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Soybean (Glycine max) is a short-day crop whose flowering time is regulated by photoperiod. The longjuvenile trait extends its vegetative phase and increases yield under short-day conditions. Natural variation in J, the major locus controlling this trait, modulates flowering time. We report that the three Jfamily genes influence soybean flowering time, with the triple mutant Guangzhou Mammoth-2 flowering late under short days by inhibiting transcription of E1-family genes. J-family genes offer promising allelic combinations for breeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have reported the cardiovascular health effects of different high-intensity interval training (HIIT) protocols among sedentary young women. We investigated the impact of a traditional HIIT programme and a high-intensity circuit training (HICT) programme on lipid profiles and inflammatory cytokine levels in sedentary young women. Forty-two women were randomly assigned to HICT (body weight-based training), HIIT (cycling-based training), or control groups (n = 14 each). HICT and HIIT participants completed an 8-week training programme of three sessions per week. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride, high- and low-density lipoprotein, leptin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-8, and interferon-gamma levels were measured before and after the intervention. Post-intervention, TC and leptin were decreased in the HICT group. The HICT group also demonstrated increased lean mass, upper and lower limb strength, and balance, while the HIIT group displayed improved lower limb strength. Additionally, the control group showed significant increases in triglyceride levels, weight, body mass index, and fat mass. In conclusion, although both HICT and HIIT interventions showed improvements in cardiovascular health and physical fitness, participants in the HICT group experienced more health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the well-established enzymatic enantioselective decarboxylative protonation (EDP), the corresponding chemocatalytic reactions of acyclic malonic acid derivatives remain challenging. Herein, we developed a biomimetic EDP of α-alkyl-α-aryl malonate monoesters using a chiral 1,2-trans-diaminocyclohexane-based N-sulfonamide as an organocatalyst. The method demonstrates excellent chemical yields, good enantioselectivity, mild reaction conditions, and the generation of only CO2 as waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous supercapacitors have occupied a significant position among various types of stationary energy storage equipment, while their widespread application is hindered by the relatively low energy density. Herein, N/F co-doped carbon materials activated by manganese clusters (NCM) are constructed by the straightforward experimental routine. Benefiting from the elevated conductivity structure at the microscopic level, the optimized NCM-0.5 electrodes exhibited a remarkable specific capacitance of 653 F g−1 at 0.4 A g−1 and exceptional cycling stability (97.39% capacity retention even after 40,000 cycles at the scanning rate of 100 mV s−1) in a neutral 5 M LiCl electrolyte. Moreover, we assembled an asymmetric device pairing with a VOx anode (NCM-0.5//VOx), which delivered a durable life span of 95% capacity retention over 30,000 cycles and an impressive energy density of 77.9 Wh kg−1. This study provides inspiration for transition metal element doping engineering in high-energy storage equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to explore the depression profile of empty nesters and to identify heterogeneous subgroups in the elderly population. It explored the influencing factors of depression in elderly people with different depression profiles, with a view to provide a reference basis for improving the depression situation of empty-nesting elderly people. This study used the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Lifespan Survey (CLHLS) survey data, with empty nesters over 60 as the research subjects. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to fit potential classes of depression in empty nesters; chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis, and multinomial logistic regression were used to explore the factors influencing different depression profiles in older adults. A total of 4481 subjects were included in this study and were classified as low-level (11.6 %), moderate-level (51.6 %), and high-level (36.8 %). Compared to the low-level, the influencing factors for the high-level were IADL, anxiety, self-rated health, exercise, and education; and the influencing factors for the medium level group were anxiety, self-rated health, drink, and education. Factors influencing high-level relative to the mid-level group were IADL, anxiety, residence, self-rated health, exercise, and limited in activities. The CESD-10, as a screening tool, could not completely determine the presence of depression in high levels of empty nesters. Psychological problems arising from depression among empty nesters seriously affected their overall health, and targeted intervention strategies should be developed for different categories of older adults to improve depression and enhance health-related quality of life. • With the continued aging of the population and the improvement in people's living standards, more and more people were concerned about the mental health of the elderly. • Depression, as one of the important indicators of mental health, was also receiving more and more widespread attention from society. • In this study, the level of depression of empty nesters was divided into three subgroups, with different characteristics between each subgroup. • By analyzing the key influencing factors and their mechanism of influence on depression, this study could provide a basis for the effective prevention and treatment of depression in the elderly by the health sector and other related departments, and be of great significance for the realization of healthy aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plugging and diverting fracturing is a promising technology that aims to enhance the heat extraction efficiency in hot dry rock. The key to the success of this technique is the formation of effective plugging zones in existing fractures. However, given the high temperature and high stress of hot dry rock, the migration and sealing mechanisms of temporary plugging agents in such reservoirs are quite different from those in conventional tight reservoirs. Using the computational fluid dynamics/discrete element method coupled method, this paper numerically investigates the migration mechanism of temporary plugging agents in rough fractures of hot dry rock. First, we construct a model of a rough fracture surface in hot dry rock by performing computerized tomography scanning. Second, we adopt the well-established theory of the joint roughness coefficient to describe the fracture surface roughness. Then a discrete phase model that considers the effect of temperature is constructed to characterize the interparticle interaction of temporary plugging agents. A bidirectional coupling algorithm between the fluid flow in the fracture and the migration of temporary plugging agent particles is adopted. Finally, the effects of key factors such as fracture wall temperature, fracture roughness, injection angle, and injection location on the migration mechanism of granular temporary plugging agents in rough fractures are analyzed in detail. The results show that fracture roughness and temperature have a significant impact on the migration process in hydraulic fractures. When the fracture surface roughness increases by 10.44 as measured by the joint roughness coefficient, the particle force and particle temperature increase by 12.0% and 37.8%, respectively. When the fracture surface temperature increases by 200 K, the particle force and particle temperature increase by 88.2% and 14.4%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People are not as fast or as strong as many other creatures that evolved around us. What gives us an evolutionary advantage is working together to achieve common aims. Coordinating joint action begins at a tender age with such cooperative activities as alternating babbling and clapping games. Adult joint activities are far more complex and use multiple means of coordination. Joint action has attracted qualitative analyses by sociolinguists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers as well as empirical analyses and theories by cognitive scientists. Here, we analyze how joint action is spontaneously coordinated from start to finish in a novel complex real‐life joint activity, assembling a piece of furniture, a task that captures the essentials of joint action, collaborators, things in the world, and communicative devices. Pairs of strangers assembled a TV cart from a stack of parts and a photo of the completed cart. Coordination prior to each assembly action was coded as explicit, using speech or gesture, or implicit, actions that both advanced the task and communicated the next step. Initial planning relied on explicit communication about structure, but not action nor division of labor, which were improvised. That served to establish a joint representation of the goal that informed actions and monitored progress. As assembly progressed, coordination was increasingly implicit, through actions alone. Joint action is a dynamic interplay of explicit and implicit signaling with respect to things in the world to coordinate ongoing progress, guided by a shared representation of the goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible-infrared person