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Introduction: Ubiquitination is involved in many biological processes and its predictive value for prognosis in cervical cancer is still unclear.Methods: To further explore the predictive value of the ubiquitination-related genes we obtained URGs from the Ubiquitin and Ubiquitin-like Conjugation Database, analyzed datasets from The Cancer Genome Atlas and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, and then selected differentially expressed ubiquitination-related genes between normal and cancer tissues. Then, DURGs significantly associated with overall survival were selected through univariate Cox regression. Machine learning was further used to select the DURGs. Then, we constructed and validated a reliable prognostic gene signature by multivariate analysis. In addition, we predicted the substrate proteins of the signature genes and did a functional analysis to further understand the molecular biology mechanisms. The study provided new guidelines for evaluating cervical cancer prognosis and also suggested new directions for drug development.Results: By analyzing 1,390 URGs in GEO and TCGA databases, we obtained 175 DURGs. Our results showed 19 DURGs were related to prognosis. Finally, eight DURGs were identified via machine learning to construct the first ubiquitination prognostic gene signature. Patients were stratified into high-risk and low-risk groups and the prognosis was worse in the high-risk group. In addition, these gene protein levels were mostly consistent with their transcript level. According to the functional analysis of substrate proteins, the signature genes may be involved in cancer development through the transcription factor activity and the classical P53 pathway ubiquitination-related signaling pathways. Additionally, 71 small molecular compounds were identified as potential drugs.Conclusion: We systematically studied the influence of ubiquitination-related genes on prognosis in cervical cancer, established a prognostic model through a machine learning algorithm, and verified it. Also, our study provides a new treatment strategy for cervical cancer.

Do government subsidies achieve the goals of stimulating firm innovation and macro-regulation? Existing studies have not reached a consistent conclusion. We will study the incentive effect of government subsidies on innovation of biopharmaceutical firms, analyze the optimal interval of government subsidies, and improve the efficiency of government subsidies. Thus, based on kink threshold model using data from Chinese biopharmaceutical listed companies from 2013–2019, this study analyzes the impact of government subsidies on innovation inputs and outputs. Government subsidies can stimulate innovation inputs and outputs of biopharmaceutical firms. Meanwhile, such subsidies have a significant threshold effect on innovation inputs and outputs, and there is an optimal interval effect. Additionally, concerning enterprise ownership, government subsidies have a more significant role in promoting innovation of non-state biopharmaceutical firms. Regarding regional differences, such subsidies have a more significant role in promoting innovation of firms in the less economically developed central and western regions. This study reveals the influence pattern of government subsidies, and provides insights and suggestions to formulate subsidy policies and enhance innovation.

Background. In-stent restenosis (ISR) is a common complication after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) surgery for patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease (CHD). Reports indicate alprostadil may reduce ISR, and this study aimed at reviewing and summarizing the effect of nanoliposome alprostadil on ISR by meta-analysis. Methods. Articles were searched from databases, and meta-analysis was performed in Review Manager software. Funnel plots were performed to evaluate the publication bias, and sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the robustness of the overall treatment effects. Results. Initially, 113 articles were identified, and 5 studies of 463 subjects were included for analysis eventually. The primary endpoint, i.e., the occurrence of ISR after PCI, occurred in 11.91% of the alprostadil treatment group (28 from 235 patients) vs. 21.49% of the conventional treatment group (49 from 228 patients) and showed a statistical significance in our pooled data (χ2 = 7.654, P=0.006), while there was no statistically significant difference in all of the separate studies. We observed no statistical methodological heterogeneity among the studies (P=0.64, I2 ≈ 0%). The pooled odds ratio (OR) of the occurrence of ISR was 49% in a fixed-effect model, and the 95% confidence boundary (95% CI) was 29% to 81%. The funnel plot did not show serious publication bias, and sensitivity analysis showed well robustness of the overall treatment effect. Discussion. In conclusion, the early application of nanoliposome alprostadil after PCI could effectively reduce the occurrence of ISR, and the overall effect of alprostadil treatment in reducing ISR after PCI was relatively stable.

The review evaluates faba bean (Vicia faba L.; FB) seeds relative to their nutritional composition, their content of antinutritional factors, and their impact on animal performance. The literature indicates that FB plant is a cool‐season, annual grain legume that grows the best in cool and humid conditions. Its seeds are rich in protein, energy, and mineral compounds and have particularly high unsaturated fatty acid levels. However, FB seeds also contain various proportions of antinutritional factors (ANFs) that can interfere with nutrient utilization in nonruminants. The various processing methods are efficient in either reducing or inactivating the ANFs of FB seeds, with extrusion treatment offering the most effective method of improving apparent nutrient and energy digestibility of nonruminants. In vivo studies on ruminants, pigs, poultry, and fishes reveal that FB seeds have the potential to be used as a substitute for soybean meal and/or cereal seeds in livestock diets in order to support milk, meat, and/or egg production., Faba bean plant is a cool‐season, annual grain legume that grows the best in cool and humid conditions. Its seeds are rich in protein, energy, and mineral compounds and have particularly high unsaturated fatty acid levels. Its seeds have the potential to be used as a substitute for soybean meal and/or cereal seeds in livestock diets in order to support milk, meat, and/or egg production.

