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Nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) inputs substantially affect soil microbial functions. However, the influences of long-term N and C additions on soil microbial resource limitation and heterotrophic respiration-fundamental microbial functional traits-remain unclear, impeding the understanding of how soil C dynamics respond to global change. In this study, the responses of soil microbial resource limitation and heterotrophic respiration (Rh) to 7-year N and biochar (BC) additions in a subtropical Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) plantation were investigated. We used eight treatments: Control, no N and BC addition; N30, 30 kg N (ammonium nitrate)·hm -2 ·a -1 ; N60, 60 kg N·hm -2 ·a -1 ; N90, 90 kg N·hm -2 ·a -1 ; BC20, 20 t BC (originating from Moso bamboo chips) hm -2 ; N30 + BC20, 30 kg N·hm -2 ·a -1  + 20 t BC hm -2 ; N60 + BC20, 60 kg N·hm -2 ·a -1  + 20 t BC hm -2 ; and N90 + BC20, 90 kg N·hm -2 ·a -1  + 20 t BC hm -2 . Soil microbes were co-limited by N and phosphorus (P) and not limited by C in the control treatments. Long-term N addition enhanced soil microbial N and P limitation but significantly reduced soil Rh by 15.1 %-20.0 % relative to that in the control treatments. BC amendment alleviated soil microbial N and P limitation and significantly decreased C use efficiency by 10.9 %-42.1 % but increased Rh by 33.6 %-91.6 % in the long-term N-free and N-supplemented treatments (P < 0.05). Soil C- and N-acquisition enzyme activities were the dominant drivers of soil microbial resource limitation. Furthermore, microbial resource limitation was a more reliable predictor of Rh than soil resources or microbial biomass. The results suggested that long-term N and BC additions affect Rh by regulating microbial resource limitation, highlighting its significance in understanding soil C cycling under environmental change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The utilization of metal-modified biochars (MBCs) for practical phosphorus recovery has attracted significant research interest recently. However, the optimal choice of metals and modification methods for MBCs remains unclear. This study addresses this gap by comparing the phosphate adsorption capabilities of various MBCs using real municipal wastewater. The results show that zinc-modified biochar exhibits superior phosphate adsorption compared to biochars modified with calcium, magnesium, aluminum, and iron. Specifically, zinc-modified biochar prepared through metal-mediated biomass pyrolysis with alkaline soaking (ZnBC-OH) demonstrates the highest adsorption capacity, achieving 36.6 mg P/g in wastewater with a phosphate concentration of 5 mg P/L. This performance surpasses that of previously reported non-lanthanide modified biochars and is comparable to lanthanide-modified biochars. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the exceptional performance of ZnBC-OH is due to the presence of highly dispersed ZnO sites, which facilitate the formation of Zn 3 (PO 4 ) 2 ·4H 2 O precipitation, effectively retaining phosphate. Furthermore, a techno-economic analysis indicates that using ZnBC-OH in a fixed-bed column system can reduce phosphate levels from 6 mg L -1 to below 0.5 mg L -1 at a cost of 1.834 USD per ton of secondary treated wastewater, underscoring its promising application potential., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The production of ammonia (NH 3 ) from nitrogen sources involves competitive adsorption of different intermediates and multiple electron and proton transfers, presenting grand challenges in catalyst design. In nature nitrogenases reduce dinitrogen to NH 3 using two component proteins, in which electrons and protons are delivered from Fe protein to the active site in MoFe protein for transfer to the bound N 2 . We draw inspiration from this structural enzymology, and design a two-component metal-sulfur-carbon (M-S-C) catalyst composed of sulfur-doped carbon-supported ruthenium (Ru) single atoms (SAs) and nanoparticles (NPs) for the electrochemical reduction of nitrate (NO 3 - ) to NH 3 . The catalyst demonstrates a remarkable NH 3 yield rate of ~37 mg L -1  h -1 and a Faradaic efficiency of ~97 % for over 200 hours, outperforming those consisting solely of SAs or NPs, and even surpassing most reported electrocatalysts. Our experimental and theoretical investigations reveal the critical role of Ru SAs with the coordination of S in promoting the formation of the HONO intermediate and the subsequent reduction reaction over the NP-surface nearby. Such process results in a more energetically accessible pathway for NO 3 - reduction on Ru NPs co-existing with SAs. This study proves a better understanding of how M-S-Cs act as a synthetic nitrogenase mimic during ammonia synthesis, and contributes to the future mechanism-based catalyst design., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The study investigates the global impact of land property rights on land use efficiency (LUE), as measured by the key indicator for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11.3.1, namely Land Consumption Rate to Population Growth Rate. By utilizing human-land change data from 165 countries spanning the period between 1990 and 2020, we have developed a fixed effects model and employed legal origins as an instrumental variable to examine the influence of land property rights security on LUE. Our findings demonstrate that the security of land property rights significantly influences LUE, with common law countries exhibiting higher levels of LUE compared to civil law countries while controlling for other variables. Stability in property rights encourages long-term investments in infrastructure and sustainable land management practices, thereby enhancing land productivity and mitigating urban sprawl. Furthermore, safeguarding property rights limits governments' power to expropriate lands, facilitating rational and efficient land transactions that contribute towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Benzophenone-4 (BP-4), a widely utilized organic ultraviolet (UV) filter, is recognized as a pseudo-persistent contaminant in aquatic environments. To elucidate the effects and mechanisms of BP-4 on marine diatoms, an investigation was conducted on the growth rate, photosynthetic pigment content, photosynthetic parameters, antioxidant enzyme activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, cellular structure, and transcriptome profile of the model species, Phaeodactylum tricornutum. The results showed a pronounced inhibition of algal growth upon exposure to BP-4, with a 144 h-EC 50 value of 201 mg·L -1 . In addition, BP-4 exposure resulted in a significant reduction in biomass, disruption of cell membrane integrity, and increased MDA accumulation, with levels escalating 3.57-fold at 125 mg·L -1 of BP-4. In the BP-4-treated samples, 1556 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, of which 985 were upregulated and 571 were downregulated. Gene ontology and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis revealed that the carbon fixation and carbon metabolism processes in P. tricornatum were disrupted in response to BP-4 exposure, along with excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The upregulation of genes associated with photosynthetic pigment (chlorophyll and carotenoids) synthesis, phospholipid synthesis, ribosome biogenesis, and translation-related pathways may be regarded as a component of P. tricornatum's tolerance mechanism towards BP-4. These results provide preliminary insights into the toxicity and tolerance mechanisms of BP-4 on P. tricornatum. They will contribute to a better understanding of the ecotoxicological impacts of BP-4 on the marine ecosystem and provide valuable information for elimination of BP-4 in aquatic environment by bioremediation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests. Feifei Yang reports financial support was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China. Yongfu Li reports financial support was provided by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. Yongfu Li reports financial support was provided by GEF Small Grants Programme China. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to pinpoint independent predictors influencing overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) in elderly patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) brain metastasis (BM), and to create and validate nomograms for OS and CSS prediction., Methods: Data from elderly SCLC BM patients were extracted out of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, including 1200 patients identified from 2010 and 2015 who were randomly allocated into a training set and an internal validation set at a proportion of 7:3, and 666 patients diagnosed between 2018 and 2020 as a temporal external validation set. Independent predictors for OS and CSS were determined through univariate Cox analysis, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analysis, and multivariate Cox analysis sequentially. Nomograms for OS and CSS were constructed, and validated by the internal and temporal external validation sets., Results: Age, N stage, chemotherapy, and liver metastasis were determined as independent predictors of OS and CSS, while radiotherapy and surgery were not. Nomograms were constructed based on these independent predictors. The results of the receiver operator characteristic curves, the areas under the curve and calibration curve demonstrated that the nomograms exhibited commendable discriminative ability and calibration. Moreover, decision curve analysis, net reclassification improvement, and integrated discrimination improvement also suggested that the nomograms possessed superior clinical usefulness and predictive capability relative to the TNM system., Conclusions: Prognostic nomograms for elderly patients with SCLC BM have been developed, demonstrating good performance in terms of accuracy, reliability, and practicality., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Organic soil amendments have been widely adopted to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in agroforestry ecosystems. However, the contrasting impacts of pyrogenic and fresh organic matter on native SOC mineralization and the underlying mechanisms mediating those processes remain poorly understood. Here, an 80-day experiment was conducted to compare the effects of maize straw and its derived biochar on native SOC mineralization within a Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) forest soil. The quantity and quality of SOC, the expression of microbial functional genes concerning soil C cycling, and the activity of associated enzymes were determined. Maize straw enhanced while its biochar decreased the emissions of native SOC-derived CO 2 . The addition of maize straw (cf. control) enhanced the O-alkyl C proportion, activities of β-glucosidase (BG), cellobiohydrolase (CBH) and dehydrogenase (DH), and abundances of GH48 and cbhI genes, while lowered aromatic C proportion, RubisCO enzyme activity, and cbbL abundance; the application of biochar induced the opposite effects. In all treatments, the cumulative native SOC-derived CO 2 efflux increased with enhanced O-alkyl C proportion, activities of BG, CBH, and DH, and abundances of GH48 and cbhI genes, and with decreases in aromatic C, RubisCO enzyme activity and cbbL gene abundance. The enhanced emissions of native SOC-derived CO 2 by the maize straw were associated with a higher O-alkyl C proportion, activities of BG and CBH, and abundance of GH48 and cbhI genes, as well as a lower aromatic C proportion and cbbL gene abundance, while biochar induced the opposite effects. We concluded that maize straw induced positive priming, while its biochar induced negative priming within a subtropical forest soil, due to the contrasting microbial responses resulted from changes in SOC speciation and compositions. Our findings highlight that biochar application is an effective approach for enhancing soil C stocks in subtropical forests., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Oxybenzone (OBZ; benzophenone-3, CAS# 131-57-7), as a new pollutant and ultraviolet absorbent, shows a significant threat to the survival of phytoplankton. This study aims to explore the acute toxic effects of OBZ on the growth of the microalga Selenastrum capricornutum, as well as the mechanisms for its damage to the primary metabolic pathways of photosynthesis and respiration. The results demonstrated that the concentrations for 50 % of maximal effect (EC50) of OBZ for S. capricornutum were 9.07 mg L -1 and 8.54 mg L -1 at 72 h and 96 h, respectively. A dosage of 4.56 mg L -1 OBZ significantly lowered the photosynthetic oxygen evolution rate of S. capricornutum in both light and dark conditions for a duration of 2 h, while it had no effect on the respiratory oxygen consumption rate under darkness. OBZ caused a significant decline in the efficiency of photosynthetic electron transport due to its damage to photosystem II (PSII), thereby decreasing the photosynthetic oxygen evolution rate. Over-accumulated H 2 O 2 was produced under light due to the damage caused by OBZ to the donor and acceptor sides of PSII, resulting in increased peroxidation of cytomembranes and inhibition of algal respiration. OBZ's damage to photosynthesis and respiration will hinder the conversion and reuse of energy in algal cells, which is an important reason that OBZ has toxic effects on S. capricornutum. The present study indicated that OBZ has an acute toxic effect on the microalga S. capricornutum. In the two most important primary metabolic pathways in algae, photosynthesis is more sensitive to the toxicity of OBZ than respiration, especially in the dark., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All authors declare that they do not have any conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common, life-threatening malignancy that contributes to the global burden of cancer-related mortality, as conventional therapeutic modalities show limited effects on GC. Hence, it is critical to develop novel agents for GC therapy. Morusin, a typical prenylated flavonoid, possesses antitumor effects against various cancers. The present study aimed to demonstrate the inhibitory effect and mechanism of morusin on the stemness characteristics of human GC in vitro under hypoxia and to explore the potential molecular mechanisms. The effects of morusin on cell proliferation and cancer stem cell-like properties of the human GC cell lines SNU-1 and AGS were assessed by MTT assay, colony formation test, qRT-PCR, flow cytometry analysis, and sphere formation test under hypoxia or normoxia condition through in vitro assays. The potential molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of morusin on the stem-cell-like properties of human GC cells in vitro were investigated by qRT-PCR, western blotting assay, and immunofluorescence assay by evaluating the nuclear translocation and expression level of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). The results showed that morusin exerted growth inhibitory effects on SNU-1 and AGS cells under hypoxia in vitro. Moreover, the proportions of CD44 + /CD24 - cells and the sphere formation ability of SNU-1 and AGS reduced in a dose-dependent manner following morusin treatment. The expression levels of stem cell-related genes, namely Nanog, OCT4, SOX2, and HIF-1α, gradually decreased, and the nuclear translocation of the HIF-1α protein was apparently attenuated. HIF-1α overexpression partially reversed the abovementioned effects of morusin. Taken together, morusin could restrain stemness characteristics of GC cells by inhibiting HIF-1α accumulation and nuclear translocation and could serve as a promising compound for GC treatment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The microalga Chlorella pyrenoidosa is cultivated extensively for its constituents, which are of significant economic worth. Large-scale growth of C. pyrenoidosa in outdoor environments is subject to various stressors such as elevated temperature. The purpose of this study was to assess the protective effects of exogenous 24-epibrassinolide (EBL) on C. pyrenoidosa under high-temperature conditions. Compared to a temperature of 30°C, increasing the temperature to 43°C reduced the enzymatic capacity for carbon assimilation and resulted in the buildup of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thus reducing photosynthesis and proliferation. It was observed that exogenous EBL protected C. pyrenoidosa cells against high temperatures, with an optimal EBL concentration of 100 nM, resulting in enhanced capacity for photosynthetic carbon assimilation with a notable reduction in the imbalance between the absorption of light and energy used under high-temperature conditions. The addition of 100 nM EBL resulted in a 25.4% increase in cell density when exposed to elevated temperatures for 7 days. In addition, exogenous EBL reduced ROS production and increased the activities of critical antioxidant enzymes. This, in turn, mitigated heat-induced oxidative damage, resulting in advantageous outcomes in terms of cellular development and maintenance., (© 2024 Phycological Society of America.)

