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We study the global well-posedness of the simplified Ericksen-Leslie system with zero viscosity on the periodic domain \mathbb {T}^2. Precisely, we prove the global existence and uniqueness of smooth solution to Ericksen-Leslie system if the initial data (u_0,\nabla d_0) is small in H^4(\mathbb {T}^2)\times H^4(\mathbb {T}^2). Furthermore, we derive the time decay estimate of \nabla d in H^1(\mathbb {T}^2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, three kinds of electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) processes (electrospraying, electrospinning, and coaxial electrospinning) are implemented to create hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) based ultra‐thin products for providing the fast dissolution of a poorly water‐soluble drug ketoprofen (KET). An EHDA apparatus, characterized by a novel spinneret, is homemade for conducting the three processes. The three types of products are electrospun nanofibers E1, electrosprayed microparticles E2, and core‐shell nanofibers E3. SEM and TEM results indicate that they have the anticipated morphologies and inner structures. X‐ray diffraction and Fourier Transform Infrared results verify that KET is mainly amorphous in all the composites due to its fine compatibility with HPMC. In vitro dissolution tests demonstrate that the drug rapid release performances has an order of E3>E1>E2≫KET powders. The fast dissolution mechanisms are suggested and the advantages of the three products are compared. The super performance of E3 in furnishing the rapid release is attributed to a synergistic action of small size (of the shell thickness), high porosity, amorphous state of drug, and the solubility of HPMC. EHDA nanostructures can support the development of nano drug delivery systems (DDSs) through tailoring the spatial distribution of drug molecules within the nano products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop yield prediction is important for farmers to conduct proper field management and make marketing decisions. Yield prediction models built on single-type and same-year data may not reflect the holistic effect of environment and management on crop development. This study aimed to quantify cotton yield variation due to soil texture and weather conditions using the multiple-year unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery and deep learning techniques. UAV images were collected about once a month to quantify cotton growth at two irrigated cotton fields in three years (2017–2019). Soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the fields was measured and calibrated to quantify soil texture and soil water holding capacity using eleven soil features. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were used to process and analyse the soil features in seven different depths. Similarly, a second CNN was used to analyse the six weather parameters derived from the historical data of a nearby weather station. A gated recurrent unit (GRU) network was used to predict cotton yield using the processed soil data, weather data, and UAV-based image features (e.g., NDVI) of different months. Results show that the GRU model trained with data in two years could predict the cotton yield in a third year with prediction errors of mean average error from 247 (8.9%) to 384 kg ha−1 (13.7%). The study indicates that the developed CNN and GRU networks have the potential to predict crop yield of years other than the ones used for training the models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding urban functions help with government planning and resource allocation to promote economic development. Few studies have reflected the influence of population movement and migration on urban functions overtime on a large scale. This study adopted the time-series social media data and points of interest to analyse urban functions' distribution at the county scale. By employing dynamic time warping distance and K-Medoids to cluster cities, the result of China's hourly population distribution over different periods achieves a high accuracy (Pearson's R = 0.821, R2 = 0.668). From the clustering results, time-series population data effectively reflect cities' socioeconomic characteristics and identify the spatial distribution of China's urban functional patterns. We select four representative urban agglomerations to deeply analyse their urban function patterns. Furthermore, urban functions can also influence changes in time-series populations. This study explores the correlations between time-series population mobility and urban functions, which could help analyse urban functions and urban socioeconomic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An increasing number of cohort studies have indicated a correlation between lung diseases and esophageal cancer, but the exact causal relationship has not been definitively established. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the causal relationship between lung diseases and esophageal cancer. Methods: Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), along with outcomes data on esophageal cancer, were extracted from public genome-wide association studies (GWAS). A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was then performed using publicly available GWAS data to investigate the potential causal relationship. The effect estimates were primarily calculated using the fixed-effects inverse-variance-weighted method. Results: Totally, 81 SNPs related to asthma among 218,792 participants in GWAS. Based on the primary causal effects model using MR analyses with the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, asthma was demonstrated a significantly related to the risk of esophageal cancer (OR 1.0006; 95% CI 1.0003–1.0010, p = 0.001), while COPD (OR 1.0306; 95% CI 0.9504–1.1176, p = 0.466), lung cancer (OR 1.0003, 95% CI 0.9998–1.0008, p = 0.305), as well as IPF (OR 0.9999, 95% CI 0.9998–1.0000, p = 0.147), showed no significant correlation with esophageal cancer. Conclusions: The two-sample MR analysis conducted in this study revealed a positive causal relationship between asthma and esophageal cancer. In contrast, esophageal cancer demonstrated no significant correlation with COPD, lung cancer, or IPF. Further large-sample prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and to provide appropriate recommendations regarding esophageal cancer screening among patients with asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the development of microsatellite technology, the heat generated by onboard components is increasing, leading to a growing demand for improved thermal dissipation in small satellites. Metal powder additive manufacturing technology offers the possibility of customizing and miniaturizing heat pipes to meet the specific requirements of small satellites. This article introduces a small-scale heat pipe designed using selective laser melting (SLM) technology. The heat pipe's material, structure, and internal working fluid were determined based on mission requirements. Subsequently, the SolidWorks 2021 software was used for heat pipe modeling, and the ANSYS 2021R2 finite element analysis software was employed to simulate the heat transfer performance of the designed heat pipe, confirming its feasibility. The heat pipe's structure was optimized using multi-objective regression analysis, considering various structural parameters, such as the channel diameter, vapor chamber height, and narrow gap width. The simulation results demonstrate that the optimized heat pipe achieved a 10.5% reduction in thermal resistance and an 11.6% increase in equivalent thermal conductivity compared to the original heat pipe. Furthermore, compared to conventional metal heat-conducting rods, the optimized heat pipe showed a 38.5% decrease in thermal resistance and a 62.19% increase in equivalent thermal conductivity. The heat pipe was then fabricated using a 3D printer (EOS M280), and a vacuum experimental system was established to investigate its heat transfer characteristics. The experimental results show that the heat pipe operated most efficiently at a heating power of 20 W, reached its maximum heat transfer capacity at 22 W, and had an optimal fill ratio of 30%. These results highlight the excellent performance of the heat pipe and the promising application prospects for SLM technology in the field of small satellites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past two decades have witnessed the enormous success