Search

Background: To compare the clinical and radiological outcomes of modified mini-open transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (mMO-TLIF) via posterior midline incision for "targeted limited dissection" versus minimal invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) via Wiltse approach in lumbar degenerative diseases. Methods: A total of 60 consecutive patients in our center from January 2019 to March 2020 were enrolled, including 30 patients who were treated with mMO-TLIF via posterior midline incision and 30 treated with MIS-TLIF through the Wiltse approach. Perioperative parameters were recorded. The questionnaires of Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and Visual Analogue Score (VAS) were conducted before the operation and after the operation (3 days, 1 week, and 2 years). CT and MRI radiological outcomes were evaluated before the operation and at a 2-year follow-up. Results: There were no significant differences in the general data, gender, age, and BMI between the two groups. All patients were successfully operated without intraoperative complications. There were significant differences between the two groups in the operation time (p < 0.001) and intraoperative bleeding (p < 0.05). There was no difference in ODI and VAS scores between groups pre- and post-operatively, but they were both significantly improved compared to those before the operation (p < 0.01). At a 2-year follow-up, the paraspinal muscle atrophy and fat infiltration were increased comparing to pre-operation, but the difference was also not statistically significant (p > 0.05). In addition, both the two groups' fusion rates were more than 90% at a 2-year follow-up, however, no difference was detected between the two groups. Conclusion: mMO-TLIF via midline incision for "targeted limited dissection" could achieve similar clinical and radiological outcomes as MIS-TLIF for lumbar degenerative disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of shape memory alloys is very suitable for developing pipe joints, and Fe-Mn-Si memory alloy pipe joints show great promise. This paper studied the variation rule and microscopic mechanism of the strain recovery rates of Fe-24Mn-6Si-7Cr-3Ni alloy pipe joints made by three different hot working technologies: casting, forging, and rolling. The strain recovery rate of as-cast pipe joints rose monotonously with the increasing thermomechanical training cycle. As-cast pipe joints' superior shape memory effect mainly came from the large grain size of 662.70 μm and the low density of annealing twin boundaries. On the other hand, the shape memory effects of forging and rolling pipe joints were restricted by the high densities of annealing twin boundaries and grain boundaries, respectively. Although the shape memory effects had a lower upper limit, their strain recovery rates climbed quickly. Following the third annealing, the remaining second-phase particles precipitated according to the ε -martensitic distribution orientation, and this contributed to the shape memory effects of as-cast and forging pipe joints. During adjusting the solution treatment parameters for as-cast pipe joints, it was found that as-cast pipe joints without solution treatment exhibited a notable superiority over the solution-treated ones when less thermomechanical training was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The glass-ceramics were prepared with the spodumene mineral as the main raw material, and the effects of ZrO2 replacing TiO2 on the samples were systematically investigated. The results show that the substitution of ZrO2 for TiO2 is not conductive to precipitate β-quartz solid solution phase, but can improve the transparency and flexural strength of glass-ceramics. And the glass-ceramic with the highest visible light transmittance (87%) and flexural strength (231.80 MPa) exhibits an ultra-low thermal expansion of −0.028×10−7 K−1 in the region of 30–700 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecological source areas play a pivotal role in nature preservation and soil conservation. These areas are critical in optimizing land-use patterns and fostering the establishment facilitating the establishment of protected ecological source areas. In this study, two types of state layers of ecological source area change were extracted based on land cover data and integrated with an intelligent algorithm to analyze the role of ecological factors contributing to land change. Recommendations are proposed to enhance the optimization of the ecological spatial pattern within the Yellow River Basin. The results indicate key findings: (1) The ecological source areas in the Daxia River Basin experienced Fluctuations between 1990 and 2020 due to the interconversion of grassland and unused land. The change was relatively smooth during 1990–2000, with the ecological source areas increasing slightly by 16.016 km2. From 2000 to 2010, the proportion of unutilized land transferred to grassland was 6.3%, which is significantly higher than the annual transfer average of 1.6%. This is mainly due to the ecological protection measures in the cities of Linxia and Hezuo. Between 2010 and 2020, economic construction resulted in the loss of grassland, and the percentage of grassland turned out was 7.3%, which was significantly higher than the annual average of 1.8%. (2) In the Daxia River Basin, rainfall, sunlight intensity, temperature, and elevation had a greater impact on land change during the period from 1990 to 2020, with contributions of −0.4, 0.09, 0.08, and −0.26, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maize rough dwarf disease (MRDD) caused by pathogenic viruses in the genus Fijivirus in the family Reoviridae is one of the most destructive diseases in maize. The pyramiding of effective resistance genes into maize varieties is a potential approach to reduce the damage resulting from the disease. Two major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) (qMrdd2 and qMrdd8) have been previously identified. The resistance genes ZmGLK36 and ZmGDIα-hel have also been cloned with the functional markers Indel-26 and IDP25K, respectively. In this study, ZmGLK36 and ZmGDIα-hel were introgressed to improve MRDD resistance of maize lines (Zheng58, Chang7-2, B73, Mo17, and their derived hybrids Zhengdan958 and B73 × Mo17) via marker-assisted selection (MAS). The converted lines and their derived hybrids, carrying one or two genes, were evaluated for MRDD resistance using artificial inoculation methods. The double-gene pyramiding lines and their derived hybrids exhibited increased resistance to MRDD compared to the monogenic lines and the respective hybrids. The genetic backgrounds of the converted lines were highly similar (90.85–98.58%) to the recurrent parents. In addition, agronomic trait evaluation demonstrated that pyramiding lines with one or two genes and their derived hybrids were not significantly different from the recurrent parents and their hybrids under nonpathogenic stress, including period traits (tasseling, pollen shedding, and silking), yield traits (ear length, grain weight per ear and 100-kernel weight) and quality traits (protein and starch content). There were differences in plant architecture traits between the improved lines and their