Search

The hydrological regime is considered to be the major factor that affects the distribution of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi in wetlands. We aimed to investigate the responses of AM fungal community to different hydrological gradients. Illumina Miseq sequencing technology was used to study the AM fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils of Phragmites australis in different moisture areas (dry area, alternating wet and dry area, and flooded area) in Mengjin Yellow River wetland. The rhizosphere soils and roots hosted different AM fungal communities. In roots, the AM fungal colonization and Chao1 richness in dry area were significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and flooded area, but the community composition did not vary clearly under different water conditions. In rhizosphere soils, the Chao1 richness of AM fungi in flooded area was significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and dry area, and the AM fungal community structure obviously differed across different areas. The redundancy analyses indicated that changes in the AM fungal community in soils were associated with altered soil properties, and the abundance of the dominant genus Glomus was mostly positively correlated with alkali‐hydrolyzable nitrogen in soils. This study helps us to understand the responses of AM fungal community to hydrological gradients in wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydrological regime is considered to be the major factor that affects the distribution of arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) fungi in wetlands. We aimed to investigate the responses of AM fungal community to different hydrological gradients. Illumina Miseq sequencing technology was used to study the AM fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils of Phragmites australis in different moisture areas (dry area, alternating wet and dry area, and flooded area) in Mengjin Yellow River wetland. The rhizosphere soils and roots hosted different AM fungal communities. In roots, the AM fungal colonization and Chao1 richness in dry area were significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and flooded area, but the community composition did not vary clearly under different water conditions. In rhizosphere soils, the Chao1 richness of AM fungi in flooded area was significantly higher than that in alternating wet and dry area and dry area, and the AM fungal community structure obviously differed across different areas. The redundancy analyses indicated that changes in the AM fungal community in soils were associated with altered soil properties, and the abundance of the dominant genus Glomus was mostly positively correlated with alkali‐hydrolyzable nitrogen in soils. This study helps us to understand the responses of AM fungal community to hydrological gradients in wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has found that prolonged eye-based attention can bias ocular dominance. If one eye long-termly views a regular movie meanwhile the opposite eye views a backward movie of the same episode, perceptual ocular dominance will shift towards the eye previously viewing the backward movie. Yet it remains unclear whether the role of eye-based attention in this phenomenon is causal or not. To address this issue, the present study relied on both the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) techniques. We found robust activation of the frontal eye field (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS) when participants were watching the dichoptic movie while focusing their attention on the regular movie. Interestingly, we found a robust effect of attention-induced ocular dominance shift when the cortical function of vertex or IPS was transiently inhibited by continuous theta burst stimulation (cTBS), yet the effect was significantly attenuated to a negligible extent when cTBS was delivered to FEF. A control experiment verified that the attenuation of ocular dominance shift after inhibitory stimulation of FEF was not due to any impact of the cTBS on the binocular rivalry measurement of ocular dominance. These findings suggest that the fronto-parietal attentional network is involved in controlling eye-based attention in the 'dichoptic-backward-movie' adaptation paradigm, and in this network, FEF plays a crucial causal role in generating the attention-induced ocular dominance shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the anti‐aging potential of the flavonoid derivative of isoquercitrin known as enzymatically modified isoquercitrin (EMIQ). Initial HPLC analyses showed that EMIQ used in the study contained 1–12 glucosides and 10.7% pentahydroxyflavonoids, promising potent antioxidant properties. In subsequent in‐vitro studies with UVA‐exposed human dermal fibroblasts (HDFa), EMIQ demonstrated protective properties by reducing collagen damage. It modulated both the TGFβ/Smad pathway and the MMP1 pathway, contributing to collagen preservation. This protective effect was further confirmed using the T‐Skin™ model, a reconstructed full‐thickness human skin model, which illustrated that EMIQ could defend the physiological structures of both the epidermis and dermis against UV radiation. A 28‐day clinical trial with 30 volunteers aged 31–55 years highlighted EMIQ's effectiveness. Participants using EMIQ‐containing Essence displayed reduced facial trans‐epidermal water loss and skin roughness, alongside improved skin elasticity. This study emphasizes EMIQ's potential as an anti‐photoaging ingredient in cosmetics, warranting further research. The findings pave the way for developing innovative skincare products addressing photoaging effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deformation detection of large machinery is usually achieved using threedimensional displacement measurement. Binocular stereo vision measurement technology, as a commonly used digital image correlation method, has received widespread attention in the academic community. Binocular stereo vision achieves the goal of three-dimensional displacement measurement by simulating the working mode of the human eyes, but the measurement is easily affected by light refraction. Based on this, the study introduces particle swarm optimization algorithm for target displacement measurement on Canon imaging dataset, and introduces backpropagation neural network for mutation processing of particles in particle swarm algorithm to generate fusion algorithm. It combines the four coordinate systems of world, pixel, physics, and camera to establish connections. Taking into account environmental factors and lens errors, the camera parameters and deformation coefficients were revised by shooting a black and white checkerboard. Finally, the study first conducted error analysis on binocular stereo vision technology in three dimensions, and the relative error remained stable at 1 % within about 60 seconds. At the same time, three algorithms, including the spotted hyena algorithm, were introduced to conduct performance comparison experiments using particle swarm optimization and backpropagation network algorithms. The experiment shows that the three-dimensional error of the fusion algorithm gradually stabilizes within the range of [-0.5 %, 0.5 %] over time, while the two-dimensional error generally hovers around 0 value. Its performance is significantly superior to other algorithms, so the binocular stereo vision of this fusion algorithm can achieve good measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Recent studies have shown that the mouth–gut–disc axis may play a key role in the process of disc structural failures (including intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) and endplate change) in the cervical spine and neck pain. However, the potential mechanisms underlying the mouth–gut–disc axis remain elusive. Therefore, we explored whether periodontal disease is associated with disc structural failures in patients with cervical degeneration disorders and clinical outcomes. Methods: Adults (aged > 18 years) who met open surgery criteria for cervical spine were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Participants were allocated into two groups based on periodontal examinations before surgery: no/mild periodontitis group and moderate/severe periodontitis group. Data were evaluated using an independent t test and Pearson’s correlation analysis. Results: A total of 108 patients were enrolled, including 68 patients in the no/mild periodontitis group and 40 patients in the moderate/severe periodontitis group. The number of common causes of missing teeth (P = 0.005), plaque index (PLI) (P = 0.003), bleeding index (BI) (P = 0.000), and probing depth (PD) (P = 0.000) significantly differed between the two groups. The incidence rate of endplate change (P = 0.005) was higher in the moderate/severe periodontitis group than in the no/mild periodontitis group. A moderate negative association was found between the neck disability index (NDI) score and periodontal parameters (PLI: r = − 0.337, P = 0.013; BI: r = − 0.426, P = 0.001; PD: r = − 0.346, r = − 0.010). Conclusions: This is the first study to provide evidence that severe periodontitis is associated with a higher occurrence rate of disc structural failures