and progress of electrospinning, as well as its broad and useful applications in pharmaceutics as a laboratory pharmaceutical nanotechnology. Everything in the past is a preface, in which the large screen opens for electrospinning and electrospun nanofibers (particularly those multiple-fluid electrospinning processes and the related multiple-chamber nanostructures) to stride into a new stage and the real commercial applications. In this commentary, four hot regions are identified for the further progress of the applications of electrospinning in pharmaceutics, in which electrospinning and its products can provide more and better services to the development of pharmaceutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this nano era, nanomaterials and nanostructures are popular in developing novel functional materials. However, the combinations of materials at micro and macro scales can open new routes for developing novel trans-scale products with improved or even new functional performances. In this work, a brand-new hybrid, containing both nanofibers and microparticles, was fabricated using a sequential electrohydrodynamic atomization (EHDA) process. Firstly, the microparticles loaded with drug (berberine hydrochloride, BH) molecules in the cellulose acetate (CA) were fabricated using a solution electrospraying process. Later, these microparticles were suspended into a co-dissolved solution that contained BH and a hydrophilic polymer (polypyrrolidone, PVP) and were co-electrospun into the nanofiber/microparticle hybrids. The EHDA processes were recorded, and the resultant trans-scale products showed a typical hybrid topography, with microparticles distributed all over the nanofibers, which was demonstrated by SEM assessments. FTIR and XRD demonstrated that the components within the hybrids were presented in an amorphous state and had fine compatibility with each other. In vitro dissolution tests verified that the hybrids were able to provide the designed dual-step drug release profiles, a combination of the fast release step of BH from the hydrophilic PVP nanofibers through an erosion mechanism and the sustained release step of BH from the insoluble CA microparticles via a typical Fickian diffusion mechanism. The present protocols pave a new way for developing trans-scale functional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seismic stability analyses of soil slopes in the presence of weak interlayers are rather challenging within the framework of plasticity theory, due to the construction of kinematically admissible velocity fields and statically allowable stress fields at limit state. Finite-element limit-analysis procedures including finite-element upper-bound (FEUB) and finite-element lower-bound (FELB) approach are introduced in this study, retaining the merits of FEM and limit analysis theory to tackle above issues. Incorporating modified pseudo-dynamic approach, seismic slope stability analyses are transformed to linear programming models, in terms of lower- and upper-bound formulations. Pseudo-static and modified pseudo-dynamic solutions of the factor of safety (FoS) are sought through optimization with an interior-point algorithm. An appealing merit of the proposed procedure is that both lower and upper bounds are searched, aiding to better estimate the true solution of FoS. Limit equilibrium and Abaqus are applied to validate FEUB and FELB results. Effects of dual weak interlayers' position and dimension on seismic slope stability are investigated. Critical failure surface and velocity field are plotted by post-processing, demonstrating a rotational-translational failure mechanism. Based on less than 5% difference between lower- and upper-bound solutions, the proposed procedure is capable of providing a reliable guidance for slope design and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, which mainly includes tumors of the esophagus, stomach, liver, biliary system, pancreas, and colon, is one of the most common cancers and the dominant cause of cancer-related deaths globally. For the diagnosis of GI cancer, in addition to routine systemic imaging, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography–CT, locoregional imaging, which covers endoscopy and ultrasound, is also of great concern. However, the current mainstream contrast agents used in these imaging methods have poor specificity, short maintenance time, and severe side effects. In recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, iron oxide nanoparticles, and gold nanoparticles, have offered many benefits in GI cancer imaging owing to their small size, customizable surface properties, and retention effect. An increasing number of studies have combined the traditional methods of imaging digestive tract tumors with nanoparticles, significantly improving the early diagnosis rate and staging accuracy. Here, we review the current evidence on the utilization of nanoparticles in the diagnostic imaging of GI tumors from the aspects mentioned above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sampling effect of the imaging acquisition device is an integration of the input signal within the pixel, resulting in an additional error in the pixel value. Additionally, a sampler with asymmetric intra-pixel quantum efficiency leads to position errors in high-precision astrometry. This paper proposes a model for the integral sampling process. An algorithm that solves the sampling effect, as well as the position error with high accuracy, is also provided. This algorithm provides an accuracy increase of 10 6 for Gaussian images with a uniform integral sampler. The accuracy limit of the Gaussian image comes from the truncation error. Also, this algorithm provides about 4 times accuracy improvement by eliminating the systematic error caused by the integral sampler with asymmetric intra-pixel quantum efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an effective method to improve the load capacity of the oil-film bearing, a kind of nano-scale magnetic fluid (MF) by taking silicon oil as carrier fluid was prepared using the chemical coprecipitation method. The microstructure and magnetism of the magnetic particles (MPs) were analyzed based on SEM, VSM, and TGA. It is shown that the MPs are spherical particles with an average diameter of 20 nm, and the MPs behave superparamagnetism. A natural sedimentation control group was developed to investigate the sedimentation stability of the MF. The results indicated that the prepared MF presents good sedimentation stability. The viscosity of MF was measured from temperature and magnetic field by a single factor experiment, and the data was regressed according to the Herschel-Bulkley (H-B) model. According to the regression results, the effects of temperature and magnetic field intensity on the properties of MF were investigated. It is found that the yield stress τ0, viscosity coefficient K, and the shear thinning effect n of the MF were increased by 38–54%, 7–11%, and 6–9%, respectively, as the current increased from 0 to 2.0 A. The increase in temperature (from 20 to 80 ℃) reduces the yield stress and viscosity coefficient of MF by 3–6.85% and 1.13–1.36% and aggravates the shear thinning effect by 1.03–1.06%. Furthermore, the regression analysis of the H-B model parameters vs. temperature was carried out, and the equation of viscosity, η = f(T, γ), was obtained, which can be directly used to predict the lubrication state of MF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, which mainly includes tumors of the esophagus, stomach, liver, biliary system, pancreas, and colon, is one of the most common cancers and the dominant cause of cancer-related deaths globally. For the diagnosis of GI cancer, in addition to routine systemic imaging, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography–CT, locoregional imaging, which covers endoscopy and ultrasound, is also of great concern. However, the current mainstream contrast agents used in these imaging methods have poor specificity, short maintenance time, and severe side effects. In recent years, with the development of nanotechnology, nanoparticles, such as quantum dots, iron oxide nanoparticles, and gold nanoparticles, have offered many benefits in GI cancer imaging owing to their small size, customizable surface properties, and retention effect. An increasing number of studies have combined the traditional methods of imaging digestive tract tumors with nanoparticles, significantly improving the early diagnosis rate and staging accuracy. Here, we