hybrids. This study illustrated the successful development of gene pyramiding for improving MRDD resistance by advancing the breeding process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared–visible image fusion is valuable across various applications due to the complementary information that it provides. However, the current fusion methods face challenges in achieving high-quality fused images. This paper identifies a limitation in the existing fusion framework that affects the fusion quality: modal differences between infrared and visible images are often overlooked, resulting in the poor fusion of the two modalities. This limitation implies that features from different sources may not be consistently fused, which can impact the quality of the fusion results. Therefore, we propose a framework that utilizes feature-based decomposition and domain normalization. This decomposition method separates infrared and visible images into common and unique regions. To reduce modal differences while retaining unique information from the source images, we apply domain normalization to the common regions within the unified feature space. This space can transform infrared features into a pseudo-visible domain, ensuring that all features are fused within the same domain and minimizing the impact of modal differences during the fusion process. Noise in the source images adversely affects the fused images, compromising the overall fusion performance. Thus, we propose the non-local Gaussian filter. This filter can learn the shape and parameters of its filtering kernel based on the image features, effectively removing noise while preserving details. Additionally, we propose a novel dense attention in the feature extraction module, enabling the network to understand and leverage inter-layer information. Our experiments demonstrate a marked improvement in fusion quality with our proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al-9Si-0.6Mg matrix composites dual-reinforced with 20 wt.% SiC particles and three-dimensional iron foam (iron foam/SiC/Al-Si) were fabricated using vacuum semi-solid stirring and vacuum-assisted infiltration. The tribological behavior at elevated temperatures was investigated under different loading conditions. The dry sliding wear test revealed that the three-dimensional interpenetrating iron foam skeleton contributes to improved wear performance at elevated temperatures, owing to an increase in surface hardness and decrease in subsurface wear deformation caused by the bearing capacity and synergistic strengthening effect of iron foam during the sliding process. SEM analysis of the longitudinal section of the friction-affected layer of the iron foam/SiC/Al-Si composite demonstrated that the formation of a mechanically mixed layer can decrease wear loss. Wear rate, wear morphology, and debris morphology were correlated with wear mechanisms. The increased load promotes the propagation of horizontal cracks and delamination wear. The predominant wear mechanisms of the iron foam/SiC/Al-Si composite change from abrasive wear and a small amount of oxidation wear to delamination, adhesive wear, and plastic flow when the temperature reaches 350 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is seriously affecting the growth and production of crops, especially when agricultural irrigation still remains quantitatively restricted in some arid and semi-arid areas. The identification of drought-tolerant genes is important for improving the adaptability of maize under stress. Here, we found that a new member of the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF) family; the ZmADF5 gene was tightly linked with a consensus drought-tolerant quantitative trait locus, and the significantly associated signals were detected through genome wide association analysis. ZmADF5 expression could be induced by osmotic stress and the application of exogenous abscisic acid. Its overexpression in Arabidopsis and maize helped plants to keep a higher survival rate after water-deficit stress, which reduced the stomatal aperture and the water-loss rate, as well as improved clearance of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, seventeen differentially expressed genes were identified as regulated by both drought stress and ZmADF5, four of which were involved in the ABA-dependent drought stress response. ZmADF5-overexpressing plants were also identified as sensitive to ABA during the seed germination and seedling stages. These results suggested that ZmADF5 played an important role in the response to drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the influence of contact pressure on the surface contact state, fretting damage degradation mechanism, crack initiation and propagation characteristics, and fretting fatigue life of A319‐T6 cast aluminum alloy in fretting fatigue test using bridge‐type fretting pad. For a certain range of contact pressure, the fretting fatigue life exhibits a trend of increasing and subsequently decreasing with increasing contact pressure. With finite element analysis, the fretting contact region can be divided into two characteristic zones according to the dynamic evolution of the contact status within one fatigue cycle. The contact pressure affects both the distribution of the two characteristic zones as well as the relative slip range, which results in distinct fretting damage mechanisms. The nucleation characteristics and propagation paths of fatigue cracks under three typical contact pressures were analyzed considering the effects of fretting damage and heterogeneous microstructures of the alloy, accounting for the contact pressure dependency of the fretting fatigue life. Highlights: The dynamic evolution of the contact status affected by contact pressure is considered.The fretting damage evolution with the variation of contact pressure is evaluated.The nucleation characteristics and propagation paths of fatigue cracks are elaborated.The contact pressure dependency of the fretting fatigue life is summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To investigate the effect of a three-dimensional (3D) exoscope for decompression of single-segment massive lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods: The study included 56 consecutive patients with single segment massive LDH who underwent decompression assisted by a 3D exoscope from October 2019 to October 2022 at a university hospital. The analysis was based on comparison of perioperative metrics including decompression time, estimated blood loss (EBL) during decompression and postoperative length of stay (PLS); clinical outcomes including assessment using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry disability index (ODI); and incidence of reoperation and complications. Results: The mean decompression time was 28.35 ± 8.93 min (lumbar interbody fusion (LIF)) and 15.50 ± 5.84 min (fenestration discectomy (LOVE surgery)), the mean EBL during decompression was 42.65 ± 12.42 ml (LIF) and 24.32 ± 8.61 ml (LOVE surgery), and the mean PLS was 4.56 ± 0.82 days (LIF) and 2.00 ± 0.65 days (LOVE surgery). There were no complications such as cerebrospinal fluid leakage, nerve root injury and epidural hematoma. All patients who underwent decompression assisted by a 3D exoscope were followed up for 6 