grain size and lower initial density, the equation of state (EOS) for HDC can deviate from that for single-crystal diamond, which could be a concern for ICF designs, but current experimental EOS studies for HDC are far from sufficient to clarify how initial density affects target compressibility. Presented here are measurements of the Hugoniot for HDC with an initial density of 3.23 g/cm3 at pressures of 17–26 Mbar. Combined with experimental data reported for nanocrystalline diamond (NCD), a stiffer compressibility of NCD due to lower initial density is confirmed. Two porous models are used for comparison and seem to offer better agreement compared with SESAME databases. Also, the effect of temperature on the Grüneisen parameter, which is usually neglected, might need to be considered for NCD under these conditions. The present data offer important support for EOS studies relevant to ICF and constrain the construction of wide-range EOS.

At present, people are demanding better indoor air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to maintaining the basic functions, new air-conditioning should also add air purification functions to improve indoor air quality and reduce the possibility of virus transmission. Nowadays, there is lack of research results on the innovation of air-conditioning. The aim of this study is to present a two-stage mathematical model for identifying critical manufacturing factors in the innovation process of air conditioning. In this paper, Kano and quality function deployment (QFD) are used to analyze the critical factors affecting air-conditioning innovation. Some studies have proposed using Kano-QFD model to analyze product innovation, but the study only studies one stage, which loses the analysis of the subsequent stages of product innovation. Based on this, this paper studies the priority method of two-stage critical factors for air-conditioning innovation. Firstly, the questionnaire survey and fuzzy sets are used to collect demand information of multi-agent (customers and professional technicians). Secondly, the Kano model is used to classify and calculate satisfaction of multi-agent. Then, QFD is used to transform multi-agent demands into engineering property indexes (first stage) and technical property indexes (second stage) and calculate the weight of each index. Finally, the applicability and superiority of this method is illustrated by taking the central air-conditioning as an example.

microRNAs (miRNAs) can modulate the expression level of genes in a post-transcription manner, which are closely related to growth and metastasis of colon cancer. Herein, we aimed to explore how miR-199b influences colon cancer and to characterize its underlying molecular mechanism associating with E2F transcription factor 7 (E2F7). Assays of RT-qPCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry were utilized to detect the expression of E2F7 in the tissue samples collected from 30 patients diagnosed with colon cancer. Flow analysis was utilized to detect the ratio of ALDH1+ and CD133+ colon cancer stem cells. The interaction between E2F7, miR-199b, USP47, and MAPK was identified by ChIP-Seq analysis, luciferase reporter, RNA pull-down, co-immunoprecipitation, as well as glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down experiments. Based on the gain- and loss-of-function approaches, the cellular functions of colon cancer cells by the E2F7-regulated miR-199b/USP47/MAPK axis were assessed. It was identified that E2F7 are expressed highly in the collected colon cancer tissues. E2F7 silencing reduced the production of ALDH1+ and CD133+ colon cancer stem cells and antagonized the effects of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment. Besides, the silencing of E2F7 was observed to suppress the oxidative stress, proliferation, migration, as well as invasion of ALDH1+ cells in vitro and tumorigenesis of colon cancer cells in vivo. Our findings reveal the pro-oncogenic effect of E2F7 on colon cancer development, highlighting E2F7 as a novel target for therapeutic strategy for colon cancer.

The identification and evaluation of important parts play an important role in effective production arrangement and shortening the product development in the product design stage. In this paper, a complex product node importance evaluation method based on multilayer network is proposed to identify and evaluate importance parts faster. First, a complex product design expression network based on “function behavior structure (FBS)” multilayer complex network is established. Second, the evaluation index system of important design parts for complex products based on multilayer network is constructed. Third, a three-parameter grey relational model based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and the Gini coefficient method is proposed. Finally, this method is available and feasible through taking the large permanent magnet synchronous centrifugal unit as an example.