Ecological niche partitioning is crucial in reducing interspecific competition, fostering species coexistence, and preserving biodiversity. Our research, conducted in a hybrid mixed oak forest in Yushan, Jiangsu, China, focuses on Quercus acutissima , Q. variabilis , Q. fabri , and Q. serrata var. brevipetiolata . Using Point Pattern Analysis, we investigated the spatial relationships and ecological trait autocorrelation, including total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (TP), potassium (TK), and breast height diameter (DBH). Our findings show aggregated distribution patterns within the oak populations. The Inhomogeneous Poisson Point model highlights the impact of environmental heterogeneity on Q. variabilis , leading to distinct distribution patterns, while other species showed wider dispersion. This study reveals aggregated interspecific interactions, with a notable dispersal pattern between Q. acutissima and Q. variabilis . We observed significant variability in nutrient elements, indicating distinct nutrient dynamics and uptake processes. The variations in total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), phosphorus (TP), and potassium (TK) suggest distinct nutrient dynamics, with TK showing the highest variability. Despite variations in TC, TK, and TP, the species did not form distinct classes, suggesting overlapping nutritional strategies and environmental adaptations. Furthermore, spatial autocorrelation analysis indicates strong positive correlations for DBH, TC, and TP, whereas TK and TN correlations are non-significant. The results suggest habitat filtering as a key driver in intraspecific relationships, with a finer spatial scale of ecological niche division through TC and TP, which is crucial for maintaining coexistence among these oak species.

