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Seasonal climate forecasts have socioeconomic value, and the quality of the forecasts is important to various societal applications. Here we evaluate seasonal forecasts of three climate variables, vapor pressure deficit (VPD), temperature, and precipitation, from operational dynamical models over the major cropland areas of South America; analyze their predictability from global and local circulation patterns, such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO); and attribute the source of prediction errors. We show that the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) model has the highest quality among the models evaluated. Forecasts of VPD and temperature have better agreement with observations (average Pearson correlation of 0.65 and 0.70, respectively, among all months for 1-month-lead predictions from the ECMWF) than those of precipitation (0.40). Forecasts degrade with increasing lead times, and the degradation is due to the following reasons: 1) the failure of capturing local circulation patterns and capturing the linkages between the patterns and local climate; and 2) the overestimation of ENSO’s influence on regions not affected by ENSO. For regions affected by ENSO, forecasts of the three climate variables as well as their extremes are well predicted up to 6 months ahead, providing valuable lead time for risk preparedness and management. The results provide useful information for further development of dynamical models and for those who use seasonal climate forecasts for planning and management. Significance Statement Seasonal climate forecasts have socioeconomic value, and the quality of the forecasts is important to their applications. This study evaluated the quality of monthly forecasts of three important climate variables that are critical to agricultural management, risk assessment, and natural hazards warning. The findings provide useful information for those who use seasonal climate forecasts for planning and management. This study also analyzed the predictability of the climate variables and the attribution of prediction errors and thus provides insights for understanding models’ varying performance and for future improvement of seasonal climate forecasts from dynamical models.

Lubricants performing better in machinery systems would lead to the remarkable reduction of environmental pollution problems and the significant improvement of fuel economy. A new family of supramolecular polymer gel lubricants with urea groups has been successfully prepared via self-assembling noncovalent bonds. These newly designed supramolecular polymer gels were well characterized with field-emission scanning electron microscopy, proton nuclear magnetic resonance, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, a rheometer, oscillating reciprocating friction, and a wear tester. Compared to low molecular weight supramolecular gels, the covalent and noncovalent bonds cooperated in the supramolecular polymer gel based on macromolecules. Hence, the mechanical properties and viscoelasticity of gel lubricants are greater than those of the low molecular weight supramolecular gels. Furthermore, owing to the longer chain length of polymer gelators, the thickness of the adsorbed film formed on the surface lubricated by macromolecules is thicker than that on the surface lubricated by low molecular weight supramolecular gels, which positively correlates with the lubricating property, making supramolecular polymer gels based on macromolecules better than low molecular weight supramolecular gels. Excitingly, the supramolecular polymer gels based on macromolecules exhibit more excellent thermal reversibility, creep recovery, and thixotropic properties, which not only achieve the lubricating property but also lead to the remarkable reduction of environmental pollution problems due to oil creeping.

Galactooligosaccharides are composed mainly of galactosyl lactose, which is important for infant growth and as a functional food additive. Although galactosyl lactose is abundant in goat milk, its complex structure has hindered the separation and analysis of its isomers. In this study, 5 isomers of goat milk galactosyl lactose were separated by HPLC: β6'-galactosyl lactose (β6'-GL), α6'-galactosyl lactose (α6'-GL), β4'-galactosyl lactose (β4'-GL), α3'-galactosyl lactose (α3'-GL), and β3'-galactosyl lactose (β3'-GL). This composition differs from that of commercial galactooligosaccharide products, which comprise mainly β-configuration oligosaccharides. The isomers were then qualitatively and quantitatively compared at different lactation stages using online HPLC-mass spectrometry. Relative quantitative analysis showed that the total content of the 5 galactosyl lactose isomers was highest in transitional goat milk. Specifically, β3'-GL was the main isomer in colostrum and α3'-GL was the main isomer in transitional and mature milk. β6'-Galactosyl lactose and β4'-GL tended to increase and then decrease during lactation. Moreover, α3'-GL content was 2 times higher than in colostrum and 10 times higher in transitional milk than in mature milk; in contrast, for β3'-GL, the values were 5 and 2 times higher, respectively. Absolute quantitative analysis revealed that β3'-GL was the most abundant isomers in colostrum (32.3 mg/L), and α3'-GL was the most abundant in transitional milk (88.1 mg/L) and mature milk (36.3 mg/L). These findings provide an important quantitative basis for understanding the relationship between structure and function of galactosyl lactose in goat milk, as well as its exploitation as a functional food.