and poor clinical outcomes in patients with cervical degenerative disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid insecticide used for managing the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, which serves as vector of phytopathogens causing citrus greening. However, development of resistance to neonicotinoids among populations of D. citri has coincided with occasional control failures in the field. The objectives of this research were to (1) survey current levels of imidacloprid resistance in Florida citrus; (2) compare feeding behavior between imidacloprid‐resistant and susceptible D. citri using electrical penetration graph recordings, and (3) investigate the possible amplification of insecticide hormoligosis associated with resistance. Field surveys confirmed that the susceptibility of D. citri populations to imidacloprid has decreased in commercial Florida citrus groves compared with a laboratory‐susceptible population. Following 12 generations of selection, resistance to imidacloprid increased by 438 fold compared with the susceptible strain. Imidacloprid‐susceptible D. citri feeding on citrus exhibited significantly more bouts associated with intercellular pathway (C), phloem penetration (D), phloem salivation (E1), and nonprobing (Np) activities than imidacloprid‐resistant counterparts. However, there were no differences observed in the frequency or duration of phloem ingestion or xylem feeding between susceptible and resistant D. citri. There was no statistical difference in fecundity between resistant and susceptible strains. However, the fecundity of imidacloprid‐susceptible female D. citri treated with a sublethal concentration of imidacloprid (LC25) increased significantly compared with controls, while such hormoligosis was less pronounced among imidacloprid‐resistant psyllids. Our results suggest that imidacloprid‐resistant psyllids may cease feeding sooner than susceptible counterparts following sublethal exposure to this insecticide, indicative of a behavioral resistance mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunnelling in urban areas should be aware of deviations from the design tunnel axis, referred to also as 'misalignment'. Significant misalignment can cause unfavourable soil deformations, threatening adjacent properties, and sustainable development of underground space. In this study, the potential of applying machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) algorithms to EPB shield posture prediction and anomaly detection was explored. A framework, including data pre-processing, development of prediction models, performance evaluation, and anomaly detection, was proposed to tackle the said issue. The principal component analysis (PCA) was introduced not only to eliminate outliers but also to isolate salient data features using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (PCC). Also, the partial dependence analysis aimed to marginalize other features and established the relationship between an individual tunnelling parameter and EPB shield position. Then the feature-based subseries were normalized for training and examining the DL-based Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and ML-based ensemble EPB shield position predictors. On the other hand, three anomaly detectors founded on three ML algorithms were developed to prevent snakelike advance. Results showed that the DL-based LSTM predictor outperformed the ML-based ensemble predictor owing to its relative insensitivity to lags of unknown duration between important events. The thrust force dominated EPB shield position. The LSTM model prevented the accuracy of EPB shield position prediction from disturbing by gravels surrounding the design tunnel axis or artificial intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: We aimed to investigate the association of triglyceride–glucose (TyG) index with hypertension and compare the discriminative power of the TyG index, lipid, glycemic parameters for hypertension using the China Health Examination Collaborative study (CHEC Study). Methods and Study Design: Data were collected at Ningbo Mingzhou Hospital and Beijing physical examination center from the CHEC Study during 2014 and 2021. Participants with ≥2 medical check-up times were included. The TyG index is the logarithmized product of fasting triglyceride and glucose. Generalised estimation equation (GEE) model was used to evaluate the association between the TyG index, lipid parameters, glycemic parameters and hypertension. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to explore the predictive ability of TyG index on hypertension at different years of medical check-up. Results: 112,902 participants with an average age of 42.8 years were recruited in the study, 36,839 participants developed hypertension over the 8-year period. GEE model analysis showed that the ORs with 95% CI of hypertension were 3.35 (3.15-3.57), 1.86 (1.76-1.95), 1.67 (1.58-1.78), 1.45 (1.33-1.58), 1.24 (1.19-1.29), 0.92 (0.86-0.99), and 1.90 (1.83-1.97) in the highest versus lowest quintiles of TyG index, TG/HDL-C ratio, TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and FPG in model 2. The area under the ROC curve of the overall years of medical check-up was significantly higher than a particular year in predicting hypertension (AUC: 0.883, p < 0.05). Conclusions: TyG index is associated with hypertension and shows the superior discriminative ability for hypertension compared with lipid and glycemic parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When there is only one person in the car, the traditional air conditioning vent arrangement of the car will cool the whole cabin, which is a waste of energy. A new local air conditioning vent arrangement has been studied to solve this problem. Two local air inlet arrangements, namely the ceiling independent air inlet arrangement and the top and bottom mixed air inlet arrangement (case 5) were proposed, mixed air inlet arrangement is ceiling and floor air discharge from air-conditioner respectively, and four air inlet schemes were designed for the ceiling independent air inlet arrangement. At the same time, the thermal comfort of the driver is studied based on different inlets position, by using the CFD simulation method and according to the thermal comfort evaluation standard of equivalent temperature. The results show that although the ceiling inlet arrangement solves the problem of high energy consumption, it cannot meet the thermal comfort needs of driver. In the mixed inlets arrangement, the air velocity of the driver is between 0.13 ∼ 0.6 m/s, the air temperature distribution range around the driver is 21.2 ∼ 27.8 deg.C and the equivalent temperature curve is in the thermal neutrality zone, which can meet the thermal comfort requirements of the driver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recommender systems can automatically recommend users with items that they probably like. The goal of them is to model the user-item interaction by effectively representing the users and items. Existing methods have primarily learned the user’s preferences and item’s features with vectorized embeddings, and modeled the user’s general preferences to items by the interaction of them. In fact, users have their specific preferences to item attributes and different preferences are usually related. Therefore, exploring the fine-grained preferences as well as modeling the relationships among user’s different preferences could improve the recommendation performance. Toward this end, we propose a dual preference distribution learning framework (DUPLE), which aims to jointly learn a general preference distribution and a specific preference distribution for a given user, where the former corresponds to the user’s general preference to items and the latter refers to the user’s specific preference to item attributes. Notably, the mean vector of each Gaussian distribution can capture the user’s preferences, and the covariance matrix can learn their relationship. Moreover, we can summarize a preferred attribute profile for each user, depicting his/her preferred item attributes.We then can provide the explanation for each recommended item by checking the overlap between its attributes and the user’s preferred attribute profile. Extensive quantitative and qualitative experiments on six public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness and explainability of the DUPLE method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of dielectric barrier discharge ( DBD) plasma on the inactivation effect, the cell morphology, membrane changes and intracellular reactive oxygen species ( ROS) levels of Listeria monocytogenes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), flow cytometry, fluorescence staining and so on. The results showed that the population of L. monocytogenes was reduced from an initial level of 8. 26 lg CFU/mL to 1. 30 lg CFU/mL after DBD plasma treatment at 20. 8 W for 80 s, and the intracellular ROS level increased by 9. 5-folds ( P < 0. 