This paper presents a low-power frequency-domain functional near-infrared spectroscopy (FD-fNIRS) readout circuit for the absolute value measurement of tissue optical characteristics. The paper proposes a mixer-first analog front-end (AFE) structure and a 1-bit Σ-Δ phase-to-digital converter (PDC) to reduce the required circuit bandwidth and the laser modulation frequency, thereby saving power while maintaining high resolution. The proposed chip achieves sub-0.01° phase resolution and consumes 6.8 mW of power. Nine optical solid phantoms are produced to evaluate the chip. Compared to a self-built high-precision measurement platform that combines a network analyzer with an avalanche photodiode (APD) module, the maximum measuring errors of the absorption coefficient and reduced scattering coefficient are 10.6% and 12.3%, respectively.

Infrared ship detection is of great significance due to its broad applicability in maritime surveillance, traffic safety and security. Multiple infrared sensors with different spectral sensitivity provide enhanced sensing capabilities, facilitating ship detection in complex environments. Nevertheless, current researches lack discussion and exploration of infrared imagers in different spectral ranges for marine objects detection. Furthermore, for unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs), e.g., unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and unmanned ship (USs), detection and perception are usually performed in embedded devices with limited memory and computation resource, which makes traditional convolutional neural network (CNN)-based detection methods struggle to leverage their advantages. Aimed at the task of sea surface object detection on USVs, this paper provides lightweight CNNs with high inference speed that can be deployed on embedded devices. It also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using different sensors in marine object detection, providing a reference for the perception and decision-making modules of USVs. The proposed method can detect ships in short-wave infrared (SWIR), long-wave infrared (LWIR) and fused images with high-performance and high-inference speed on an embedded device. Specifically, the backbone is built from bottleneck depth-separable convolution with residuals. Generating redundant feature maps by using cheap linear operation in neck and head networks. The learning and representation capacities of the network are promoted by introducing the channel and spatial attention, redesigning the sizes of anchor boxes. Comparative experiments are conducted on the infrared ship dataset that we have released which contains SWIR, LWIR and the fused images. The results indicate that the proposed method can achieve high accuracy but with fewer parameters, and the inference speed is nearly 60 frames per second (FPS) on an embedded device., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) systems have shown great promise in many fields such as real-time wearable healthcare imaging, but their fixed number of electrodes and placement locations limit the system's flexibility and adaptability for further advancement. In this article, we propose a flexible and reconfigurable EIT system (Flexi-EIT) based on digital active electrode (DAE) architecture to address these limitations. By integrating a reconfigurable number of up to 32 replaceable DAEs into the flexible printed circuit (FPC) based wearable electrode belt, we can enable rapid, reliable, and easy placement while maintaining high device flexibility and reliability. We also explore hardware-software co-optimization image reconstruction solutions to balance the size and accuracy of the model, the power consumption, and the real-time latency. Each DAE is designed using commercial chips and fabricated on a printed circuit board (PCB) measuring 13.1 mm × 24.4 mm and weighing 2 grams. In current excitation mode, it can provide programmable sinusoidal current signal output with frequencies up to 100 kHz and amplitudes up to 1 mA p-p that meets IEC 60601-1 standard. In voltage acquisition mode, it can pre-amplify, filter, and digitize the external response voltage signal, improving the robustness of the system while avoiding the need for subsequent analog signal processing circuits. Measured results on a mesh phantom demonstrate that the Flexi-EIT system can be easily configured with different numbers of DAEs and scan patterns to provide EIT measurement frames at 38 fps and real-time EIT images with at least 5 fps, showing the potential to be deployed in a variety of application scenarios and providing the optimal balance of system performance and hardware resource usage solutions.

When interspecific gene flow is common, species relationships are more accurately represented by a phylogenetic network than by a bifurcating tree. This study aimed to uncover the role of introgression in the evolution of Osmanthus, the only genus of the subtribe Oleinae (Oleaceae) with its distribution center in East Asia. We built species trees, detected introgression, and constructed networks using multiple kinds of sequencing data (whole genome resequencing, transcriptome sequencing, and Sanger sequencing of nrDNA) combined with concatenation and coalescence approaches. Then, based on well-understood species relationships, historical biogeographic analyses and diversification rate estimates were employed to reveal the history of Osmanthus. Osmanthus originated in mid-Miocene Europe and dispersed to the eastern Tibetan Plateau in the late Miocene. Thereafter, it continued to spread eastwards. Phylogenetic conflict is common within the 'Core Osmanthus' clade and is seen at both early and late stages of diversification, leading to hypotheses of net-like species relationships. Incomplete lineage sorting proved ineffective in explaining phylogenetic conflicts and thus supported introgression as the main cause of conflicts. This study elucidates the diversification history of a relict genus in the subtropical regions of eastern Asia and reveals that introgression had profound effects on its evolutionary history., (© 2023 Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Straw-related carbon (C) dynamics are central for C accrual in agro-ecosystems and should be assessed by investigating their decomposition and soil organic carbon (SOC) priming effects. Our understanding of biotic and abiotic mechanisms underpinning these two C processes, however, is still not sufficiently profound. Soils that had received organic and mineral fertilizers for 26 years were sampled for a 28 day incubation experiment to assess 13 C-labeled straw decomposition and SOC priming effects. On the basis of analyzing physicochemical properties, fungal taxonomic (MiSeq sequencing) and functional (metagenomics) guilds, we quantified the contributions of biotic and abiotic attributes to straw decomposition and SOC priming. Here, we propose two distinct mechanisms underlying straw decomposition and SOC priming in agriculture soils: (i) accelerated straw mineralization in manure-treated soils was mainly driven by biotic forces, while (ii) larger SOC priming in NPK-amended soils was through abiotic regulation.

The pulse transition features (PTFs), including pulse arrival time (PAT) and pulse transition time (PTT), hold significant importance in estimating non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP). However, the literature showcases considerable variations in terms of PTFs' correlation with blood pressure (BP), accuracy in NIBP estimation, and the comprehension of the relationship between PTFs and BP. This inconsistency is exemplified by the wide-ranging correlations reported across studies investigating the same feature. Furthermore, investigations comparing PAT and PTT have yielded conflicting outcomes. Additionally, PTFs have been derived from various bio-signals, capturing distinct characteristic points like the pulse's foot and peak. To address these inconsistencies, this study meticulously reviews a selection of such research endeavors while aligning them with the biological intricacies of blood pressure and the human cardiovascular system (CVS). Each study underwent evaluation, considering the specific signal acquisition locale and the corresponding recording procedure. Moreover, a comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted, yielding multiple conclusions that could significantly enhance the design and accuracy of NIBP systems. Grounded in these dual aspects, the study systematically examines PTFs in correlation with the specific study conditions and the underlying factors influencing the CVS. This approach serves as a valuable resource for researchers aiming to optimize the design of BP recording experiments, bio-signal acquisition systems, and the fine-tuning of feature engineering methodologies, ultimately advancing PTF-based NIBP estimation.