review the current evidence on the utilization of nanoparticles in the diagnostic imaging of GI tumors from the aspects mentioned above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An upper bound analysis procedure was presented in this paper to investigate the face stability of a deep-buried tunnel excavated beneath water/sea. By constructing a kinematic velocity field, the kinematic solution of support pressure required for tunnel face stability was formulated, considering a uniform and a linearly increased soil cohesion profile. A uniform and a linearly increased distribution of support pressure was considered in this study. The consistency of the proposed procedure was well substantiated through comparing with FLAC3D and spatial discretization technique combined with the upper bound analysis. The required support pressure and critical failure mode were discussed, considering the effects of soil strength parameters and pore water pressure. For the ease of practical use, some design charts were presented in terms of normalised quantities, and an empirical formula was proposed to calculate the required support pressure. This study aids to provide a quick estimate of effective support pressure required for tunnel face stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of interactions of soil conditions, plant available water and weather conditions on crop development and production is the key for optimizing field management to achieve optimal production. The goal of this study was to quantify the effects of soil and weather conditions on cotton development and production using temporal aerial imagery data, weather and soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the field. Soil texture, i.e., percent of sand and clay content, was calculated from ECa to estimate three soil quality indicators, including field capacity, wilting point and total available water. A water stress coefficient Ks was calculated using soil texture and weather data. Image features of canopy size and vegetation indices (VIs) were extracted from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based multispectral images at three growth stages of cotton in 2018 and 2019. Pearson correlation (r), analysis of variance (ANOVA) and eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) were used to quantify the relationships between crop response derived from UAV images and environments (soil texture and weather). Results showed that soil clay content in shallower layers (0–0.4 m) affected crop development in earlier growth stages (June and July) while those in deeper layers (0.4–0.7 m) affected the later-season growth stages (August and September). Soil clay content at 0.4–0.7 m had a higher impact on crop development when water inputs were not sufficient, while Ks features had a higher contribution to the prediction of crop growth when irrigation was applied and water stress was less. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A new structural amorphous solid dispersion of icariin. • A new side-by-side electrospinning process for combining polymeric excipients. • A co-shell solvent was utilized to ensure integrated Janus fibers for drug delivery. • Improved dissolution and permeation rates. • Clear preparation and action mechanisms. During the past several decades, nanostructures have played their increasing influences on the developments of novel nano drug delivery systems, among which, double-chamber Janus nanostructure is a popular one. In this study, a new tri-channel spinneret was developed, in which two parallel metal capillaries were nested into another metal capillary in a core–shell manner. A tri-fluid electrospinning was conducted with a solvent mixture as the shell working fluid for ensuring the formation of an integrated Janus nanostructure. The scanning electronic microscopic results demonstrated that the resultant nanofibers had a linear morphology and two distinct compartments within them, as indicated by the image of a cross-section. Fourier Transformation Infra-Red spectra and X-Ray Diffraction patterns verified that the loaded poorly water-soluble drug, i.e. icariin, presented in the Janus medicated nanofibers in an amorphous state, which should be attributed to the favorable secondary interactions between icariin and the two soluble polymeric matrices, i.e. hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The in vitro dissolution tests revealed that icariin, when encapsulated within the Janus nanofibers, exhibited complete release within a duration of 5 min, which was over 11 times faster compared to the raw drug particles. Furthermore, the ex vivo permeation tests demonstrated that the permeation rate of icariin was 16.2 times higher than that of the drug powders. This improvement was attributed to both the rapid dissolution of the drug and the pre-release of the trans -membrane enhancer sodium lauryl sulfate from the PVP side of the nanofibers. Mechanisms for microformation, drug release, and permeation were proposed. Based on the methodologies outlined in this study, numerous novel Janus nanostructure-based nano drug delivery systems can be developed for poorly water-soluble drugs in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is a common cancer in the world, and core-shell nanoparticles as a commonly used combination therapy for local tumor ablation, have many shortcomings. In this study, photothermal Janus nanofibers were prepared using a electrospinning technology for tumor treatment, and the products were characterized and in vitro photothermal performance investigated. The micromorphology analysis showed that the photothermic agent CuS and electrospun fibers (loaded with CuS and anticancer drug dihydromyricetin) were successfully prepared, with diameters of 11.58 ± 0.27 μm and 1.19 ± 0.01 μm, respectively. Water contact angle and tensile test indicated that the fiber membranes has a certain hydrophilic adhesion and excellent mechanical strength. The fiber membranes has 808 nm near-infrared laser photothermal heating performance and photothermal stability, and it also has a strong response to the laser that penetrates biological tissue. In addition, in vitro cell culture and in vivo implantation study showed that the fiber membranes could kill HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells combined with photothermal-chem and could be enriched in the implantation area, respectively. Hence, the Janus membranes may be a potential cancer treatment material. [Display omitted] • Gelatin combined with PCL was used as a photothermal-chem component carrier material • Through a special spinneret, eccentric 2-fluid electrospinning was conducted and photothermal-chem Janus fiber was obtained • CuS and dihydromyricetin were used to prepare functional materials for combined photothermal-chem therapy of liver cancer • Photothermal fiber has excellent photothermal performance and photothermal stability • Photothermal fiber temperature can respond to the apoptotic value of tumor cells [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver in infants and children. Its pathogenesis is not yet fully understood. • The orphan nuclear receptor Nur77 interaction with β -catenin accounts for the malignant progression of multiple cancers, a process that has not been investigated in HB. • The combination of Nur77 agonist Csn-B and cisplatin enhanced the therapeutic effect of cisplatin on HB in ex vivo experiments, providing new ideas for the clinical treatment of HB in children. Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common malignant tumor in children under 5 years old, but its pathogenesis remains unclear. Nur77 has been reported to be an important regulator for cancer progression in various cancer types. This study found that Nur77 was downregulated in HB tumors, compared with paracancer tissue. Knockout or overexpression of Nur77 in HB tumor cell line HepG2 and HuH6 could significantly enhance or inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. Further studies illustrated that Nur77 regulated the proliferation of tumor cells by affecting the expression of β-catenin. Nur77 agonist Csn-B effectively enhanced the therapeutic effect of cisplatin on HB tumors both in vitro and in vivo. This study confirms that Nur77 may act as an oncogene in HB tumors and mediate the progression of HB by inhibiting the expression of β-catenin, which provides a new targeted therapy for the clinical treatment of HB patients; meanwhile, the combination of Nur77 agonist and cisplatin treatment may improve the chemotherapeutic efficacy of HB patients, which provides a new idea for the improvement of the clinical prognosis of HB patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpha-1 Type Ⅲ Collagen (COL3A1) encodes the Collagen alpha-1(Ⅲ) chain, which is a fibrillar collagen that exists in extensile connective tissues. Few studies have reported its role in tumorigenicity. In the present study, we identified that COL3A1 protein and mRNA expression levels were considerably up-regulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells in comparison with normal esophageal squamous epithelial cells (P < 0.05). Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis of 114 paraffin-embedded archived ESCC tissues demonstrated that COL3A1 expression was positively correlated with the postoperative T stage. Univariate and multivariable analysis demonstrated that COL3A1 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor for overall survival in the whole cohort. Silencing COL3A1 inhibited, while overexpressing COL3A1 promoted, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of ESCC cells. Furthermore, down-regulation of COL3A1 expression also suppressed the growth of ESCC in subcutaneous xenograft mouse models and inhibited ESCC metastasis in lung metastasis mouse models. In addition, we proved that the tumor-promoting effect of COL3A1 on ESCC cells was related to the activation of NF-κB signaling pathway. These findings indicate that COL3A1 confers a poor prognosis and malignant phenotype by activating the NF-κB pathway in ESCC, potentially representing a novel biomarker and/or providing a new curative target for ESCC. [Display omitted] • Collagen Ⅲ is the second most abundant collagen and is encoded by the COL3A1. • Studies on COL3A1 primarily focused on pulmonary and hepatic vascular fibrosis. • This is the first study assessing the mechanism of COL3A1 in the progression of ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the magnetorheological fluid (MRF) sealing, a large amount of friction heat is generated in the fluid film with micron thickness due to the viscosity dissipation, which leads to seal failure and MRF deterioration. The purpose of this study is to investigate the mechanism of temperature rise of MRF film under the action of the three-field coupling of the flow field, temperature field and magnetic field. Design/methodology/approach: The fluid film was simplified as a Couette flow in this work to simulate the temperature change in the sealing fluid film under different working conditions. The corresponding experiment for test the temperature rise was also carried out, and the temperature of the characteristic point of the stationary ring was measured to validate the model. Findings: The results show that the temperature rise is mainly affected by the rotational speed, magnetic field strength and fluid film thickness. The magnetic field enhances the convective heat transfer in the MRF film. The thinner the fluid film, the more frictional heat generated. The MRF film reaches its maximum temperature at the contact with the end face of rotating ring due to frictional heat. Originality/value: A method for temperature rise analysis of MRF fluid sealing films based on Couette flow is established. It is helpful for the study of liquid film frictional heat in MRF seals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accidents resulting in industrial fires in chemical and process installations and in industrial parks where relevant quantities of hazardous substances are stored or processed may cause domino effects. Probit models developed and used in a multitude of studies can provide the probability of equipment failure, but they do not consider the effect of multiple radiation sources, and thus fail to capture the effects of severe scenarios as those where multiple fires start at different times in different units. In the present study, a critical thermal dose for equipment failure is defined. A direct procedure for the calculation of ttf based on the critical thermal dose is then introduced, which is able to account for the time at which the different secondary fires start or are extinguished. This allows considering the effects of the primary and of several secondary fire scenarios in causing a domino effect, updating the time to failure on the basis of the dynamic evolution of multiple fire scenarios. The proposed approach is demonstrated through case-studies addressing fire-induced domino effects in an oil storage tank farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying critical installations in an area containing many chemical installations is important for the safety management of the chemical area. In this study, the area impact degree of chemical installations is defined, which is determined by analyzing the probability of accidents at other installations in the area when an accident occurs at a given installation, and the losses caused by each installation in the event of corresponding accident. Critical installations for area safety can be easily identified by comparing the area impact degree of different installations in the area. An illustrative example demonstrates the proposed approach. Analysis of the area impact degree of 6 tanks in a storage area and identification of more important installations for the safety of the entire area illustrate the applicability of this approach. Furthermore, our novel area importance analyzing approach is also compared with the graph approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contact effects of single-molecule break junctions on rectification behaviors were experimentally explored by a systematic control of anchoring groups of 1,4-disubstituted benzene molecular junctions. Single-molecule conductance and I-V characteristic measurements reveal a strong correlation between rectifying effects and the asymmetry in contacts. Analysis using energy band models and I-V calculations suggested that the rectification behavior is mainly caused by asymmetric coupling strengths at the two contact interfaces. Fitting of the rectification ratio by a modified Simmons model we developed suggests asymmetry in potential drop across the asymmetric anchoring groups as the mechanism of rectifying I-V behavior. This study provides direct experimental evidence and sheds light on the mechanisms of rectification behavior induced simply by contact asymmetry, which serves as an aid to interpret future single-molecule electronic behavior involved with asymmetric contact conformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop yield is a primary trait to select superior genotypes and evaluate breeding efficiency in breeding programs. Crops with high yield potential are usually selected from numerous breeding lines in multiple years and locations. However, the efficiency of conventional breeding programs is limited by the capacity of field phenotyping, which can be improved by developing high-throughput field phenotyping systems using emerging technologies, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery and deep learning technologies. The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a UAV imaging system and convolutional neural network (CNN) in estimating yield of soybean breeding lines. In this study, 972 soybean breeding lines in three maturity groups were planted under rainfed conditions for testing their drought tolerance. Aerial images were taken at the late vegetation (V6), early (R1), and late reproductive (R6-R8) growth stages. Seven image features associated with plant height, canopy colour, and canopy texture were selected to estimate the yield of each breeding line. A mixed CNN model was built to estimate soybean yield by taking the seven image features and two categorical factors, i.e. maturity group and drought tolerance, as predictors. Results show that image features collected at the early and late reproductive growth stages are comparably promising in estimating soybean yield. The prediction model could explain 78% of the measured yield with a root mean square error of 391.0 kg·ha−1 (33.8% to the average yield), indicating that the UAV imagery and deep learning models are promising in estimating yield for soybean breeding purposes. • UAV-based imagery and deep learning models was used for high throughput phenotyping. • Methods of yield estimation for a large breeding population was developed. • Prediction accuracy of imagery data collected at multiple growth stages were tested. • Fusion of 1D and 2D inputs in a Convolutional Neural Network