re-identification (VI-ReID) aims at matching pedestrian images with the same identity between different modalities. Existing methods ignore the problems of detailed information loss and the difficulty in capturing global features during the feature extraction process. To solve these issues, we propose a Transformer-based Feature Compensation Network (TFCNet). Firstly, we design a Hierarchical Feature Aggregation (HFA) module, which recursively aggregates the hierarchical features to help the model preserve detailed information. Secondly, we design the Global Feature Compensation (GFC) module, which exploits Transformer's ability to capture long-range dependencies in sequences to extract global features. Extensive results show that the rank-1/mAP of our method on the SYSU-MM01 and RegDB datasets reaches 60.87%/58.87% and 91.02%/75.06%, respectively, which is better than most existing excellent methods. Meanwhile, to demonstrate our method's transferability, we also conduct related experiments on two aerial photography datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arrestins were discovered for their role in homologous desensitization of G‐protein‐coupled receptors (GPCRs). Later non‐visual arrestins were shown to regulate several signaling pathways. Some of these pathways require arrestin binding to GPCRs, the regulation of others is receptor independent. Here, we demonstrate that arrestin‐3 binds the E3 ubiquitin ligase parkin via multiple sites, preferentially interacting with its RING0 domain. Identification of the parkin domains involved suggests that arrestin‐3 likely relieves parkin autoinhibition and/or stabilizes the enzymatically active “open” conformation of parkin. Arrestin‐3 binding enhances ubiquitination by parkin of the mitochondrial protein mitofusin‐1 and facilitates parkin‐mediated mitophagy in HeLa cells. Furthermore, arrestin‐3 and its mutant with enhanced parkin binding rescue mitofusin‐1 ubiquitination and mitophagy in the presence of the Parkinson's disease‐associated R275W parkin mutant, which is defective in both functions. Thus, modulation of parkin activity via arrestin‐3 might be a novel strategy of anti‐parkinsonian therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) can inhibit abscisic acid (ABA)-induced stomatal closure. However, the molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we found that ALA upregulated the MdPP2AC expression and PP2A activity in the apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. 'Fuji') leaves. With the promoter of MdPP2AC as bait, a diacylglycerol kinase MdDGK3-like was selected by the Yeast One Hybrid (Y1H) from the cDNA library of the epidermis of apple leaves treated by exogenous ALA. Additional to binding the promoter of MdPP2AC, MdDGK3-like was found to inhibit the transcription activity of MdPP2AC promoter, while ALA significantly eliminated the role of MdDGK3-like. In tobacco leaves, MdDGK3-like was localized in the nucleus of stomatal guard cells. Therefore, MdDGK3-like might act as a transcription factor negatively regulating MdPP2AC expression and causing stomatal closure. To further identify MdDGK3-like functions, several transiently transgenic apple leaves (including overexpression and interference) were established. The results revealed that overexpression of MdDGK3-like promoted stomatal closure by increasing Ca2þ and H2O2 and decreasing flavonol levels in the guard cells. Conversely, MdDGK3-like (i) led the stomatal opening with lower levels of Ca2þ and H2O2 but higher flavonols. Based on these, we proposed a new hypothesis that ALA up-regulated MdPP2AC expression via negatively regulating the expression of MdDGK3-like to up-regulate PP2A expression and the enzyme activity, which improved the stomatal aperture. Since it was the first time that MdDGK3-like was showed to act as a transcription factor, the proposed model provided a new insight onto the mechanisms of ALA-induced stomatal opening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing daily physical activity (PA) is a practical way to decrease the risk of cardiometabolic diseases, while the studies on exercise intensity remain limited. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of increasing light PA (LPA) or moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) for 12 weeks on cardiometabolic markers in Chinese adults with obesity. Fifty-three adults were randomly assigned to the 1) control group, 2) LPA group, and 3) MVPA group in free-living settings. The intervention effects on body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiometabolic biomarkers were analysed using a generalized estimated equation model adjusted for baseline values and potential confounders. Compared with the control group, the MVPA group showed improvements in body composition, lipids, C-peptide, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), interleukin-8, leptin, and E-selectin. A favourable change in triglycerides and E-selectin were observed in the LPA group when compared to the control group. Lastly, improvements in waist circumference, C-reactive protein, and MCP-1 were observed in the MVPA group when compared to those in the LPA group. Although increasing both LPA and MVPA improved certain cardiometabolic biomarkers, the latter may have more benefits. These findings imply that MVPA may reduce cardiometabolic disease risk more effectively than LPA, especially in Chinese adults with obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid expansion of urbanization, shafts are needed to provide access to tunnelling projects or be utilized for permanent works. Their construction causes ground movements, affecting nearby foundations and buried infrastructure. This study presents an analytical equivalent volume loss approach for predicting three-dimensional ground movements resulting from a circular shaft construction: namely, ground losses in the elastic isotropic half space as a sequence of cavity contractions around the shaft are employed. First, the applicability and accuracy of proposed solutions are evaluated with published case studies and centrifuge tests. Thereafter, the method is employed to investigate the influence of the circular shaft construction on the surface and subsurface soil displacements. Considering design ground losses, this method allows for quick estimations of ground deformations and associated risk of serviceability losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study was to translate the Elderly-Constipation Impact Scale into Chinese and to examine its reliability and validity in a population of older people suffering from chronic constipation. Methods: In this study, the scale was paraphrased, back-translated, cross-culturally adapted and pre-experimented using the Brislin double translation-back-translation method to create the initial Chinese version of the Elderly-Constipation Impact Scale. A convenience sampling method was used to select 564 study participants who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria in Liaoning and Shanxi, China, to evaluate the reliability and validity of the scale. General information about the study population was using descriptive statistics; item analysis was used to screen the items of the scale. Content validity, exploratory factor analysis, and validation factor analysis were chosen to validate the scales; internal consistency, spilt-half reliability and retest reliability were used determine the reliability of the measurement scales. Results: The Chinese version of the Elderly-Constipation Impact Scale contains 7 dimensions and 21 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the total scale was 0.901 and the range of Cronbach's alpha values for each dimension was 0.707 to 0.918. The split-half reliability of the scale was 0.736 and the retest reliability was 0.763. The exploratory factor analysis showed a KMO value of 0.873 and a Bartlett's spherical test X2 value of 3499.978 (p < 0.001). A total of seven common factors were extracted, namely daily activities, treatment satisfaction, lack of control of bodily function, diet restriction, symptom intensity, anxiety and preventive actions, with a cumulative variance contribution of 77.813%. Each item had a loading value > 0.4 on its common factor. In the validation factor analysis, the model fit results were X2 / df = 1.886, GFI = 0.910, AGFI = 0.874, PGFI = 0.654, IFI = 0.955, TLI = 0.942, CFI = 0.954, RMSEA = 0.056 and PNFI = 0.718. The model fit indicators were all within acceptable limits. Conclusion: The Chinese version of the E-CIS has good reliability and validity in the chronic constipation population of elderly individuals. The results of the questionnaire can effectively and comprehensively reflect the impact of chronic constipation on the quality of life of elderly individuals. It provides a meaningful reference for identifying targets for intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental pollution has an extremely negative impact on the population of the planet and threatens the future of mankind. One of the main sources of waste and toxic emissions into the atmosphere is the construction sector. It is necessary to find ways to minimize the damage caused to nature. Currently, artificial intelligence technologies are among the most promising ways to improve the environment. Automatic control systems solve a number of problems related to reducing costs and resources, full use of renewable energy sources, improving the safety of energy systems, and many others. The purpose of this article is to determine the functionality of artificial intelligence technologies and ways of their application in green construction. To solve this problem, methods of analysis and synthesis of existing