Plant invasions significantly alter the microbiome of the soil in terms of fungal and bacterial communities, which in turn regulates ecosystem processes and nutrient dynamics. However, it is unclear how soil microbial communities, nitrogen (N) mineralization, and their linkages respond to plant invasions over the growing season in forest ecosystems. The present study investigated the seasonal associations between the microbial composition/function and net N mineralization in evergreen broadleaf, mixed bamboo-broadleaf, and Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) forests, depicting uninvaded, moderately invaded, and heavily invaded forests, respectively. The ammonification and nitrification rates in the bamboo forest were significantly higher than those in the broadleaf and mixed bamboo-broadleaf forests during the spring season only. The forest type and seasonal variation significantly influenced the net rates of ammonification and nitrification and the abundances of bacterial apr and AOB amoA, fungal cbhI and lcc genes, as well as the microbial composition. Moreover, the partial least squares path model revealed that bamboo invasion enhanced net ammonification through increasing total N and fungal-to-bacterial ratio, and enhanced net nitrification through modifying the bacterial composition and increasing the fungal-to-bacterial ratio during spring. However, microbial parameters had no significant effect on net ammonification and nitrification during autumn. We conclude that shifts in the microbial abundance and composition following bamboo invasion facilitated soil N mineralization during spring, contributing to the rapid growth of Moso bamboo at the beginning of the growth season and its invasion into adjacent subtropical forests., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The estimation of global burden of neck pain is lacking. To estimate the trends and burden of neck pain by sex, age, region, and sociodemographic index (SDI)., Material and Methods: The incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) data for neck pain were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 database. The estimated annual percent change (EAPC) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the trends in age-standardized incidence and DALY rates from 1990 to 2019., Results: From 1990 to 2019, the global age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate indicated downward trends, with EAPCs of -0.06 and -0.09, respectively. The EAPCs of the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate were negatively correlated with the SDI in 2019, respectively. The age-standardized incidence rates and age-standardized DALY rates in regions with a high SDI indicated a downward trend, including in high-income North America, Australia, and New Zealand. In 2019, the Philippines and high-income North America had the highest age-standardized incidence and age-standardized DALY rates. From 1990 to 2019, the areas which increased most rapidly in the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate were in tropical Latin America (EAPCs of 0.53 and 0.60, respectively). Brazil had the most rapid increase in the age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate (EAPCs of 0.55 and 0.61, respectively)., Conclusions: The age-standardized incidence rate and age-standardized DALY rate of neck pain decreased globally from 1990 to 2019. However, there were significant differences concerning sex, age, and regional distributions. Therefore, targeted prevention interventions and risk factor control measures should be reasonably allocated., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Termedia & Banach.)

The present study investigated the composition, abundance, and diversity of gut microbes in full-term and late-preterm infants from a medical center in eastern China. A total of 144 genomes of stool samples were captured for 16S rRNA metagenomic analyses. A high abundance of commensal intestinal bacteria was detected in these samples such as Phocaeicola vulgatus, Escherichia coli, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, indicating a relatively consistent diversity of gut microbes in the present full-term infants aged 38-40 weeks. However, late preterm infants (n = 50) with mandatory antimicrobials feeding exhibited lower diversity but a higher composition of opportunistic pathogens such as Enterococcus species. Centralized on the situation, we explored the regulatory effect of Clostridium butyricum as probiotics on these late preterm infants. The consumption of C. butyricum did not restore the composition of gut microbes altered by antimicrobials to normal levels, although several opportunistic pathogens decreased significantly after probiotic therapy including Staphylococcus aureus, Sphingomonas echinoides, and Pseudomonas putida. We also compared the effects of day-fed versus night-fed probiotics. Intriguingly, the nighttime feeding showed a higher proportion of C. butyricum compared with probiotic day-feeding. Finally, fecal metabolome and metabolites were analyzed in late preterm infants with (n = 20) or without probiotic therapy (n = 20). The KEGG enrichment analysis demonstrated that vitamin digestion and absorption, synaptic vesicle cycle, and biotin metabolism were significantly increased in the probiotic-treated group, while MSEA indicated that a series of metabolism were significantly enriched in probiotic-treated infants including glycerolipid, biotin, and lysine, indicating the complex effects of probiotic therapy on glutathione metabolism and nutrients digestion and absorption in late preterm infants. Overall, this study provided metagenomic and metabolomic profile of the gut microbes in full-term newborns and late preterm infants in eastern China. Further studies are needed to support and elucidate the role of probiotic feeding in late preterm infants with mandatory antimicrobial treatment., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Body channel communication (BCC) has become a promising candidate in wireless body area networks (WBAN) due to its advantages in energy efficiency and security. However, BCC transceivers face two challenges: diverse application requirements and varying channel conditions. To overcome these challenges, this article proposes a re-configurable architecture for BCC transceivers (TRXs), whose key parameters and communication protocols can be software-defined (SD) according to the requirements. In the proposed TRX, the programmable direct-sampling receiver (RX) is a combination of a programmable low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a fast-convergent successive approaching register analog-to-digital converter (SAR ADC), to achieve simple but energy-efficient data reception. The programmable digital transmitter (TX) is essentially implemented by a 2-bit DAC array to transmit either wide-band carrier-free signals like 4-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-4) or non-return-to-zero (NRZ) or narrow-band carrier-based signals like on-off keying (OOK) or frequency shift keying (FSK). The proposed BCC TRX is fabricated in a 180-nm CMOS process. Through an in-vivo experiment, it achieves up to 10-Mbps data rate and 119.2 pJ/bit energy efficiency. Moreover, the TRX is able to communicate under long-distance (1.5 m) and body-shielding conditions by switching its protocols, which shows the potential to be deployed in all categories of WBAN applications.

To date, there is a lack of systematic investigation on the elemental sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrification (SDAD) process for removing nitrate (NO 3 - -N) from mariculture wastewater deficient in organic carbon sources. Therefore, a packed-bed reactor was established and continuously operated for 230 days to investigate the operation performance, kinetic characteristics and microbial community of SDAD biofilm process. Results indicate that the NO 3 - -N removal efficiencies and rates varied with the operational conditions including HRT (1-4 h), influent concentrations of NO 3 - -N (25-100 mg L -1 ) and DO (0.2-7.0 mg L -1 ), and temperature (10 o C-30 °C), in the ranges of 51.4%-98.6% and 0.054-0.546 g L -1 d -1 , respectively. Limestone could partially neutralize the produced acidity. Small portions of NO 3 - -N were converted to nitrite (<4.5%) and ammonia (<2.8%) in the reactor. Operational conditions also influenced the production of acidity, nitrite and ammonia as well as sulfate. Shortening HRT and increasing influent NO 3 - -N concentration turned the optimal fitting model depicting the NO 3 - -N removal along the reactor from half-order to zero-order. Furthermore, the NO 3 - -N removal was accelerated by a higher temperature and influent NO 3 - -N concentration and a lower HRT and influent DO concentration. Microbial richness, evenness and diversity gradually decreased during the autotrophic denitrifier enrichment cultivation and the reactor start-up and operation. Sulfurimonas constituted the predominate genus and the primary functional bacteria in the reactor. This study highlights the SDAD as a promising way to control the coastal eutrophication associated with mariculture wastewater discharge., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Hypoxia is a major emerging threat to coastal ecosystems, which is closely related to the decline in seagrass meadows, but its damage mechanism is still unclear. This study found that hypoxia at night significantly reduced the photosynthetic capacity of Enhalus acoroides after reillumination. Photosystem II (PSII) was damaged by high-light stress during daytime low-tide exposure, but high-light-damaged PSII of E. acoroides could recover part of its activity indark normoxic seawater to maintain the normal operation of photosynthesis after reillumination during the next day. However, hypoxia inhibited the recovery of damaged PSII under darkness. By transcriptomic analysis and inhibitor verification experiments, dark hypoxia was shown to inhibit respiration, thereby reducing ATP production and preventing ATP from being transported into chloroplasts, which, in turn, led to an insufficient supply of energy required for PSII to recover. This study demonstrated that hypoxia has several negative impacts on the photosynthetic apparatus of E. acoroides at night reducing photosynthetic capacity after reillumination, which may be an important factor leading to the decline of the seagrass meadows., (© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Flying ad hoc networks (FANETs), composed of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), possess characteristics of flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and rapid deployment, rendering them highly attractive for a wide range of civilian and military applications. FANETs are special mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), FANETs have the characteristics of faster network topology changes and limited energy. Existing reactive routing protocols are unsuitable for the highly dynamic and limited energy of FANETs. For the lithium battery-powered UAV, flight endurance lasts from half an hour to two hours. The fast-moving UAV not only affects the packet delivery rate, average throughput, and end-to-end delay but also shortens the flight endurance. Therefore, research is urgently needed into a high-performance routing protocol with high energy efficiency. In this paper, we propose a novel routing protocol called AO-AOMDV, which utilizes arithmetic optimization (AO) to enhance the ad hoc on-demand multi-path distance vector (AOMDV) routing protocol. The AO-AOMDV utilizes a fitness function to calculate the fitness value of multiple paths and employs arithmetic optimization for selecting the optimal route for routing selection. Our experiments were conducted using NS3 with three evaluation metrics: the packet delivery ratio, network lifetime, and average end-to-end delay. We compare this algorithm to routing protocols including AOMDV and AODV. The results indicate that the proposed AO-AOMDV attained a higher packet delivery ratio, network lifetime, and lower average end-to-end delay.