Key requirements of successful animal behavior research in the laboratory are robustness, objectivity, and high throughput, which apply to both the recording and analysis of behavior. Many automatic methods of monitoring animal behavior meet these requirements. However, they usually depend on high-performing hardware and sophisticated software, which may be expensive. Here, we describe an automatic infrared behavior-monitor (AIBM) system based on an infrared touchscreen frame. Using this, animal positions can be recorded and used for further behavioral analysis by any PC supporting touch events. This system detects animal behavior in real time and gives closed-loop feedback using relatively low computing resources and simple algorithms. The AIBM system automatically records and analyzes multiple types of animal behavior in a highly efficient, unbiased, and low-cost manner. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12264-021-00661-4.

Objective To prepare monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) PP65 antigen and characterize their reactivity to HCMV PP65 antigen by immunohistochemistry. Methods The recombinant plasmid PQE30-PP65 was transformed into competent E.coli M15 cells to obtain the recombinant PP65 antigen, which was purified with Ni column affinity chromatography. BALB/c mice were immunized with the purified antigen, and the spleen cells of the mice were isolated and fused with myeloma cells (SP2/0). The mAbs were obtained by HTS screening and purified by protein A affinity chromatography, and their specificity, titer and subtype were identified by indirect ELISA. The performance of the mAbs in immunohistochemical detection of HCMV PP65 antigen was tested on slides of clinical samples. Results Eight highly specific mAbs against HCMV PP65 antigen were obtained. All these mAbs were identified to be IgG1 subtype containing κ light chains, with titers all above 1 :2 048 000. Six of the mAbs were shown to accurately identify an active infection of HCMV by slide immunohistochemistry. Conclusion We successfully prepared HCMV PP65 mAbs, and 6 of these mAbs have good reactivity with HCMV PP65 antigen in leukocytes

Jun Jiao,1 Xinlin Jiao,1 Qingqing Liu,1 Wenjie Qu,1 Daoxin Ma,2 Youzhong Zhang,1 Baoxia Cui1 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, People’s Republic of China; 2Hematology Oncology Center, Qilu Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Baoxia Cui Tel +8618560081862Email cuibaoxia@sdu.edu.cnPurpose: Accumulating evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are closely involved in canceration and cancer progression. However, the role of circRNAs in cervical cancer (CC) is largely unknown. Here, we characterized the role of circRNA_101308 in CC.Materials and Methods: The expression of circRNA_101308 in CC tissues was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Then, circRNA_101308 was overexpressed in CC cells to detect its function by proliferation and apoptosis assays, Transwell assays and animal experiments. The potential mechanism of circRNA_101308 in CC was explored by RNA pull-down, Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway analyses.Results: CircRNA_101308 was significantly downregulated in CC tissues. The level of circRNA_101308 was much lower in CC patients with lymph node metastasis or deep myometrial invasion compared to those patients without lymph node metastasis and superficial myometrial invasion. CircRNA_101308 overexpression inhibited CC cell proliferation, invasion and migration. MiR-26a-5p, miR-196a-5p, miR-196b-5p, miR-335-3p, and miR-1307-3p were found to be sponged by circRNA_101308 in CC cells. Further, GO and pathway analyses predicted the potential functional processes and pathways of circRNA_101308 in CC.Conclusion: CircRNA_101308 is downregulated and acts as a tumor suppressor in CC. CircRNA_101308 can participate in many different processes by sponging different miRNAs in CC cells. This exploration of circRNA_101308 provides new directions for research on cancer development and the clinical treatment of CC.Keywords: circular RNA, cervical cancer, circRNA_101308, microRNA

SnS2 is used to inhibit the “shuttle effect” and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are used to improve the conductivity, thus a new Li-S battery cathode material (SnS2/CNTs/S composite) is prepared in this paper. Morphological structure and electrochemical properties of the samples were characterized. The results show that among the composite, the CNTs are uniformly wrapped on the surface of SnS2 and S is uniformly loaded on the SnS2/CNTs. The composite has a promising electrochemical performance: the first discharge capacity is 1308.6 mAh g − 1 at 0.1 C and there is a reversible capacity of 1002.3 mAh g−1 after 100 cycles.

Chalkiness is one of several major restricting factors for the improvement of rice quality. Although many chalkiness-related quantitative trait loci have been mapped, only a small number of genes have been cloned to date. In this study, the candidate gene GSE5 of a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) for rice chalkiness, qDEC5, was identified by map-based cloning. Phenotyping and haplotype analysis of proActin:GSE5 transgenic line, gse5-cr mutant, and 69 rice varieties further confirmed that GSE5 had the pleiotropic effects and regulated both chalkiness and grain shape. Genetic analysis showed GSE5 was a dominant gene for grain length and a semi-dominant gene for grain width and chalkiness. The DNA interval closely linked to GSE5 was introgressed to Zhenshan 97B (ZB) based on molecular marker-assisted selection, and the improved ZB showed lower chalkiness and longer but smaller grains, which showed that GSE5 played an important role in breeding rice varieties with high yield and good quality. Transcriptomics, proteomics, and qRT-PCR analyses showed that thirty-nine genes associated with carbon and protein metabolism are regulated by GSE5 to affect the formation of chalkiness, including some newly discovered genes, such as OsCESA9, OsHSP70, OsTPS8, OsPFK04, OsSTA1, OsERdj3A, etc. The low-chalkiness lines showed higher amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism at 10 days after pollination (DAP), lower carbohydrate metabolism at 15 DAP, and lower protein metabolism at 10 and 15 DAP. With heat shock at 34/30°C, rice chalkiness increased significantly; OsDjC10 and OsSUS3 were upregulated at 6 and 12 DAP, respectively, and OsGSTL2 was downregulated at 12 DAP. Our results identified the function and pleiotropic effects of qDEC5 dissected its genetic characteristics and the expression profiles of the genes affecting the chalkiness formation, and provided a theoretical basis and application value to harmoniously pursue high yield and good quality in rice production.