information models were applied. The article discloses automatic control systems in the design, construction, and operation of buildings. These include well-known methods, such as Building Information Model, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and narrow-profile ones: Response Surface Methodology, Multi-Agent System, Digital Twins, etc. In addition, the study states that when planning and arranging green buildings must adhere to the following principles: high energy efficiency, rational use of natural resources, adaptation to the environment and climate, ensuring comfort and safety for residents. The article presents the standards of green construction existing in the world. This work can serve as a guide when choosing information models and is of practical value in the development of green buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arrestins bind active phosphorylated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Among the four mammalian subtypes, only arrestin-3 facilitates the activation of JNK3 in cells. In available structures, Lys-295 in the lariat loop of arrestin-3 and its homologue Lys-294 in arrestin-2 directly interact with the activator-attached phosphates. We compared the roles of arrestin-3 conformational equilibrium and Lys-295 in GPCR binding and JNK3 activation. Several mutants with enhanced ability to bind GPCRs showed much lower activity towards JNK3, whereas a mutant that does not bind GPCRs was more active. The subcellular distribution of mutants did not correlate with GPCR recruitment or JNK3 activation. Charge neutralization and reversal mutations of Lys-295 differentially affected receptor binding on different backgrounds but had virtually no effect on JNK3 activation. Thus, GPCR binding and arrestin-3-assisted JNK3 activation have distinct structural requirements, suggesting that facilitation of JNK3 activation is the function of arrestin-3 that is not bound to a GPCR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2D NMR (T1-T2) mapping technique, which can be used to separate different proton populations from various sources (hydroxyls, solid organic matter, free water, and free HC) has gained attention in petroleum industry. To separate proton contributions, a fixed straight line is commonly employed to separate different regions representing proton sources on the map. However, some of these regions (Region 1 and 2) might overlap which makes extracting the NMR signal amplitude from these regions inaccurate. In order to solve this issue, in this study, we applied the Gaussian distribution deconvolution method to separate the T1 and T2 relaxation distributions and then derived the signal amplitude of each region instead of following the common fixed line approach. Next, we employed this method to analyze several shale samples from the literature and compared the results following both methods to verify our methodology. Finally, samples from the Bakken Shale were studied to separate signals from Region 1 and Region 2 and correlated the results with geochemical properties that were obtained from programmed (Rock Eval) pyrolysis. Results demonstrated an improvement in their relation when our approach is employed compared to the fixed line technique to differentiate signal from overlapping regions. This means the Gaussian distribution deconvolution method can be used with confidence to provide us with more accurate petrophysical and geochemical understanding of complex formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The infectious bursal diseases virus (IBDV) polymerase, VP1 protein, is responsible for transcription, initial translation and viral genomic replication. Knowledge about the new kind of post-translational modification of VP1 supports identification of novel drugs against the virus. Because the arginine residue is known to be methylated by protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) enzyme, we investigated whether IBDV VP1 is a substrate for known PRMTs. In this study, we show that VP1 is specifically associated with and methylated by PRMT5 at the arginine 426 (R426) residue. IBDV infection causes the accumulation of PRMT5 in the cytoplasm, which colocalizes with VP1 as a punctate structure. In addition, ectopic expression of PRMT5 significantly enhances the viral replication. In the presence of PMRT5, enzyme inhibitor and knockout of PRMT5 remarkably decreased viral replication. The polymerase activity of VP1 was severely damaged when R426 mutated to alanine, resulting in impaired viral replication. Our study reports a novel form of post-translational modification of VP1, which supports its polymerase function to facilitate the viral replication. IMPORTANCE Post-translational modification of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) VP1 is important for the regulation of its polymerase activity. Investigation of the significance of specific modification of VP1 can lead to better understanding of viral replication and can probably also help in identifying novel targets for antiviral compounds. Our work demonstrates the molecular mechanism of VP1 methylation mediated by PRMT5, which is critical for viral polymerase activity, as well as viral replication. Our study expands a novel insight into the function of arginine methylation of VP1, which might be useful for limiting the replication of IBDV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many state-of-the-art object detectors have been developed, detecting small and densely packed objects with complicated orientations in remote sensing aerial images remains challenging. For object detection in remote sensing aerial images, different scales, sizes, appearances, and orientations of objects from different categories could most likely enlarge the variance in the detection error. Undoubtedly, the variance in the detection error should have a non-negligible impact on the detection performance. Motivated by the above consideration, in this paper, we tackled this issue, so that we could improve the detection performance and reduce the impact of this variance on the detection performance as much as possible. By proposing a scaled smooth L 1 loss function, we developed a new two-stage object detector for remote sensing aerial images, named Faster R-CNN-NeXt with RoI-Transformer. The proposed scaled smooth L 1 loss function is used for bounding box regression and makes regression invariant to scale. This property ensures that the bounding box regression is more reliable in detecting small and densely packed objects with complicated orientations and backgrounds, leading to improved detection performance. To learn rotated bounding boxes and produce more accurate object locations, a RoI-Transformer module is employed. This is necessary because horizontal bounding boxes are inadequate for aerial image detection. The ResNeXt backbone is also adopted for the proposed object detector. Experimental results on two popular datasets, DOTA and HRSC2016, show that the variance in the detection error significantly affects detection performance. The proposed object detector is effective and robust, with the optimal scale factor for the scaled smooth L 1 loss function being around 2.0. Compared to other promising two-stage oriented methods, our method achieves a mAP of 70.82 on DOTA, with an improvement of at least 1.26 and up to 16.49. On HRSC2016, our method achieves an mAP of 87.1, with an improvement of at least 0.9 and up to 1.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cycling import receptor PEX5 and its membrane-located binding partner PEX14 are key constituents of the peroxisomal import machinery. Upon recognition of newly synthesized cargo proteins carrying a peroxisomal targeting signal type 1 (PTS1) in the cytosol, the PEX5/cargo complex docks at the peroxisomal membrane by binding to PEX14. The PEX14 N-terminal domain (NTD) recognizes (di)aromatic peptides, mostly corresponding to Wxxx(F/Y)-motifs, with nano-to micromolar affinity. Human PEX5 possesses eight of these conserved motifs distributed within its 320-residue disordered N-terminal region. Here, we combine biophysical (ITC, NMR, CD), biochemical and computational methods to characterize the recognition of these (di)aromatic peptides motifs and identify key features that are recognized by PEX14. Notably, the eight motifs present in human PEX5 exhibit distinct affinities and energetic contributions for the interaction with the PEX14 NTD. Computational docking and analysis of the interactions of the (di)aromatic motifs identify the specific amino acids features that stabilize a helical conformation of the peptide ligands and mediate interactions with PEX14 NTD. We propose a refined consensus motif ExWΦxE(F/Y)Φ for high affinity binding to the PEX14 NTD and discuss conservation of the (di)aromatic peptide recognition by PEX14 in other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) virus belonging to the genus Avibirnavirus in the family Birnaviridae. It can cause serious failure of vaccination in young poultry birds with impaired immune systems. Post-translational modifications of the VP1 protein are essential for viral RNA transcription, genome replication, and viral multiplication. Little information is available so far regarding the exact mechanism of phosphorylation of IBDV VP1 and its significance in the viral life cycle. Here, we provide several lines of evidence that the cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1)-cyclin B1 complex phosphorylates VP1, which facilitates viral replication. We show that the CDK1-cyclin B1 specifically interacts with VP1 and phosphorylates VP1 on the serine 7 residue, located in the N-terminal 7 SPAQ10 region, which follows the optimal phosphorylation