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Vector autoregression is an essential tool in empirical macroeconomics and finance for understanding the dynamic interdependencies among multivariate time series. In this study, we expand the scope of vector autoregression by incorporating a multivariate distributional regression framework and introducing a distributional impulse response function, providing a comprehensive view of dynamic heterogeneity. We propose a straightforward yet flexible estimation method and establish its asymptotic properties under weak dependence assumptions. Our empirical analysis examines the conditional joint distribution of GDP growth and financial conditions in the United States, with a focus on the global financial crisis. Our results show that tight financial conditions lead to a multimodal conditional joint distribution of GDP growth and financial conditions, and easing financial conditions significantly impacts long-term GDP growth, while improving the GDP growth during the global financial crisis has limited effects on financial conditions.

A rapid increase in endogenous ethylene production during ripening is related to fruit softening in the apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) cultivar ‘Taishanzaoxia’. Two genes involved in the ethylene response, MdERF1.1 and MdERF2.1, were isolated and characterized. MdERF1.1 and MdERF2.1 were predicted to encode proteins of 252 and 334 amino acids, respectively. MdERF1.1 and MdERF2.1 were expressed in Escherichia coli, and their molecular weights were determined by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) and western blotting analyses (28 and 37 kD, respectively). Sequence comparisons and phylogenetic and secondary structure indicated that MdERF1.1 and MdERF2.1 are members of the ERF family. Both of them include a typical GCC‑box binding domain consisting of an α-helix and a three-stranded anti-parallel β-sheet. Sequence comparisons showed that MdERF1.1 is highly identity to MdERF1 from ‘Golden Delicious’, but Gly replaces Ala at position 110 in β-strand 2. This amino acid variation may be involved in fruit softening. Similarly, MdERF2.1 is highly identity to MdERF2 from ‘Golden Delicious’ but differs at three amino acids (Ala, Thr and Glu replace Pro, Ala and Asp at positions 97, 139, and 269, respectively). These three amino acid differences in MdERF2.1 might also be related to fruit softening. In ripening fruit, MdERF1.1 transcript levels rapidly increased during fruit softening in ‘Taishanzaoxia’, and this increase was associated with ethylene production. MdERF2.1 was predominantly expressed in softening ‘Taishanzaoxia’ fruit. The results indicate that ethylene signaling and MdERF1.1 and MdERF2.1 are involved in fruit softening in ‘Taishanzaoxia’.

BackgroundTraditional epidemiological studies suggested that Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) might correlate with stroke. We intend to explore whether the two most common neurodegenerative diseases [Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD)] are causally associated with stroke and its subtypes.MethodsTwo-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) method was used to explore the causal relationships. Candidate genetic instrumental variables (IVs) for AD and PD were collected from the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in European populations. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was the primary method of MR analysis, and the weighted median method was supplementary. In addition, the MR-Egger method and the MR-PRESSO test were used as well.ResultsWe found no causal effects of AD on stroke, Ischemic stroke (IS), or Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). As for PD and stroke, our preliminary results showed PD could causally influence the risk of stroke [odds ratio (OR): 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–1.07; P = 0.001 by the IVW method], although the alternative method did not support this result. We identified the positive causal relationship between PD and the risk of IS (OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 1.02–1.07; P = 0.001 by the IVW method), and the alternative MR methods produced similar results. The present study found there was no causal relationship between PD and ICH.ConclusionThis study found a causal relationship between genetic susceptibility to PD and the incidence of stroke (especially IS) in the European population; however, there was no causal relation between AD and stroke risk.

Due to large volume of data, uneven spatial distribution of point densities, and complex scene, it is difficult to automatically extract and delineate road boundaries from mobile laser scanning (MLS) point clouds. This paper proposed a method for extracting road boundaries from MLS point clouds based on Snake. Different from the traditional Snake model defined within 2D image, we modified the Snake model directly based on 3D point clouds. Firstly, we developed a way of initializing Snake curves using pseudo-trajectory data to match multi-type road boundaries. Then, the Snake’s energy function was designed with internal, external and constrained energy terms derived from Snake curve points with their neighborhood points. Finally, the road boundaries were precisely extracted by minimizing the Snake’s energy function. Experiments were undertaken to evaluate the validities of the proposed algorithm with three different urban scene datasets acquired by different MLS system. Quantitative evaluations on the selected MLS datasets indicate that the Precision, Recall and F1-Measure of road boundaries extraction results were over 97.62%, 98.04%, 97.83%, respectively, which validate that the proposed method proved a promising and robust solution for regular and irregular road boundaries extraction in complex urban environments.