months. At the last follow-up, the VAS and ODI scores were significantly improved from the preoperative period to the last follow-up (P < 0.05). Conclusions: A 3D exoscope provides a visually detailed, deep and clear surgical field, which makes decompression safer and more effective and reduces short-term complications. A 3D exoscope may be a good assistance tool during decompression for single-segment massive LDH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the modernization and intelligent development of agriculture, the energy demand in rural areas continues to increase, which leads to an increased operational burden on the existing rural distribution network. Integrated energy stations (IESs), in rural areas, use renewable energy sources such as biogas, wind power, and photovoltaic as energy inputs, which can fully improve energy efficiency and help reduce the operating load and peak valley difference of rural distribution networks. In this paper, a multistage planning model is proposed for rural distribution networks with IESs based on the robust optimization method. Firstly, a rural distribution network operation framework with IESs is proposed, and a mathematical model of rural IESs is built based on the energy hub (EH). Then, the multistage robust planning model of rural distribution net-works with IESs is developed and typical scenarios of stochastic source and load are generated based on improved k-means. An iterative solution method fora two-stage robust optimization method is proposed based on the nested column constraint generation (NC&CG) algorithm. Finally, the effectiveness of the presented model and solution approach is assessed through case studies on a modified IEEE 33-node distribution network and a real 152-node distribution network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating evidence indicates that microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in the hippocampus contributes to the development of perioperative neurocognitive disorder (PND). P38MAPK, a point of convergence for different signaling processes involved in inflammation, can be activated by various stresses. This study aims to investigate the role of the P38MAPK/ATF2 signaling pathway in the development of PND in mice. Aged C57BL/6 mice were subjected to tibial fracture surgery under isoflurane anesthesia to establish a PND animal model. The open field test was used to evaluate the locomotor activity of the mice. Neurocognitive function was assessed with the Morris water maze (MWM) and fear conditioning test (FCT) on postoperative days 1, 3 and 7. The mice exhibited cognitive impairment accompanied by increased expression of proinflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α), proapoptotic molecules (caspase-3, bax) and microglial activation in the hippocampus 1, 3 and 7 days after surgery. Treatment with SB239063 (a P38MAPK inhibitor) decreased the expression of proinflammatory factors, proapoptotic molecules and Iba-1 in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. The number of surviving neurons was significantly increased. Inhibition of the P38MAPK/ATF2 signaling pathway attenuates hippocampal neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis in aged mice with PND, thus improving the perioperative cognitive function of the mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is extremely challenging to design a model calibrating both SPX and VIX option prices. A long‐standing conjecture due to Julien Guyon is that it may not be possible to calibrate these two quantities with a continuous model. So far, most studied continuous time models are affine, so we investigate the conjecture among 14 well‐known non‐affine local stochastic volatility models in this article. First, we propose a unified efficient willow tree method for S&P500 and VIX option pricing under non‐affine models. Second, we compare the joint calibration performance on these 14 models on the S&P500 and VIX option prices data from 2006 to 2019. We find that the VIX option price data can provide extra information of the variance dynamics of the models, and the non‐affine structure and the volatility with linear, rather than square‐root, diffusion process provide a better fit for the both data sets than the affine counterparts. Among the 14 stochastic models, the SABR model provides the best in‐ and out‐of‐sample performance (in terms of mean square error) regardless of the state of the economy. Nevertheless, even for the best‐fitted SABR model, the relative error on the VIX option is still around 18%, still quite significant. Therefore, we found the non‐affine and local volatility structure improve the joint calibration but are still far from satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have garnered significant attention in the field of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s diseases due to their covalently closed loop structure. However, the involvement of circRNAs in postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is still largely unexplored. To identify the genes differentially expressed between non-POCD (NPOCD) and POCD mice, we conducted the whole transcriptome sequencing initially in this study. According to the expression profiles, we observed that circAKT3 was associated with hippocampal neuronal apoptosis in POCD mice. Moreover, we found that circAKT3 overexpression reduced apoptosis of hippocampal neurons and alleviated POCD. Subsequently, through bioinformatics analysis, our data showed that circAKT3 overexpression in vitro and in vivo elevated the abundance of miR-106a-5p significantly, resulting in a decrease of HDAC4 protein and an increase of MEF2C protein. Additionally, this effect of circAKT3 was blocked by miR-106a-5p inhibitor. Interestingly, MEF2C could activate the transcription of miR-106a-5p promoter and form a positive feedback loop. Therefore, our findings revealed more potential modulation ways between circRNA-miRNA and miRNA-mRNA, providing different directions and targets for preclinical studies of POCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air filtration is vital for passive pollution control toward advanced manufacturing industries and human health protection. However, large‐scale air‐filter utilization is limited by high energy costs. Therefore, it is crucial to develop filter media that exhibit a high removal efficiency, low pressure drop, and stable biocidal effects. This study reports an efficient and scalable bottom‐up approach for fabricating shellac‐based glass fiber matrices with bioprotective traps (GFMs‐traps) with tunable conformal micro/nanostructures, superhydrophobicity, and biocidal functions. The synthesis, which involves freeze‐drying‐free ice‐shellac double‐template formation, perfluorosilane‐based grafting, and filtration, eliminates capillary‐force‐induced micro/nanofibrous cluster formation. Theoretical modeling and experimental results indicate that the air cleaning and biocidal properties of the GFMs‐traps can be attributed to their uniformly distributed micro/nanofibrous structures and stable nanoparticle (NP) coatings (AgNPs, CuNPs, and TiO2NPs). The GFMs‐traps exhibit integrated air cleaning, with excellent filtration performance at the most penetrating particle size (99.97%, 234 Pa), superhydrophobicity (≥150°), a high virus‐filtration efficiency (99.995%), and good antibacterial and antiviral activity. Additionally, a commercial air purifier comprising a GFMs‐trap filter exhibits high potential for commercial applications. The facile strategy for fabricating high‐performance bioprotective filter media reported here may facilitate advanced large‐scale air filtration applications in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, an "on‐off‐on" nanoprobe for specific detection of Cd2+ was constructed using N‐acetyl‐l‐cysteine (NAC)‐modified CdSe quantum dots (QDs). The prepared CdSe QDs exhibit characteristic green fluorescence. The adsorbed S2− on the surface of CdSe QDs leads to dangling bonds and causes the fluorescence quenching of QDs, where the fluorescence of the system turns "off". When Cd2+ exists, it can react with the adsorbed S2− to form CdS shell, resulting in the fluorescence enhancement of CdSe QDs, where the fluorescence of the system turns "on". Due to the similar lattice structure between CdSe and CdS, CdSe/CdS can be produced by shell deposition, while self‐nucleation of metal sulfide is observed in the presence of other metal ions. Thus, the developed nanoprobe shows high selectivity for Cd2+. Under the optimum sensing conditions, the fluorescence sensing signal of CdSe QDs depends linearly on the Cd2+ in the range of 0.2–9 μM. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) of this nanoprobe is 27 nM and 90 nM, respectively. Furthermore, the proposed nanoprobe can monitor Cd2+ in drinking water with a recovery rate between 95.82 % and 102.00 %, indicating its good practicability and applicability for real sample analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Object detection in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial images has received extensive attention in recent years. The current mainstream oriented object detection methods for aerial images often suffer from complex network structures, slow inference speeds, and difficulties in deployment. In this paper, we propose a fast and easy-to-deploy oriented detector for UAV aerial images. First, we design a re-parameterization channel expansion network (RE-Net), which enhances the feature representation capabilities of the network based on the channel expansion structure and efficient layer aggregation network structure. During inference, RE-Net can be equivalently converted to a more streamlined structure, reducing parameters and computational costs. Next, we propose DynamicOTA to adjust the sampling area and the number of positive samples dynamically, which solves the problem of insufficient positive samples in the early stages of training. DynamicOTA improves detector performance and facilitates training convergence. Finally, we introduce a sample selection module (SSM) to achieve NMS-free object detection, simplifying the deployment of our detector on embedded devices. Extensive experiments on the DOTA and HRSC2016 datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the microstructure and high-temperature properties of Cr3C2-25NiCr nanoceramic coatings on 316H high-temperature-resistant stainless steel that were prepared by high-velocity air–fuel spraying (HVAF) technology. The micromorphology, phase composition, fracture toughness, high-temperature hardness, high-temperature friction, and wear properties of the coating were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-temperature Vickers hardness tester, high-temperature friction and wear tester, and surface profiler. The results show that the Cr3C2-25NiCr coating prepared by HVAF presents a typical thermal spraying coating structure, with a dense structure and a porosity of only 0.34%. The coating consists of a Cr3C2 hard phase, a NiCr bonding phase, and a small amount of Cr7C3 phase; The average microhardness of the coating at room temperature is 998.8 HV0.3, which is about five times higher than that of 316H substrate. The Weibull distribution of the coating is unimodal, showing stable mechanical properties. The average microhardness values of the coating at 450 °C, 550 °C, 650 °C, and 750 °C are 840 HV0.3, 811 HV0.3, 729 HV0.3, and 696 HV0.3 respectively. The average friction coefficient of the Cr3C2-25NiCr coating initially decreases and then increases with temperature. During high-temperature friction and wear, a dark gray oxide film forms on the coating surface. The formation speed of the oxide film accelerates with increasing temperature, shortening the running-in period of the coating. The oxide film acts as a lubricant, reducing the friction coefficient of the coating. The Cr3C2-25NiCr coating exhibits exceptional high-temperature friction and wear resistance, primarily through oxidative wear. The Cr3C2-25NiCr coating exhibits outstanding high-temperature friction and wear resistance, with oxidative wear being the primary wear mechanism at elevated temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spray anchor system is commonly used for primary support in underground projects due to its advantages such as fast closure of excavation surfaces, tight connection with the surrounding rock, and high early strength. However, this system has several drawbacks, such as severe pollution, poor working conditions, long construction periods, and high labor costs. In response to the concepts of green construction and prefabrication, this study proposes an innovative composite structure consisting of corrugated steel plates and concrete, namely, corrugated steel–concrete (CSC), which is a prefabricated support structure for underground engineering. The proposed system involves on-site corrugated steel plates and concrete, and the concrete is poured into the corrugated steel plates without using shotcrete. This approach mitigates pollution and improves working conditions. After the introduction to the novel structural system, elaborate Abaqus numerical models are developed to investigate the mechanical performance considering full elastoplastic response until failure. The steel–concrete interfacial connections, as a major factor in composite structures, are carefully studied and discussed based on the delicate interfacial contact model. The deformations, stress distributions, and failure types are analyzed. A parametric analysis is also conducted to expand the efficient range. Theoretical analysis is further carried out, and design expressions are proposed, which are verified to be suitable for design considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve the overload problem caused by the high proportion of renewable energy into the power system, it is particularly important to find a suitable distribution network planning scheme. Existing studies have effectively reduced the planning cost by incorporating virtual power plants into the distribution planning process, but there is no quantitative analysis of the flexible resources inside the virtual power plant. At the same time, the traditional planning process does not pay much attention to the acquisition of photovoltaic and load data. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a distribution network planning method considering the flexibility of distributed energy resources in virtual power plants. Firstly, taking the distribution network planning including the virtual power plant as the research object, the flexibility of the distributed energy resource of the virtual power plant was quantified. Then, in order to achieve the goal of minimizing the operating cost of system planning, a distribution network planning model considering the flexibility of distributed energy resources in the virtual power plant is established. In this model, the impact of virtual power plants flexibility on the distribution network planning process is mainly considered. Secondly, this paper uses the improved k-means clustering algorithm to obtain the typical data of PV and load. The algorithm effectively overcomes the impact of PV and load output fluctuations on the planning process. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed planning model can effectively reduce the operation cost of system planning by using distributed energy storage system and distributed energy resource flexibility. At the same time, the PV absorption rate of the PV power station inside the distribution network is improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the panel data of provinces and cities from 2002 to 2019, this study took the human capital agglomeration as the threshold variable and analysed the threshold effect of human capital agglomeration on the green upgrading of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Based on the dynamic panel threshold model, human capital agglomeration was found to have a significant threshold effect on green upgrading of the manufacturing industry in the Yangtze River Economic Belt. When human capital agglomeration crosses a certain threshold, the impact effect of manufacturing green upgrading decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Astrocytes, the most abundant cells in the brain, are integral to sleep regulation. In the context of a healthy neural environment, these glial cells exert a profound influence on the sleep-wake cycle, modulating both rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep phases. However, emerging literature underscores perturbations in astrocytic function as potential etiological factors in sleep disorders, either as protopathy or comorbidity. As known, sleep disorders significantly increase the risk of neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, metabolic, or psychiatric diseases. Meanwhile, sleep disorders are commonly screened as comorbidities in various neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, and others. Building on existing research that examines the role of astrocytes in sleep disorders, this review aims to elucidate the potential mechanisms by which astrocytes influence sleep regulation and contribute to sleep disorders in the varied settings of brain diseases. The review emphasizes the significance of astrocyte-mediated mechanisms in sleep disorders and their associated comorbidities, highlighting the need for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How to represent the object more appropriately in oriented object detection is an essential problem to be solved, because there are many solutions for the object represented. It is a relatively novel approach to represent objects as a number of sample points useful for both localization and recognition. However, the current point-set-based representation methods do not effectively supervise all points for learning, and the internal information of the convex hull in the point set cannot be effectively learned. Therefore, this letter proposes point set distance (PSD) loss, which learns set-to-set supervision of objects to effectively represent objects. Besides, most of the current sample selection strategies are based on the Intersection over Union (IoU), but these methods cannot comprehensively measure candidate samples’ quality. To select high-quality point sets, we propose to use the probability distribution of point sets to select the positive samples. Our probabilistic point set sample selection (PPSS) scheme effectively exploits the classification information, regression information, and distribution characteristics of the point set. Experimental results on remote-sensing image datasets, including DOTA, DIOR-R, and HRSC2016, demonstrate the proposed method for arbitrary-oriented object detection achieves consistent and substantial improvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the high importance of transferrin in targeting tumor, the investigation on the functionalization process of quantum dots (QDs) using transferrin is very essential. In this paper, the interaction between CdSe and CdSe@ZnS QDs with transferrin was studied by various spectroscopies. It was found that the two types of QDs triggered the fluorescence quenching of transferrin by the static quenching mechanism. At 298 K, the binding constant for CdSe@ZnS QDs (8.03 × 106 L·mol−1) is higher than CdSe QDs (2.84 × 106 L·mol−1), implying that CdSe@ZnS QDs could bind stronger to transferrin. In addition, the values of enthalpy change (∆H), entropy change (∆S) and Gibbs free energy change (∆G) were negative, indicating that the binding procedures between both QDs and transferrin were spontaneous and the main binding forces were hydrogen bonding and van der Waals force. The results of CD spectra indicated that both QDs induced the conformational change of transferrin, which further caused the release of iron ions from transferrin. Compared with CdSe QDs, less contents of iron ions in transferrin were detected after interaction with CdSe@ZnS QDs. Additional cytotoxicity tests showed that both QDs were toxic to Hela and 293T cells, but the cytotoxicity of CdSe QDs was stronger than that of CdSe@ZnS QDs. Moreover, the combination of transferrin failed to promote the cytotoxicity of CdSe QDs and CdSe@ZnS QDs, which is ascribed to the release of iron ions during the interaction process between QDs and transferrin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A unified strategy for accessing the core structure of cyathane diterpenoids has been developed, enabling the formal synthesis of (–)-erinacine B. The key feature includes an organocatalyzed asymmetric intramolecular vinylogous aldol reaction for convergently building up the 5-6-6 tricyclic ring system. This strategy also highlights a hydroxyl-directed cyclopropanation/ring opening sequence to stereoselectively set up 1,4-anti and -cis angular-methyl quaternary carbon centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: In order to promote the green development of agriculture, it is important to study the enantioselective effect of chiral pesticides. The bioactivity of the chiral fungicide penthiopyrad (PEN) racemate and enantiomers against phytopathogens, toxicity to non‐target organisms, effect on tomato fruit growth and maturation, and environmental fate in tomato cultivation were evaluated at an enantioselective level in this study. RESULTS: The results indicated that at the same efficacy, the optically pure S‐(+)‐PEN could lower the dosage of racemate by 20–96%. The S‐enantiomer had low toxicity to earthworms. Besides, the S‐(+)‐PEN did not cause significant abiotic stress to the tomato and increased fruit fresh weight and size via modulating the contents of plant hormones. However, the content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), superoxide (O2−) and malondialdehyde in the R‐enantiomer treatment group was significantly higher than the control group. The effect of the racemate on tomato fruit was between the enantiomers. Furthermore, compared to R‐(−)‐PEN and racemate, the S‐enantiomer degraded more quickly in tomato fruit, leaves, and soil, reducing the danger of human exposure. CONCLUSION: The S‐enantiomer is highly effective and less toxic. The development of enantiomer pure S‐(+)‐PEN products might be an efficient and low‐risk strategy. The results lay the foundation for comprehensive evaluation and proper application of PEN. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prices of different quality river crabs on the market can vary several times. Therefore, the internal quality identification and accurate sorting of crabs are particularly important for improving the economic benefits of the industry. Using existing sorting methods by labor and weight to meet the urgent needs of mechanization and intelligence in the crab breeding industry is difficult. Therefore, this paper proposes an improved BP neural network model based on a genetic algorithm, which can grade the crab quality. We comprehensively considered the four characteristics of crabs as the input variables of the model, namely gender, fatness, weight, and shell color of crabs, among which gender, fatness, and shell color were obtained by image processing technology, whereas weight is obtained using a load cell. First, mature machine vision technology is used to preprocess the images of the crab's abdomen and back, and then feature information is extracted from the images. Next, genetic and backpropagation algorithms are combined to establish a quality grading model for crab, and data training is conducted on the model to obtain the optimal threshold and weight values. Analysis of experimental results reveals that the average classification accuracy reaches 92.7%, which proves that this method can achieve efficient and accurate classification and sorting of crabs, successfully addressing market demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the microstructure and mechanical properties of a typical Al-6.2Si-3.4Cu-0.4 Mg cast alloy under four heat treatment processes and compared the non-proportional fatigue behavior of completely reversed stress cycles under circular and elliptical loading paths. The solution treatment significantly reduced the size and aspect ratio of the eutectic Si phase, achieved excellent and balanced mechanical properties, and yielded the highest non-proportional fatigue life, while the aging treatment mainly acted on the precipitation phases, especially the size of the needle-like Mg2Si phase. The cyclic deformation behavior indicated that the four heat-treated alloys exhibited two different stress responses and plastic damage forms. Surrounding alloys with these two damage forms, the fracture characteristics were analyzed and summarized. The differences between the two loading paths for the same heat-treated alloy were also discussed in terms of cyclic deformation behavior, crack propagation paths and fracture characteristics. The dislocation evolution revealed the development of plastic damage as the distance decreased from the fatigue section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probiotics have gained tremendous attention as an alternative to antibiotics, while synbiotics may exhibit a greater growth promoting effect than their counterpart probiotics due to the prebiotics' promotion on the growth and reproduction of probiotics. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum N-1 and its synbiotic with oligomeric isomaltose on the growth performance and meat quality of Hu sheep. Hu sheep (0–3 days old) were fed with water, probiotics of N-1, or synbiotics (N-1 and oligomeric isomaltose) daily in three pens for 60 days and regularly evaluated to measure growth performance and collect serum (five lambs per group). Longissimus thoracis (LT) and biceps brachii (BB) muscle tissues were collected for the analysis of pH value, color, texture, nutrients, mineral elements, amino acids, volatile compounds, and antioxidant capacity. The results showed that dietary supplementation of N-1 tended to improve growth performance and meat quality of Hu sheep, while the synergism of N-1 with oligomeric isomaltose significantly improved their growth performance and meat quality (p < 0.05). Both the dietary supplementation of N-1 and synbiotics (p < 0.05) increased the body weight and body size of Hu sheep. Synbiotic treatment reduced serum cholesterol and improved LT fat content by increasing the transcription level of fatty acid synthase to enhance fat deposition in LT, as determined via RT-qPCR analysis. Moreover, synbiotics increased zinc content and improved LT tenderness by decreasing shear force and significantly increased the levels of certain essential (Thr, Phe, and Met) and non-essential (Asp, Ser, and Tyr) amino acids of LT (p < 0.05). Additionally, synbiotics inhibited the production of carbonyl groups and TBARS in LT and thus maintained antioxidant stability. In conclusion, it is recommended that the use of synbiotics in livestock breeding be promoted to improve sheep production and meat quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ingestion of food toxins such as aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) during pregnancy may impair fetal neurodevelopment. However, animal model results may not be accurate due to the species' differences, and testing on humans is ethically impermissible. Here, we developed an in vitro human maternal–fetal multicellular model composed of a human hepatic compartment, a bilayer placental barrier, and a human fetal central nervous system compartment using neural stem cells (NSCs) to investigate the effect of AFB1 on fetal-side NSCs. AFB1 passed through the HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells to mimic the maternal metabolic effects. Importantly, even at the limited concentration (0.0641 ± 0.0046 μM) of AFB1, close to the national safety level standard of China (GB-2761-2011), the mixture of AFB1 crossing the placental barrier induced NSC apoptosis. The level of reactive oxygen species in NSCs was significantly elevated and the cell membrane was damaged, causing the release of intracellular lactate dehydrogenase (p < 0.05). The comet experiment and γ-H2AX immunofluorescence assay showed that AFB1 caused significant DNA damage to NSCs (p < 0.05). This study provided a new model for the toxicological evaluation of the effect of food mycotoxin exposure during pregnancy on fetal neurodevelopment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fluorometric assay based on benzothiazole carbon quantum dots (benzothiazole-CDs) was developed for the determination of cyanophoric pyrethroids (CPs, e.g., cypermethrin, deltamethrin and fenpropathrin). Benzothiazole-CDs were synthesized by amidation and condensation reaction of N, S-CDs based on a hydrothermal method. CPs could be hydrolyzed to generate cyanide ions under alkaline conditions, which reacted with the benzothiazole-CDs and destroyed the big conjugate system of the CDs inducing the quenching of fluorescence. Thus, CPs could be determined based on the fluorescence change. In order to obtain