HIV-1 envelope (Env) is a trimer of gp120-gp41 heterodimers, synthesized from a precursor gp160 that contains an ER-targeting signal peptide (SP) at its amino-terminus. Each trimer is swathed by ~90 N-linked glycans, comprising complex-type and oligomannose-type glycans, which play an important role in determining virus sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. We previously examined the effects of single point SP mutations on Env properties and functions. Here, we aimed to understand the impact of the SP diversity on glycosylation of virus-derived Env and virus neutralization by swapping SPs. Analyses of site-specific glycans revealed that SP swapping altered Env glycan content and occupancy on multiple N-linked glycosites, including conserved N156 and N160 glycans in the V1V2 region at the Env trimer apex and N88 at the trimer base. Virus neutralization was also affected, especially by antibodies against V1V2, V3, and gp41. Likewise, SP swaps affected the recognition of soluble and cell-associated Env by antibodies targeting distinct V1V2 configurations, V3 crown, and gp41 epitopes. These data highlight the contribution of SP sequence diversity in shaping the Env glycan content and its impact on the configuration and accessibility of V1V2 and other Env epitopes.

Purpose: To investigate long-term changes in corneal densitometry (CD) following small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) vs. femtosecond laser-assisted LASIK (FS-LASIK) in patients with myopia or myopic astigmatism.Methods: Prospective analysis was performed in 66 eyes of 38 patients (13 males) who underwent SMILE and 54 eyes of 29 patients (5 males) who underwent FS-LASIK. In all patients, an ocular examination was performed preoperatively, and at 6–12 months and 5 years postoperatively. CD was obtained with the Pentacam Scheimpflug imaging system at the 0–2-mm, 2–6-mm, and 6–10-mm zones of the cornea at depth of anterior 120 μm, midcornea, and posterior 60 μm. Correlation analysis was performed between postoperative change in CD and other variables such as age, type of surgery, central corneal thickness, spherical equivalent, lenticule thickness/ablation depth, and changes in wavefront aberrations.Results: At postoperative 6–12 months, a significant reduction at several corneal zones in the FS-LASIK cohort (P < 0.05) was observed. In the SMILE cohort, no significant change in CD relative to baseline was observed. However, at 5 years postoperatively, in both groups, a significant decrease in CD was observed in three zones of three layers (all P < 0.001). The change in CD was similar between groups at postoperative 6–12 months, but at 5 years the magnitude of change was significantly smaller in SMILE than FS-LASIK in the anterior and central layers (all P < 0.05).Conclusion: CD with the Scheimpflug imaging system showed a significant decrease at 5 years after SMILE or FS-LASIK, and the change was significantly less pronounced after SMILE.

In this study, tungsten carbide (WC) microparticles with different sizes were synthesized by the heating-programmed temperature method. Tungsten carbide produces obvious resonance peaks at intermediate and high frequencies, which contribute to electromagnetic absorption performance. The results show that a composite consisting of 30 vol.% WC exhibits a strongest absorption point (RLmin) of −71.81 dB, when the thickness is only 1.89 mm.

Background: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a specific type of air-way fluid. It is a commonly used clinical specimen for the diagnosis of benign diseases and cancers of the lung. Although previous studies have identified several disease-associated proteins in the BAL, the potential utility of BAL in lung cancer is still not well-studied. Based upon the fact that the majority of secreted proteins are glycoproteins, we have profiled N-glycoproteins in BAL collected from lung cancers, and investigated the expression of glycoproteins such as the matrix N-glycoprotein, periostin, in lung cancers.Methods: BAL specimens (n = 16) were collected from lung cancer patients, and analyzed using mass spectrometry-based quantitative N-glycoproteomic technique. Additional BAL specimens (n = 39) were independently collected to further evaluate the expression of periostin by using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: A total of 462 glycoproteins were identified in BAL samples using N-glycoproteomic technique, including 290 in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC, n = 5), 376 in squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC, n = 4), 309 in small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC, n = 4), and 316 in benign lung disease (n = 3). The expressions of several glycoproteins were elevated, including 8 in ADC, 12 in SQCC, and 17 in SCLC, compared to benign BALs. The expression of periostin was detected in all subtypes of lung cancers. To further investigate the expression of periostin, an ELISA assay was performed using additional independently collected BALs (n = 39) The normalized levels of periostin in benign disease, ADC, SQCC, and SCLC were 255 ± 104 (mean ± SE) and 4,002 ± 2,181, 3,496 ± 1,765, and 1,772 ± 1,119 ng/mg of total BAL proteins.Conclusion: Our findings demonstrate that proteomic analysis of BAL can be used for the study of cancer-associated extracellular proteins in air-way fluid from lung cancer patients.