05). DBD plasma treatment caused damage in the morphology and cell membrane of L. monocytogenes in a treatment time-dependent manner. Moreover, DBD plasma caused the depolarization of the cell membrane of L. monocytogenes. In addition, after DBD plasma treatment, the pH value of normal saline decreased significantly, the oxidation-reduction potential and concentration of NO-, NO2 and H2O2 increased significantly. In summary, DBD plasma could inactivate L. monocytogenes by disrupting cell membranes and inducing oxidative stress damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flowering transition is tightly coordinated by complex gene regulatory networks, in which AGAMOUS-LIKE 16 (AGL16) plays important roles. Here, we identified the molecular function and binding properties of AGL16 and demonstrated its partial dependency on the SUPPRESSOR OF CONSTANS 1 (SOC1) function in regulating flowering. AGL16 bound to promoters of more than 2,000 genes via CArG-box motifs with high similarity to that of SOC1 in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). Approximately 70 flowering genes involved in multiple pathways were potential targets of AGL16. AGL16 formed a protein complex with SOC1 and shared a common set of targets. Intriguingly, only a limited number of genes were differentially expressed in the agl16-1 loss-of-function mutant. However, in the soc1-2 knockout background, AGL16 repressed and activated the expression of 375 and 182 genes, respectively, with more than a quarter bound by AGL16. Corroborating these findings, AGL16 repressed the flowering time more strongly in soc1-2 than in the Col-0 background. These data identify a partial interdependency between AGL16 and SOC1 in regulating genome-wide gene expression and flowering time, while AGL16 provides a feedback regulation on SOC1 expression. Our study sheds light on the complex background dependency of AGL16 in flowering regulation, thus providing additional insights into the molecular coordination of development and environmental adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), populations exhibit varying levels of resistance to several insecticide classes, including pyrethroids. Artificial laboratory selection was conducted to investigate mechanisms underlying fenpropathrin resistance. After ten generations of selection, the LC50 for fenpropathrin increased from 0.18 to 11.60 ng/μL, and the associated resistance ratio increased by 96.67-fold. The realized heritability of resistance (h2) to fenpropathrin changed from 0.17 to 0.44 during the first and second round of selection, respectively. We did not find high cross-resistance to imidacloprid (RR = 3.58) or dimethoate (RR = 1.77) in the fenpropathrin-selected strain, but found cross-resistance to bifenthrin (RR = 28.21). RT-qPCR analysis showed that expression of CYP6A2-1 was significantly increased in the selected population relative to the laboratory susceptible population. Our data indicate that D. citri has the capacity to develop a high level of fenpropathrin resistance following persistent selection and that cytochrome P450 (CYP) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) metabolic detoxification may be contributing mechanisms. Rotation programs that include neonicotinoids and organophosphates should manage resistance to fenpropathrin for D. citri. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic gain materials, with the merit of abundant excited‐state processes with large stimulated emission cross‐section, show considerable potential in lasers. The abundant excited‐state processes provide excellent platform for the construction of various forms of energy‐level systems, based on which the efficient population inversion and the tailorable gain region are supported. Herein, the development of organic lasers with distinctive energy‐level systems is summarized according to the classification of excited‐state gain processes including singlet quasi‐four‐level transition, energy transfer, excimer, charge transfer (CT), excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT), and some other novel photophysical processes, giving deep insight into the inherent relationship between energy‐level systems and laser action. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for the future development are presented, hopefully to offer valuable enlightenment for the further optimization of energy‐level systems toward high‐gain organic lasers including electrically pumped organic lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore the mortality of patients with fragile hip fractures and assess the death‐associated risk factors. Methods: A total of 690 patients with osteoporotic hip fractures (age, 50–103 years) that were treated from January 2010 to December 2015 were enrolled and followed‐up in this study and the clinical data were retrospectively collected. Three months, 1 year, and the total mortality were measured. Mortality‐related risk factors were assessed including age, gender, surgery, the duration from injury to operation, pulmonary infection, and the number and type of complications. The mortality of each group was compared by chi‐square test or corrected chi‐square test for univariate analysis, and the factors with statistically significant mortality difference confirmed by univariate analysis were analyzed by binary logistic multivariate analysis. Results: The 3‐month mortality was 7.69%, the 1‐year mortality was 15.60%, and the total mortality of the follow‐up time was 24.06%. The 1‐year and total mortality during the follow‐up of the patients were higher in the >75‐year‐old group than those in the ≤75‐year‐old group (p = 0.000, respectively); were higher in the male patients than that in the female patients (p = 0.042; p = 0.017, respectively); were significantly lower in the operation group than that in the non‐operation group (p = 0.000, respectively); were significantly lower in the patients that underwent the operation in ≤5 days than the patients that underwent the operation within >5 days (p = 0.008; p = 0.000, respectively); were significantly lower in patients with >2 kinds of combined medical diseases than those with ≥2 kinds of chronic diseases (p = 0.000, respectively); were significantly lower in patients receiving anti‐osteoporosis treatment than in patients not receiving anti‐osteoporosis treatment (p = 0.000, p = 0.002, respectively). Binary logistic regression analysis showed that the independent risk factors affecting mortality included advanced age >75‐years‐old (OR = 5.653, p = 0.000), male (OR = 1.998, p = 0.001), non‐surgical treatment (OR = 9.909, p = 0.000), the number of combined medical diseases ≥2 (OR = 1.522, p = 0.042), and non‐anti‐osteoporosis treatment (OR = 1.796, p = 0.002). Conclusion: Age, whether or not surgical treatment was performed, the number of medical diseases, and whether or not anti‐osteoporosis treatment was performed were independent risk factors for 3‐month and 1‐year mortality in patients with fragile hip fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective risk assessment approach for assessing the risk level of aviation emergency rescue is essential to aviation emergency management. Therefore, this study is aimed at extending a novel integrated multiattribute group decision-making (MAGDM) approach to conduct risk assessment in aviation emergency rescue. First, a combined improved Swiss cheese model and fault tree analysis method are used to build the index system for risk assessment. Next, the weight vector for risk assessment is calculated using the consensus-based improved analytic hierarchy process (IAHP). Then, based on the traditional technique for order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) method, we improve the definition express of ideal solution and the standardized formula of indexes, thereby providing a consensus-based improved TOPSIS method to compute the evaluation matrix for risk assessment. Finally, the weight vector and evaluation matrix are combined to estimate the risk level of aviation emergency rescue. As aviation emergency rescue in a sudden natural disaster an example, we illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method and demonstrate its effectiveness by comparative analysis with some similar approaches. The proposed approach can evaluate the safety status of aviation emergency rescue operations, which provides a starting point for the improvement of aviation emergency rescue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem of large vibration of a high-subside stator inner cavity curve vane pump, the force analysis of the vane at the transition curve is carried out, and the functional relationship between the vane turning angle θ, the large arc radius R, the small arc radius r and the sliding friction is established. The particle swarm algorithm is used to optimize the solution of the objective function, and the optimized parameter values are brought into the MATLAB simulation program to obtain the optimized stator curve profile diagram. The dynamic performance of the vane pump before and after optimization is simulated using ADAMS. The results show that: the acceleration of the vane pump slide is significantly reduced; the friction between the slide and the slide groove is significantly reduced; the contact force between the slide and the stator is significantly reduced; the impact vibration of the optimized vane pump is significantly reduced; and the dynamic performance of the vane pump is improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In urban traffic