Effects of light quality on phenotypic plasticity in Cunninghamialanceolata (Lamb.) Hook. seedlings during growth and development, and the underlying mechanisms, were investigated. The seedlings showed distinct morphological adjustments when exposed to an equal photosynthetic photon flux density (400 mu mol.m(-2).s(-1)) of different light qualities: monochromatic blue (BL), monochromatic red (RL), monochromatic far-red (FrL), mixed RL and FrL at 1:1 (RFr1:1L), mixed RL and FrL at 1:2 (RFr1:2L), and multi-wavelength white (WL, control). Compared with WL, FrL and BL significantly promoted height increment. However, BL was unfavorable for root growth. The seedling biomass was lower and the root-to-shoot ratio was smaller under BL. RL promoted leaf area enlargement, root growth, axillary bud number, and increased the root-to-shoot ratio, but inhibited stem elongation. Low R/Fr ratios or increased FrL proportion increased seedling stem elongation. The seedling growth under RFr1:1L treatment was poorer than that under other treatments; however, the number of axillary buds was the highest. The plasticity of leaf morphology traits was lower in different treatments, and that of axillary bud traits was crucial in the adaptation of C. lanceolata to light quality. Precise management of light quality and wavelength in controlled environments may maximize the economic efficiency of forest production and enhance its quality.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element and its deficiency can lead to immune dysfunction. Many studies have investigated the immune damage caused by Se deficiency in chickens, but its mechanism still needs to be explored. In this study, we fed 1-day-old Hyline male chickens with Se deficient diets (the Se content was 0.008 mg kg-1 of diet) and a basal diet (the Se content was 0.15 mg kg-1 of diet). The spleen was collected at the sixth week and used for subsequent experiments. The pathological analysis showed that Se deficiency leads to the destruction of the normal nuclear structure of the spleen cell, and we can observe obvious chromatin condensation and nuclear debris. We constructed a transcriptome database and analyzed the abundance of various genes in the spleen by transcriptome sequence. The analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGS) showed significant changes in 337 genes, including 210 up-regulations and 127 down-regulations after feeding Se deficient diets. Se deficiency can significantly change oxidative stress and inflammatory response genes in chicken spleen. This study confirmed that Se deficiency increased the IL-2 levels, whereas it down-regulated IL-17, IFN-γ and Foxp3, which indicates that the immune dysfunction of the spleen and Th1/Th2 is imbalanced. We also found that Se deficiency down-regulated some related genes for endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ transport, leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS). Moreover, we determined that Se deficiency triggered the low expression of DUSP1/NF-κB. In summary, our results indicate that Se deficiency can inhibit the spleen immune function of chickens by regulating the DUSP1/NF-κB pathway and ERS, leading to spleen damage in chickens. Based on transcriptomics research, our results will help further study the harmful effects of Se deficiency.

With the rapid development of Internet-of-Things and communication techniques, media transmission in surveillance applications is gradually relying on wireless networks. Meanwhile, the emergence of edge computing has pushed the media data analysis from the cloud to the edge of the network to achieve fast response for delay-sensitive media processing tasks. Object detection is a representative delay-sensitive image processing task in surveillance applications, but faces significant challenges in this context. For example, how to compress images for transmission in wireless environment without compromising the detection accuracy, and how to integrate and update local inference models online in an edge computing-based object detection system. In this paper, we propose an object detection architecture based on edge computing to achieve distributed and efficient object detection for surveillance applications. Under this architecture, we develop an adaptive Region-of-Interest-based image compression scheme for end devices to efficiently compress their captured images for wireless transmission but not to sacrifice the object detection accuracy of edge servers. Furthermore, we carefully design distributed and communication-efficient interactions among end devices, edge servers, and the cloud to dynamically optimize the object detection accuracy online. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that our proposed architecture not only achieves a competitive detection accuracy to traditional cloud-based objective detection solution with reduced response delay but also significantly improves the image transmission efficiency with adaptive image compression ratio.

In order to improve the convergence speed and optimization accuracy of the bat algorithm, a bat optimization algorithm with moderate optimal orientation and random perturbation of trend is proposed. The algorithm introduces the nonlinear variation factor into the velocity update formula of the global search stage to maintain a high diversity of bat populations, thereby enhanced the global exploration ability of the algorithm. At the same time, in the local search stage, the position update equation is changed, and a strategy that towards optimal value modestly is used to improve the ability of the algorithm to local search for deep mining. Finally, the adaptive decreasing random perturbation is performed on each bat individual that have been updated in position at each generation, which can improve the ability of the algorithm to jump out of the local extremum, and to balance the early global search extensiveness and the later local search accuracy. The simulating results show that the improved algorithm has a faster optimization speed and higher optimization accuracy.