Background: Tartary buckwheat protein peptides have been shown to be able to inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE), but the exact protein type has been less studied for ACE activity inhibition, and only a few types of ACE inhibitory peptides have been reported. In this study, we purified and identified ACE inhibitory peptides from albumin hydrolysate (AH)., Results: Albumin, globulin, prolamin and glutelin were extracted from Tartary buckwheat, and their ACE active peptides were obtained by a pepsin-trypsin sequential hydrolysis process. All four hydrolysates exhibited ACE inhibitory activity, and AH displayed the strongest ACE inhibition activity and the highest peptide yield (82.28%). At 0.2 mg mL -1 , the inhibition rate of AH was 79.89%, followed by globulin hydrolysate at 71.84%, while prolamin hydrolysate and glutelin hydrolysate showed lower inhibition rates. The peptides with the highest inhibition rate were then isolated from AH using gel filtration chromatography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and identified using nanoscale high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. After isolation and purification, 42 ACE inhibitory peptides were identified in the fraction with the highest inhibition rate, 14 of which were completely novel discoveries in this study. These 14 peptides showed potent ACE inhibitory effects through computer analysis., Conclusion: Tartary buckwheat albumin can be used as a good source of ACE inhibitory peptides and can be further developed and utilized as edible supplements or drugs. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Wearable body sensor nodes require massive data transmission under limited energy. However, it suffers from drastically varying channel loss, which limits its energy efficiency in practical scenarios. This paper presents a power-driven body-channel transceiver (TRX), whose power consumption can be adaptively tuned against varying channel loss. An out-band programmable gain amplifier (PGA) is proposed to save power and generate a quasi-linear correlation between PGA gain and power. By using the quasi-linear gain-power relationship, we propose an auto gain/power control technique to realize on-demand power consumption. In addition, a differential balanced transmitter is designed to eliminate base-band harmonics in on-off keying modulation and increase the power delivered by the transmitter (TX). The TX and receiver (RX) of the prototype were integrated into 1 chip and fabricated in a 55-nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor process. During the measurement, 2 chips were configured as TX and RX, respectively. Both the TX and the RX were wearable, powered by lithium batteries, and attached to the subject's hands. The prototype achieved a 5.25-Mbps data rate with 16-pJ/bit energy efficiency at a 1.5-m straight-line ground path distance. Furthermore, the proposed TRX maintained stable communication within a 1.5-m distance, while dynamically reducing power consumption., (Copyright © 2023 Tao He et al.)

Blue InGaN chip-pumped short-wave infrared (SWIR) emitters have aroused tremendous attention and shown emerging applications in diverse fields such as healthcare, retail, and agriculture. However, discovering blue light-emitting diode (LED)-pumped SWIR phosphors with a central emission wavelength over 1000 nm remains a significant challenge. Herein, we demonstrate the efficient broadband SWIR luminescence of Ni 2+ by simultaneously incorporating Cr 3+ and Ni 2+ ions into the MgGa 2 O 4 lattice, with Cr 3+ as the sensitizer and Ni 2+ as the emitter. Because of the strong blue light absorption of Cr 3+ and high energy transfer efficiency to Ni 2+ , the obtained MgGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ , Ni 2+ phosphors show intense SWIR luminescence with a peak wavelength at 1260 nm and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 222 nm under the excitation of blue light. The optimized SWIR phosphor presents an ultra-high SWIR photoluminescence quantum efficiency of 96.5% and outstanding luminescence thermal stability (67.9%@150 °C). A SWIR light source has been fabricated through a combination of the prepared MgGa 2 O 4 :Cr 3+ , Ni 2+ phosphor and a commercial 450 nm blue LED chip, delivering a maximum SWIR radiant power of 14.9 mW at 150 mA input current. This work not only demonstrates the feasibility of developing broadband high-power SWIR emitters using converter technology but also presents new insights into the importance of SWIR technology.

Control of vehicle platoon can effectively reduce the traffic accidents caused by fatigue driving and misoperation, reduce air resistance by eliminating the inter-vehicle gap which will effectively reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions. A hierarchical control scheme for vehicle platoons is proposed in this paper. Considering safety, consistency, and passengers' comfort, a synchronous distributed model predictive controller is designed as an upper-level controller, in which a constraint guaranteeing string stability is introduced into the involved local optimization problem so as to guarantee that the inter-vehicle gap error gradually attenuates as it propagates downstream. A terminal equality constraint is added to guarantee asymptotic consensus of vehicle platoons. By constructing the vehicle inverse longitudinal dynamics model, a lower-level control scheme with feedforward and feedback controllers is designed to adjust the throttle angle and brake pressure of vehicles. A PID is used as the feedback controller to eliminate the influence of unmodeled dynamics and uncertainties. Finally, the performance of longitudinal tracking with the proposed control scheme is validated by joint simulations with PreScan, CarSim, and Simulink., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) can measure weak magnetic fields and has significant advantages for use in alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) leakage current sensors for power equipment; however, TMR current sensors are easily perturbed by external magnetic fields, and their measurement accuracy and measurement stability are limited in complex engineering application environments. To enhance the TMR sensor measurement performance, this paper proposes a new multi-stage TMR weak AC/DC sensor structure with high measurement sensitivity and anti-magnetic interference capability. The front-end magnetic measurement characteristics and interference immunity of the multi-stage TMR sensor are found to be closely related to the multi-stage ring size design via finite element simulation. The optimal size of the multipole magnetic ring is determined using an improved non-dominated ranking genetic algorithm (ACGWO-BP-NSGA-II) to derive the optimal sensor structure. Experimental results demonstrate that the newly designed multi-stage TMR current sensor has a measurement range of 60 mA, a fitting nonlinearity error of less than 1%, a measurement bandwidth of 0-80 kHz, a minimum AC measurement value of 85 μA and a minimum DC measurement value of 50 μA, as well as a strong external electromagnetic interference. The TMR sensor can effectively enhance measurement precision and stability in the presence of intense external electromagnetic interference.