Zuojin Pill (ZJP) has been used to treat gastrointestinal problems in China for hundreds of years.To discover more potential active ingredients and evaluate the gastroprotective mechanisms of ZJP.An approach involving UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and serum pharmacochemistry was established to screen the multiple chemical constituents of ZJP. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into six groups: normal control, ulcer control, omeprazole (30 mg/kg), and three ZJP groups (1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 g/kg). After oral treatment with ZJP or omeprazole for 7 days, all groups except the normal control group were orally administered 5 mL/kg ethanol to induce gastric ulceration. Histopathological assessment of gastric tissue was performed by haematoxylin and eosin staining. Antioxidant parameters and inflammatory mediators were determined using ELISA Kit and immunohistochemical analysis.Ninety components were identified in ZJP. Among them, 23 prototypes were found in rat serum after oral administration of ZJP. The ulcer inhibition was over 90.0% for all the ZJP groups. Compared with the ulcer control rats, ZJP (4.0 g/kg) enhanced the antioxidant capacity of gastric tissue: superoxide dismutase (1.33-fold), catalase (2.61-fold), glutathione (2.14-fold), and reduced the malondialdehyde level (0.48-fold). Simultaneously, the ZJP meaningfully lowered the content of tumour necrosis factor-α (0.76-fold), interleukin-6 (0.66-fold), myeloperoxidase (0.21-fold), and nuclear factor kappa B (p65) (0.62-fold).This study showed ZJP could mitigate ethanol-induced rat gastric ulcers, which might benefit from the synergistic actions of multiple ingredients. The findings could support the quality control and clinical trials of ZJP.

Functional brain networks require dynamic reconfiguration to support flexible cognitive function. However, the developmental principles shaping brain network dynamics remain poorly understood. Here, we report the longitudinal development of large-scale brain network dynamics during childhood and adolescence, and its connection with gene expression profiles. Using a multilayer network model, we show the temporally varying modular architecture of child brain networks, with higher network switching primarily in the association cortex and lower switching in the primary regions. This topographical profile exhibits progressive maturation, which manifests as reduced modular dynamics, particularly in the transmodal (e.g., default-mode and frontoparietal) and sensorimotor regions. These developmental refinements mediate age-related enhancements of global network segregation and are linked with the expression profiles of genes associated with the enrichment of ion transport and nucleobase-containing compound transport. These results highlight a progressive stabilization of brain dynamics, which expand our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie cognitive development.

(1) Background: Medicinal and edible food and traditional Chinese medicine have been used to treat various diseases. However, their safety has not been thoroughly assessed. (2) Methods: An immunochromatographic test strip (ICS) was used for the first time to screen some mycotoxins, including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), zearalenone (ZEN), and T-2 toxin, in medicinal and edible food and traditional Chinese medicine. Antibody/nano-gold particle coupling was used with the prepared ICS, and the pH, monoclonal antibody concentration, and antigen amount were optimized. The extraction sample solution was diluted 10 times with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.5% Tween-20 and 0.05% sodium dodecyl sulfate to remove the complex matrix in medicinal and edible food. (3) Results: Under optimal conditions, the sensitivities of the developed ICS for AFB1, ZEN, and T-2 were 0.5, 5.0, and 5.0 ng/mL, respectively. Among the 30 medicinal and edible food samples tested, two samples (both of sand jujube kernels) were positive, and the results were verified by high-performance liquid chromatography and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were consistent with the ICS test results. (4) Conclusions: The ICS could be used for rapid screening and simultaneous detection of mycotoxins at medicinal and edible food storage facilities.