motif of CDK1, p-S/T-P. Additionally, IBDV infection drives the cytoplasmic accumulation of CDK1-cyclin B1, which co-localizes with VP1, supporting the kinase activity of CDK1-cyclin B1. Treatment with CDK1 inhibitor RO3306 and knockdown of CDK1-cyclin B1 severely disrupts the polymerase activity of VP1, resulting in diminished viral replication. Moreover, the replication of S7A mutant recombinant IBDV was significantly decreased compared to that of wild-type (WT) IBDV. Thus, CDK1-cyclin B1 is a crucial enzyme which phosphorylates IBDV VP1 on serine 7, which is necessary both for the polymerase activity of VP1 and for viral replication. IMPORTANCE Infectious bursal disease virus still poses a great economic threat to the global poultry farming industry. Detailed information on the steps of viral genome replication is essential for the development of antiviral therapeutics. Phosphorylation is a common post-translational modification in several viral proteins. There is a lack of information regarding the significance of VP1 phosphorylation and its role in modulating the viral life cycle. In this study, we found that CDK1-cyclin B1 accumulates in the cytoplasm and phosphorylates VP1 on serine 7. The presence of a CDK1 inhibitor and the silencing of CDK1-cyclin B1 decrease IBDV replication. The mutation of VP1 serine 7 to alanine reduces VP1 polymerase activity, disrupting the viral life cycle, which suggests that this residue serves an essential function. Our study offers novel insights into the regulatory mechanism of VP1 phosphorylation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Wearing face masks in public is an effective strategy for preventing the spread of viruses; however, it may negatively affect exercise responses. Therefore, this review aimed to explore the effects of wearing different types of face masks during exercise on various physiological and psychological outcomes in healthy individuals. Methods: A literature search was conducted using relevant electronic databases, including Medline, PubMed, Embase, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials on April 05, 2022. Studies examining the effect of mask wearing (surgical mask, cloth mask, and FFP2/N95 respirator) during exercise on various physiological and psychological parameters in apparently healthy individuals were included. For meta-analysis, a random effects model was used. Mean difference (MD) or standardized MD (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to analyze the total effect and the effect in subgroups classified based on face mask and exercise types. The quality of included studies was examined using the revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Results: Forty-five studies with 1264 participants (708 men) were included in the systematic review. Face masks had significant effects on gas exchange when worn during exercise; this included differences in oxygen uptake (SMD − 0.66, 95% CI − 0.87 to − 0.45), end-tidal partial pressure of oxygen (MD − 3.79 mmHg, 95% CI − 5.46 to − 2.12), carbon dioxide production (SMD − 0.77, 95% CI − 1.15 to − 0.39), and end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (MD 2.93 mmHg, 95% CI 2.01–3.86). While oxygen saturation (MD − 0.48%, 95% CI − 0.71 to − 0.26) decreased slightly, heart rate was not affected. Mask wearing led to higher degrees of rating of perceived exertion, dyspnea, fatigue, and thermal sensation. Moreover, a small effect on exercise performance was observed in individuals wearing FFP2/N95 respirators (SMD − 0.42, 95% CI − 0.76 to − 0.08) and total effect (SMD − 0.23, 95% CI − 0.41 to − 0.04). Conclusion: Wearing face masks during exercise modestly affected both physiological and psychological parameters, including gas exchange, pulmonary function, and subjective discomfort in healthy individuals, although the overall effect on exercise performance appeared to be small. This review provides updated information on optimizing exercise recommendations for the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Systematic Review Registration Number: This study was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO) database (registration number: CRD42021287278). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep learning has achieved remarkable performance in semantically segmenting remotely sensed images. However, the high-frequency detail loss caused by continuous convolution and pooling operations and the uncertainty introduced when annotating low-contrast objects with weak boundaries induce blurred object boundaries. Therefore, a dual-stream network MAE-BG, consisting of an edge detection (ED) branch and a smooth branch with boundary guidance (BG), is proposed. The ED branch is designed to enhance the weak edges that need to be preserved, simultaneously suppressing false responses caused by local texture. This mechanism is achieved by introducing improved multiple-attention edge detection blocks (MAE). Furthermore, two specific ED branches with MAE are designed to combine with typical deep convolutional (DC) and Codec infrastructures and result in two configurations of MAE-A and MAE-B. Meanwhile, multiscale edge information extracted by MAE networks is fed into the backbone networks to complement the detail loss caused by convolution and pooling operations. This results in smooth networks with BG. After that, the segmentation results with improved boundaries are obtained by stacking the output of the ED and smooth branches. The proposed algorithms were evaluated on the ISPRS Potsdam and Inria Aerial Image Labelling datasets. Comprehensive experiments show that the proposed method can precisely locate object boundaries and improve segmentation performance. The MAE-A branch leads to an overall accuracy (OA) of 89.16%, a mean intersection over union (MIOU) of 80.25% for Potsdam, and an OA of 96.61% and MIOU of 86.63% for Inria. Compared with the results without the proposed edge optimization blocks, the OAs from the Potsdam and Inria datasets increase by 5.49% and 7.64%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this paper is to study how the Delta variant spread in a China city, and to what extent the non-pharmaceutical prevention measures of local government be effective by reviewing the contact network of COVID-19 cases in Xi'an, China. Methods: We organize the case reports of the Shaanxi Health Commission into a database by text coding and convert them into a network matrix. Then we construct a dynamic contact network for the corresponding analysis and calculate network indicators. we analyze the cases' dynamic contact network structure and intervals between diagnosis time and isolation time by using data visualization, network analysis method, and Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression. Results: The contact network for this outbreak in Xi'an is very sparse, with a density of less than 0.0001. The contact network is a scale-free network. The average degree centrality is 0.741 and the average PageRank score is 0.0005. The network generated from a single source of infection contains 1371 components. We construct three variables of intervals and analyze the trend of intervals during the outbreak. The mean interval (interval 1) between case diagnosis time and isolation time is − 3.9 days. The mean of the interval (interval 2) between the infector's diagnosis time and the infectee's diagnosis time is 4.2 days. The mean of the interval (interval 3) between infector isolation time and infectee isolation time is 2.9 days. Among the three intervals, only interval 1 has a significant positive correlation with degree centrality. Conclusions: By integrating COVID-19 case reports of a Chinese city, we construct a contact network to analyze the dispersion of the outbreak. The network is a scale-free network with multiple hidden pathways that are not detected. The intervals of patients in this outbreak decreased compared to the beginning of the outbreak in 2020. City lockdown has a significant effect on the intervals that can affect patients' network centrality. Our study highlights the value of case report text. By linking different reports, we can quickly analyze the spread of the epidemic in an urban area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Progressive axon degeneration is a common pathological feature of neurodegenerative diseases. Cdc42 is a member of the Rho GTPase family that participates in axonogenesis. GSK-3β is a serine/threonine kinase highly implicated in neuronal development and neurodegeneration. This study aimed to examine whether cdc42 promotes axonogenesis by regulating GSK-3β activity. Methods: Hippocampal neurons were isolated from neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats and transfected with designated plasmid vectors to alter the activities of cdc42 and GSK-3β. LiCl treatment was used to inhibit the GSK-3β activity in primary neurons. GSK-3β activity was determined by an enzyme activity assay kit. Immunofluorescence staining was used to detect axons stained with anti-Tau-1 antibody and dendrites stained with anti-MAP2 antibody. Results: Transfection with an active cdc42 mutant (cdc42F28L) decreased the activity of GSK-3β and induced axonogenesis in primary rat hippocampal neurons, while transfection with a negative cdc42 mutant (cdc42N17) resulted an opposite effect. Moreover, transfection with plasmid vectors carrying wild-type GSK-3β or a constitutively active GSK3β mutant (GSK-3β S9A) increased the activity of GSK-3β and attenuated axonogenesis of primary hippocampal neurons with excessive cdc42 activity, whereas inhibition of GSK-3β by LiCl abolished the inhibitory effect of the negative cdc42 mutant on axonogenesis. Conclusions: This study suggests