Background: The shape, color, and size of petals or tepals are vital attributes of flowering plants, as they affect the pollinator attraction ability, environmental stress adaptation, and ornamental value of plants. Compared with rose, chrysanthemum, and water lily, the tepal shapes of lotus (Nelumbo Adans.) exhibit low variation, and the absence of short-broad and long-narrow tepals limits the commercial value of lotus flowers. Therefore, this study aimed to uncover the genomic variation underlying the broad and narrow tepal phenotypes of lotus flowers, and to screen candidate genes associated with different tepal shapes.Results: Whole genome resequencing of two groups of lotus, NL (comprising three American lotus genotypes: broad tepal mutant, narrow tepal mutant, and wild type) and WSH (comprising two Asian lotus genotypes: narrow tepal mutant and wild type), generated 9.23–12.85 Gb clean data. A total of 716,656 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 221,688 insertion-deletion mutations (Indels) were obtained in the NL group, while 639,953 SNPs and 134,6118 Indels were obtained in the WSH group. Only a small proportion of these SNPs and Indels was mapped to exonic regions of genome: 1.92% and 0.47%, respectively, in the NL group, and 1.66% and 0.48%, respectively, in the WSH group. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis showed that out of 4,890 (NL group) and 1,272 (WSH group) annotated variant genes, 125 and 62 genes were enriched (Q < 0.05), respectively. Additionally, in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, 104 genes (NL group) and 35 genes (WSH group) were selected (P < 0.05). Finally, 41 genes were filtered and predicted to be associated with tepal shape in lotus.Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive report of genomic variation controlling tepal shape in lotus. Significant genetic variation was detected between the wild-type and mutant lotus genotypes, and varying levels of differentiation between groups NL and WSH. Candidate genes containing epidermal growth factor (EGF) and wall-associated receptor kinase (WAK) domains are considered important targets for further research on tepal development. Overall, the genomic data and candidate genes obtained in this study are essential references for future identification of tepal-shaped control genes in lotus combined with transcriptome analysis and quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping.

Additional file 2. Risk score of osteosarcoma patients based on five lncRNAs signature.

Additional file 1. Univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis of differentially expressed lncRNAs.

Supplemental Appendix 1 shows that The following databases were searched from inception to March 2021:PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, ProQuest Digital Dissertations.Supplemental Appendix 2 shows that summary and graph of risk of bias for included studies.

Additional file 3. Protein-coding genes (PCGs) correlated with five lncRNAs.

Background: Xinyin Tablet (XYT) has been widely used in the treatment of CHF, Which helping to improve the clinical symptoms, enhance exercise, and even may improve the long-term prognosis of patients. However, the exact effectiveness and safety of XYT for CHF has not be comprehensively researched, so we want to generalize the effectiveness and safety of XYT for CHF through the meta-analysis, which may benefit the design of future clinical trials and provide valuable references. Methods: This protocol complies with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols. From the inception until September 2020, a systematic and comprehensive electronic search about Relevant randomized controlled trials will be conducted in 4 English literature databases and 4 Chinese literature databases. The registration number: INPLASY2020100015. 2 investigators will be arranged to deal with the study selection and data extraction independently. The New York Heart Function Classification, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) symptom scores, the scores of quality of life, 6-min walk distance (6MWD), etc. will be systematically measured as outcomes. At last, the data will be handled by Review Manager 5.3 and Stata 15.0. Results and conclusion: This study is hoping to provide a high-level evidence to prove the therapeutic effect of XYT on CHF, which may enhance the application of Chinese medicine.

Functional zoning is an important guarantee for regulating the land use intensity of national parks and maintaining the integrity and stability of natural ecosystem. In this paper, we tease out of the functional zoning models and methods based on the empirical analysis of the world national parks, and then take the Qianjiangyuan National Park (QNP) as an example, study the functional zoning method based on ecological sensitivity. Results show that, the goal of national park construction in the world is changing from enhancing national cohesion to displaying the national image, from the pure natural protection and recreation use to protection of the comprehensive function of natural ecosystem integrity protection, recreation, environmental education, etc. The establishment of QNP is to protect the natural ecosystem of sub-tropical lowland broad-leaved evergreen forest, also to meet the community development and recreational consume of large population in Eastern China. So this paper establishes an evaluation index system based on ecological sensitivity, combining ecosystem services, potential habitats of important species, and development opportunities. Based on the analysis result, the functional zoning of QNP can be divided into strict protection area, ecological conservation area, traditional using area and recreational area. In this way, it can make the functional partition reflect system controls thought in area difference and space layout, and take the corresponding management measures in different functional areas, to promote the sustainable evolution of the natural ecological system in national park.