Conventional resampling for particle filters suffers from discarding much potentially useful information due to using less information of spatial distribution of sampling particles set. An unsupervised learning grouping based resampling for particles filter, which could further exploits the relevant spatial information hidden in sampling particles set, was proposed. The core of our approach is that the k-means clustering algorithm is used to automatically form clusters of similar particles, instead of simple heuristic partitioning of the particles set in the spatial domain. Based on the time series analysis between the particle path and observation path for all particles in each cluster, the particle called important particle that has highest temporal correlation is chosen. The diversity of resampling particles set is strengthened by adding important particles to improve the residual resampling. Additionally, by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test, we proof that the particles set resampled by the proposed algorithm and the original particles set come from the same distribution function. Extensive experimental results on two numerical models show that the estimation accuracy of particle filter can be improved in this way.

Tracking-by-detection for visual object tracking is the most popular and successful framework at present. It treats the tracking problem as a classification task and learns information about the target from each tracking result online. Accurate model learning of the classifier requires numerous positive samples. However, it is difficult to obtain numerous positive training samples at the beginning of visual tracking. In this paper, we propose a novel comparative object similarity learning method to strengthen the training samples set. The core of our approach is that the comparative object similarity information between the candidate objects is taken into account when training classifiers. In addition, the classifier model is updated with the image information of the target to be predicted by further exploring the temporal context between successive image frames. According to the Bayesian inference theorem, the tracking results, which are estimated from the posterior probability distribution of target, are more accurate. We implement two versions of the proposed tracker with the representations from both conventional hand-crafted and deep convolution neural networks-based features to validate the effectiveness of the algorithm. The quantitative and qualitative experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method performs superiorly against several state-of-the-art algorithms on large-scale challenging benchmark datasets.

The comprehensive utilization of the excellent magnetic properties and advanced catalytic ability of Fe-based amorphous alloys (FAAs) is reported for the first time. A novel Fe63Cr5Nb4Y6B22 (at%) amorphous alloy that has ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition near room temperature and good catalytic performance for methylene blue degradation is successfully synthesized. The alloy is applicable for automatically recycled dye degradation with its thermal-tuning magnetic behavior. When an external dye wastewater is applied (high temperature), the FAAs are paramagnetic and disperse into water to participate in degradation. When the wastewater has been degraded and the temperature drops to room temperature, the FAAs change to ferromagnetic and the remediated water can be released. This alloy exhibits a low thermal activation energy barrier of 21.8 kJ/mol due to the reduced atomic bonding forces with Cr addition, and has excellent catalytic performance at high temperature (323–343 K) and in acidic solution (pH = 3). The excellent chemical properties are mainly attributed to the heterogeneous structure consisting of local Fe-rich and Fe-poor atomic clusters. The present findings not only provide a new, highly efficient and low cost commercial method for wastewater treatments, but also shed light on the comprehensive utilization of the magnetic and chemical properties of FAAs. Keywords: Amorphous alloy, Degradation, Curie temperature, Thermal-tuning