systems, alleviating traffic congestion originated from left-turn/U-turn lanes at highly demanded intersections plays an important role in enhancing the traffic efficiency. For a typical intersection, the layout with double left-turn (DLT) lanes is a relatively common geometric feature. However, the effect of DLT scheme on the performance of the entire traffic system is not clear. This paper compares the performance of urban traffic system with different lane function schemes with extended cellular automaton (CA) model considering the car-following, lane-changing, intersection-traversing and route-choice behavior of vehicles. Using the flow-density relation, three macroscopic parameters (average trip completion rate, average traffic flow and average velocity) are examined to evaluate the system performance. With the wide application of DLT scheme, the vehicles can be distributed more evenly among the lanes. As a result, the traffic flow and the trip completion rate will be higher, especially at high density. Case studies of realistic Hefei city network and Sioux Falls networks are also carried out. The results show that the performance of traffic network will be better if more intersections adopt the DLT scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic near‐infrared (NIR) emissive materials integrating the intrinsic NIR light advantages and organic semiconductor characters have generated immense scientific interest in fundamental science and practical application, including optical communications, night vision, surveillance, and biomedical applications. Nevertheless, the intrinsic energy gap law engenders a huge challenge to simultaneously meet longer emission wavelength and higher luminescence efficiency for organic NIR emitters. Herein, it is suggested that the purposefully molecular design and crystal engineering for novel organic NIR materials are urgently studied and explored. Herein, recent advances in novel organic NIR materials, mainly focusing on the hybridized local and charge transfer (HLCT) compounds, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters, CT cocrystals, neutral π‐radicals, and excited‐state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT)‐active materials, are summarized. It is hoped that this perspective can afford a new insight into the fine design and synthesis of the desired organic NIR emitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic multiblock heterostructure nanowires (OMHNs), integrating distinct components in the same axial structure, have attracted much attention due to their excellent properties such as intrinsic good light confinement and rectification characteristics. However, rationally incorporating such features into OMHNs with rigorous 1D morphology control remains a key synthetic objective. It is because that the single components possess fundamentally distinctive properties such as size‐dependent electronic, optical, and magnetic features as well as lattice parameters. In the last decade, researchers made their own efforts to this exciting field, especially from the controlled fabrication to the advanced applications of the multiblock nanowires. As a result, various OMHNs have been developed as very promising candidates for high‐performance optoelectronic applications such as light harvesting, logic gate devices, photonic transistors, and photonic anticounterfeiting. Herein, the recent advances of OMHNs from the aspects of molecular design, synthesis, and advanced applications are reviewed, and an outlook is given providing inspiration for the future development of OMHNs toward integrated optoelectronic at nanoscale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri, is an important pest that transmits the causal pathogens of huanglongbing (HLB) in citrus. In Florida, HLB threatens citrus production and insecticide overuse for the vector has resulted in evolution of resistance among populations of D. citri to commonly used insecticides. Cyantraniliprole is effective against nymphal and adult D. citri. However, since the introduction of cyantraniliprole use in Florida, observations have suggested that duration of population suppression following foliar sprays against D. citri has decreased from 60 to 28 days during the period between 2012 and 2020. Here, we sampled populations of D. citri from four locations in FL and measured their susceptibility to four insecticides compared with a susceptible laboratory culture. A vial bioassay method was used to measure direct toxicity of insecticides to D. citri. For bifenthrin, cyantraniliprole, dimethoate and thiamethoxam, the resistance ratios of field populations were 6.67–11.33, 3.20–36.37, 12.50–82.50 and 4.60–10.08, respectively. Data suggested that susceptibility levels of D. citri populations to cyantraniliprole have decreased over 10‐fold at three separate citrus growing locations in Florida. Although some shifts in the resistance ratio of cyantraniliprole appear to have occurred since its use began in FL citrus, the resistance ratios are congruent with field observations indicating that D. citri should remain susceptible to label rate applications of this mode of action without control failure. However, our results indicate that sufficient field variation in susceptibility to cyantraniliprole exists among populations of D. citri to justify careful management of this insecticide for prevention of insecticide resistance development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cottids (Cottidae) are a taxonomically diverse and ecologically important component of many marine and freshwater ecosystems. Despite recent breakthroughs in long‐read sequencing, high quality genomic resources are still limited for studies of ecological and evolutionary processes in cottids. Here, we generated a high‐quality, chromosome‐scale genome assembly (521.26 Mb) of the catadromous roughskin sculpin (Trachidermus fasciatus Heckel) with a contig N50 of 2.93 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 24.06 Mb. Approximately 21.97% of the genome was composed of repetitive elements. A total of 21,872 protein‐coding genes were predicted, of which 19,900 genes (90.98%) were functionally annotated. Phylogenetic analysis supported the validity of Scorpaenoidei and Cottioidei as two suborders of the Perciformes. Chromosome‐scale collinearity analyses identified four chromosome fusions leading to the reduction of chromosome number in T. fasciatus. Gene families related to cell apoptosis and cell death were expanded and those related to immune system were contracted, suggesting that these gene families might be relevant to a host of phenotypic differences between T. fasciatus and other teleosts. Gene families associated with osmoregulation were also expanded, which might be associated with its catadromous life history. A total of 50 aging‐associated genes were found to be under positive selection, which might be associated with the short lifespan of T. fasciatus. The high‐quality genome assembly and annotation will promote researches into the evolution of catadromous life history and short lifespan for T. fasciatus and facilitate comparative genomic studies of cottids in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials have attracted increasing attention because of their ability to harvest triplet excitons via a reverse intersystem crossing process. TADF gain materials that can recycle triplet excitons for stimulated emission are considered for solving the triplet accumulation problem in electrically pumped organic solid‐state lasers (OSSLs). In this mini review, recent progress in TADF gain materials is summarized, and design principles are extracted from existing reports. The construction methods of resonators based on TADF gain materials are also introduced, and the challenges and perspectives for the future development of TADF gain materials are presented. It is hoped that this review will aid the advances in TADF gain materials and thus promote the development of electrically pumped OSSLs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High fidelity quantum operation of qubits plays an important role in realistic quantum sensing. It becomes more challenging when there are inevitable interactions between qubits in the solid system. We employ a composite pulse sequence to deal with the problems. The electron spin state of the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is flipped with high fidelity by the composite pulse at room temperature. In contrast with traditional rectangular pulses, the composite pulse has a wider excitation profile at the same Rabi frequency. Hence, the three sublevels of host nitrogen nuclear spin can be flipped efficiently and simultaneously, which enhances the signal contrast and detection sensitivity of quantum sensing universally. The enhancement effect works over a wide range of bias magnetic fields. Our scheme can be used for sensing temperature, strain, and electric field and can be applied to other spin–spin coupling systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data provide rich elevation information, so it plays an irreplaceable role in ground object classification. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown excellent performance in LiDAR digital surface models (DSMs) classification. However, the architecture of CNN model relies heavily on manual design, so it has great limitations. In addition, different sensors capture LiDAR datasets with different properties, so the model should be designed to suit for different datasets, which further increases the workload of architecture design. Therefore, this article proposes a method of automatic design of LiDAR DSM classification model. First, attention mechanism is introduced into search space to improve the feature extraction capability of the model. Then, a gradient-based search strategy is used to obtain the optimal architecture from this search space. Second, a learning rate adjustment strategy is proposed to reduce the time spent in the search stage and evaluation stage to improve the classification accuracy of the model. Finally, a regularization scheme is introduced to enhance the robustness of the model and avoid overfitting. Experimental results on three public LiDAR datasets (Bayview Park, Recology, and Houston) obtained from different sensors show that the proposed neural architecture search method achieves the impressive classification performance compared to several state-of-the-art classification methods and improves the classification accuracy under the condition of limited training samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization has an important effect on ecosystem services (ESs) and identifying the relationship between urbanization and ESs can provide a decision-making reference for regional ecological protection and management. Taking the areas along the Yellow River of Henan Province (AYRHP) as a research area, a coupling system of ESs and urbanization is established in this study to reveal the coupling relationship between the two. ESs are estimated by using Carnegie–Ames–Stanford approach, revision universal soil loss equation, and Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) models. The urbanization level is evaluated from three dimensions, namely, population, economy, and land. The coupling coordination relationship between various ESs and urbanization in AYRHP is quantified from 2000 to 2018 on the county scale based on the coupling coordination degree (CCD) model. The lead–lag relationship between ESs and urbanization is identified by using the relative development degree model, and ecological management zoning is conducted. Results show that in the study period, net primary production (NPP), soil conservation, and food production are increased, whereas water yield is decreased. In the study period, population, economy, and land urbanization level are increasing, and the comprehensive urbanization level is increased by 51.63%. The total CCD between NPP, food production, and water yield and comprehensive urbanization is basic or moderate coordination, whereas that between soil conservation and comprehensive urbanization is moderate maladjustment. In the research period, the coupling coordination between NPP and food production and comprehensive urbanization is increasing; that between water yield and comprehensive urbanization is fluctuated; and that between soil conservation and comprehensive urbanization is decreasing. The result of the research into the relative development degree in 2018 showed that food production, water yield, and soil conservation lag behind the urbanization level in most regions and counties along the Yellow River of Henan Province. On the basis of the lead–lag relationship between different ESs and urbanization level, the AYRHP are divided into ecological reconstruction area, ecological and agricultural improvement area, and ecological conservation area. CCD and relative development degree models can be used to evaluate the coordination relationship between ESs and urbanization, which provides scientific support for regional ES management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate supply and demand matching of ecosystem services (ESs) is important for managing regional ecosystems. On the basis of remote-sensing, meteorological, and socio-economic data, we mapped the supply, demand, and matching status of four ESs (i.e., water production, carbon sequestration, food supply, and soil conservation) using biophysical models and the ArcGIS spatial analysis module within the Zhengzhou–Kaifeng–Luoyang (ZKL) urban agglomeration in 2018. Four-quadrant analysis was employed to identify the spatial matching types of supply-demand relationships within the study region. The results are as follows. The supply-demand ratios of different ESs in the cell scale exhibit different spatial characteristics because of major influencing factors, including the natural environment (e.g., precipitation and temperature) and social development (e.g., urbanization level). Analysis of the supply-demand imbalances of the four ESs indicates that water production is deficient across the entire research area, whereas the whole research area's carbon sequestration, food supply, and soil conversation are in the surplus state. Regarding the spatial matching types for supply and demand of the four ecosystem services, water production is dominated by the "low–low (low supply and low demand)" type. Carbon sequestration is dominated by the "low–low" and "high–low (high supply and low demand)" types. The "low–low" type dominates food supply and soil conservation. Due to the severity of the deficit in water production, all districts and counties in the ZKL urban agglomeration are identified as areas requiring ecological conservation, ecological restoration, or ecological improvement. Development guidance strategies and planning suggestions are proposed in different ecological areas. These policies could also be applied in other similar urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

D2 lymph node dissection is widely used in laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, and its efficacy and safety are known for patients with obesity. Currently, D2+ lymph node dissection is also applied to certain patients with gastric cancer of later stages. Due to the high difficulty of D2+ surgery, it is more challenging to perform on patients with obesity. There is currently limited research on the efficacy and safety of D2+ surgery in obese patients with gastric cancer. The present study aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical data of patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer admitted to a single gastroenterology department. Patients with a body mass index ≥25 kg/m2 were included in the study. A total of 149 patients were selected as the research subjects and divided into two groups. The observation group comprised 74 patients who underwent D2+ lymph node dissection, while the control group comprised 75 patients who underwent standard D2 lymph node dissection. The surgical performance, postoperative recovery and postoperative complications of the two groups were compared. The results showed that the rates of conversion to open surgery in the D2+ and D2 groups were 5.4% (4/74) and 2.7% (2/75), respectively, and were not significantly different. The duration of surgery in the D2+ group (282.55±23.02 min) was significantly longer than that in the D2 group (271.45±20.05 min). The mean number of lymph node dissections in the D2+ group was 28.57±7.19, which was significantly higher than that in the D2 group (25.29±6.41). No statistically significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, time to first flatus, postoperative hospitalization days, total hospitalization expenses or postoperative complications was detected between the two groups. There were no deaths in either group within the 30-day perioperative period. In addition, there was no significant difference in the 3-year overall survival rate between the two groups, while the 5-year overall survival rate of the D2+ group was significantly higher than that of the D2 group. For obese patients with gastric cancer, D2+ surgery may increase the duration of surgery and slightly increase intraoperative blood loss compared with standard D2 radical surgery, but does not increase the incidence of postoperative complications. Moreover, D2+ surgery increases the number of lymph node dissections and improves the 5-year survival rate of patients. Therefore, it may be concluded that laparoscopic D2+ lymph node dissection is safe and feasible for obese patients with gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Ranaviruses (family Iridoviridae) are promiscuous pathogens that can infect across species barriers in poikilotherms and can replicate in amphibian and fish cells and even in cultured mammalian cells. However, as nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), their replication and transcription mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we screened and uncovered the replication and transcription machinery of two ranaviruses, Andrias davidianus ranavirus (ADRV) and Rana grylio virus (RGV), by a combination of methods, including the isolation of proteins on nascent DNA, recombinant virus-based affinity, and NanoLuc complementation assay. Results: The ranavirus replication and transcription machinery was deeply dissected and identified as a complicated apparatus containing at least 30 viral and 6 host proteins. The viral proteins ADRV-47L/RGV-63R (DNA