Background Avoiding danger and accessing environmental resources are two fundamental, yet conflicting, survival instincts across species. To maintain a balance between these instincts, animals must efficiently distinguish approaching threats from low-threat cues. However, little is known about the key visual features that animals use to promptly detect such imminent danger and thus facilitate an immediate and appropriate behavioral response. Results We used an automatic behavior detection system in mice to quantify innate defensive behaviors, including freezing, flight, and rearing, to a series of looming visual stimuli with varying expanding speeds and varying initial and final sizes. Looming visual stimuli within a specific “alert range” induced flight behavior in mice. Looming stimuli with an angular size of 10–40° and an expanding speed of 57–320°/s were in this range. Stimuli with relatively low expanding speeds tended to trigger freezing behavior, while those with relatively high expanding speeds tended to trigger rearing behavior. If approaching objects are in this “alert range,” their visual features will trigger a flight response; however, non-threatening objects, based on object size and speed, will not. Conclusions These results indicate a simple strategy in mice that is used to detect predators and suggest countermeasures that predators may have taken to overcome these defensive strategies.

In this study, WC–10Co cemented carbide scrap was used as a consumable anode to separate and prepare tungsten and cobalt powders in NaF–KF melts at 1073 K. The feasibility of direct electrochemical dissolution of WC main phase to produce metallic tungsten was analyzed by thermodynamic calculations and experimental verifications. Furthermore, a series of electrolysis experiments were performed under constant cell voltage for selective preparation of tungsten and cobalt powders. The results show that metal cobalt powder was obtained at ≤0.6 V whereas metal tungsten powder was produced between 0.6 V and 1.2 V. The analysis of cathode products using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) show that tungsten and cobalt powders can be prepared in NaF–KF melts. Finally, linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to investigate the dissolution of WC–10Co anode. The electrochemical properties of tungsten and cobalt ions in NaF–KF melts were studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The results show that WC–10Co anode could be used to produce tungsten and cobalt powders and the electroreduction of tungsten and cobalt ions in NaF–KF melts was achieved through a one-step reaction involving the transfer of two electrons.

The recycling of WC–Co hard metal scraps has been taken into consideration in the literature, due to the release of toxic substances and long recovery process. In this study, the recovery of tungsten process, based on the molten salt electrolysis treatment of WC–Co hard metal scraps, was developed. The anode polarization curves were applied to investigate the dissolution of the WC–Co hard metal scrap. Then, the electrochemical behavior of tungsten and cobalt ions dissolved from WC–Co scrap anode, was studied by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and square wave voltammetry (SWV). The results demonstrated that the reduction of tungsten and cobalt ions occurred through a one-step process involving the transfer of two electrons. This process was achieved by the diffusion of tungsten and cobalt ions in the melts. Finally, the parameters, such as the electrolysis current, the electrolysis duration and temperatures, were applied to analyze the effect of different electrolysis conditions on the composition of recycled products. The results demonstrated that the electrolysis current and the electrolysis temperature, compared to electrolysis duration, have significant effects on the selectivity of tungsten recycling. Furthermore, the analysis of cathode products demonstrated that a tungsten powder of approximately 500 nm could be selectively recovered from WC–Co hard metal scrap with the electrolysis condition of 60 mA for 4 h at 1073 K in NaF–KF molten salt. Keywords: WC–Co scrap, Electrochemical recovery, Tungsten

In the past decade, it was a significant trend for surveillance applications to send huge amounts of real-time media data to the cloud via dedicated high-speed fiber networks. However, with the explosion of mobile devices and services in the era of Internet-of-Things, it becomes more promising to undertake real-time data processing at the edge of the network in a distributed way. Moreover, in order to reduce the investment of network deployment, media communication in surveillance applications is gradually changing to be wireless. It consequently poses great challenges to detect objects at the edge in a distributed and communication-efficient way. In this article, we propose an edge computing based object detection architecture to achieve distributed and efficient object detection via wireless communications for real-time surveillance applications. We first introduce the proposed architecture as well as its potential benefits, and identify the associated challenges in the implementation of the architecture. Then, a case study is presented to show our preliminary solution, followed by performance evaluation results. Finally, future research directions are pointed out for further studies.

In this study, WC-10Co was used as a consumable anode for the direct preparation of cobalt and tungsten from NaF–KF molten salt at 1023 K. Electrochemical analysis was performed via cyclic and square wave voltammetry. Results showed that cobalt and tungsten ions possess different precipitation potentials in the molten salt, thus theoretically proving the feasibility of preparing separating metallic cobalt and tungsten respectively. Tungsten and cobalt ions exist as W 2 + and Co 2 + , and the reaction is reversible and controlled by diffusion. The effects of electrolytic current, duration, and temperature on anodic dissolution mass, dissolution rate, and cathode composition and morphology were studied via electrochemical analysis. The cathode product was analyzed by XRD and SEM. The results further showed that cobalt powder can be obtained when the electrolytic current was 12 mA for a short period of time. Tungsten powder can be obtained by increasing electrolytic current and duration. Furthermore, tungsten powder with a particle diameter of less than 1 μm can be obtained under the following electrolysis conditions: current of 88 mA, duration of 7 h, and temperature of 1023 K.