Phosphorus is an essential micromineral with a key role in cellular metabolism and tissue structure. Serum phosphorus is maintained in a homeostatic range by the intestines, bones, and kidneys. This process is coordinated by the endocrine system through the highly integrated actions of several hormones, including FGF23, PTH, Klotho, and 1,25D. The excretion kinetics of the kidney after diet phosphorus load or the serum phosphorus kinetics during hemodialysis support that there is a “pool” for temporary phosphorus storage, leading to the maintenance of stable serum phosphorus levels. Phosphorus overload refers to a state where the phosphorus load is higher than is physiologically necessary. It can be caused by a persistently high-phosphorus diet, renal function decline, bone disease, insufficient dialysis, and inappropriate medications, and includes but is not limited to hyperphosphatemia. Serum phosphorus is still the most commonly used indicator of phosphorus overload. Trending phosphorus levels to see if they are chronically elevated is recommended instead of a single test when judging phosphorus overload. Future studies are needed to validate the prognostic role of a new marker or markers of phosphorus overload.

Based on different functions of aggression, the conceptual distinction of reactive and proactive aggression has been proposed. It is widely acknowledged that adolescents' violence exposure contributes to later perpetration of aggressive behaviors. However, few studies have compared the effects of violence exposure on reactive/proactive aggression based on the forms (i.e., witnessing and being victimized) and the contexts (i.e., family, community, and school), especially in preadolescents. Thus, the relationship between two forms of violence exposure (witnessing and victimization) and later perpetrating reactive and proactive aggression were compared within and across three social contexts in a sample of Chinese preadolescents. Participants were 609 preadolescents 51.9% boys) recruited from five primary schools in China. Information on two forms of violence exposure across multiple contexts and demography were collected at Time 1 (M

To enhance tumor uptake and retention, we designed and developed bi-specific heterodimeric radiotracers targeting both FAP and αvβ3, [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD. The present study aimed to evaluate the specificity, pharmacokinetics, and dosimetry of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD by preclinical and preliminary clinical studies.bMethods:/bFAPI-RGD was designed and synthesized with the quinoline-based FAPI-02 and the cyclic RGDfK peptide. Preclinical pharmacokinetics were determined in Panc02 xenograft model using microPET and biodistribution experiments. The safety and effective dosimetry of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD was evaluated in 6 cancer patients, and compared with 2-[sup18/supF]FDG imaging.bResults:/bThe [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD had good stability in saline for at least 4 h, and showed favorable binding affinity and specificityiin vitro/iandiin vivo/i. Compared to [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-02 and [sup68/supGa]Ga-RGDfK, the tumor uptake and retention of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD were very much enhanced than its monomeric counterparts at all the time points examined by microPET imaging. A total of 6 patients with various malignant tumors were prospectively enrolled. The effective dose of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD was 1.94E-02 mSv/MBq. The biodistribution of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD from 0 to 2 h after injection demonstrated rapid and high tumor uptake, prolonged tumor retention, and high tumor-to-background ratios (TBRs) which further increased over time. No significant difference in mean SUVmax of [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD and 2-[sup18/supF]FDG was present in primary tumors (8.9±3.2ivs./i10.3 ± 6.9; p = 0.459).bConclusion:/bThe dual targeting PET tracer [sup68/supGa]Ga-FAPI-RGD showed significantly improved tumor uptake and retention, as well as cleaner background oversup68/supGa-labeled FAPI and RGD monospecific tracers. The first-in-human biodistribution study showed high TBRs over time, suggesting high diagnostic performance and favorable tracer kinetics for potential therapeutic applications.

The relationship between parenting style and adolescent depression is a heated topic in the research of the pathogenesis of the latter. This paper explores the role of psychological capital and loneliness in the relationship between parental psychological control and depression through a questionnaire survey of junior high school students. The results showed that psychological capital and loneliness played a chain mediating role in between. This study makes clear that parental psychological control worsens adolescents' depressive symptoms by reducing their psychological capital and enhancing their loneliness.