polymerase, vDPOL), ADRV-23L/RGV-91R (proliferating cell nuclear antigen, vPCNA), ADRV-85L/RGV-27R (single-stranded DNA binding protein, vSSB), ADRV-88L/RGV-24R (vhelicase/primase), etc., constitute the core replisome. Specifically, the core of the transcription complex, the viral RNA polymerase, contain the host RNAPII subunits Rpb3, Rpb6, and Rpb11, which was a first report in NCLDVs. Furthermore, correlations and interactions among these factors in the machinery were described. Significantly, the replisome core protein vDPOL (ADRV-47L) can interact with numerous viral and host proteins and could act as a linker and regulation center in viral DNA replication and transcription. Thus, these results depicted an architecture for ranavirus replication and transcription. Conclusions: Up to 36 components from ranavirus and their host were found to form viral replisomes and transcription complexes using a series of precise methods, which further constructed an architecture for ranavirus replication and transcription in which vDPOL was a key central factor and various components correlated and cooperated. Therefore, it provides a cornerstone for further understanding the mechanisms of the replication and transcription of ranaviruses which can ensure the efficient production of progeny virus and adaptation to cross-species infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic single crystals have attracted great attention for solid‐state lasers owing to their smooth morphologies with inherent optical microcavity, ordered molecular packing mode with minimized defects density, and high photoluminescence quantum efficiency. However, the organic single‐crystal lasers, including whispering‐gallery‐mode (WGM) lasers with nondirectional emission and Fabry–Perot (F–P) lasers with inherent high‐lasing threshold, cannot achieve state‐of‐the‐art performance. Herein, the hierarchical self‐assembly of organic single‐crystal heterostructures made from cube‐shaped microdisks with optical gain and microwires with optical waveguide characteristics is demonstrated, which realize the unidirectional WGM laser action with a low‐lasing threshold of ≈600 nJ cm−2. The lattice mismatch rate principle contributes to the growth of these single‐crystal organic heterostructures. More significantly, the waveguide‐coupled WGM microcavity with a coupling coefficient of 28.8% proves that the unidirectional outcoupling of the single‐crystal WGM lasers from the single‐crystal wire waveguides is achieved. The results will pave an alternative avenue for high‐performance organic single‐crystal lasers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), transmits the causal pathogen of huanglongbing and is a global pest of citrus. D. citri populations exhibit resistance to multiple insecticide modes of action in areas where these chemicals have been overused. We performed genome‐wide transcriptional analysis for two field populations of D. citri (Wauchula and Lake Alfred, Florida, USA) that exhibit 1300‐fold resistance to the neonicotinoid insecticide, thiamethoxam, and compared it to that of susceptible psyllids collected from the same area and without imposed selection. The Lake Alfred population responded to insecticide resistance by up‐regulation of 240 genes and down‐regulation of 148 others. The Wauchula population exhibited similar patterns to the Lake Alfred population with up‐regulation of 253 genes and down‐regulation of 115 others. Gene Ontology annotation associated with cellular processes, cell, and catalytic activity were assigned to differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The DEGs from Lake Alfred and Wauchula populations were mapped to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genomes pathways and implicated enrichment of metabolic pathways, oxidative phosphorylation, extracellular matrix‐receptor interaction, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, and insect hormone biosynthesis in the resistant populations. Up‐regulation of 60s ribosomal proteins, UDP‐gluscoyltransferases, cytochrome c oxidases, and CYP and ABC transporters among thiamethoxam‐resistant D. citri implicates a broad array of novel and conventionally understood resistance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex geological conditions and/or inappropriate shield tunnel boring machine (TBM) operation can significantly degrade both the excavation and safety of tunnel construction. In recent years, the excavation behaviour of shield TBMs has been a popular topic in the literature given the large volume of data automatically collected by modern shields. These datasets provide an excellent opportunity to apply advanced data analysis techniques to improve predictions of shield tunnelling excavation behaviour. In this study, a framework to develop machine learning (ML)-based regression models for predicting the behaviour of an earth pressure balance (EPB) shield machine using tunnelling parameters is proposed. The feasibility of four ML algorithms, namely Linear Regression (LR), Decision Tree Regression (DTR), Support Vector Regression (SVR), and Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR), to predict EPB shield excavation behaviour is explored through their application to a recent tunnelling case history in sandy soils. The results show that the misestimates were primarily attributed to a reduction of screw conveyor rotational speed (SCRS), induced by a lower injection volume, the artificial manipulation of penetration rate (PR), the local variations of total jacking load, and the use of 'breakout' cutterwheel torque (CT). The GBR model provided the best performance, while LR often performs the worst due to its inability to handle highly nonlinear relationships. DTR prevented the overfitting problem by using a lower max depth parameter towards sacrificing its accuracy. The performance of SVR was seriously affected by loss functions. The proposed optimisation scheme that prevents the over-smoothing problem during the STL decomposition elevates further the prediction accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to conveniently tune the flexibility of the composite anisotropic flapping wing to an optimum level to improve flight efficiency is still an open question. Two simple methods have been put forward to realize the quick adjustment of flexibility to improve flight efficiency: one is to change the diameters of two outer ribs of the baseline flapping wing, and the other is to add a minor mass lump at the end of two outer ribs of the baseline flapping wing. The ground experimental results show that adding a minor mass lump at the end of the outer ribs can simultaneously improve the static thrust and the static propulsive efficiency, whereas increasing diameter can only improve the static thrust. A flight test was performed to verify that adding a proper mass lump can effectively improve the flight efficiency by 9% compared with that of the baseline flapping wing. Adding a mass lump can simultaneously improve the static thrust and propulsive efficiency. However, the trade-off between the loss of lift and the increase of thrust that arises from the nonlinear wing deformation and the increase of power consumption contributed by the added mass should be carefully weighed. Furthermore, a new parameter can be used to determine whether the flight performance can be effectively improved simply by tuning the mass distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a continuous-time setting, the existing notion of equilibrium strategies for timeinconsistent problems in the literature, referred to as weak equilibrium, is not fully aligned with the standard definition of equilibrium in game theory in that the agent may be willing to deviate from a given weak equilibrium strategy. To address this issue, [Y.-J. Huang and Z. Zhou, Math. Oper. Res., 46 (2021), pp. 428-451] propose the notion of strong equilibrium for an infinite-time stochastic control problem in which an agent can control the generator of a time-homogeneous, continuous-time, finite-state Markov chain at each time. We study weak and strong equilibria in a general diffusion framework, provide necessary conditions for a strategy to be a strong equilibrium, and prove that strong equilibrium strategies do not exist for three investment and consumption problems. Finally, we propose a new notion of equilibrium strategies, referred to as regular equilibrium, show that it implies weak equilibrium, provide a sufficient condition under which a weak equilibrium strategy becomes a regular equilibrium, and show that this condition holds for many time-inconsistent problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The educational burden from extracurricular tutoring class has become a pressing social issue in China. This study used data from the China family panel studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016, and 2018 to empirically analyze the impact of Internet usage on children's participation in extracurricular tutoring class. There are many factors that influence parents' decisions to enroll their children in extracurricular tutoring class. These factors include family income status, the level of importance parents place on their children's education, the marginal returns on educational investment, academic