Jet cooling is one of the most effective ways for transferring high heat flux, and the shape of the heat sink for jet impingement is the key factor that affects heat transfer. A novel array cone heat sink was proposed in this work, where heat transfer jet impingement enhancement using a single cone heat sink was experimentally investigated first. A numerical simulation method was used to evaluate the thermal characteristics of the novel single cone heat sink, and the reliability analysis was conducted to show that numerical simulation was feasible. The effects of several main parameters of a cone heat sink on average Nusselt number ( Nu ‾ ) were analyzed through numerical methods to explore the characteristics of jet flows and heat transfers in a single cone heat sink. These characteristics included the cone angle (A, A = 0–70°), cone bottom diameter to nozzle diameter ratio (d1/d, d1/d = 1–3), jet height to nozzle diameter ratio (H/d, H/d = 3–7), Reynolds number (Re, Re = 16,000–32,000) and heat flux density (q, q = 60–100 W/cm2). Results showed that the cooling effect of fluid impinging on a cone heat sink is superior to that of a conventional flat plate heat sink. A new impact region (transition region) was formed during fluid jet impingement on a single cone heat sink, consequently improving the heat transfer effect. The best cooling effect was observed at the following conditions: A = 50°, d1/d = 2, and H/d = 5. In addition, Nu ‾ increased considerably when the Re increased within the range of 16,000–32,000, and a large q was obtained at increased top temperature on the heat source surface at the same jet flow rate.

Background The non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs), carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are important energy source or nutrients for all plant growth and metabolism. To persist in shaded understory, saplings have to maintain the dynamic balance of carbon and nutrients, such as leaf NSCs, C, N and P. To improve understanding of the nutrient utilization strategies between shade-tolerant and shade-intolerant species, we therefore compared the leaf NSCs, C, N, P in response to shade between seedlings of shade-tolerant Schima superba and shade-intolerant Cunninghamia lanceolate. Shading treatments were created with five levels (0, 40, 60, 85, 95% shading degree) to determine the effect of shade on leaf NSCs contents and C:N:P stoichiometry characteristics.ResultsMean leaf area was significantly larger under 60% shading degree for C. lanceolata while maximum mean leaf area was observed under 85% shading degree for S. superba seedlings, whereas leaf mass per area decreased consistently with increasing shading degree in both species. In general, both species showed decreasing NSC, soluble sugar and starch contents with increasing shading degree. However shade-tolerant S. superba seedlings exhibited higher NSC, soluble sugar and starch content than shade-intolerant C. lanceolate. The soluble sugar/starch ratio of C. lanceolate decreased with increasing shading degree, whereas that of S. superb remained stable. Leaf C:N ratio decreased while N:P ratio increased with increasing shading degree; leaf C:P ratio was highest in 60% shading degree for C. lanceolata and in 40% shading degree for S. superba. Conclusion S. superba is better adapted to low light condition than C. lanceolata through enlarged leaf area and increased carbohydrate reserves that allow the plant to cope with low light stress. From mixed plantation viewpoint, it would be advisable to plant S. superba later once the canopy of C. lanceolata is well developed but allowing enough sunlight.

Since the Central Committee has proposed to develop community health services in 1997, community public health services have been developed under the guidance of a series of public policies and have made important contributions to meet the health needs of community residents. In recent years, the new concept of “Scientific Decision” has changed the direction of community public health services. The concept of “Scientific Decision” needs to provide community residents with the “six in one” basic services for prevention, health care, rehabilitation, health education, family planning, etc., and at the same time to break through the traditional public health care concept, public health services into the overall construction of the community, from the healthy supportive environment construction, residents living mode change, the spirit of residents to cultivate and meet the social needs of community residents and so on to enhance the health of community residents. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the scope and manner of community public health services in order to better achieve the “Scientific Decision” concept of implementation. This paper discusses the performance of community public health service from the perspective of Scientific Decision, emphasizes the necessity of improving community public health service through comparison with different development concepts of community public health service, and finally puts forward the relevant path of improving community public health service select.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress promotes tumor cell escape from immunosurveillance. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. We hypothesized that ER stress induces hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells to release exosomes, which attenuate antitumor immunity by modulating the expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) on macrophages. In this study, we demonstrated that expression of several ER stress markers (glucose-regulated protein 78 [GRP78], activating transcription factor 6 [ATF6], PKR-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase [PERK], inositol-requiring enzyme 1α [IRE1α]) was up-regulated in HCC tissues and negatively correlated with the overall survival and clinicopathological scores in HCC patients. Expression of ER stress-related proteins positively correlated with cluster of differentiation 68-positive (CD68(+)) macrophage recruitment and PD-L1 expression in HCC tissues. High-throughput sequencing analysis identified microRNA (miRNA/miR)-23a-3p as one of the most abundant miRNAs in exosomes derived from the ER stress inducer tunicamycin treated HCC cells (Exo-TM). miR-23a-3p levels in HCC tissues negatively correlated with overall survival. Treatment with Exo-TM up-regulated the expression of PD-L1 in macrophages in vitro and in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis suggests that miR-23a-3p regulates PD-L1 expression through the phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN)- phosphoinositide-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K)-protein kinase B (AKT) pathway. This notion was confirmed by in vitro transfection and co-culture experiments, which revealed that miR-23a-3p inhibited PTEN expression and subsequently elevated phosphorylated AKT and PD-L1 expression in macrophages. Finally, co-culture of T cells with Exo-TM-stimulated macrophages decreased CD8(+) T-cell ratio and interleukin-2 production but increased T-cell apoptosis in vitro. CONCLUSION: ER-stressed HCC cells release exosomes to up-regulate PD-L1expression in macrophages, which subsequently inhibits T-cell function via an exosome miR-23a-PTEN-AKT pathway. Our findings provide a new insight into the mechanism how tumor cells escape from antitumor immunity.