Metal oxides have remained state-of-the-art adsorbents for recovering phosphorus from aqueous solutions, but their practical application is still limited by their unsatisfactory adsorption capacities and selectivities in wastewater. Here, using MgO as a model metal oxide, the strategy of employing porous cellulose sponge to support metal oxides featuring exposed specific crystal facets was proposed to develop promising phosphate adsorbents. The phosphate adsorption isotherms and kinetics were measured and the phosphate adsorption mechanism was explored. The results show that cellulose sponge-supported MgO(100) (C-MgO(100)) has a saturation capacity of 28.3 mg P/g, over ten times higher than MgO(100) particles. Importantly, the phosphate adsorption properties of C-MgO(100) are almost not affected in wastewater, demonstrating its exceptional selectivity for phosphate adsorption. In contrast, the saturation capacity of MgO(111)-functionalized cellulose sponge is obviously declined in wastewater. Experimental together with theoretical analyses indicate that phosphate is chemically adsorbed on C-MgO(100) with obvious electrons transfer from the p-orbital of phosphate, and the adsorption energy of C-MgO(100) towards phosphate is maintained in the presence of coexisting anions. Ultimately, regeneration experiments reveal that a regenerant formulation composed of KOH (wt.1 %) and tap water is suitable for the regeneration of C-MgO(100) with >82.6 % phosphate desorption efficiencies after 5 cycles, further confirming its potential in practical application for the treatment of real water., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The status of zinc oxide (ZnO) arresters is directly related to the safety of power grids. However, as the service life of ZnO arresters increases, their insulation performance may decrease due to factors such as operating voltage and humidity, which can be identified through the measurement of leakage current. Tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) sensors with high sensitivity, good temperature stability, and small size are excellent for measuring leakage current. This paper constructs a simulation model of the arrester and investigates the deployment of the TMR current sensor and the size of the magnetic concentrating ring. The arrester's leakage current magnetic field distribution under different operating conditions is simulated. The simulation model can aid in optimizing the detection of leakage current in arresters using TMR current sensors, and the findings serve as a basis for monitoring the condition of arresters and improving the installation of current sensors. The TMR current sensor design offers potential advantages such as high accuracy, miniaturization, and ease of distributed application measurement, making it suitable for large-scale use. Finally, the validity of the simulations and conclusions is verified through experiments.

Inspired by the human brain, spiking neuron networks are promising to realize energy-efficient and low-latency neuromorphic computing. However, even state-of-the-art silicon neurons are orders of magnitude worse than biological neurons in terms of area and power consumption due to the limitations. Moreover, limited routing in typical CMOS processes is another challenge for realizing the fully-parallel high-throughput synapse connections compared to biological synapses. This paper presents an SNN circuit that utilizes resource-sharing techniques to address the two challenges. Firstly, a comparator sharing neuron circuit with a background calibration technique is proposed to shrink the size of a single neuron without performance degradation. Secondly, a time-modulated axon-sharing synapse system is proposed to realize a fully-parallel connection with limited hardware overhead. To validate the proposed approaches, a CMOS neuron array is designed and fabricated under a 55-nm process. It consists of 48 LIF neurons with 3125 neurons/mm 2 area density, power consumption of 5.3 pJ/spike, and equivalent 2304 fully parallel synapses providing a unit throughput of 5500 events/s/neuron. It proves the proposed approaches are promising to realize a high-throughput high-efficiency SNN with CMOS technology.

In this paper, a modified infrared and visible image registration method based on contour feature is proposed. Our method firstly extracts the feature contour and eliminates sparkling waves contour of the sea surface, determines the main direction of the contour based on the contour image, then uses the improved Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) method as the feature point to construct the descriptor, completes the registration of the two images. 30 sets of infrared and visible-band vessels images were selected for registration experiments. Compared with previous reports, the experimental results showed that the proportion of effective feature points detected by this method can reach 70%, and the average number of effective feature points detected by proposed method can reach 196 in visible band image and 279 in infrared image. The running time was 5.3599s, shortened by 25% compared with previous reports, and the average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) value was 2.3566, smaller by 75% compared with previous reports. An effective registration method is provided, which can be used for infrared and visible image processing and comprehensive utilization of information in marine scenes., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

Staphylococcus aureus is a common foodborne pathogen and spoilage bacterium in meat products. To develop a natural preservative for meat products, this study revealed the antibacterial activity and mechanism of Rosa roxburghii Tratt pomace crude extract (RRPCE) against S. aureus , and applied RRPCE to the preservation of cooked beef. The diameter of inhibition zone, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), and minimum bactericide concentration of RRPCE against S. aureus were 15.85 ± 0.35 to 16.21 ± 0.29 mm, 1.5 mg/mL, and 3 mg/mL, respectively. The growth curve of S. aureus was completely stalled by treatment with RRPCE at 2 MIC. RRPCE results in the decrease of intracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) content, depolarization of cell membrane, leakage of cell fluid including nucleic acid and protein, and destruction of cell membrane integrity and cell morphology. During storage, RRPCE significantly reduced S. aureus viable counts, pH, and total volatile basic nitrogen of cooked beef compared with untreated samples ( p  < 0.05). In addition, RRPCE could significantly increase the redness ( a* ) value, decrease lightness ( L* ) and yellowness ( b* ) values, and slow down the color change of cooked beef ( p  < 0.05). These findings suggest that RRPCE can effectively inhibit S. aureus , and has the potential as a natural preservative for the preservation of cooked beef.

Research on resources and environmental carrying capacity (RECC) has been expanding since the early 20th century, and RECC has become a global concern and criterion for measuring regional sustainable development. Land-use planning (LUP) serves as a key tool of socioeconomic-ecological coordinated development and is deeply associated with RECC. In China, the newly established spatial planning system of 2019 identifies RECC assessment as the basis for spatial planning. However, after systematically reviewing the research history, conceptual evolution, and evaluation methods of RECC, we found that the existing approach of RECC has not addressed the impacts of stakeholders' behavior on RECC, in other words, the governance perspective has not been sufficiently discussed. Further, research on the interaction between RECC and LUP has been far from sufficient, hampering our deep understanding of the roles of LUP in improving RECC. In order to fill this gap, a new framework is proposed to explain the formation mechanism of RECC combining the governance considerations based on the social-ecological system (SES) framework, which has made contributions to enrich the research perspective of RECC and its theoretical and methods system. In addition, the interaction path between RECC and LUP is constructed according to the new RECC framework and a policy toolbox for improving RECC, which will provide a comprehensive and systematic practical application path for improving RECC and promoting regional socioeconomic-ecological coordinated sustainable development. The conclusion part discusses the future research topics and limitations for RECC and LUP.

High temperature detection is a constant challenge for condition monitoring under harsh environments in optical fiber sensors research. In this study, the temperature response characteristics of guided acoustic wave Brillouin scattering (GAWBS) spectra in silica single-mode fiber (SMF) up to 800 °C are experimentally investigated, demonstrating the feasibility of the method for high-temperature monitoring. With increasing temperature, the resonance frequency of GAWBS spectra increases in a nearly linear manner, with linearly fitted temperature-dependent frequency shift coefficients of 8.19 kHz/°C for TR 2,7 mode and 16.74 kHz/°C for R 0,4 mode. More importantly, the linewidth of the GAWBS spectra is observed to narrow down with increasing temperature with a linearly fitted rate of -6.91 × 10 -4 /°C for TR 2,7 modes and -8.56 × 10 -4 /°C for R 0,4 modes. The signal-to-noise ratio of the GAWBS spectra induced by both modes increase by more than 3 dB when the temperature rises from 22 °C to 800 °C, which indicates that the proposed sensing scheme has better performance in high-temperature environments, and are particularly suitable for sensing applications in extreme environments. This study confirms the potential of high-temperature sensing using only GAWBS in silica fibers without any complex micromachining process, which has the advantages of strong mechanical strength, simple structure, easy operation, and low cost.