With increasing demand for rotor blades in engineering applications, improving the performance of such structures using morphing blades has received considerable attention. Resonant passive energy balancing (RPEB) is a relatively new concept introduced to minimize the required actuation energy. This study investigates RPEB in morphing helicopter blades with lag–twist coupling. The structure of a rotating blade with a moving mass at the tip is considered under aerodynamic loading. To this end, a three-degree-of-freedom (3DOF) reduced-order model is used to analyse and understand the complicated nonlinear aeroelastic behaviour of the structure. This model includes the pitch angle and lagging of the blade, along with the motion of the moving mass. First, the 3DOF model is simplified to a single-degree-of-freedom model for the pitch angle dynamics of the blade to examine the effect of important parameters on the pitch response. The results demonstrate that the coefficient of lag–twist coupling and the direction of aerodynamic moment on the blade are two parameters that play important roles in controlling the pitch angle, particularly the phase. Then, neglecting the aerodynamic forces, the 3DOF system is studied to investigate the sensitivity of its dynamics to changes in the parameters of the system. The results of the structural analysis can be used to tune the parameters of the blade in order to use the resonant energy of the structure and to reduce the required actuation force. A sensitivity analysis is then performed on the dynamics of the 3DOF model in the presence of aerodynamic forces to investigate the controllability of the amplitude and phase of the pitch angle. The results show that the bend–twist coupling and the distance between the aerodynamic centre and the rotation centre (representing the direction and magnitude of aerodynamic moments) play significant roles in determining the pitch dynamics.

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the protective effects and mechanisms of isoliquiritigenin (ISO) on acute renal injury. CCK-8 assays were applied to assess the effects of ISO at different doses (20, 40, and 80 μg/mL) on oxidative damage in human renal HK-2 cells incubated with high glucose. After the diabetic nephropathy (DN) rat model was established, the model animals were randomly assigned to saline-treated control, three model groups received the 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg ISO, respectively, using the healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats as normal control. The blood biochemical indexes, renal functions, oxidative stress, morphological changes, fibrosis- and JAK2/STAT3-related factors in DN model rats were all assessed. The cellular viability of the renal HK-2 cells with oxidative damages were all markedly ameliorated via the incubation of ISO between 10 and 80 μg/mL compared with negative control. In addition, the significantly down-regulated ROS content and up-regulated expression levels of GSH, SOD2, and GPX1 were all observed in ISO-treated groups. Long-term administration of ISO at different doses in DN rats effectively improved general diabetic characteristics and renal morphology. Furthermore, long-term administration of ISO could ameliorate excessive oxidation stress, down-regulate the expression levels of renal fibrosis- and inflammation-related factors, as well as inhibit the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. In conclusion, ISO at all three dosages could efficiently improve the renal injury induced by STZ via ameliorating renal fibrosis, oxidative stress, and inhibiting JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathways in the DN rats.

In the field of space mechanical lubrication, to improve the reliability and life of space lubrication, solid lubricating film-liquid lubricant composite lubrication has been used in recent years. This lubrication method can improve the durability of sliding friction mating surfaces, reduce equipment wear, and extend the service life of motion mechanisms. However, due to unstable factors such as volatilization and creeping of liquid lubricants in microgravity and ultra-high-vacuum environments, the solid lubricating film wears out after long-term use and produces wear debris and other unfavorable factors. To solve the above problems, this study proposes a novel composite lubrication system constituting a MoS2 film in combination with a supramolecular gel. The tribological performance of this lubrication system establishes an extended service life with a lower wear rate compared to the MoS2 film, regardless of functioning in vacuum or atmospheric conditions. More importantly, the results of the irradiation experiment demonstrate that MoS2-gel exhibits better anticreep performance as compared to MoS2-oil when exposed to atomic oxygen and ultraviolet light for 4 h. The analysis of this composite lubrication mechanism also reveals the formation of a continuous transfer film on the surface of the friction pairs by virtue of the outstanding synergistic effect between the MoS2 film and the gel. MoS2 debris is present in the gel as an additive, and the gel is capable of replenishing automatically once the MoS2 film is depleted. Moreover, the strong anticreep properties of the gel are attributable to the multialkylated cyclopentane oil being trapped by the intricate reassembling of the gelator network. It is firmly believed that this novel MoS2-gel composite lubrication system may have good prospective applications in space and special machinery domains.

To further determine the bearing capacity of sand compaction pile (SCP) composite foundation in the West artificial island of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao (HKZM) Bridge, a large-scale in-situ load test system was designed to study the mechanical and deformation characteristic of SCP foundation. The test adopts the anchor pile method, the results show that the stress sharing ratio of the underwater SCP foundation under the same replacement rate is closely related to the load and time. With the increase of load level, the curve of stress sharing ratio decreases first and then increases. Under the same load level, the ratio decreases gradually with time and finally approaches a certain value. Based on the analysis of site monitoring data, the settlement law of SCP is clear, and the error of the empirical formula is found. The stress reduction ratio and empirical coefficient are proposed to correct the original formula. The research results in this paper can be used to guide the design and construction of SCP foundation of cross-sea project.