A novel solvent-impregnated resin (SIR) with trialkylphosphate Cyanex 923 as extractants and macroporous resin HZ830 as substrate was prepared to adsorb In(III) from HCl solutions. The effects of HCl concentration on adsorption were investigated within the range of 0.5 to 7 mol L− 1, and results showed that adsorption capacity was greatest at 2 mol L− 1 HCl. The adsorption mechanism of In(III) in chloride medium suggested that In(III) was apt to be adsorbed as a neutral species InCl3. As the anionic species InCl4− it tended to be adsorbed in the form of ion pairs combined with protons. The extraction stoichiometry of In (III) with SIR was studied, and the extracted species were found to be InCl3·nL and HInCl4·nL (n = 2, 3). The isothermal adsorption of In(III) fit the Langmuir model. Kinetic data indicated that the adsorption process was consistent with a pseudo second order model, and the sorption rate was mainly controlled by an intraparticle diffusion step. A column experiment showed that In(III) could be eluted from SIR with 2 mol L− 1 sulfuric acid, and the SIR showed good stability and reusability after five adsorption-elution cycles. When the SIR was applied for In(III) adsorption from waste liquid crystal display (LCD) leaching solution containing 102.15 mg L− 1 In(III), the adsorption efficiency exceeded 90% with 0.30 g adsorbent.

The effects of mild-parboiling treatment (MPT) on the structure, colour, pasting and rheology properties of germinated brown rice (GBR) were investigated and compared with those of white rice (WR). The results showed that some fissures appeared on the surface-layer and cross-section of GBR, meanwhile, the region of cross-section near its surface became compacter and smoother after MPT. Incomplete gelatinization of GBR occurred during MPT, as evidenced by the decrease of relative crystallinity from 27.51% to16.87% and the transformation of crystalline structure from A-type into the mixture of A-type and Vh-type. The significantly (p

Four new glucosyloxybenzyl 2R-benzylmalate derivatives, named Arundinoside H (2), I (5), J (6), K (8) as well as four known compounds Arundinoside D (1), G (3), F (4), E (7) were isolated and characterized by a combination of chemical and spectroscopic methods, including HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Besides, 24 unreported compounds were inferred from ESI-MSn data. The anti-liver fibrotic activities of the isolates were determined as proliferation inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of rat hepatic stellate cells (HSC-T6). The result suggested Arundinosides D, H, F, I and K showed moderate inhibitory effects in vitro.

A new SnS2/CNTs/S composite is prepared and used as the lithium-sulfur battery cathode material. SnS2 works as the adsorbent to hinder or reduce the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides. CNTs work as the conductive network of the composite. The synergistic effect come from the SnS2 and CNTs commits to the Li-S battery electrochemical performance. The composite has shown a good electrochemical performance: the first discharge capacity is 1308.6 mAh g-1 (0.1 C) and a reversible capacity of 1002.3mAh.g-1 after 100 cycles, indicating a good potential application.

Controlling nutrient inputs has allowed many lakes and several river, estuarine and coastal ecosystems to recover rapidly from eutrophication. In some systems, however, recovery has been slow or negligible. The broad changes in environmental conditions could in many cases be responsible for the observed delays in recovery. We proposed three basic scenarios and seven different trajectory modes of lake eutrophication recovery. Monitoring data from six lake ecosystems were analyzed to study the relationships between chlorophyll a and nutrients and their applicability in lake management. The combination of seven basic tracks can make decisions on the whole space, it will provide a visual management tool for governance decisions on specific lakes, avoiding the waste caused by blind pollution control measures with unclear objectives and inefficient methods. We believe that timely “artificial hand” adjustment measures in coordination with proper implementation can ensure that lakes have a greater chance of achieving a right-lateral repair pathway for the continuous control of phosphorus inputs and that the use of “natural hand” measures may help shorten the recovery time.

Astilbin (ASB), a dihydroflavonol glycoside, is widely found in a variety of plants and in functional foods and acts as a powerful antioxidant. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in the antagonistic effects of ASB on cadmium (Cd)-induced necroptosis in chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were aseptically collected from Roman white hens and then randomly divided into five groups: the control group was incubated without additional reagents, while the other groups were incubated with Cd, ASB, a combination of Cd and ASB, and 0.1% DMSO. After a 24 h treatment, cell samples were collected. The results showed that some morphological changes consistent with necroptosis were observed in the Cd-treated groups, suggesting the occurrence of necroptosis. Simultaneously, antioxidant activity markers (CAT, SOD, GSH, GSH-px, and T-AOC) decreased and indicators of oxidative stress (MDA, iNOS, NO, H2O2, ·OH and ROS) increased. The production of ROS induced the activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, as the expression levels of PI3K, Akt and PDK1 were significantly elevated. Additionally, the expression levels of RIPK3, RIPK1, MLKL, TAK1, TAB2 and TAB3 were increased and that of Caspase-8 was decreased, which could cause the necroptosis. However, the most important our results was that ASB supplements remarkably attenuated the Cd-induced effects. We conclude that the Cd treatment promoted an imbalance of the antioxidant status and activated the PI3K/Akt pathway, leading to necroptosis in chicken peripheral blood lymphocytes, and that ASB was able to partially ameliorate the effect of Cd-induced necroptosis.