The main components of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the degree of contamination of soil with different oils (gasoline, diesel oil, and lubricating oil) were examined. Malus prunifoli...

Background High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy is being increasingly used to prevent post-extubation hypoxemic respiratory failure and reintubation. However, evidence to support the use of HFNC in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure after extubation is limited. This study was conducted to test if HFNC is non-inferior to non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in preventing post-extubation treatment failure in COPD patients previously intubated for hypercapnic respiratory failure. Methods COPD patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure who were already receiving invasive ventilation were randomized to HFNC or NIV at extubation at two large tertiary academic teaching hospitals. The primary endpoint was treatment failure, defined as either resumption of invasive ventilation or switching to the other study treatment modality (NIV for patients in the NFNC group or vice versa). Results Ninety-six patients were randomly assigned to the HFNC group or NIV group. After secondary exclusion, 44 patients in the HFNC group and 42 patients in the NIV group were included in the analysis. The treatment failure rate in the HFNC group was 22.7% and 28.6% in the NIV group—risk difference of − 5.8% (95% CI, − 23.8–12.4%, p = 0.535), which was significantly lower than the non-inferior margin of 9%. Analysis of the causes of treatment failure showed that treatment intolerance in the HFNC group was significantly lower than that in the NIV group, with a risk difference of − 50.0% (95% CI, − 74.6 to − 12.9%, p = 0.015). One hour after extubation, the mean respiratory rates of both groups were faster than their baseline levels before extubation (p p = 0.006). The comfort score and incidence of nasal and facial skin breakdown of the HFNC group was also significantly better than that of the NIV group [7 (6–8) vs 5 (4–7), P p = 0.027], respectively. Conclusion Among COPD patients with severe hypercapnic respiratory failure who received invasive ventilation, the use of HFNC after extubation did not result in increased rates of treatment failure compared with NIV. HFNC also had better tolerance and comfort than NIV. Trial registration chictr.org (ChiCTR1800018530). Registered on 22 September 2018, http://www.chictr.org.cn/usercenter.aspx

Distribution of SARS-CoV-2 virus and pathological features of multiple organs in COVID-19 patients remains unclear, which interferes with the improvement of COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment. In this article, we summarize the pathological findings obtained from systematic autopsy (37 cases) and percutaneous multiple organ biopsy (“minimally invasive autopsy”, 54 cases). These findings should shed light on better understanding of the progression of COVID-19 infection and the means of more effective intervention.

Recently, indefinite kernel support vector machine (IKSVM) has attracted great attention in the machine learning community as more and more indefinite metric kernel matrices have occurred. However, the existing IKSVM algorithms are usually unable to solve the problems of information redundancy and sample sparsity caused by high-dimensional data. In view of the research status, the existing mainstream IKSVM algorithms are studied.Based on the stabilization problem of IKSVM in the reproducing kernel Kre?n spaces (RKKS), this paper proves theoretically that the essence of the IKSVM is the sequential application of indefinite kernel principal component analysis (IKPCA) and support vector machine (SVM) in reduced spaces, and proposes a novel learning framework for IKSVM: two-phase indefinite kernel support vector machine (TP-IKSVM). The TP-IKSVM solves the IKSVM problem by applying IKPCA and SVM successively, combining the advantages of IKPCA in alleviating redundancy and sample sparsity caused by high-dimensional datasets and the good generalization performance of SVM in reduced spaces. Experimental results on real world datasets show the classification accuracy of TP-IKSVM is better than that of the existing mainstream IKSVM algorithms.