that cdc42 induces axonogenesis of primary rat hippocampal neurons via inhibiting GSK-3β activity. These findings support further investigation into the mechanisms of cdc42/GSK-3β-mediated axonogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drop experiments with quartz spheres in a flume setting were performed to investigate the dynamic signal response of the Swiss plate geophone bedload monitoring system for varying particle size, vertical impact velocity, and impact location. For a similar sphere impact set-up, the finite element method was used to determine the propagation characteristics of the stress wave in the structure of the monitoring system. The experimental and numerical results showed a qualitative and partially quantitative agreement in the changes in the number of signal impulses per particle mass, the amplitude, and the centroid frequency with increasing colliding sphere size. These parameters characterizing the geophone vibrations also showed qualitatively similar dependencies with increasing bedload size as field measurements show with natural particles and a theoretical model. The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the signal response of the monitoring system, which may result in improving bedload grain size classifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultra-wideband receivers face many technical challenges, and one of the key technical difficulties is the ultra-wideband low-noise amplifier (LNA). Using a gallium arsenide material-based 70 nm gate length metamorphic high electron mobility transistor and dual-supply bias 4-stage amplifier circuit structure, a 4–40 GHz ultra-wideband low-noise monolithic microwave integrated amplifier is designed, which completely covers 5 bands of C, X, Ku, K, and Ka. The design simulation results show that the amplifier gain is (40 ± 2.5) dB. The average noise temperature at room temperature is 95 K, the noise temperature of 4–12.5 GHz is lower than 83 K in the whole frequency band, and the DC (direct current) power consumption is 130.5 mW. The input reflection coefficient in the entire frequency band is typically - 10 dB, and the output reflection coefficient is typically - 15 dB, stable in the whole frequency range, no self-excited oscillation phenomenon. The device can be used in the ultra-wideband receivers and large-scale multi-beam receivers, which improve the observation efficiency of radio telescopes effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Falling film flow and heat transfer are extensively encountered in various industries of renewable and sustainable energy due to the outstanding heat transfer performance. The predictions in falling film hydrodynamics and heat transfer are crucial for the optimal design of falling film heat exchangers, and there have been considerable advancements made in this area over the past few decades. Considering the gaps in current literature predictions, this paper aims to present a comprehensive review on the correlations of flow pattern transition, film thickness, heat transfer, and liquid film rupture within falling film flowing over horizontal tubes and tube bundles. Through comparisons and summarizations, it can be found that the documented correlations appear to be significantly out of alignment with one another, which greatly restricts the applicability of these predictions. The correlations of falling film thickness that are obtained using regression approach based on dimensional analysis may take into account more factors than the ones modified from Nusselt theory. The predictions of flow pattern transition of falling liquid film with horizontal column are often described as the functions of the film Reynolds number, derived from the Kapitza number or the Galileo number. The functions of Nusselt number, film Reynolds number, Prandtl number, and Archimedes number are typically used to represent sensible and evaporative heat transfer correlations, whereas boiling heat transfer correlations also take into account the influence of heat flux, such as Boiling number. The full process of actual heat transfer is taken into account from both the standpoints of sensible convection and nucleate boiling using the combination functions of various heat transfer forms. Within the ranges of their own parameters, the well-established heat transfer models often offer good accuracy. While the predictions of phase change heat transfer often behave worse, the predictions of sensible heat transfer are more general and accurate. Generally speaking, the minimum film flow rate or the maximum heat flux were the functions that correlated with the inceptions of liquid film rupture. • Provides a comprehensive review of predictions for falling film hydrodynamics and heat transfer. • Describes in fully the most recent advancements in the relevant correlations. • Reviews respectively heat transfer prediction of sensible convection, evaporation, and boiling. • Provides an entire review of falling film heat transfer from subcooled convection to film dryout. • Proposed some recommendations and improvements for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Car following is the most common driving behavior in tunnels. However, current car-following models are not completely suitable for tunnels because they do not take into account the environmental factors affecting vehicles in tunnels. In this paper, we present a comprehensive risk-based car-following model to describe car-following behavior in freeway tunnels. Considering the key factors influencing driving behavior in freeway tunnels, we develop a comprehensive safety field (CSF), which consists of the potential, kinetic, and environment fields to estimate the effect of speed limit signs, leading vehicles, and lighting conditions on driving risks. Then, a car-following model based on comprehensive safety field (CF-CSF) was established to determine a vehicular driving strategy in tunnels. The field force is introduced as a quantitative indicator to assess the current driving risk of vehicles and whose increase causes a greater deceleration of vehicles. Furthermore, considering the effect of low-risk levels on driving behavior is generally insignificant, we develop the risk margin (RM) as a safety indicator to determine whether current driving risk affects the driving behavior, and the driving strategy under a free condition is proposed as well. Finally, the proposed CF-CSF model is validated using a real vehicle test trajectory dataset. The comparison with real driving data and some classic car-following models indicate that our proposed CF-CSF model can more accurately predict actual driving behavior in tunnels. It is expected that the findings in this study could be valuable in modeling, understanding, and replicating features of driving behavior in freeway tunnels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single image deraining, as a low-level computer vision task, has been drawn extensive attention in recent years. Rain streaks can degrade subjective visibility quality, meanwhile, bring significant difficulties to subsequent high-level computer vision tasks such as object detection. Nowadays, deep-learning based methods, specifically Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) based ones are adopted to remove the rain streaks and become the state-of-the-art. However, existing popular deep-networks have complicated branches and numerous layers, which strengthen the ability of removing rain streaks and result in high memory and computational cost inevitably. This restricts many applications in real-time and limited computation resource scene, especially on mobile or edge devices. To handle this issue, this paper proposes a novel Lightweight Recursive Pyramid network (LRP-Net) with a small number of parameters for single image deraining. To begin with, we propose a novel Lightweight Pyramid Deraining (LPD) block which consists of a multi-scale pyramid convolution for sufficient feature extraction and a pointwise convolution for feature fusion. Meanwhile, we also design a novel group convolution strategy in LPD for the sake of remarkable parameter reduction. Secondly, we combine a recursive deraining mechanism, a critical component that serves as a feature fusion iterator to construct our LRPNet a powerful and lightweight multi-stage model. In the benefit of the combination between the LPD block and recursive mechanism, the total number of parameters in LRP-Net is only 130 k, which is nearly a 40- reduction compared with the latest state-of-the-art models. The extensive experiments demonstrate the superiority of LRP-Net in both quantitative assessments and visual quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voltage sag is the most serious power quality problem in the three-phase symmetrical power system. The influence of multiple factors on the voltage sag level and low computational efficiency also pose challenges to the prediction of residual voltage amplitude of voltage sag. This paper proposes a voltage sag amplitude prediction method based on data fusion. First, the multi-dimensional factors that influence voltage sag residual voltage are analyzed. Second, these factors are used as input, and a model for predicting voltage sag residual voltage based on data fusion is constructed. Last, the model is trained and debugged to enable it to predict the voltage sag residual voltage. The accuracy and feasibility of the method are verified by using the actual power grid data from East China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To enable the safe and fast formation of connected automated vehicle (CAV) platoons in real-world traffic, a preceding vehicle identification system for mixed traffic (PVIS-mixed) is