Inspired by the common structural characteristics of numerous known antitumor compounds targeting DNA or topoisomerase I, 3-(benzazol-2-yl)-quinoxaline-based scaffold was designed via the combination of two important privileged structure units —quinoxaline and benzazole. Thirty novel 3-(benzazol-2-yl)-quinoxaline derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their biological activities. The MTT assay indicated that most compounds possessed moderate to potent antiproliferation effects against MGC-803, HepG2, A549, HeLa, T-24 and WI-38 cell lines. 3-(Benzoxazol- -2-yl)-2-(N-3-dimethylaminopropyl)aminoquinoxaline (12a) exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity, with IC50 values ranging from 1.49 to 10.99 μM against the five tested cancer and one normal cell line. Agarose-gel electrophoresis assays suggested that 12a did not interact with intact DNA, but rather it strongly inhibited topoisomerase I (Topo I) via Topo I-mediated DNA unwinding to exert its anticancer activity. The molecular modeling study indicated that 12a adopt a unique mode to interact with DNA and Topo I. Detailed biological study of 12a in MGC-803 cells revealed that 12a could arrest the cell cycle in G2 phase, inducing the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the fluctuation of intracellular Ca2+, and the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). Western Blot analysis indicated that 12a-treatment could significantly up-regulate the levels of pro-apoptosis proteins Bak, Bax, and Bim, down-regulate anti-apoptosis proteins Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl, and increase levels of cyclin B1 and CDKs inhibitor p21, cytochrome c, caspase-3, caspase-9 and their activated form in MGC-803 cells in a dose-dependent manner to induce cell apoptosis via a caspase-dependent intrinsic mitochondria-mediated pathway. Studies in MGC-803 xenograft tumors models demonstrated that 12a could significantly reduce tumor growth in vivo at doses as low as 6 mg/kg with low toxicity. Its convenient preparation and potent anticancer efficacy in vivo makes the 3-(benzazol-2-yl)quinoxaline scaffold a promising new chemistry entity for the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents.

A nanofiber membrane composed of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL), poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP), and silver nanoparticles was prepared via electrospinning technique. The morphology and structure of the PCL/PVP/Ag nanofibers composite were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The SEM images showed that various composites of PCL/PVP/Ag could be electrospun to yield continuous and uniform nanofibers. FTIR spectra indicated that the molecular interactions between PCL and PVP are weak. The hydrophilicity, mechanical property, and swelling behavior of the as-spun composites can be manipulated by altering the blend ratio of PCL/PVP. XRD patterns and XPS spectra showed that the Ag nanoparticles were dispersed in the PCL/PVP nanofiber composites; and the Ag nanoparticles endowed the PCL/PVP/Ag composite with antibacterial activities. The obtained PCL/PVP/Ag nanofiber composites with the morphology similar to that of native extracellular matrix have the potential to create a moist environment and to kill bacteria, which make it possible to be used for wound dressing application. POLYM. COMPOS., 37:2847–2854, 2016. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers

We investigate the variance of the length of the longest common subsequences of two independent random words of size $n$, where the letters of one word are i.i.d. uniformly drawn from $\{\alpha_1, \alpha_2, \cdots, \alpha_m\}$, while the letters of the other word are i.i.d. drawn from $\{\alpha_1, \alpha_2, \cdots, \alpha_m, \alpha_{m+1}\}$, with probability $p > 0$ to be $\alpha_{m+1}$, and $(1-p)/m > 0$ for all the other letters. The order of the variance of this length is shown to be linear in $n$., Comment: 19 pages

Two luminescent donor-acceptor isomers based on thiophene and benzothiadiazole were designed and synthesized for photophysical property investigations. Their isomeric molecular structures, different photoluminescence, but similar electroluminescence, offer a good platform for in-depth exploration of photoluminescence–electroluminescence relations. The continuous emission color tuning with mono-peak photoluminescence spectra in both solution and film was readily realized. The non-doped OLED device of one isomer shows a low turn-on voltage (2.45 V) with a maximum luminance of 1825 cd/m2 and a slight red-shift of electroluminescence (26 nm). In contrast, the other isomer demonstrates a highly red-shifted electroluminescence (53 nm), which was supposed to be intrinsically resulted from the extensively rearranged molecular structures at charged states triggered by the external electronic field during the device operation. These findings based on systematic mechanism analysis, theoretical calculations, and experimental results may provide valuable insight into the optoelectronic property relations especially for the material design of OLEDs.

A copper-catalyzed selective cross-coupling reaction of 3-(hydroxyimino)indolin-2-ones with alkenyl boronic acids to access (E)-N-vinyl oxindole nitrones has been achieved under mild conditions. The studies showed that catalytic copper salt selectively gave mono N-vinylation products, while 2.0 equiv of copper salt provided double N-vinylation products. The control experiments revealed that the carbonyl group in 3-(hydroxyimino)indolin-2-one played important roles on N-vinylation. Furthermore, the prepared N-vinyl oxindole nitrones could be converted to spirooxindoles in good yields under thermal conditions.