With the rapid development of communication technology and the diversification and rapid growth of network application demands, the requirements for the anti-destruction capability of information networks have also increased. Therefore, an efficient and accurate metric of the survivability of satellite networks has become a hotspot of current research. Firstly, in this paper, we propose a transfer matrix-based spatial information network invulnerability evaluation algorithm. The algorithm draws the idea of a node deletion method to determine the initial importance of nodes and then establishes a formula for the importance transfer probability of the nodes. In addition, an evaluation algorithm of spatial information network invulnerability is obtained using the network structure entropy theory. Simulations show that our new evaluation algorithm based on the transfer matrix is more accurate compared to degree centricity, natural connectivity and other methods in evaluating the importance of the nodes. The proposed index can effectively reflect the change in the network topology and evaluate the network survivability.

IntroductionBlueberries have a high antioxidant content and are produced as healthy food worldwide. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a type of regulatory RNAs that play a variety of roles in plants. Nonetheless, information on lncRNAs and their functions during blueberry fruit development is scarce in public databases.MethodsIn the present study, we performed genome-wide identification of lncRNAs in a southern highbush blueberry using strand-specific RNA sequencing (ssRNA-Seq). Differentially expressed lncRNAs (DE-lncRNAs) and their potential target genes were analyzed at four stages of fruit development. Cis-regulatory DE-lncRNAs were predicted using co-localization analysis.ResultsThese findings included a total of 25,036 lncRNAs from 17,801 loci. Blueberry lncRNAs had shorter transcript lengths, smaller open reading frame (ORF) sizes, fewer exons, and fewer isoforms than protein-coding RNAs, as well as lower expression levels and higher stage-specificity during fruit development. A total of 105 DE-lncRNAs were identified among the comparison group of PAD vs. CUP, 443 DE-lncRNAs were detected when comparing CUP with PINK fruits, and 285 DE-lncRNAs were revealed when comparing PINK and BLUE fruits. According to Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes annotation, target genes of DE-lncRNAs were primarily enriched in the “Autophagy-other”, “DNA replication”, “Endocytosis”, ‘photosynthesis’ and ‘chlorophyll metabolism’ pathways, suggesting that lncRNAs may pay potential roles in fruit expansion and ripening. Moreover, several lncRNAs have been proposed as cis-regulators of the key genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis. MSTRG.107242.6, and its putative target gene, BTB/POZ and TAZ domain-containing protein, might play critical roles in anthocyanin accumulation in blueberries.DiscussionThese findings highlight the regulatory function of lncRNAs and aid in elucidating the molecular mechanism underlying blueberry fruit growth.

IntroductionBlueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) is a popular fruit with an abundance of anthocyanins in its leaves and fruits. Light is one of the pivotal environmental elements that affects plant growth and development, but the regulatory mechanism between light quality and anthocyanin formation is poorly understood.MethodsAn integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis was performed to investigate the effects of white (control), blue (B), red (R), and red/blue (60R/40B) light on blueberry growth and reveal the potential pathway controlling anthocyanin biosynthesis in blueberry leaves.ResultsThe anthocyanin content was significantly improved by the blue and red/blue light when compared with white light, whereas there was a significant reduction in the photosynthesis under the blue light, showing an inverse trend to that of anthocyanin accumulation. Transcriptomic analysis resulted in the assembly of 134,709 unigenes. Of these, 22 were differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that participate in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, with the majority being significantly up-regulated under the blue light. Most of the photosynthesis-related genes that were down-regulated were expressed during anthocyanin accumulation. Targeted metabolome profiling identified 44 metabolites associated with anthocyanin biosynthesis. The contents of most of these metabolites were higher under blue light than the other light conditions, which was consistent with the transcriptome results. The integrated transcriptome and metabolome analysis suggested that, under blue light, leucoanthocyanidin dioxygenase (LDOX), O-methyltransferase (OMT), and UDP-glucose flavonoid glucosyltransferase (UFGT) were the most significantly expressed, and they promoted the synthesis of cyanidin (Cy), malvidin (Mv), and pelargonidin (Pg) anthocyanidins, respectively. The expression levels of dihydroflavonol 4-reductase (DFR) and OMT, as well as the accumulation of delphinidin (Dp), peonidin (Pn), and petunidin (Pt), were significantly increased by the red/blue light.DiscussionThe blue and red/blue lights promoted anthocyanin biosynthesis via inducing the expression of key structural genes and accumulation of metabolites involved in anthocyanin synthesis pathway. Moreover, there was a possible feedback regulating correlation between anthocyanin biosynthesis and photosynthesis under different light qualities in blueberry leaves. This study would provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the underlying regulatory mechanism of anthocyanin biosynthesis of V. corymbosum.