pressure, etc. However, in today's digitalized society, the widespread use of the internet will also become an important influencing factor in parents' decisions regarding educational investment. The study finds that, parents by using the Internet significantly increase the probability of enrolling their children in extracurricular tutoring class. Through mechanism regression analysis, it is concluded that internet usage has a positive influence on parents enrolling their children in extracurricular tutoring class by increasing the frequency of social interaction and raising parents' educational expectations for their children. Based on the empirical results, the following policy suggestions were proposed: 1. Schools should establish a more comprehensive after-school education service system to improve the engagement of students in compulsory education; 2. The government can enhance the accessibility and optimization of educational resources by increasing investment in education, improving the quality of in-school education, and optimizing the management and supervision of extracurricular tutoring class. This ensures that students can access high-quality educational services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To make the detection of moisture content and color change in jujube slices more convenient and without interrupting the drying process, a real‐time detection system was established. An algorithm of wave data filtering and a real‐time moisture content detection program was designed using VISA module of virtual instrument. The key technology of image processing was studied, concluding image acquisition, storage, reading, grayscale, enhancement, morphological operation, restoration, and the conversion algorithm to obtain the value of lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*). The jujube slices drying experiment was done, the average relative error of moisture content and the value of L*, a*, b* between the system and manual detection was 1.4%, 1.7%, 6.3%, 3.9%, respectively. The work provides useful references on real‐time nor‐destructive quality inspection and macro‐control in the agricultural products drying process. Practical applications: In this study, we established a real‐time detection system of moisture content and color change during drying process. The filter algorithm of moisture content detection has been studied, the automatic system can detection the moisture content of the jujube slices effectively. The image processing procedures have been studied and the real time detection system can provide useful data of the color change to forecast and control the drying process of the jujube slices which may be interest to the food preservation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease associated with high mortality, and traditional Chinese medicine decoctions (TCMDs) have been widely used for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 in China; however, the impact of these decoctions on severe and critical COVID-19-related mortality has not been evaluated. Therefore, we aimed to address this gap. In this retrospective cohort study, we included inpatients diagnosed with severe/critical COVID-19 at the Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University and grouped them depending on the recipience of TCMDs (TCMD and non-TCMD groups). We conducted a propensity score-matched analysis to adjust the imbalanced variables and treatments and used logistic regression methods to explore the risk factors associated with in-hospital death. Among 282 patients with COVID-19 who were discharged or died, 186 patients (66.0%) received TCMD treatment (TCMD cohort) and 96 (34.0%) did not (non-TCMD cohort). After propensity score matching at a 1:1 ratio, 94 TCMD users were matched to 94 non-users, and there were no significant differences in baseline clinical variables between the two groups of patients. The all-cause mortality was significantly lower in the TCMD group than in the non-TCMD group, and this trend remained valid even after matching (21.3% [20/94] vs. 39.4% [37/94]). Multivariable logistic regression model showed that disease severity (odds ratio: 0.010; 95% CI: 0.003, 0.037; P ¡ 0.001) was associated with increased odds of death and that TCMD treatment significantly decreased the odds of in-hospital death (odds ratio: 0.115; 95% CI: 0.035, 0.383; P ¡ 0.001), which was related to the duration of TCMD treatment. Our findings show that TCMD treatment may reduce the mortality in patients with severe/critical COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature from burning wood cribs will be simulated in this paper by sub-grid scale model in fire dynamics simulator. A baseline gas phase uncertainty is determined for simulating wood crib fire spread scenarios. This uncertainty is based on a sensitivity analysis of key input parameters and their subsequent effect on key output variables that are important for fire spread. Effects of different grid systems, computing domains and moisture contents on the predictions were studied first and then used to study the gaseous phase sensitivity. The gaseous phase input variables considered are: Smagorinsky constant, Prandtl number, and Schmidt number. The results show that the predictions for temperature have good agreement with experiment with the values of 0.25, 0.7, 0.4, and 5 for Smagorinsky constant, turbulent Schmidt number, and turbulent Prandtl number, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We previously found two distinct passenger dendritic cell (DC) subsets in the rat liver that played a central role in the liver transplant rejection. In addition, a tolerance-inducing protocol, donor-specific transfusion (DST), triggered systemic polytopical production of depleting alloantibodies to donor class I MHC (MHCI) antigen (DST-antibodies). Methods We examined the role of DST-antibodies in the trafficking of graft DC subsets and the alloresponses in a rat model. We also examined an anti-donor class II MHC (MHCII) antibody that recognizes donor DCs more selectively. Results Preoperative transfer of DST-antibodies or DST pretreatment eliminated all passenger leukocytes, including both DC subsets and depleted the sessile DCs in the graft to ~20% of control. The CD172a+CD11b/c+ immunogenic subset was almost abolished. The intrahost direct or semi-direct allorecognition pathway was successfully blocked, leading to a significant suppression of the CD8+ T-cell response in the recipient lymphoid organs and the graft with delayed graft rejection. Anti-donor MHCII antibody had similar effects without temporary graft damage. Although DST pretreatment had a priming effect on the proliferative response of recipient regulatory T cells, DST-primed sera and the anti-donor MHCII antibody did not. Conclusion DST-antibodies and anti-donor MHCII antibodies could suppress the CD8+ T-cell-mediated liver transplant rejection by depleting donor immunogenic DCs, blocking the direct or semi-direct pathways of allorecognition. Donor MHCII-specific antibodies may be applicable as a selective suppressant of anti-donor immunity for clinical liver transplantation without the cellular damage of donor MHCII– graft cells and recipient cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a scheme for realizing controllable photon transport in a three-mode optomechanical system comprising one cavity and two mechanical modes. We found that the non-rotating wave approximation effect can cause the ideal optomechanically induced transparency of the output field. The effects of the cavity mode decay rate on the width of the optomechanically induced transparency window, the dispersion curve slope are discussed in the resolved sideband regime and the unresolved sideband regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1D organic micro/nanostructures (OMNSs) based on π‐conjugated molecules are considered to be suitable candidates as photonic units due to their unique photophysical advantages over traditional ones in low‐temperature solution‐processed approach, tunable emission color, the built‐in cavity for optical confinement, and so forth. These inherent characteristics of OMNSs make them have broad application prospects in photonics devices, such as nanolasers, optical waveguides, and optical logical gates. In this review, the recent processes of OMNSs in terms of light generation, light confinement, and propagation are introduced, separately. Some representative works of OMNSs are discussed in the direction of optical modulation and processing. However, huge challenges still remain before the OMNSs are actually used as components of optical circuits in the photonics chips. The summary and the expectations are presented for the future development of 1D organic micro/nanostructures photonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to develop a durable and formaldehyde-free flame retardant treatment for cotton fabrics. Phosphorous acid (PA) is employed in conjunction with urea and guanidine carbonate to chemically bond the flame retardant to the cellulose fibers of the fabric. The treated fabrics are evaluated for their flame resistance, comfort, breathability, aesthetics, fire performance, carbon residue, limiting oxygen index, thermal stability, combustion behavior, and fabric properties. The