proposed. PVIS-mixed utilizes the vehicle’s radar measurements and global positioning system (GPS) measurements reported by surrounding connected vehicles to find the communication identity of the preceding vehicle. The design of PVIS-mixed is based on three goals: a low probability of making a wrong identification, a low probability of missing the connected preceding vehicle, and short time consumption of the identification procedure. The proposed PVIS-mixed is evaluated in highway traffic simulated by real vehicle trajectory data from the Next Generation Simulation (NGSIM) program. Evaluation results showed that the performance of PVIS-mixed is not related to the adoption rate of connected vehicles, and 1 m is found to be the required relative positioning accuracy to make 99th percentile time consumption <10 s. It was observed that the multipath bias of GPS positioning could affect the usability of CAV platooning. The possible solutions are then discussed as future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the influence of political risk on firms in the tourism industry. It addresses a research gap regarding the impact of political risk on firm-level performance and failure and uncovers the role of organizational slack in this relationship. Firm-level political risk is estimated from 2002 to 2019 financial data for firms across six tourism sectors in a developed economy, the United States. Such risk is found to be significantly associated with firm performance and business failure. From the perspectives of the resource-based view and the threat-rigidity hypothesis, the results support the moderating effects of absorbed and unabsorbed slack on links between risk, performance, and business failure. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the tourism industry's vulnerability, this study will be of interest to tourism firms seeking to improve business sustainability and resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Zn(II)/Co(II) CPs have been synthesized under solvothermal conditions and complexes 1 – 3 can act as multi-responsive luminescent probe to detect UO 2 2+, Cr 2 O 7 2− and CrO 4 2− and nitrofurantoin (NFT) in aqueous media with high sensitivity, selectivity, and low detection limits. [Display omitted] • Three new luminescent CPs based on 4,4′-bis(2-methylimidazol-1-yl)diphenyl ether have been obtained and characterized. • The luminescence sensing experiments revealed that three title complexes could simultaneously detect UO 2 2+, Cr 2 O 7 2− and CrO 4 2−, and NFT in aqueous solution with excellent selectivity and sensitivity. • The quenching mechanism is investigated by using spectroscopic methods, quantum chemical calculations, X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Additionally, the mechanism of fluorescence quenching is static quenching process through the fluorescence lifetime measurements. Three CPs [Zn 2 (PDA) 2 (BMIOPE) 2 ·3H 2 O] n (1), [Co(Br-BDC)(BMIOPE)] n (2) and [Co(MIP)(BMIOPE)] n (3) were synthesized by solvothermal method based on dual-ligand strategy (H 2 PDA, Br-H 2 BDC, BMIOPE and H 2 MIP are 1,3-phenylenediacetic acid, 5-bromo-isophthalic acid, 4,4′-bis(2-methylimidazol-1-yl)diphenyl ether and 5-methylisophthalic acid, respectively). Complexes 1 and 3 exhibit twofold parallel interwoven sql nets. Complex 2 is 2D layer structure. The luminescence property investigations showed that complexes 1 – 3 could act as multi-responsive fluorescent sensors to detect UO 2 2+, Cr 2 O 7 2− and CrO 4 2− and nitrofurantoin (NFT) through fluorescence turn-off process, presenting excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Finally, the possible fluorescent quenching mechanisms of complexes 1 – 3 toward the above pollutants are also further investigated by employing spectroscopic methods and quantum chemical calculations. The fluorescence lifetime measurements manifest the mechanism of fluorescence quenching is static quenching process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The joint use of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and the photochemical reflectance index (PRI) has been shown to improve gross primary productivity (GPP) estimation across various plant functional types. However, the utility of PRI in combination with SIF for transpiration (T) estimation has not yet been explored. Additionally, current SIF-driven transpiration models including linear models, semi-mechanical models (combination of canopy conductance, g C , derived from a SIF and vapor pressure deficit, VPD, driven linear model with the Penman-Monteith model), and hybrid models (combination of g C derived from a SIF and VPD driven machine learning model with the Penman-Monteith model) have rarely been mutually assessed. Based on concurrent remotely sensed SIF and PRI, and eddy covariance flux measurements during one growing season for a winter wheat ecosystem in northern China, we investigated the mediating effect of PRI on SIF-driven T estimation under different VPD conditions and compared the performance of linear, semi-mechanical, and hybrid models in estimating T. Our results showed that the mediating effect of PRI on T described in the SIF-driven linear, semi-mechanistic, and hybrid models was significant under high VPD conditions rather than under low VPD conditions. Specifically, based on T partitioned using an underlying water use efficiency method as a benchmark, the root mean square error (RMSE) value of the PRI-mediated linear, semi-mechanistic, and hybrid models was 28.01 W/m2, 22.25 W/m2, and 28.71 W/m2 lower, respectively, than those of the corresponding models without PRI when VPD was >1.5 kPa. Based on T partitioned using a transpiration estimation algorithm as a benchmark, these three models also exhibited a significant reduction in RMSE under high VPD conditions after considering PRI. The main rationale behind the PRI improvement is that PRI can track photosynthetic dynamics under high VPD conditions. Based on the simulation results of the Soil-Canopy-Observation of Photosynthesis and Energy fluxes (SCOPE) model, PRI can serve as an indicator for non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) within this ecosystem. Consequently, PRI can enhance the capability of SIF to characterize the energy dissipation of photosynthetically active radiation and help SIF to yield more accurate information on GPP and g c under high VPD conditions. Finally, the order of model performance in estimating T was generally hybrid model > semi-mechanistic model > linear model. Our findings show the effectiveness of PRI for improving SIF-driven transpiration estimation under high VPD conditions and provide a new hybrid model for estimating T from SIF. • PRI can improve the ability of SIF to estimate T under high VPD conditions. • A hybrid model applies g c from a SIF driven machine learning model to P-M model. • Hybrid model can better estimate T than semi-mechanistic and empirical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A two-stage membrane biofilm reactor achieved high-concentration CTAB removal. • The two-stage system enabled partial CTAB removal in the Lead reactor relieves inhibition in the Lag reactor. • CTAB exposure shifted the bacterial community toward Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas as the dominant genera. • Genes for CTAB and metabolite oxygenation enriched due to reduced CTAB inhibition in the lag reactor. Quaternary ammonia compounds (QAC), such as hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium (CTAB), are widely used as disinfectants and in personal-care products. Their use as disinfectants grew during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic, leading to increased loads to wastewater treatment systems and the environment. Though low concentrations of CTAB are biodegradable, high concentrations are toxic to bacteria. Sufficient O 2 delivery is a key to achieve high CTAB removal, and the O 2 -based Membrane Biofilm Reactor (O 2 -MBfR) is a proven means to biodegrade CTAB in a bubble-free, non-foaming manner. A strategy for achieving complete biodegradation of high-concentrations of CTAB is a two-stage O 2 -MBfR, in which partial CTAB removal in the Lead reactor relieves inhibition in the Lag reactor. Here, more than 98 % removal of 728 mg/L CTAB could be achieved in the two-stage MBfR, and the CTAB-removal rate was 70 % higher than for a one-stage MBfR with the same O 2 -delivery capacity. CTAB exposure shifted the bacterial community toward Pseudomonas and Stenotrophomonas as the dominant genera. In particular, P. alcaligenes and P. aeruginosa were enriched in the Lag reactor, as they were capable of biodegrading the metabolites of initial CTAB monooxygenation. Metagenomic analysis also revealed that the Lag reactor was enriched in genes for CTAB and metabolite oxygenation, due to reduced CTAB inhibition. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The n-octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) had been coated onto the layered double hydroxides (LDH), and the resultant composite of OTS-LDH was further loaded on the surface of melamine sponge by a soaking method to obtain the OTS-LDH/melamine sponge for efficient oil adsorption in this work. The surface chemical compositions of the OTS-LDH/sponge and its precursors were characterized by EDS, XPS, and FTIR. The results from EDS, XPS, and FTIR showed that the OTS had been successfully coated on LDH. The surface morphologies from SEM for the melamine sponge before and after modification illuminated that the surface skeleton of the OTS-LDH/sponge took a rough micro-nanostructure, and the surface had been loaded with the low surface energy material of OTS, which made the OTS-LDH/sponge display the superhydrophobic properties. The experiments of oil–water separation proved that the OTS-LDH/sponge took an excellent oil–water efficiency, and the modified sponge still took the better oil–water separation performance with an oil adsorption capacity of 13.7–21.1 times of the mass of the pristine sponge even after undergoing repeated extrusion for 60 times during the repeated cycle test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the concept of a relatively low cost but biocompatible customized surgical guide printing method using a new composite material for the FDM process to support accurate virtual model reconstruction in CT. Design/methodology/approach: Current additive manufacturing printed surgical guides have problems of scanning artifacts or low computed tomography (CT) values for virtual model reconstruction in CT-assisted surgical operations. These tools always face difficulties in precise positioning due to the effect of human soft tissues and manually made unstable landmarks. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a modified material, polyetheretherketone powder mixed with barium sulfate powder, for printing customized surgical guides with relatively low cost to support a synchronized scanning strategy, for the accurate reconstruction of human tissues and in vitro models. Findings: A set of benchmarking experiments and clinical simulation cases were conducted. The results showed that the proposed solution can be used to print surgical guides to form stable and clear CT graphs for three-dimensional digital model reconstruction. Human tissues and in vitro models can be accurately reconstructed using clear CT graphs without any scanning artifacts or difficulties in image segmentation for virtual model reconstruction, thus facilitating accurate operation guidance and positioning. Originality/value: This method has wide application potential for printing modular or customized surgical guides with low cost and reusability, especially for surgical operations using CT-assisted navigation systems in underdeveloped regions where medical device costs are a critical issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic segmentation is one of the most important tasks in remote sensing. However, as spatial resolution increases, distinguishing the homogeneity of each land class and the heterogeneity between different land classes are challenging. The Markov random field model (MRF) is a widely used method for semantic segmentation due to its effective spatial context description. To improve segmentation accuracy, some MRF-based methods extract more image information by constructing the probability graph with pixel or object granularity units, and some other methods interpret the image from different semantic perspectives by building multilayer semantic classes. However, these MRF-based methods fail to capture the relationship between different granularity features extracted from the image and hierarchical semantic classes that need to be interpreted. In this article, a new MRF-based method is proposed to incorporate the multigranularity information and the multilayer semantic classes together for semantic segmentation of remote sensing images. The proposed method develops a framework that builds a hybrid probability graph on both pixel and object granularities and defines a multiclass-layer label field with hierarchical semantic over the hybrid probability graph. A generative alternating granularity inference is suggested to provide the result by iteratively passing and updating information between different granularities and hierarchical semantics. The proposed method is tested on texture images, different remote sensing images obtained by the SPOT5, Gaofen-2, GeoEye, and aerial sensors, and Pavia University hyperspectral image. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed method shows a better segmentation performance than other state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-cluster of differentiation 52 (CD52) monoclonal antibody (mAb) has been employed in the treatment of chronic lymphoblastic leukemia and multiple sclerosis. Previously we developed a perfusion process to produce the biosimilar mAb named "Mab-TH." A series of quality assessments was conducted in the fields of structural identification, purity analysis, and activity measurement. After these quality researches, this report laid emphasis on preclinical pharmacology and toxicology evaluation. Mab-TH was characterized in biological, pharmacological, and toxicological properties in comparison with the original drug, alemtuzumab. Binding activity and immune-dependent toxicity as in vitro activity were evaluated. Severe immunodeficient mice transplanted with a human leukemia cell line were also used as an in vivo pharmacological model and a 4-week repeated dosing study in cynomolgus monkeys was conducted to evaluate the safety differences. Our results demonstrated that Mab-TH, the anti-CD52 antibody generated by a perfusion process, had high similarity in in vitro and in vivo activities compared with alemtuzumab in relevant preclinical models. The results supported it as a biosimilar candidate for clinical evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This systematic review examined the compliance with the 24-h movement guidelines, and investigated its associations with health indicators for healthy children under 5 years of age. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, PubMed, Web of Science and SPORTDiscus were searched for peer-reviewed studies and the last search was conducted on 27 October 2020. The Newcastle–Ottawa Scales were used to assess the quality of included studies. Eighteen articles including 8,943 participants from 11 countries were included. On average around 13% of the children met all three guidelines. Meta-analyses of the associations between meeting all three guidelines and adiposity yielded no significant results (r = – 0.03; 95% CI = – 0.12, 0.06; I2 = 51%; P = 0.48). Meeting more guidelines was associated with better psychosocial health (3/4 studies). Associations between meeting individual or combined guidelines and motor development yielded mixed results (2/2 studies), while no associations between meeting guidelines and cognitive development were observed (1 study). Compliance with all three guidelines was low. Further evidence is required to understand the associations between meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and health outcomes. Nevertheless, there was evidence of a dose-response relationship between meeting the guidelines and better psychosocial health in the early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma of the Esophagus (MECE) is a relatively rare tumor type, with most of the current data derived from case reports or small sample studies. This retrospective study reports on the 10-year survival data and detailed clinicopathological characteristics of 48 patients with esophageal MEC. Methods: Data were collected from 48 patients who underwent curative surgery for esophageal MEC at the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between January 1, 2004, and December 31, 2020. These were compared with contemporaneous cases of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC). Using the Kaplan-Meier method and multivariate Cox regression analysis, we investigated the clinicopathological factors affecting the survival of patients with MEC. Results: The incidence of MECE was predominantly higher in males, with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 7:1. The mid-thoracic segment emerged as the most common site of occurrence. A mere 6.3% of cases were correctly diagnosed preoperatively. The lymph node metastasis rate stood at 35.4%. The overall 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates for all patients were 85.4%, 52.1%, 37.0%, and 31.0%, respectively. Post 1:1 propensity score matching, no significant statistical difference was observed in the Overall Survival (OS) between MEC patients and those with Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC) (P = 0.119, P = 0.669). Univariate analysis indicated that T staging and N staging were the primary factors influencing the prognosis of esophageal MEC. Conclusions: MECE occurs more frequently in males than females, with the mid-thoracic segment being the most common site of occurrence. The rate of accurate preoperative endoscopic diagnosis is low. The characteristic of having a short lesion length yet exhibiting significant extramural invasion may be a crucial clinicopathological feature of MECE. The OS of patients with MEC does not appear to significantly differ from those with esophageal squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel liquid refractive index sensor based on the connected single-mode fiber (SMF), no-core fiber (NCF), four-core fiber (FCF), and silver mirror (SM) to form an SMF–NCF–FCF–SM Michelson probe structure is proposed and fabricated. The change of light field in the probe structure has been simulated by the light-beam propagation method. The theoretical results show that light is excited in the NCF and couples into the cores and cladding of FCF at the junction of NCF and FCF. The interference fringes are generated between the cladding modes and core modes of FCF. The sensitivities of the probe in NaCl, sucrose, and glycerol are 171.75 dB/RIU, 121.41 dB/RIU, and 207.50 dB/RIU, respectively. The temperature sensitivity is 0.05 nm/°C, and the intensity change of temperature (≤0.046 dB/°C) is very small and has little effect on the liquid refractive index. Thus, the cross-sensitivity of temperature for the liquid refractive index can be removed. The proposed probe structure has the advantages of