the optimum fluorescence conditions for the assay of CPs, the reaction time, temperature, the pH value of the detection system and the concentration of benzothiazole-CDs were optimized. The results demonstrated that under the optimum conditions, the concentration of CPs showed good linearity with the fluorescence quenching efficiency in the range of 0.01–2 mg L−1 and the correlation coefficient (R2) was between 0.991 and 0.995. The limits of detection were between 2.7 and 2.8 μg L−1. The assay was applied to the detection of CPs in real samples including underground water, rice and apples. The recoveries were between 74.2 and 103.5% and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were between 1.4 and 9.7%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As two commonly used fungicides, carbendazim and tebuconazole are widely found in the environment and in foods. Studies have reported that these fungicides can induce hepatic oxidative stress and other health risks. Nevertheless, the influences of exposure to carbendazim and tebuconazole at their acceptable daily intake (ADI) doses on hepatic oxidative stress, and the residual distributions in mice remain unclear. To fill these gaps, ICR (CD-1) mice were exposed to carbendazim and tebuconazole at their ADI doses by oral administration for 4 weeks in this study. The results showed that tebuconazole accumulated primarily in the epididymal fat of mice (16.84 μg/kg), whereas no significant residues of carbendazim in the tissues were observed. In addition, exposure to ADI doses of tebuconazole significantly reduced liver coefficients and induced hepatic oxidative stress in mice, including elevating the levels of glutathione and malonaldehyde. However, no significant impacts were observed on the hepatic redox homeostasis in mice after exposure to carbendazim at its ADI dose. The results could be helpful for understanding the exposure risks of carbendazim and tebuconazole in terms of low doses and long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the tribological and corrosion properties of Stellite 20 alloy coatings on F310H heat-resistant stainless steel that were prepared using HVOF and HVAF supersonic flame spraying techniques. To investigate the coatings' microstructure, phase, microhardness, wear, and corrosion resistance, a range of characterization techniques, including SEM, EDS, XRD, microhardness, and friction wear-testers, weas employed. The results indicate that both HVOF and HVAF-prepared coatings exhibit a dense structure with porosity of 0.41% and 0.32%, respectively. The coatings are composed of γ-Co solid solution, ε-Co solid solution, Cr-rich solid solution, Cr7C3, WC, and CoCr2O4 phases. The microhardness of the Stellite 20 coatings prepared by HVOF and HVAF methods was 610 HV0.3 and 690 HV0.3, respectively, which is three times higher than that of the F310H stainless steel substrate. The wear mechanism of the HVAF coating is abrasive wear, while the wear mechanism of the HVOF coating is mainly fatigue wear with slight abrasive wear. The HVAF coating demonstrates superior wear resistance due to its higher flame velocity, denser coating, and higher average microhardness. In contrast, the HVOF coating shows a higher friction coefficient stability due to its lower hardness dispersion. The corrosion potentials of the HVOF and HVAF coatings are −0.532 V and −0.376 V, respectively, with corresponding corrosion current densities of 1.692 × 10−7 A·cm−2 and 6.268 × 10−7 A·cm−2, respectively. Compared to the HVOF coating, the Stellite 20 coating prepared using HVAF technology exhibits better wear and corrosion resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The numerical simulation is similar to the experimental research, which uses the computer. 3D printing is an experimental study, which is compared with simulation. 3D printing and precision casting of impellers are frequently used in industrial scenarios. To address the problem of low casting yield of aluminium alloy impellers in gypsum-type casting, three-dimensional modelling by magics, casting simulation, and parameter optimization method by applying ProCAST software are used to improve the casting yield of impellers. The results show that the optimized structure of the casting system is more reasonable, so that the shrinkage and shrinkage defects are concentrated in the location of the riser; the maximum stress value of the casting and the casing during the solidification stage is 2.71 MPa, which is much smaller than the stress limit of the casing; the maximum horizontal displacement of the casting along the X and Y axes after solidification is completed at 0.025 mm and 0.022 mm, respectively, and the maximum displacement along the Z axis due to the presence of the riser is 0.009 mm, which greatly improves casting accuracy and molding quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maladaptation of the HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) axis plays an important role in depression-like behaviour, but the specific molecular mechanisms are unknown. Here, we determined the roles of CRHR1 (corticotrophin releasing hormone receptor 1) and nectin3 in LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-induced depression-like behaviour in mice. Methods: C57BL/6 male mice were intraperitoneally injected with LPS (0.83 g/kg), and the open field, novelty-suppressed feeding, forced swimming, and tail suspension tests were performed after intraperitoneal injections of saline or antalarmin (20 mg/kg). The hippocampal mRNA levels of CRHR1 and nectin3 were determined by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. The hippocampal protein levels of CRHR1, nectin3, and calbindin were measured by western blotting. The CORT (corticosterone) levels in the blood were measured by ELISA kits. Results: Antalarmin alleviated LPS-induced depression-like behaviour in male mice. Furthermore, antalarmin significantly inhibited changes in CRHR1, nectin3 and calbindin levels in the hippocampus and reduced the increase in CORT levels in LPS-treated mice. Conclusion: CRHR1antagonist showed antidepressant effects in LPS-induced depressive mice, and CRHR1/nectin3 signalling may play a crucial role in this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the effect of Cu content and T6 heat treatment on the mechanical properties and the tribological performance of SiCp/Al-Si-Cu-Ni-Mg hybrid composites at an elevated temperature. Design/methodology/approach: The stir casting method was used to synthesize SiCp/Al-12Si-xCu-1Ni-1Mg (x = 2, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5 Wt.