Abstract Protein glycosylation is one of the most abundant post‐translational modifications. However, detailed analysis of O‐linked glycosylation, a major type of protein glycosylation, has been severely impeded by the scarcity of suitable methodologies. Here, a chemoenzymatic method is introduced for the site‐specific extraction of O‐linked glycopeptides (EXoO), which enabled the mapping of over 3,000 O‐linked glycosylation sites and definition of their glycans on over 1,000 proteins in human kidney tissues, T cells, and serum. This large‐scale localization of O‐linked glycosylation sites demonstrated that EXoO is an effective method for defining the site‐specific O‐linked glycoproteome in different types of sample. Detailed structural analysis of the sites identified revealed conserved motifs and topological orientations facing extracellular space, the cell surface, the lumen of the Golgi, and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). EXoO was also able to reveal significant differences in the O‐linked glycoproteome of tumor and normal kidney tissues pointing to its broader use in clinical diagnostics and therapeutics.

Abstract Background According to recent studies, the phospholipase A2 receptor 1 (PLA2R1) may be used as a biomarker to diagnose idiopathic membranous nephropathy (iMN). Moreover, the immune-dominant regions of PLA2R1 have been identified. The aim of the present study was to construct a diagnostic antigen based on the immune-dominant region of PLA2R1 and develop a specific serological detection method for PLA2R1 antibodies. Results The tandem multi-epitope diagnostic antigen (designated ‘R101’), which includes aa 39–130 (CysR), aa 238–356 (CTLD1), and aa 1136–1234 (CTLD7) of PLA2R1; thioredoxin at the N-terminus; and a His tag at the C-terminus, was prepared at a concentration of 2.36 mg/mL and purity of 97.32% using Escherichia coli expression and affinity and anion exchange chromatography purification. The integrity and antigenicity of the R101 protein was demonstrated by western blot analysis using anti-Trx, anti-His, and anti-PLA2R1 monoclonal antibodies as the primary antibodies. By analysing 120 positive serum samples identified by biopsy-proven iMN (gold standard) and 240 negative samples identified by an established ELISA based on R101 protein, we concluded that the cut-off value, kappa value, sensitivity, specificity, and agreement rate were 0.305, 0.881, 91.67, 96.25, and 94.72% respectively. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve illustrated that the diagnostic accuracy and practicability of the ELISA was excellent. The area under the curve was 0.986. Conclusions Using prokaryotic expression and chromatography purification, immune-dominant regions of PLA2R1 with excellent antigenicity can be prepared and applied to serological detection of PLA2R1 antibodies.

In order to evaluate the pipeline drainage capacity and urban flood risk objectively, urban storm water risk analysis modeling system (USRAMS) is developed based on EPA SWMM and ArcEngine combined with the principle of equal flow time-line method and water balance. The principle and function of USRAMS and the method of assessing pipeline drainage capacity and urban flood risk with USRAMS are described, and the suitability of USRAMS is verified. Taking Cangzhou as an example, USRAMS is used to assess the pipeline drainage capacity and urban flood risk, and the position of bottleneck pipe and the waterlogging risk distribution are expressed in thematic map accurately and directly. The facts show that USRAMS only needs two parameters, namely the runoff coefficient and the catchment time, and adapts to the current situation in china better; two-dimensional earth surface waterlogging simulation adopts hydrologic budget theory, so its calculation is stable and fast. The results of USRAMS may provide reference for urban waterlogging prevention and control and the planning and reforming of stormwater pipe network system.

Accurate location estimation of a target is a classical and very popular problem in visual object tracking, for which correlation filters have been proven highly effective in real-time scenarios. However, the great variation of the target's appearance and the surrounding background throughout a video sequence would lead to failure tracking for the sake of the model drift, using trackers based on correlation filters. In our approach, we present a simple and fast method to improve the robustness of the model based on sum of template and pixel-wise learners (Staple). On the one hand, a confidence regression model is established to adjust adaptively the model online learning rate to alleviate the model drift. On the other hand, instead of likelihood, the scale with maximal posterior probability is selected as the target scale to obtain the more accurate estimation. Extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach performs favorably against several state-of-the-art algorithms on large-scale challenging benchmark data sets at speed in excess of 42 frames/s.