Ping Liu,1 Yunyun Wang,1,2 Yan Sun,1 Guoping Peng1 1Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, Shengzhou People’s Hospital, Shaoxing, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Guoping Peng, Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, #79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, 310003, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13588150613, Email guopingpeng@zju.edu.cnAbstract: Although amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide accumulation is considered as a key early event in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the precise pathophysiology of this deadly illness remains unclear and no effective remedies capable of inhibiting disease progression have been discovered. In addition to deposition of extracellular Aβ plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, neuroinflammation has been identified as the third core characteristic crucial in the pathogenesis of AD. More and more evidence from laboratory and clinical studies have suggested that anti-inflammatory treatments could defer or prevent the occurrence of AD. In this review, we will discuss multifaceted evidence of neuroinflammation presented in AD and the newly emerged anti-inflammatory targets both in pre-clinical and clinical AD.Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, neuroinflammation, disease‐modifying therapy, anti-inflammatory treatment

In comparison to methane (CH(4)), ammonia (NH(3)) is considered a potential carbon-free alternative fuel that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a principal concern is the generation of elevated nitrogen oxide (NO(X)) emissions from NH(3) flame. In this study, the detailed reaction mechanisms and thermodynamic data of CH(4) oxidation and NH(3) oxidation were performed using the steady and unsteady flamelet models. After validation of the turbulence model, the combustion and NO(X) emission characteristics of CH(4)/air and NH(3)/air non-premixed flames in a micro gas turbine swirl combustor under a series of identical heat loads were numerically investigated and compared. The present results show that the high-temperature zone of the NH(3)/air flame migrates more rapidly toward the outlet of the combustion chamber than that of the CH(4)/air flame as the heat load increases. The average NO, N(2)O, and NO(2) emission concentrations at all heat loads from NH(3)/air flame are respectively 6.12, 161.05 (given the very low N(2)O emission concentration from CH(4)/air flame), and 2.89 times higher than those from CH(4)/air flame. There are correlation trends between some parameters (e.g. characteristic temperature and OH emissions) with the variation of the heat load, and the relevant parameters can be tracked to predict the emission trends after changing the heat load.

Additional file 4. Simulation Class Design Scenario Script of Clinical Research 1 (ARandomized Controlled Trial Simulation).

Additional file 2. List of excluded studies. 176 studies were excluded after reviewing the full texts. Detailed information of these articles are shown.

Additional file 1. Search Strategy. Search strategy used in the eight databases.

Supplemental Material for Pyroptosis in the lung and spleen of patients died from COVID-19 by Xin Tong, Haiqin Ping, Xiaoming Gong, Kai Zhang, Zhaojun Chen, Caiyun Cai, Zhiyan Lu, Rongrong Yang, Shicheng Gao, Yunyun Wang, Xinghuan Wang, Liang Liu and Hengning Ke in European Journal of Inflammation

Additional file 3. Quality Assessment of 10 RCTs. 10 RCTs included in the systematic review were assessed for literature quality using the Risk-of-bias Tool 1.0. a: Risk of bias graph: authors' judgements’ about each risk of bias item presented as percentages. b: Risk of bias summary: authors' judgements about each risk of bias item.

Additional file 5. Simulation Class Design Scenario Script of Clinical Research 2 (ACross-sectional Study Simulation)

Additional file 8. Results of Meta-analysis of Laboratory parameters. Results of Meta-analysis of WBC, neutrophiles, lymphocytes, platelets, CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, D-dimer, fibrinogen and ferritin in day 0–4 or day 5–8. a. Forest plot of WBC (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. b. Forest plot of neutrophils (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. c. Forest plot of lymphocytes (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. d. Forest plot of PLT (day0–4): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. e. Forest plot of PLT (day5-8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. f. Forest plot of CRP (day0–4): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. g. Forest plot of CRP (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. h. Forest plot of IL-6 (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. I. Forest plot of TNF-α (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. j. Forest plot of D-dimer (day0–4): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. k. Forest plot of D-dimer (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. l. Forest plot of fibrinogen (day0–4): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. m. Forest plot of fibrinogen (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. n. Forest plot of ferritin (day0–4): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates. o. Forest plot of ferritin (day5–8): Std. Mean Difference (95% CI) and pooled estimates.