This study investigates the mechanism of phosphorylation in the regulation of apoptosis-mediated meat tenderization during postmortem aging. The results found that the pork muscle exhibited apoptotic potential at early postmortem (48 h) and showed more tenderness at late postmortem, as evidenced by the increase in mitochondrial membrane permeability (MMP), Ca2+ level, reactive oxygen species (ROS) content, and caspases activity at 0 h to 48 h, and decreases in ATP level at 0 h to 24 h and shear force at 12 h to 120 h (p < 0.05). Phosphoproteomic analysis revealed that phosphorylation regulated apoptosis by modulating ATP and calcium bindings as well as apoptotic signaling, which occurred within early 12 h and mainly occurred at 12 h to 48 h postmortem. Moreover, differential expression of phosphoproteins demonstrated that phosphorylation regulated oxidative stress-induced apoptosis and rigor mortis, thereby promoting the development of meat tenderness. Our results provide insights into the roles of phosphorylation in various physiological processes that affect meat tenderness.

This work develops a morphing concept that utilises a metamaterial as the passive morphing device for helicopter blades. The metamaterials are created with bend-twist coupling, which enable the blade twist under prescribed bending loads. Finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to investigate the influence of the unit cell configurations on the coupling properties of the metamaterials. The numerical models are then validated experimentally through a set of bending tests conducted with additively manufactured prototypes. Finally, the validated model is used to design a graded metamaterial, where the cell aspect ratio gradually changes along the blade span, providing unique bend-twist coupling and allowing for tailored twist to be obtained. The results suggest the graded metamaterials are capable of introducing optimised nonlinear twists to the blade during different flight conditions including both hover and forward flight.

Optoelectronic tweezers (OETs) based on dielectrophoresis (DEP) force is a valuable tool for the manipulation of particles and cells. However, DEP-based methods that can measure the electrical parameters are always preformed on static metal electrode DEP systems. Here, we present a partitioned single-sided OET chip that combines an OET system and microfluidic channel. Unlike classical sandwich-structure OET chip, the single-sided chip is close to the metal electrode DEP system but can switch functions easily. Numerical simulations are studied to analyze the electric field on a microfluidic chip and pro-vide data for characterizing cell electric properties. The focusing and electro-rotation are successfully realized by partitioned multi-signal OET system. By analyzing the rotation speed, some specific electric param-eters of Raw cells are characterized. The work has laid a foundation for OET-based single-sided chip fabrication and experiment validation.

Precise segmentation of infant brain magnetic resonance (MR) images into gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are essential for studying neuroanatomical hallmarks of early brain development. However, for 6-month-old infants, the extremely low-intensity contrast caused by inherent myelination hinders accurate tissue segmentation. Existing convolutional neural networks (CNNs) based segmentation models for this task generally employ single-scale symmetric convolutions, which are inefficient for encoding the isointense tissue boundaries in baby brain images. Here, we propose a 3D mixed-scale asymmetric convolutional segmentation network (3D-MASNet) framework for brain MR images of 6-month-old infants. We replaced the traditional convolutional layer of an existing to-be-trained network with a 3D mixed-scale convolution block consisting of asymmetric kernels (MixACB) during the training phase and then equivalently converted it into the original network. Five canonical CNN segmentation models were evaluated using both T1- and T2-weighted images of 23 6-month-old infants from iSeg-2019 datasets, which contained manual labels as ground truth. MixACB significantly enhanced the average accuracy of all five models and obtained the most considerable improvement in the fully convolutional network model (CC-3D-FCN) and the highest performance in the Dense U-Net model. This approach further obtained Dice coefficient accuracies of 0.931, 0.912, and 0.961 in GM, WM, and CSF, respectively, ranking first among 30 teams on the validation dataset of the iSeg-2019 Grand Challenge. Thus, the proposed 3D-MASNet can improve the accuracy of existing CNNs-based segmentation models as a plug-and-play solution that offers a promising technique for future infant brain MRI studies.