results demonstrate successful grafting of PA onto cotton fabrics, leading to enhanced flame resistance while maintaining the desired fabric characteristics. The treated fabrics exhibit improved fire performance with increased carbon residue from 4.03% to 28.19% and higher LOI values from 18.0% to 43.5%. Moreover, the thermal stability of the fabric is enhanced, resulting in altered combustion behavior characterized by reduced the total heat release from 11.1 kJ/g to 0.1 kJ/g. Importantly, the flame-retardant treatment does not significantly impact the wettability or stiffness of the fabric. This study presents a simple and effective approach to produce highly efficient fire-resistant cotton fabrics, holding promise for various applications where fire safety is a concern. [Display omitted] • A simple, low-cost and easy-to-operate method of finishing cotton fabrics with flame retardancy was proposed. • The flame retardant can form P–O–C covalent bonds with cotton fibers. • The finishing fabric has excellent flame retardant performance and washing resistance. • Flame retardants reduce the formation of flammable gases during the burning process of fabrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High sensitivity including low color hydrolysis and a narrow temperature range of color-changing is important to thermochromic microcapsules. However, it is a challenge for conventional ternary thermochromic systems to realize the fast change of colors. A new class of high-sensitivity microcapsules and electrothermal color-changing fabrics were designed and synthesized by introducing CNTs into thermochromic systems via microencapsulation and coating technology. The high sensitivity was attributed to the enhanced filler CNTs and binary core phase change materials (1-Tetradecanol/1-Octadecanol). Moreover, the dosage amount of CNTs, core-to-shell ratios, and particle size on the temperature sensitivity of microcapsules were investigated. From the results, the optimized microcapsules with regular spherical shape exhibited a narrow color-change temperature range of 30–35 ℃ and low color hydrolysis of 11 ℃. As the core wall ratio increased from 1:1–3:1, the color change temperature range of microcapsules became narrower and the color hydrolysis was lower. According to the phase change behaviors, thermochromic microcapsules with a melting enthalpy of 70.64 J/g performed a good thermal regulation capacity. Furthermore, the reversible thermochromic performance of obtained microcapsules remained stable through 500 thermal cycles, demonstrating excellent thermal cycling stability. Combining the obtained microcapsules and electrothermal fabrics, highly sensitive electro-thermochromic (ETC) fabrics by voltage were prepared. Under the supplied voltage of 6 V, the ETC fabrics exhibited outstanding cyclic electrothermal color-changing performance. This unique design concept for high-sensitivity ETC fabrics has great potential applications in personal thermal management, the cooling of electronic devices, visible displays, and so on. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Binary Bell polynomial approach is applied to study the coupled Ramani equation, which is the generalization of the Ramani equation. Based on the concept of scale invariance, the coupled Ramani equation is written in terms of binary Bell polynomials of two dimensionless field variables, which leads to the bilinear coupled Ramani equation directly. As a consequence, the bilinear Bäcklund transformation, Lax pair and conservation laws are systematically constructed by virtue of binary Bell polynomials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic whispering‐gallery mode lasers (OWGMLs), taking the advantages of organic materials and whispering‐gallery mode (WGM) cavity, have undergone tremendous development with extensive application prospects in advanced optical fields. OWGMLs can be achieved via various strategies, typically including dope organic gain materials into WGM cavities, such as droplets, self‐assembled microcavities, and metal–organic frameworks, and utilize the self‐assembled amorphous or single‐crystalline structures of organic materials to serve simultaneously as the WGM cavity and the laser gain medium. The weak intermolecular interaction and abundant excited‐state radiative decay process of organic materials enable OWGMLs to be functionalized toward desired performance and novel applications. Here, the fundamentals related to OWGMLs as well as the advances in the strategies to realizing and functionalizing OWGMLs are introduced and reviewed. The challenges remained are discussed with perspectives and outlook provided for the future development in this exciting field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the stimulated Raman adiabatic passage for a pair of interacting cold atoms driven into the Y-type configuration with two adjacent Rydberg states. The results show that the self and cross dipole-dipole interactions will cause the blockade effect of states |rr〉 (|ll〉) and |rl〉 (|lr〉), respectively. However, it is viable to overcome the blockade effect and achieve efficient population transfer to different Rydberg states |r〉 and |l〉 by choosing appropriate single-photon and two-photon detunings to fully compensate dipole-induced shifts. Moreover, a maximal entangled state composed of two Rydberg states will generate with the proper detunings of coherent fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Liviidae), is a major pest that transmits phloem-limited, gram negative bacteria including 'Candidatus' liberibacter asiaticus (Clas), causing huanglongbing. Management of this pest relies primarily on insecticides, such as the neonicotinoid imidacloprid, that may affect secondary pests including the brown citrus aphid, Toxoptera citricida (Kirkaldy) (Hemiptera: Aphididae). Here, we report on direct toxicity and sublethal dose effects of imidacloprid on T. citricida nymphs and adults following direct contact and ingestion. We also examined transgenerational dose-response and hormetic effects following exposure of T. citricida to a sublethal concentration of imidacloprid. Toxicity of imidacloprid was similar for nymphs (0.6 ng per µL) and adults (1 ng per µL) at 72 h. Fecundity and finite rate of increase were greater for populations exposed to systemic and foliar treatments at a sublethal concentration (0.1 ng per µL) compared with untreated controls. Development times of first instar nymphs in the F1 generation and third instar nymphs in the F2 generation were significantly greater for individuals treated with the sublethal dose than an untreated control. Survival of second instar T. citricida on plants treated with a sublethal concentration also was significantly greater than controls. There also was a significant increase in fecundity of F1 and F2 individuals after sublethal treatment compared with controls. Our results indicated that a sublethal concentration of imidacloprid increased the reproductive performance and induced possible physiologically stimulative (hormetic) effects in T. citricida. Hormesis in secondary pests should be considered when developing a management program for pathogen vectors such as D. citri. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insecticide resistance is an increasing problem in citrus production. The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphornia citri Kuwayama, is recognized as one of the most important citrus pests worldwide and it has developed resistance in areas where insecticides have been overused. The development of insecticide resistance is often associated with fitness costs that only become apparent in the absence of selection pressure. Here, the fitness costs associated with resistance to thiamethoxam and imidacloprid were investigated in three agricultural populations of D. citri as compared with susceptible laboratory colonies. Results showed that all field populations had greater resistance than laboratory susceptible colonies. For both thiamethoxam and imidacloprid, a Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus-positive (CLas+) colony was more susceptible than the CLas− colony. Resistance ratios ranged from 7.65–16.11 for imidacloprid and 26.79–49.09 for thiamethoxam in field populations as compared with a susceptible, CLas− laboratory strain. Among three resistant field populations, a significantly reduced net reproductive rate and finite rate of population increase were observed in a population from Lake Wales, FL as compared to both susceptible strains. The fecundity of field populations from Lake Wales, FL was statistically lower than both laboratory susceptible populations. Certain changes in morphological characteristics were observed among resistant, as compared, with susceptible strains. Our data suggest fitness disadvantages associated with insecticide resistance in D. citri are related to both development and reproduction. The lower fitness of D. citri populations that exhibit resistance to neonicotinoid insecticides should promote recovery of sensitivity when those populations are no longer exposed to thiamethoxam and/or imidacloprid in the field. The results are congruent with a strategy of insecticide rotation for resistance management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]