model improves estimation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferromagnetic fluid can be used to as a carrier to transport other materials since its motion can be manipulated by external magnetic field and it is of great importance to reveal the motion regularity of ferromagnetic fluid droplets when they are used as carriers under the action of a magnetic field. In this work, numerical simulations and experimental visualizations were carried out to investigate the transportation process of a ferromagnetic fluid droplet and the controllable behavior of ferromagnetic fluid droplets under the action of a magnetic field. Based on the two-phase lattice Boltzmann method, the motion of ferromagnetic fluid droplets under magnetic field was simulated, and the shape evolution process of the droplets was revealed. Simulation results indicate that the changes of the droplet velocity and the mean outlet velocity of channel fluid all present fluctuation regularities due to the instability of droplet. It was also found that the transportation efficiency is weakened once the droplet contacts with the channel wall. For the ferromagnetic fluid droplet immersed in channel fluid, an external force generated by gradient magnetic field can be used to resist the gravity, and then, it will not sink to the lower channel wall, as revealed by the experiments, the droplet can move along the channel center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergency response plays an important role in preventing or delaying the domino effect of chemical accidents. Requirements for emergency response to a major accident may exceed the capacity of the emergency department within the region of responsibility for the accident, in which case multi-department emergency response is necessary. In this work, modeling problems related to the arrival of emergency teams at different times in multi-department emergency response are discussed. These problems will dynamically influence the time to failure of adjacent facilities in the event of a fire. A timed colored hybrid Petri-net (TCHPN) approach is proposed to solve these problems and analyze multi-department emergency response processes. An example of responding to a tank fire illustrates the proposed approach. An emergency response process is simulated, and probabilities of fire escalation prevention under different fire levels are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to assess live online dental continuing education during COVID‐19 epidemic in China. Methods: Twenty‐one institutions providing live online dental courses in China during COVID‐19 epidemic enrolled in this study. Their online and/or offline course provision before and during the epidemic was retrospectively inquired. If live online education was provided, the number of courses, duration and number of participants per week were further investigated. Time distributions of live online dental courses were recorded and classified as within working time and out of working time. The test period of COVID‐19 epidemic was for two weeks between 16 February and 29 February 2020. The control period of pre‐COVID‐19 epidemic was for ten weeks between 01 November 2019 and 09 January 2020. Results: The percentages of offline and online courses provided by 21 dental continuing education institutions before COVID‐19 epidemic were 95.2% (20 out of 21) and 28.6% (6 out of 21), respectively. All the institutions suspended offline courses whilst providing two live online courses, on average, per week with 188 minutes duration and 7290 participants during the epidemic. The total number of online courses for 10 weeks before the epidemic was 33, and that for two weeks during the epidemic was 119. The proportion of courses provided within working time raised from 6.1% (2 out of 33) of pre‐COVID‐19 to 46.2% (55 out of 119) during COVID‐19. There were significant differences between before and during the epidemic (P <.001). Conclusion: The dental continuing education transferred from offline to online dramatically, and live online dental continuing education increased significantly during COVID‐19 epidemic in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the interior differentiability of a weak solution u ∈ Vp(x) to a nonlinear problem (1.2), which arises in electroheological fluids (ERFs) in an open bounded domain Ω ⊂ R d , d = 2, 3. At first, by establishing a reverse Hölder inequality, we show that the weak solution u of (1.2) has bounded energy that satisfies | D u | p (x) ∈ L l o c δ (Ω) with some δ > 1 and p (x) ∈ ( 3 d d + 2 , 2). Next, based on the higher integrability of Du, we then derive the higher differentiability of u by the theory of difference quotient and a bootstrap argument, from which we obtain the Hölder continuity of u. Here, the analysis and the existence theory of the weak solution to (1.2)–(1.5) have been established by Diening et al. [Lebesgue and Sobolev Spaces with Variable Exponents (Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2011)]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rapid spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared as an emerging public health threat by the World Health Organization. As various measures have been taken successfully to combat the epidemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, a growing number of fully recovered patients have been discharged from hospitals. However, some of them have relapsed. Little is known about the causes that triggered the relapse.Case Presentation: We report a case of a 40 years old man who suffered from recurrent pulmonary infection with progression of lesions on chest computed tomography (CT), elevated levels of ferritin and IL2R, reduced lymphocyte count and positive oropharyngeal swab test for SARS-CoV-2 again after 5 days discharge from hospital. The anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody level of this patient was very low at the time of relapse, suggesting a weak humoral immune response to the virus. Total exon sequencing revealed mutations in TRNT1 gene, which may be responsible for B cell immunodeficiency. Therefore, uncleared SARS-CoV-2 at his first discharge was likely to lead to his recurrence. However, viral superinfection and non-infectious organizing pneumonia could not be completely excluded.Conclusion: COVID-19 relapse may occur in a part of discharged patients with low titers of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. These patients should be maintained in isolation for longer time even after discharge. A more sensitive method to detect SARS-CoV-2 needs to be established and serological testing for specific antibodies may be used as a reference to determine the duration of isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring crop development and accurately estimating crop yield are important to improve field management and crop production. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based remote sensing system in cotton yield estimation. A UAV system, equipped with an RGB camera, a multispectral camera, and an infrared thermal camera, was used to acquire images of a cotton field at two growth stages (flowering growth stage and shortly before harvest). Sequential images from the three cameras were processed to generate orthomosaic images and a digital surface model (DSM), which were registered to the georeferenced yield data acquired by a yield monitor mounted on a harvester. Eight image features were extracted, including normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI), green normalised difference vegetation index (GNDVI), triangular greenness index (TGI), a channel in CIE-LAB colour space (a∗), canopy cover, plant height (PH), canopy temperature, and cotton fibre index (CFI). Models were developed to evaluate the accuracy of each image feature for yield estimation. Results show that PH and CFI were the best single features for cotton yield estimation, both with R 2 = 0.90. The combination of PH and CFI , PH and a ∗, or PH and temperature were the best two-feature models with R 2 from 0.92 to 0.94. The best three-feature models were among the combinations of PH , CFI , temperature and a ∗. This study found that UAV-based images collected during the flowering growth stage and/or shortly before harvest were able to estimate cotton yield accurately. • Site-specific cotton yield estimation was conducted. • The performance of multiple image sensors were evaluated. • Data were registered based on image features. • Methods were potentially used for precision crop