The past four decades have seen an increase of terrestrial hot extremes during summer in the northern extratropics, accompanied by the Northern Hemisphere (NH) sea surface temperature (SST) warming (mainly over 10°–70°N, 0°–360°) and CO2 concentration rising. This study aims to understand possible causes for the increasing hot extremes, which are defined on a daily basis. We conduct a series of numerical experiments using the Community Atmosphere Model version 5 model for two periods, 1979–1995 and 2002–2018. The experiment by changing the CO2 concentration only with the climatological SST shows less increase of hot extremes days than that observed, whereas that by changing the NH SST (over 10°–70°N, 0°–360°) with constant CO2 concentration strengthens the hot extremes change over mid-latitudes. The experiment with both SST and CO2 concentration changes shows hot extremes change closer to the observation compared to the single-change experiments, as well as more similar simulations of atmospheric circulations and feedbacks from cloud and radiative processes. Also discussed are roles of natural variability (e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation) and other factors (e.g., Arctic sea ice and tropical SST).

This study aimed to evaluate the value of [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT for the detection of lesions in central nervous system lymphoma (CNSL) patients before chemotherapy, during treatment and suspected CSNL recurrence, compared with 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Twenty-six patients with newly or previously diagnosed CNSL who underwent [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT were included retrospectively. Histopathological results, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and follow-up were used as the standard reference. The accuracy of lesion detection, maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of tumors, and ratio of tumor-to-normal brain (T/N) with [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT were calculated and compared to those obtained with [18F]FDG PET/CT. CXCR4 expression was analyzed through immunohistochemistry. Of 26 patients, 18 were newly diagnosed with a total of 23 lesions, 4 had recurrent with 4 lesions, and 4 underwent a mid-term treatment assessment after 4 cycles of chemotherapy (3 achieved complete response (CR), 1 experienced progressive disease (PD) with a total of 8 lesions). Thirty-five lesions were all clearly detected with favorable contrast by [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT (accuracy, 100%), consistent with the results of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI). The SUVmax of positive lesions in [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT was correlated with tumor size (r = 0.555, P = 0.001). In 21 patients, compared with [18F]FDG PET/CT, [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT showed a remarkably higher T/N ratio (21.93 ± 10.77 vs 4.29 ± 2.16, P = 0.000) and detected 5 more lesions in the mid-term treatment assessment of patients (P = 0.026). The CXCR4 expression of CNSL lesions was correlated with SUVmax of [68 Ga]Pentixafor PET/CT (r = 0.772, P = 0.000). CXCR4-directed PET/CT using [68 Ga]Pentixafor, with excellent tumor-to-background contrast, might be a more promising agent for the detection of lesions in CNSL patients than [18F]FDG PET/CT.

The Colorado River is one of the most important rivers in the southwestern U.S., with ~ 90% of the total flow originating from the Upper Colorado River Basin (UCRB). The UCRB April–July streamflow is well-correlated to the UCRB spring precipitation. It is known that the UCRB precipitation is linked to an El Niño-like sea surface temperature (SST) pattern, but the causal effect of the tropical Pacific SST on the UCRB spring precipitation is still uncertain. Here, we apply a Granger causality approach to understand the causal effect of the tropical Pacific averaged SST in previous three seasons (winter, fall, and summer) on the UCRB averaged precipitation in spring in observations and two climate models. In observations, only the winter SST has Granger causal effect (with p-value ~ 0.05) on spring precipitation, while historical simulations of the two climate models overestimate the causal effect for winter and fall (with p-value