easy fabrication, good stability, and linear response, having potential application in the liquid refractive index monitoring environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sedentary behavior (SB) results in hemodynamic alterations within the vasculature, leading to vascular dysfunction that may be attenuated by various interventions. This systematic review and meta‐analysis examined the effect of SB interventions on vascular function in adults using seven databases searched on December 17, 2020. All types of SB interventions were included such as short‐ and long‐term interventions (≥7 days) in participants aged ≥18 years. The pooled effect (mean difference) of intervention on three outcomes, namely, flow‐mediated dilation (FMD), shear rate (SR), and pulse wave velocity (PWV), was evaluated using random effects meta‐analyses. The revised Cochrane risk‐of‐bias tool for randomized trials was employed to assess the quality of the included studies. Twenty‐six studies (21 short‐term and six long‐term interventions) involving 669 participants from eight countries were included. Evidence from meta‐analysis showed that short‐term interventions targeting SB improved FMD by 1.50% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.00–1.99) and increased SR by 12.70 S−1 (95% CI 7.86–17.54); no significant pooled effect was found for PWV. Long‐term SB interventions resulted in a 0.93% increase in FMD (95% CI 0.25–1.62) and had no significant effect on PWV. Findings of this systematic review and meta‐analysis suggest that both short‐ and long‐term SB interventions improved FMD but had no effect on PWV. Short‐term interventions had a greater effect in improving lower extremity arterial function. Further studies targeting long‐term SB interventions on vascular function in adults are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer can produce gases at the pressure suitable for direct storage into metal hydride cylinders, bypassing compressors, and other auxiliary components. For direct storage into metal hydride containers, hydrogen gas's pressure and flowrate must be well controlled. However, the PEM electrolyzer's time-variant and nonlinear dynamics call for an adaptive control to maintain its output performance. Therefore, in this paper, a model-free relay-feedback autotuning approach is proposed to tune a proportional-integral (PI) controller online. The controller determines the voltage supply to the electrolyzer to track a certain current setpoint, which corresponds to a constant hydrogen production rate. A gain scheduling approach is developed to pick up the right controller gain at different setpoints, minimizing the tuning frequency. A self-assessment algorithm is developed to determine the situations where the autotuner should activate to update the PI parameters, thus allowing the control system to be tuned autonomously. The autotuning PI control is successfully tested with a PEM electrolyzer setup. Experiment results showed that autotuner with gain scheduling could tune the controller parameters producing a desired transient behavior and is adaptive to the variations in setpoint and operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microwave properties of ferromagnetic nanowire arrays patterned with periodic and quasi-periodic structures were investigated in this study. The periodic and quasi-periodic structures were designed based on Fibonacci sequence and golden ratio. Ni nanowires arrays were electrodeposited in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates with patterned Cu electrodes, and then the AAO templates were attached to the coplanar waveguide lines fabricated on quartz substrate for measurement. The S21 of both periodic and quasi-periodic structure-patterned Ni nanowire arrays showed an extra absorption peak besides the absorption peak due to the ferromagnetic resonance of Ni nanowires. The frequency of the absorption peak caused by the patterned structure could be higher than 40GHz when the length and arrangement of the structural units were modified. In addition, the frequency of the absorption peak due to the quasi-periodic structure was calculated based on a simple analytical model, and the calculated value was consistent with the measured one. The experimental data showed that it could be a feasible approach to tune the performance of microwave devices by patterning ferromagnetic nanowires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sitting time (ST) is a serious global health issue and positively associated with cardiometabolic disease. The present study investigated associations between objectively measured ST, sedentary patterns, and cardiometabolic biomarkers in physically active young males. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis was completed in 94 males 18–35 yr of age. Total ST, prolonged sedentary bouts (≥30 min with no interruption), and sedentary breaks (transitions from sitting/lying to standing/stepping) were assessed using activPAL. Lipids, insulin, C-peptide, C-reactive protein (CRP), vascular cellular adhesion molecule-1, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, E-selectin, P-selectin, leptin, resistin, and adiponectin were measured using assay kits. The expression of specific proteins related to endothelial dysfunction was determined using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Associations between total ST, prolonged sedentary bouts, and sedentary breaks with cardiometabolic biomarkers and total ST and levels of gene expression were assessed using generalized linear models. Results: Total ST was significantly associated with triglycerides (B = 1.814), insulin (B = 2.117), homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (B = 0.071), and E-selectin (B = 2.052). Leptin (B = 0.086), E-selectin (B = 1.623), and P-selectin (B = 2.519) were significantly associated with prolonged sedentary bouts, whereas leptin (B = −0.017) and CRP (B = −0.016) were associated with sedentary breaks. After adjustment for moderate to vigorous physical activity, the associations between triglycerides (B = 2.048) and total ST, and between CRP (B = −0.016) and sedentary breaks, remained significant. E-selectin mRNA levels (B = 0.0002) were positively associated with ST with or without adjustment for moderate to vigorous physical activity. Conclusions: Total ST and prolonged sedentary bouts were positively associated with several cardiometabolic biomarkers, with interruptions in ST potentially contributing to reduced cardiometabolic risk in physically active young male adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA N6-methyladenine (6mA), a kind of DNA epigenetic modification, is widespread in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. An enzyme activity study coupled with 6mA detection using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadruple mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) is commonly applied to investigate 6mA potentially related enzymes in vitro. However, the protein expressed in a common Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain shows an extremely high 6mA background due to minute co-purified bacterial DNA, though it has been purified to remove DNA using multiple strategies. Furthermore, as occupied by DNA with abundant 6mA, the activity of 6mA-related proteins will be influenced seriously. Here, to address this issue, we for the first time construct a derivative of E. coli Rosetta (DE3) via the λRed knockout system specifically for the expression of 6mA-related enzymes. The gene dam encoding the 6mA methyltransferase (MTase) is knocked out in the newly constructed strain named LAMBS (low adenine methylation background strain). Contrasting with E. coli Rosetta (DE3), LAMBS shows an ultra-low 6mA background on the genomic DNA when analyzed by UHPLC-MS/MS. We also demonstrate an integral strategy of protein purification, coupled with the application of LAMBS. As a result, the purified protein expressed in LAMBS exhibits an ultra-low 6mA background comparing with the one expressed in E. coli Rosetta (DE3). Our integral strategy of protein expression and purification will benefit the in vitro investigation and application of 6mA-related proteins from eukaryotes, although these proteins are elusive until now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arrestins demonstrate strong preference for phosphorylated over unphosphorylated receptors, but how arrestins "sense" receptor phosphorylation is unclear. A conserved lysine in the lariat loop of arrestins directly binds the phosphate in crystal structures of activated arrestin‐1, ‐2, and ‐3. The lariat loop supplies two negative charges to the central polar core, which must be disrupted for arrestin activation and high‐affinity receptor binding. Therefore, we hypothesized that receptor‐attached phosphates pull the lariat loop via this lysine, thus removing the negative charges and destabilizing the polar core. We tested the role of this lysine by introducing charge elimination (Lys‐>Ala) and reversal (Lys‐>Glu) mutations in arrestin‐1, ‐2, and ‐3. These mutations in arrestin‐1 only moderately reduced phospho‐rhodopsin binding and had no detectable effect on arrestin‐2 and ‐3 binding to cognate non‐visual receptors in cells. The mutations of Lys300 in bovine and homologous Lys301 in mouse arrestin‐1 on the background of pre‐activated mutants had variable effects on the binding to light‐activated phosphorylated rhodopsin, while affecting the binding to unphosphorylated rhodopsin to a greater extent. Thus, conserved lysine in the lariat loop participates in receptor binding, but does not play a critical role in phosphate‐induced arrestin activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]