Additional file 7. Serious Adverse Events. All serious adverse events reported in involved studies between experimental and control groups.

Additional file 3. Supplementary Figures and Tables.

Previous unsupervised domain adaptation (UDA) methods aim to promote target learning via a single-directional knowledge transfer from label-rich source domain to unlabeled target domain, while its reverse adaption from target to source has not jointly been considered yet so far. In fact, in some real teaching practice, a teacher helps students learn while also gets promotion from students to some extent, which inspires us to explore a dual-directional knowledge transfer between domains, and thus propose a Dual-Correction Adaptation Network (DualCAN) in this paper. However, due to the asymmetrical label knowledge across domains, transfer from unlabeled target to labeled source poses a more difficult challenge than the common source-to-target counterpart. First, the target pseudo-labels predicted by source commonly involve noises due to model bias, hence in the reverse adaptation, they may hurt the source performance and bring a negative target-to-source transfer. Secondly, source domain usually contains innate noises, which will inevitably aggravate the target noises, leading to noise amplification across domains. To this end, we further introduce a Noise Identification and Correction (NIC) module to correct and recycle noises in both domains. To our best knowledge, this is the first naive attempt of dual-directional adaptation for noisy UDA, and naturally applicable to noise-free UDA. A theory justification is given to state the rationality of our intuition. Empirical results confirm the effectiveness of DualCAN with remarkable performance gains over state-of-the-arts, particularly for extreme noisy tasks (e.g., ~+ 15% on Pw->Pr and Pr->Rw of Office-Home).

Additional file 2. Expert Consultation Forms for the Syllabus for Clinical Research Courses.

Additional file 4. Quality Assessment of 7 NRCTs. 7 NRCTs included in the systematic review were assessed for literature quality using the MINORS instrument.

Additional file 1. Questionnaire on medical students’ cognition of clinical trials and scenario simulation teaching.

The study aimed to systematically review the existing literature and assess the effects of percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV) in patients with mitral stenosis and atrial fibrillation (AF) as opposed to sinus rhythm (SR). Eligible studies were identified from six electronic databases before June 2021. The primary outcome was mitral valve area (MVA), and secondary outcomes were hemodynamic measurements, in-hospital complications, and long-term outcomes. Relative risks (RRs) or weighted mean differences (WMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used as effect sizes. Fifteen studies were included involving 6351 patients. For the primary outcome, the AF group obtained less favourable changes in MVA (WMD: −0.10, 95%CI: −0.14, −0.06) and a significantly smaller postoperative and long-term MVA (WMD: −0.13, 95%CI: −0.18, −0.08 and WMD: −0.10, 95%CI: −0.17, −0.03, respectively) compared to the SR group. For secondary outcome, the AF group was associated with suboptimal outcomes as following (WMD/RR, [95%CI]): higher LAP (1.37, [0.86, 1.87]), more embolism (2.85, [1.44, 5.63]), lower event-free survival (0.89, [0.80, 1.00]), higher incidences of mitral valve replacement (2.20, [1.40, 3.46]), re-PBMV (2.28, [1.63, 3.19]), and mortality (3.28, [2.42, 4.44]). No significant differences were found in other outcomes. The currently available evidence suggests that PBMV may be less effective in patients with AF than in those with SR. However, early treatment and appropriate management of AF patients undergoing PBMV may benefit the immediate and long-term outcomes.

Additional file 1. Table A. 1. Risk factors for short-term mortality by univariate Cox regression analysis. Figure A. 1. Comparison of plasma suPAR concentrations in different disease groups. No statistical significance was found between each pair of groups. Figure A. 2. The effect of suPAR on ROS production in neutrophils in HC and CHB under E.coli stimulation. Whole blood from healthy controls (n = 13) and patients with CHB (n = 12) was stimulated with E. coli in the presence of suPAR (50 ng/ml) or PBS for 30 minutes in vitro. ROS levels in neutrophils were determined. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. *p < 0.05; ns, not statistically significant. Figure A. 3. The effect of suPAR on ROS production in neutrophils in ACLF without E. coli stimulation. Whole blood from patients with ACLF (n = 10) was incubated with suPAR (50 ng/ml) or PBS for 30 minutes in vitro without E. coli stimulation. ROS levels in neutrophils were determined. Statistical analyses were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. ns, not statistically significant. Figure A. 4. The correlation of serum suPAR and spontaneous ROS production in neutrophils from ACLF. The spontaneous ROS production in neutrophils from patients with ACLF (n = 11) was directly determined without E.coli stimulation. Statistical analyses were performed using the using spearman correlation. Supplementary methods: The limitations of cytokine measurements. Supplementary methods: Combining MELD or SOFA with suPAR.