Irradiation has become a mature processing approach for the quality control of many agricultural products. The effects of gamma irradiation at four different doses (2, 4, 6, and 8 kGy) on microbial quality, Hunter's parameter, lipid oxidation, hydrolyzed amino acids (HAAs), and flavor in spicy chicken were investigated. After treatment, all samples were stored at 4°C. The microbiological results showed that the total viable bacteria (TVB) and total coliform count (TCC) were significantly decreased dose dependently. Values of Δa*, Δb*, and ΔE* of the irradiated specimens were lower compared with the control samples, whereas the ΔL* of the irradiated specimens was higher compared with the controls. The peroxide value (POV) was increased by dose augmentation. Contents of HAAs were gradually decreased in both irradiated and control groups. The odor was affected by both doses of irradiation and storage time. Hence, we conclude that irradiation at a dose of 4.0 kGy barely affected physicochemical properties during storage and extended the shelf life of spicy chicken. This approach could be an alternative to control the quality of spicy chicken during storage., Competing Interests: We declare that we have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Background: Monitoring the depth of anesthesia by electroencephalogram (EEG) based on the prefrontal cortex is an important means to achieve accurate regulation of anesthesia for subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) under general anesthesia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, no previous study has conducted an in-depth investigation into this monitoring data. Here, we aimed to analyze the characteristics of prefrontal cortex EEG during DBS with propofol general anesthesia in patients with PD and determine the reference range of parameters derived from the depth of anesthesia monitoring. Additionally, we attempted to explore whether the use of benzodiazepines in the 3 days during hospitalization before surgery impacted the interpretation of the EEG parameters., Materials and Methods: We included the data of 43 patients with PD who received STN DBS treatment and SedLine monitoring during the entire course of general anesthesia with propofol in a single center. Eighteen patients (41.86%) took benzodiazepines during hospitalization. We divided the anesthesia process into three stages: awake state before anesthesia, propofol anesthesia state, and shallow anesthesia state during microelectrode recording (MER). We analyzed the power spectral density (PSD) and derived parameters of the patients' prefrontal EEG, including the patient state index (PSI), spectral edge frequency (SEF) of the left and right sides, and the suppression ratio. The baseline characteristics, preoperative medication, preoperative frontal lobe image characteristics, preoperative motor and non-motor evaluation, intraoperative vital signs, internal environment and anesthetic information, and postoperative complications are listed. We also compared the groups according to whether they took benzodiazepines before surgery during hospitalization., Results: The average PSI of the awake state, propofol anesthesia state, and MER state were 89.86 ± 6.89, 48.68 ± 12.65, and 62.46 ± 13.08, respectively. The preoperative administration of benzodiazepines did not significantly affect the PSI or SEF, but did reduce the total time of suppression, maximum suppression ratio, and the PSD of beta and gamma during MER. Regarding the occurrence of postoperative delirium and mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores, there was no significant difference between the two groups (chi-square test, p = 0.48; Mann-Whitney U test, p = 0.30)., Conclusion: For the first time, we demonstrate the reference range of the derived parameters of the depth of anesthesia monitoring and the characteristics of the prefrontal EEG of patients with PD in the awake state, propofol anesthesia state, and shallow anesthesia during MER. Taking benzodiazepines in the 3 days during hospitalization before surgery reduces suppression and the PSD of beta and gamma during MER, but does not significantly affect the observation of anesthesiologists on the depth of anesthesia, nor affect the postoperative delirium and MMSE scores.

Background: Pediatric meningioma with YAP1 fusion is a rare subset of meningiomas. Currently, there are lack of integrated clinical, radiological, and pathological features on this subset. Here, we reported a case of pediatric meningioma with a novel MAML2-YAP1 fusion variant and reviewed the relevant literature., Case Presentation: We presented a case of 12-year-old boy with meningioma adjacent to the superior sagittal sinus and falx. Simpson grade II gross total resection was performed after diagnosis. Pathologically, he was diagnosed as WHO grade I meningothelial meningioma with rhabdoid features. A next-generation sequencing-based gene panel was performed to determine the molecular features for potential treatment, and a novel MAML2-YAP1 fusion break point was identified., Conclusion: Pediatric meningioma with the fusion of YAP1 and MAML2 genes is more likely to have pathological features of rhabdiod cells, which needs to be validated in large-scale studies for exploring better treatment under the integrated diagnosis., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Biochar application is not only being widely promoted as an ideal strategy to mitigate global climate warming, but it also has the advantage of reducing heavy metal bioavailability and migration in the soil. However, studies on the effects of field aging on biochar to reduce heavy metals from the soil are still limited. The present study aimed to explore the effects and mechanisms of aged biochar added to the soil planted with pepper plants on cadmium (Cd) uptake. To achieve this, un-amended soil (control), soil amended with fresh biochar, and aged biochar (biochar recovered from a long-term field trial after 9 years) were used to investigate the effects of field aging on biochar adsorption efficiency. The results revealed that the amount of Cd in the plant planted in control soil, amended with fresh and aged biochar, accounted for 40 ± 6.10, 17.18 ± 1.19, and 18.68 ± 0.79, respectively. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the amount of Cd that was uptaken by plants among all treatments. However, soil amended with fresh biochar significantly (P < 0.05) decreased the amount of Cd in plants compared with soil amended with aged biochar. This indicates that field aging declines the potential of biochar to lower heavy metal bioavailability and retention in the soil. This study demonstrates that long-term burial lessens the ability of biochar to interact with Cd and suggests that biochar amendment can lower Cd in the soil, depending on the freshness and aging of biochar., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Crown Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

High-speed trajectory tracking with real-time processing capability is particularly important in the fields of pilotless automobiles, guidance systems, robotics, and filmmaking. The conventional optical approach to high-speed trajectory tracking involves charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, which suffer from trade-offs between resolution and framerates, complexity of the system, and enormous data-analysis processes. Here, a high-speed trajectory tracking system is designed by using a time-division position-sensitive detector (TD-PSD) based on a graphene-silicon Schottky heterojunction. Benefiting from the high-speed optoelectronic response and sub-micrometer positional accuracy of the TD-PSD, multitarget real-time trajectory tracking is realized, with a maximum image output framerate of up to 62 000 frames per second. Moreover, multichannel trajectory tracking and image-distortion correction functionalities are realized by TD-PSD systems through frequency-related image preprocessing, which significantly improves the capacity of real-time information processing and image quality in complicated light environments., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: After deep brain stimulation (DBS), hiccups as a complication may lead to extreme fatigue, sleep deprivation, or affected prognosis. Currently, the causes and risk factors of postoperative hiccups are unclear. In this study, we investigated the risk factors for hiccups after DBS of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for Parkinson’s disease (PD) under general anesthesia. Methods: We retrospectively included patients who underwent STN DBS in the study, and collected data of demographic characteristics, clinical evaluations, and medications. According to the occurrence of hiccups within seven days after operation, the patients were divided into a hiccups group and non-hiccups group. The potentially involved risk factors for postoperative hiccups were statistically analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 191 patients were included in the study, of which 34 (17.80%) had postoperative transient persistent hiccups. Binary univariate logistic regression analysis showed that male, higher body mass index (BMI), smoker, Hoehn and Yahr stage (off), preoperative use of amantadine, hypnotic, Hamilton anxiety scale and Hamilton depression scale scores, and postoperative limited noninfectious peri-electrode edema in deep white matter were suspected risk factors for postoperative hiccups (p < 0.1). In binary multivariate logistic regression analysis, male (compared to female, OR 14.00; 95% CI, 1.74−112.43), postoperative limited noninfectious peri-electrode edema in deep white matter (OR, 7.63; 95% CI, 1.37−42.37), preoperative use of amantadine (OR, 3.64; 95% CI, 1.08−12.28), and higher BMI (OR, 3.50; 95% CI, 1.46−8.36) were independent risk factors for postoperative hiccups. Conclusions: This study is the first report about the risk factors of hiccups after STN DBS under general anesthesia for PD patients. The study suggests that male, higher BMI, preoperative use of amantadine, and postoperative limited noninfectious peri-electrode edema in deep white matter are independent risk factors for postoperative hiccups of STN-DBS for PD patients. Most hiccups after STN-DBS for PD patients were transient and self-limiting.

A metal-graphene metamaterial device exhibiting a tunable, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) spectral response at terahertz frequencies is investigated. The metamaterial structure is composed of a strip and a ring resonator, which serve as the bright and dark mode to induce the EIT effect. By employing the variable conductivity of graphene to dampen the dark resonator, the response frequency of the device shifts dynamically over 100 GHz, which satisfies the convenient post-fabrication tunability requirement. The slow-light behavior of the proposed device is also analyzed with the maximum group delay of 1.2 ps. The sensing performance is lastly studied and the sensitivity can reach up to 100 GHz/(RIU), with a figure of merit (FOM) value exceeding 4 RIU-1. Therefore, the graphene-based metamaterial provides a new miniaturized platform to facilitate the development of terahertz modulators, sensors, and slow-light applications.