%) composites containing 20 vol% SiC. The hardness and tensile strength of the aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) at room temperature and elevated temperature were studied, and the wear mechanism was investigated using scanning electron microscopic and energy dispersive spectroscopy. Findings: Results indicate that the hardness and tensile strength of the AMCs are affected significantly by T6 heat treatment and Cu content. The high-temperature friction and wear mechanism of AMCs is the composite wear mechanism of oxidation wear, adhesion wear, abrasive wear, peeling wear, high-temperature softening and partial melting. Among them, adhesion wear, high-temperature matrix softening and local melting are the main wear mechanisms. Originality/value: The influence mechanism of Cu content on the hardness, tensile strength and high temperature resistance of AMCs was explained by microstructure. And the results further help to explore the application of AMCs in high temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Phenological models have become a vital tool for predicting future phenological responses to global climate change. Recently, machine learning (ML) has been used successfully to develop phenological models based on ground observations. However, fitting an observation series that has been observed for only a few years (or even a decade) can easily lead to overfitting, and it is still a great challenge to predict future phenology accurately based on a short observation series. Here, based on historical ground phenological observations, we construct an ML‐based binary classification phenological model that can be applied to temperate trees. Innovation: We thoroughly describe the construction process of a species‐specific ML‐based binary classification phenological model that is suitable for phenological predictions in both spring and autumn. Through experiments, we evaluate 18 commonly used ML classification algorithms and the effects of two parameters on the prediction performance of the model. Finally, we compare the performance between the binary classification model and six widely used ecophysiological models for accuracy of spring phenological prediction. Main conclusions: The median root mean square error (RMSE) of the binary classification model for the first flowering date (93 observation series) was only 2.99 days, which proves that it is a good method of phenological prediction for temperate trees. This model can effectively overcome the insufficient sample size of ground observations for specific species and provide new insights of phenological predictions for tropical and subtropical trees. The comparison of different ML algorithms showed that the median root mean square errors of the six algorithms were <3.5 days, and lower than those of six ecophysiological models (>3.7 days) in prediction of spring phenology. In addition, this model can help us to infer plant physiological mechanisms and drivers of phenological change and provide more accurate predictions of plant phenological responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the field of rock mechanics, the stress–seepage–damage coupling numerical simulation of rock has always been a hot topic but a difficult problem. Based on this background, we newly derive the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) form of the seepage equation and a two-dimensional (2D) stress–seepage–damage coupling constitutive model. The proposed coupling model considers the heterogeneity of the engineering rock mass and overcomes the difficulty of the conventional SPH algorithm in stress–seepage–damage calculation. Stable one-dimensional (1D) seepage is first simulated to verify the correctness of the seepage equation and that the simulation results coincide with traditional analytical solutions. Then two triaxial compression experiments considering seepage and no-seepage conditions are simulated to show that the coupled model can well simulate the progressive rock failure process and the change in permeability. The correctness of the coupling model is verified by comparing the simulated results with experimental results. The existence of a seepage field advances the initial cracking time and weakens the peak strength of the rock. Finally, the progressive damage processes of surrounding rock excavation under unloading action are simulated, showing that stress–seepage–damage coupling model has application prospects in rock engineering. The research results may provide some references for the application of the SPH method in the stress–seepage–damage coupling simulation of rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The A359-SiCp/Fe interpenetrating phase composites reinforced with three-dimensional network structure iron foam and 20 wt. % SiC particles were fabricated after the infiltration technique by using the newly developed vacuum assisted infiltration procedures. The dry-sliding tribological behavior of A359-SiCp/Fe composites was investigated using the HT-1000 ball-on-disc type high temperature tribometer. The samples were subjected to a variety of temperatures and applied loads to investigate the influence on the wear rate and friction coefficient. In this study, SEM was used to analyses the wear microscopic morphology of A359-SiCp/Fe composites reinforced by iron foam. The wear longitudinal section and the morphology of the wear debris were analyzed by EDS and determined to explore the high-temperature wear mechanism under different temperatures and loads. Hardness analysis from the outer periphery to the core revealed an improvement in hardness. The hardness distribution of the wear longitudinal section is different at different temperatures. The formation of a high-hardness mechanical mixed layer with a different thickness on the wear surface can effectively reduce the wear rate. Microstructural investigations demonstrated that the change in wear debris shape with increasing temperature is mostly related to the change in wear mechanism. Abrasive wear and oxidation wear are the main wear mechanisms. With an increase in temperature and plastic deformation, delamination and adhesion are the predominant wear mechanisms, accompanied by the additional oxidative wear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To improve the high-temperature wear properties of the SiCp/A359 composite, foamed iron-reinforced SiCp/A359 composite (A359–SiCp/Fe) is prepared. The purpose of this study is to investigate the tribological behavior and mechanism of the A359–SiCp/Fe composites at different temperatures (100–500 °C) and loads (7 N, 10 N and 12 N). Design/methodology/approach: The A359–SiCp/Fe composite was fabricated by vacuum-assisted infiltration. The dry sliding tribological behaviors of A359–SiCp/Fe composite were investigated using the ball-on-disc-type tribometer. The worn surface and wear morphology of the longitudinal section were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy and metallographic microscope. Findings: The critical transition temperature for severe wear in A359–SiCp/Fe composite was 50–100 °C higher than in SiCp/A359 composite. Foamed iron prevents exfoliation cracks from penetrating deeper into the matrix. The friction coefficient stability of the A359–SiCp/Fe composite was higher than the unreinforced composite at elevated temperatures. With the increase in temperature, the friction-affected layer was severely worn, and the wear mechanism transferred from abrasion and delamination to oxidation and plastic flow, respectively. Originality/value: The preparation procedure for aluminum matrix composites reinforced with foamed metal has been less reported, and the research on the tribological behavior and mechanism of A359–SiCp/Fe composite at various temperatures is insufficient. The foamed iron structure considerably enhances the wear properties of SiCp/A359 composite in elevated temperature conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]