management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate crop yield estimation is important for agronomic and economic decision-making. This study evaluated the performance of imagery data acquired using a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-based imaging system for estimating yield of maize (Zea mays L.) and the effects of variable-rate nitrogen (N) application on crops. Images of a 27-ha maize field were captured using a UAV with a consumer-grade RGB camera flying at ~100 m above ground level at three maize growth stages. The collected sequential images were stitched and the Excess Green (ExG) colour feature was extracted to develop prediction models for maize yield and to examine the effect of the variable-rate N application. Various linear regression models between ExG and maize yield were developed for three sample area sizes (21, 106, and 1058 m2). The model performance was evaluated using coefficient of determination (R 2), F -test and the mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) between estimated and actual yield. All linear regression models between ExG and yield were significant (p ≤ 0.05). The MAPE ranged from 6.2 to 15.1% at the three sample sizes, although R 2 values were all <0.5. Prediction error was lower at the later growth stages, as the crop approached maturity, and at the largest sample level. The ExG image feature showed potential for evaluating the effect of variable-rate N application on crop growth. Overall, the low-cost UAV imaging system provided useful information for field management. • A low-cost UAV-based visual band imaging system was used in monitoring maize growth. • Corn yield was estimated using visual band image features with an error of 6–15%. • The spatial resolution and imaging time influenced the accuracy of yield estimation. • The effect of variable-rate N application on crops might be evaluated by images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrochemical sensor is described for the simultaneous determination of Cd2+, Cu2+, Hg2+ and Pb2+ using square wave anodic stripping voltammetry. A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with N,N-dimethyl-N-2-propenyl-2-propen-1-aminium chloride homopolymer ionic liquid doped into magnesium(II)-aluminium(III) layered double hydroxides. The morphology investigations suggest that the material possesses typical interconnected laminated micropores and a mesoporous architecture dispersed on the surface of the GCE. This accelerates mass diffusion and facilitates the deposition-stripping process of metal ions. Key operational parameters including pH, deposition potential, deposition time and the quantity of nanomaterial on the GCE were optimized. The following figures of merit for the ions Cd2+, Cu2+, Hg2+ and Pb2+ are obtained under optimum conditions: (a) detection limits of 250, 25, 250 and 16 ng L−1; (b) linear ranges from 0.5 to 20, 0.05 to 20, 0.5 to 20 and 0.05 to 20 μg L−1, and (c) peak potentials of −768, +42, +302 and − 541 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl). The modified GCE was successfully applied to the determination of these ions in spiked black tea extract and in dried tangerine peel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new electrochemical sensor was fabricated for the sensitive and selective detection of metanephrine (MN), based on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) acidified by sulphuric acid and using an electrodeposition method to form poly caffeic acid (PCA) films. Adding the electrochemical pretreatment to acidify the GCE was conducive to an increase of surface concentrations of C–O functional groups and generation of a rough surface on the modified electrode. Furthermore, the PCA films developed on the GCE surface were advantageous to the significant increase in the electrode surface and more active sites, thus improving the electrocatalytic activity. The proposed electrochemical sensor exhibited high sensitivity, stability and selectivity towards MN. The surface morphology of the acidified poly(caffeic acid) modified GCE (A-PCA/GCE) was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showing that the surface of the electrode possesses a rod like structure. Under optimal conditions, the sensor showed a liner proportional response to MN in a wide determination range from 0.5 to 40.0 μM with a detection limit (S/N = 3) of 0.17 μM. Finally, the fabricated sensor was also successfully applied to detect MN in human serum samples, and satisfactory recoveries were obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a case study of monozygotic twins with XMEN syndrome, a congenital disorder that weakens the immune system and increases susceptibility to EBV infection and lymphoproliferation. The twins received anti-CD30 CAR T-cell therapy and achieved complete remission, although one twin later experienced disease progression. The study suggests that identifying MAGT1 deficiency in young patients with EBV-positive lymphoproliferative disease is crucial and that anti-CD30 CAR T-cell therapy may be a promising treatment option for XMEN patients with relapsed or refractory Hodgkin lymphoma. The article also highlights the potential of gene-editing techniques and combining stem cell transplantation with CAR T-cell therapy, but further research is needed in these areas. [Extracted from the article]

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF), as a smart material, plays a pivotal role in sealing equipment. However, the interfacial compatibility between MRF and metal significantly impacts the adhesion of the two phases, which subsequently determines the sealing performance of MRF once it is used as a sealing medium. However, the interface mechanism and dynamical magnetic migration performances between MRF and metals at the microscopic level are not clear. In this study, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) and multi-body DPD simulations are carried out to examine the settling stability, static wetting characteristics, and magnetic migration ability of MRF droplets incorporating different surfactants. It is revealed that oleic acid stands out as the optimal surfactant for MRF, shedding light on the mechanism of MRF droplet infiltration on metal sheets and unveiling five crucial wetting processes. Furthermore, a thorough comparison among simulation results, experimental findings, and numerical analysis was conducted to verify the reliability of theoretical research on the microscale behavior of MRF. Moreover, investigating the driving characteristics of MRF droplets within a uniform magnetic field confirmed two driving processes: significant deformation and limitation of excessive diffusion. The analysis of the vortical structure within the droplets revealed the presence of diffusion effects caused by magnetic particles. The velocity distribution within the droplets indicated different flow rates, with higher velocities at the core and slower velocities at the edge, suggesting the presence of internal flow patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though well known for its anti-microbial property, copper is usually not considered for drinking water disinfection because of its health risk to human bodies under efficient biocidal concentration. Herein, we have rationally designed and constructed a tubular coaxial-electrode copper ionization cell (CECIC) that enables superior disinfection performance (~6-log removal of E. coli) with a very low effluent copper concentration (~200 μg/L). A non-uniform electric field with enhanced strength near the center electrode is generated in the chamber attributed to the coaxial center-outer electrode configuration. Exposure to the strong electric field subsequently increases the permeability of cell membrane, the excessive uptake of Cu ions into microbes, and thus the reinforced bacteria inactivation. The in-situ ionization results in a Cu ion concentration gradient with higher concentrations in the regions closer to the center. In addition, being driven by the electrophoresis and dielectrophoresis forces, the bacterial cells are transported to the vicinity of the center electrode, where both the electric field strength and Cu ion concentration are higher. These mechanisms in the CECIC synergistically result in the high inactivation efficiency with low Cu concentration in the effluent. The low-cost, high-efficiency, and disinfection-byproduct-free CECIC has shown significant potential in point-of-use applications. Unlabelled Image • The device achieved ~6-log removal of E. coli with ~200 μg/L Cu in the effluent. • Multiple mechanisms are involved synergistically attributed to the rational design. • The CECIC was operated effectively for 12 h and treated 7.2 L water. • The estimated cost of the CECIC for drinking water is only ~$0.1/m3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of molten salt pump is affected by its geometrical structure and the physical properties of delivered fluids. In order to reveal the effects of these factors on pump performance, the performance curves were analyzed theoretically, the flow field was measured accurately by using high-speed photography, and the external characteristics were tested by using water as test medium. The numerical model was verified by the path lines, absolute velocity and performance curves obtained by experiment. Based on the verified model, the relationship among the fluid viscosity, external characteristics and flow field was investigated in the view of energy loss. The results show that reducing the blade outlet angle and outlet width as well as increasing the blade outlet thickness can avoid the unstable running. When delivering low viscosity fluids, since the impact loss is relatively large at low flow rate, the hump is easy to appear in the Head-Flow rate curve. When delivering high viscosity fluids, the opposite happens. With the increase of viscosity, the head and efficiency decrease monotonously, and the maximum efficiency point moves towards low flow rate. At the low flow rate, the shaft power decreases as the viscosity increases, while at the high flow rate, the shaft power increases as the viscosity increases. Compared with delivering water, when the viscosity is lower than 0.01453Pa⋅s, the drop of head and efficiency is less than 5%. The results of the study have reference significance on the development of high-performance molten salt pump and stable operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the yielding phenomena during the start-up process of a magnetorheological fluid (MRF) flowing through a microchannel under a transverse uniform magnetic field, a three-dimensional and two-phase numerical simulation method is established based on the lattice Boltzmann method, united with the immersed boundary method and the discrete element method. Affected by the transverse uniform magnetic field, the randomly distributed magnetic nanoparticles (MPs) in MRF form some chains parallel to the direction of the magnetic field, and driven by the carrier fluid, the straight chains become curved due to the velocity gradient of the carrier fluid. It is revealed that the yielding process of MRF with water being the carrier fluid is essentially the deformation of the chains composed of MPs. The averaged shear force on the MPs at the ends of chains is taken to characterize the yielding status of an MP cluster, and there exists the maximum shear force during the deformation of chains. The Reynolds number has obvious influence on the characteristic shear force in the single chain, while for a multi-chain system, the chains are entangled with each other during the course of yielding and the characteristic shear force presents a complicated regularity. When the intensity of the magnetic field is relatively small, it has influence on the yielding force; once it is larger than a critical value, the yielding force remains constant. The yielding of MRF flow in a microchannel is a transient experience, and after yielding, the chain-like structure can maintain its integrity along with the channel flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider the chemotaxis‐Navier–Stokes system (Keller–Segel system) in the whole space, which describes the motion of oxygen‐driven bacteria, eukaryotes, in a fluid. We proved the global existence and time decay estimate of solutions to the Cauchy problem in R3 with the small initial data. Moreover, when the fluid motion is described by the Stokes equations, we established the global weak solutions to in R2 with the potential function ϕ is small and the initial density n0(x) has finite mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If flammable gas is mixed with air, and the mixture is ignited, it is possible to form a vapor cloud explosion (VCE) which may be very destructive, and easy to trigger a domino effect of accidents because of its large extent of impact. A VCE accident may induce secondary VCE accidents, then tertiary VCE accidents, and so on. This is called the cascading effect of VCE accidents, which requires an understanding of probabilities and propagation patterns to prevent and mitigate the potential damages. In this work, a methodology based on Petri-net is proposed to model the cascading effect of VCE accidents and perform probability analysis, taking the mutual influence between the accidents into account. The deficiency in probability analysis of VCE accidents is discussed. According to the limits of states and their changes which reflect characteristics of VCE propagation, a Petri-net approach is provided for modeling and analysis of VCE cascading effect, and the modeling approach and analysis process of VCE cascading effect are presented. The application and efficacy of the methodology are demonstrated via an example of VCE accidents occurring in a gasoline tank storage area. The results show that the developed methodology can effectively reveal the propagation patterns of VCEs cascading and calculate the respective probabilities of VCE accidents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned with a model arising from biology, which is coupled system of the chemotaxis equations and the viscous incompressible fluid equations through transport and external forcing. We study the large time behavior of solutions near a constant states to the chemotaxis-Navier–Stokes system in R 3 . Appealing to a pure energy method, we first obtain a global existence theorem by assuming that the H 3 norm of the initial data is small, but the higher order derivatives can be arbitrary large. If the initial data belongs to homogeneous Sobolev norms H ̇ − s ( 0 ≤ s < 3 2 ) or homogeneous Besov norms B ̇ 2 , ∞ − s ( 0 < s ≤ 3 2 ) , we obtain the optimal decay rates of the solutions and its higher order derivatives. As an immediate byproduct, we also obtain the usual L p − L 2 ( 1 ≤ p ≤ 2 ) type of the decay rates without requiring that the L p norm of initial data is small. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, platinum (Pt) is employed to clinical treatment of various cancers. However, for Pt-based drugs, especially Pt in +2 state [Pt (II)], such as cisplatin, number of drawbacks impede their anticancer efficiency including poor pharmacology, fast blood clearance, systemic toxicities causing from poor specificity and excretion of drug through kidneys. Herein, we developed dual-functional ultrafine polyethylenimine caged platinum nanoclusters (PEI-caged Pt NCs), which were utilized in biological imaging of the suspension cells system as fluorescent markers, and selective inhibition of hematopoietic malignancies as anticancer chemotherapeutics simultaneously. These zerovalent Pt NCs are capable to selectively enter into blood cancer cells (K562, BV173 cell lines) when compared to the peripheral blood mononucleated cells (PBMCs) from healthy donors, in addition, it can specifically induce pro-apoptotic protein expression (p53, PUMA, cleaved caspase) in hematopoietic cancer cells and promote cell apoptosis. Avoiding the adding of other fluorescent bio-markers, these Pt NCs showed great potential in diagnosis and treatment of hematopoietic system disease, such as acute myeloid leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenotyping traits in large field crop trials with numerous breeding lines is an arduous task. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based remote sensing is currently being investigated for high-throughput agricultural field phenotyping applications. The system is conducive for rapid assessment of crop response to the environment, at a desired spatio-temporal resolution. Therefore, objective of this study was to evaluate such technology towards monitoring responses of dry bean lines to drought and low nitrogen stress (i.e., two trials and two seasons) under field conditions. A semi-automated image processing protocol was developed to extract features such as: (i) average green normalized difference vegetation index (GNDVI); and (ii) canopy area (total number of plant pixels) from individual plots. The data were acquired at mid-pod fill and late-pod fill growth stages in 2014 season, and at flowering, mid-pod fill, and late-pod fill growth stages in 2015 season. The relationships between remotely sensed image features with that of crop response variables such as seed yield, days to flowering, days to harvest maturity, days to seed fill, and biomass rating (for drought trial only) were assessed temporally. Overall, in drought experiment, both average GNDVI and canopy area were significantly correlated with seed yield in all trials at 5% level of significance. The average GNDVI and canopy area at flowering growth stages and average GNDVI at mid-pod fill stage were consistently highly correlated ( r  > 0.73) with seed yield. The average GNDVI at flowering ( r of −0.54 to −0.73) and mid-pod fill ( r of −0.52 to −0.73) stages was highly correlated with biomass rating. Thus, average GNDVI could possibly be used as a viable phenotype for capturing biomass differences as well. A pilot thermal imaging of the sample breeding plots in drought trials also indicated its potential in capturing the temperature differences resulting from stress. For the nitrogen stress experiment, the correlations between remotely sensed image features and response variables were lower than in the drought experiment. The nitrogen from vegetative growth did not effeciently partition into seed production, which could have resulted in low correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is a salt sensitive crop and saline soil results in substantial reduction in crop productivity. The genetic resources for salt tolerance in soybean were observed but are not fully evaluated due to the difficulty in capturing and quantifying the dynamic responses to salinity stress for large, diverse germplasm collections. This study aimed to develop an automated plant phenotyping system in an established greenhouse and validate this system in capturing dynamic responses in soybean to salinity stress. A digital camera (red, green and blue) was used to take sequential images of soybean for salt tolerance in 21 diverse accessions with three replicates (63 plants in total). Data processing pipeline was built to extract plant morphological and color-based image features. Thirty-nine image features were extracted and used to estimate plant leaf chlorophyll content and rate the soybean tolerance for salinity stress. Statistical analysis shows that the extracted image features could be used to quantify the dynamic responses of plants to salinity stress. It is found that both leaf chlorophyll content and visual salt tolerance rate (STR) had high correlations with image features. This study demonstrated the usefulness of the developed system in measuring soybean dynamic response to salinity stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft bands may widely exist in sites, and their presence complicates the analysis of slope stability, particularly when the limit analysis method is adopted. Note that the use of the limit analysis method is capable of providing rigorous lower and upper bound solutions and hence is widely used in soil slope stability analyses. To account for soft band effects, finite-element lower-bound (FELB) and finite-element upper-bound (FEUB) approaches are introduced in this study. Finite element discretization aids in the construction of a statically allowable stress field and kinematically admissible velocity field, which are prerequisites for limit analysis. In combination with a modified pseudodynamic approach, seismic slope stability analysis is evaluated through linear programming. Lower and upper bound solutions of the slope safety factor (FoS) are optimized with an interior point algorithm, which aids in better estimating the true FoS of seismic slope stability. The nonassociated flow rule is also discussed herein. After validating the upper and lower linear programming models by limit equilibrium and FEM, the soft band's effects on seismic slope stability are discussed, and a rotational-translational failure mechanism is revealed by critical velocity fields. A less than 5.1% difference between lower- and upper-bound solutions is favourable for providing a reliable reference for slope design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MTHFD1L, a key enzyme of folate metabolism, is seldom reported in cancer. In this study, we investigate the role of MTHFD1L in the tumorigenicity of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). ESCC tissue microarrays (TMAs) containing 177 samples from 109 patients were utilized to evaluate whether MTHFD1L expression, determined using immunohistochemical analysis, is a prognostic indicator for ESCC patients. The function of MTHFD1L in the migration and invasion of ESCC cells was studied with wound healing, Transwell, and three-dimensional spheroid invasion assays in vitro and a lung metastasis mouse model in vivo. The mRNA microarrays and Ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were used to explore the downstream of MTHFD1L. Elevated expression of MTHFD1L in ESCC tissues was significantly associated with poor differentiation and prognosis. These phenotypic assays revealed that MTHFD1L significantly promote the viability and metastasis of ESCC cell in vivo and in vitro. Further detailed analyses of the molecular mechanism demonstrated that the ESCC progression driven by MTHFD1L was through up-regulation ERK5 signaling pathways. These findings reveal that MTHFD1L is positively associated with the aggressive phenotype of ESCC by activating ERK5 signaling pathways, suggesting that MTHFD1L is a new biomarker and a potential molecular therapeutic target for ESCC. [Display omitted] • This is the first study assessing the mechanism of MTHFD1L, a key enzyme of folate metabolism, in the progression of ESCC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We are concerned with the global well-posedness of rate type viscoelastic fluids system (1.1)–(1.2). First, we prove the global existence and decay estimate of solution to (1.1)–(1.2) with stress diffusion near a constant state in H N (R 3) (N ≥ 4). We only assume that the H 3 -norm of initial data is small, but the L 2 -norm of the higher order derivatives can be arbitrary large. If the initial data belongs to homogeneous Sobolev or Besov spaces, we obtain the optimal decay rates of the solution and its higher order derivatives. Next, we establish the local existence of smooth solution to (1.1)–(1.2) without stress diffusion and present a blow-up criterion in R 2. From which and the Bony decomposition, we prove the global existence of smooth solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Site-specific crop management is a promising approach to maximize crop yield with optimal use of rapidly depleting natural resources. Availability of high resolution crop data at critical growth stages is a key for real-time data-driven decisions during the production season. The goal of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using small unmanned aerial system (UAS)-based remote sensing technologies to monitor the crop stress of irrigated pinto beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) with varied irrigation and tillage treatments. A small UAS with onboard multispectral and infrared thermal imaging sensors was used to collect data from bean field plots on three growth stages in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Indicators including green normalized vegetation index (GNDVI), canopy cover (CC, ratio of ground covered by crop canopy to the total plot area) and canopy temperature (CT, °C) of crops were extracted from imaging data and correlated with ground-reference crop yield and leaf area index (LAI) estimated with a handheld ceptometer. Results show that GNDVI, CC and CT were able to differentiate crops with full and deficit irrigation treatments at each of the three growth stages in both years. Developed indicators were strongly correlated with to the crop yield with Pearson correlation coefficients (r) of approximate 0.71 and 0.72 for GNDVI and CC, respectively, in the early growth stage (54 days after planting) in both years. Canopy temperature showed even stronger correlation (r > 0.8) with yield at early growth stage. Performance of small UAS-based imagery-based indicators in crop stress monitoring and crop yield estimation was better than or comparable to that of the ground-based LAI estimates, indicating the potential of such remote sensing tool in rapid crop stress monitoring and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]