Delayed exchange transfusion therapy (ETT) after phototherapy failure for newborns with severe hyperbilirubinemia could lead to serious complications such as bilirubin encephalopathy (BE). In this current manuscript we developed and validated a model using admission data for early prediction of phototherapy failure. We retrospectively examined the medical records of 292 newborns with severe hyperbilirubinemia as the training cohort and another 52 neonates as the validation cohort. Logistic regression modeling was employed to create a predictive model with seven significant admission indicators, i.e., age, past medical history, presence of hemolysis, hemoglobin, neutrophil proportion, albumin (ALB), and total serum bilirubin (TSB). To validate the model, two other models with conventional indicators were created, one incorporating the admission indicators and phototherapy failure outcome and the other using TSB decrease after phototherapy failure as a variable and phototherapy outcome as an outcome indicator. The area under the curve (AUC) of the predictive model was 0.958 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.924-0.993] and 0.961 (95% CI: 0.914-1.000) in the training and validation cohorts, respectively. Compared with the conventional models, the new model had better predictive power and greater value for clinical decision-making by providing a possibly earlier and more accurate prediction of phototherapy failure. More rapid clinical decision-making and interventions may potentially minimize occurrence of serious complications of severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© 2022 Liu, Tang, Li, Li, Tian, Yang, Miao, Yang, Li, Xu, Feng and Ding.)

It has proved that the auscultation of respiratory sound has advantage in early respiratory diagnosis. Various methods have been raised to perform automatic respiratory sound analysis to reduce subjective diagnosis and physicians' workload. However, these methods highly rely on the quality of respiratory sound database. In this work, we have developed the first open-access paediatric respiratory sound database, SPRSound. The database consists of 2,683 records and 9,089 respiratory sound events from 292 participants. Accurate label is important to achieve a good prediction for adventitious respiratory sound classification problem. A custom-made sound label annotation software (SoundAnn) has been developed to perform sound editing, sound annotation, and quality assurance evaluation. A team of 11 experienced paediatric physicians is involved in the entire process to establish golden standard reference for the dataset. To verify the robustness and accuracy of the classification model, we have investigated the effects of different feature extraction methods and machine learning classifiers on the classification performance of our dataset. As such, we have achieved a score of 75.22%, 61.57%, 56.71%, and 37.84% for the four different classification challenges at the event level and record level.

Wearable Artificial Intelligence-of-Things (AIoT) devices exhibit the need to be resource and energy-efficient. In this paper, we introduced a quantized multilayer perceptron (qMLP) for converting ECG signals to binary image, which can be combined with binary convolutional neural network (bCNN) for classification. We deploy our model into a low-power and low-resource field programmable gate array (FPGA) fabric. The model requires 5.8× lesser multiply and accumulate (MAC) operations than known wearable CNN models. Our model also achieves a classification accuracy of 98.5%, sensitivity of 85.4%, specificity of 99.5%, precision of 93.3%, and F1-score of 89.2%, along with dynamic power dissipation of 34.9 μW.

Herein we report a practical approach for peptide synthesis using second-generation fibrous polyacrylamide resin (Li-resin, "Li" is coming from the name of its inventor, Yongfu Li). This resin with the corresponding handle was used for solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) using a fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc) approach. We reveal that the most appropriate mixing and filtration strategy when using amino-Li-resin in SPPS is via shaking and gravity filtration, instead of mechanical stirring and suction filtration used with other resins. The strategy was demonstrated with the SPPS of H-Tyr-Ile-Ile-Phe-Leu-NH 2 , which contains the difficult sequence Ile-Ile. The peptide was obtained with excellent purity and yield. We are confident that this strategy will be rapidly implemented by other peptide laboratories.

4-hydroxyisoleucine (4-HIL) has a potential value in treating diabetes. The α-ketoglutarate (α-KG)-dependent isoleucine dioxygenase (IDO) can catalyze the hydroxylation of L-isoleucine (Ile) to form 4-HIL by consuming O 2 . In our previous study, the ido gene was overexpressed in an Ile-producing Corynebacterium glutamicum strain to synthesize 4-HIL from glucose. Here, a triple-functional dynamic control system was designed to regulate the activity of IDO, the supply of α-KG, O 2 , and Ile and the synthesis of by-product L-lysine (Lys) for promoting 4-HIL synthesis. Firstly, the codon-optimized ido was positively regulated by seven Ile biosensors Lrp-P brnFE N with different intensities, and the resulting seven D- N I strains produced 38.7-111.1 mM 4-HIL. Then on the basis of D- N I, odhI and vgb were simultaneously regulated by three P brnFE N with different intensities to synergistically control α-KG and O 2 supply. The 4-HIL titer of twelve D- N I N O N V strains was more than 90 mM, with D- 0 I 7 O 7 V generating the highest titer of 141.1 ± 15.5 mM. Thirdly, ilvA was negatively regulated by an Ile attenuator P ilvBNC on the basis of D- N I strains and some D- N I N O N V strains to balance the synthesis and conversion of Ile. The resulting D- N IPA strains produced 73.6-123.2 mM 4-HIL, while D- 7 I 7 O 1 VPA accumulated 127.1 ± 20.2 mM 4-HIL. Finally, dapA was negatively regulated by a Lys-OFF riboswitch and Lys content decreased by approximately 70% in most D-RS- N IPA strains. A strain D-RS- 5 IPA with the highest 4-HIL titer (177.3 ± 8.9 mM) and the lowest Lys concentration (6.1 ± 0.6 mM) was successfully obtained. Therefore, dynamic regulation of main and branch pathway by three functional biosensors can effectively promote 4-HIL biosynthesis in C. glutamicum. KEY POINTS: • Three biosensors were coordinated for dynamic 4-HIL biosynthesis in C. glutamicum • Bidirectional regulation of Ile synthesis and conversion promoted 4-HIL synthesis • Negative regulation of Lys synthesis further increased 4-HIL production., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

High-temperature measurements above 1000 °C are critical in harsh environments such as aerospace, metallurgy, fossil fuel, and power production. Fiber-optic high-temperature sensors are gradually replacing traditional electronic sensors due to their small size, resistance to electromagnetic interference, remote detection, multiplexing, and distributed measurement advantages. This paper reviews the sensing principle, structural design, and temperature measurement performance of fiber-optic high-temperature sensors, as well as recent significant progress in the transition of sensing solutions from glass to crystal fiber. Finally, future prospects and challenges in developing fiber-optic high-temperature sensors are also discussed.

In the context of global food insecurity, a large amount of cultivated land in China has been occupied by aquaculture ponds, leading to a series of variations in the ecological environment. The Chinese government pays close attention to the problem. In order to achieve sustainable development and ensure the safety of China's cultivated land, the paper uses Liyang City as an example to discuss the spatial characteristics of the expansion of aquaculture ponds through occupying cultivated lands and analyzes the variations in ecosystem service value and cultivated land function. The conclusions are as follows: (1) 2073.24 hectares of cultivated lands were occupied for expanding aquaculture ponds in Liyang from 2009 to 2019, and there was a small number of new aquaculture ponds in the ecological protection area, which shows that the aquaculture ponds in Liyang City are at the stage of disorderly expansion; (2) the total value of ecosystem services increased by 1.43%; supply and support services values decreased, but the increase in regulation and cultural services values was sufficient to more than compensate for the mentioned losses; and (3) the expansion of aquaculture ponds leads to a decrease in the carbon storage of cultivated land, which in turn has negative impacts such as an increase in atmospheric carbon concentration.