The pre-training on the graph neural network model can learn the general features of large-scale networks or networks of the same type by self-supervised methods, which allows the model to work even when node labels are missing. However, the existing pre-training methods do not take network evolution into consideration. This paper proposes a pre-training method on dynamic graph neural networks (PT-DGNN), which uses dynamic attributed graph generation tasks to simultaneously learn the structure, semantics, and evolution features of the graph. The method includes two steps: 1) dynamic sub-graph sampling, and 2) pre-training with dynamic attributed graph generation task. Comparative experiments on three realistic dynamic network datasets show that the proposed method achieves the best results on the link prediction fine-tuning task.

Xiyu Chen,1– 3,* Shuiting Zhang,1– 3,* Chao Liu,1– 3 Guo Li,1– 3 Shanhong Lu,1– 3 Yunyun Wang,1– 3 Xin Zhang,1– 3 Donghai Huang,1– 3 Yuanzheng Qiu,1– 4 Yong Liu1– 4 1Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, People’s Republic of China; 2Otolaryngology Major Disease Research Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan 410008, People’s Republic of China; 3Clinical Research Center for Pharyngolaryngeal Diseases and Voice Disorders in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan 410008, People’s Republic of China; 4National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders (Xiangya Hospital), Changsha, Hunan 410008, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yong LiuDepartment of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, 87 Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan 410008, People’s Republic of ChinaTel| Fax +86073184327469Email liuyongent@csu.edu.cnBackground: UBE2O, as a member of the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme family, is abnormally expressed and exhibits abnormal functions in human malignancies. However, the function of UBE2O in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains unknown. Therefore, our study aims to investigate the role of UBE2O in HNSCC progression and the underlying mechanisms.Methods: The expression of UBE2O in HNSCC patients was investigated with data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and from a separate primary tumor cohort. The function of UBE2O in HNSCC cells was studied by cell viability assay, colony formation assay, wound healing assay, and cell migration and invasion chamber assay. The effect of UBE2O on tumor growth in vivo was determined in a subcutaneous xenograft model of HNSCC.Results: TCGA data showed that UBE2O mRNA expression was dramatically increased in HNSCC tissues and that patients with high expression of UBE2O transcripts had a worse survival prognosis than patients with low expression of UBE2O transcripts. Gain-of-function and loss-of-function analyses revealed that oncogenic UBE2O enhanced the proliferation, migration and invasion of HNSCC cells in vitro. Further, mechanistic analysis revealed that UBE2O induced the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype and also potentiated TGF-β 1-induced EMT, and thus leading to an enhanced capacity of migration and invasion in HNSCC. Finally, xenograft models showed that UBE2O knockout obviously inhibited the occurrence of EMT, angiogenesis and tumor growth in HNSCC in vivo.Conclusion: Our study indicates that UBE2O acts as an oncogene to promote the malignant progression and EMT of HNSCC.Keywords: head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme e2o, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, migration, invasion

Intermolecular forces constrain peptide conformation. However, the role of each intermolecular force in constraining peptide conformation remains poorly understood. In this work, we show that aromatic-aromatic interactions drive peptides into β-sheets, and the hydrophobic effect determines the assembly speed of peptides. By using intermolecular forces to artificially control the assembly of β-sheets, a multi-modal analytical system was developed that allows five readouts and dual qualitative-quantitative analysis, and satisfies both point-of-care testing (POCT) and laboratory-based testing. For Mycoplasma Pneumoniae diagnosis, this system eradicates misdiagnosis (from 30 % to 0 %) and broadens the linear range by three-fold, both of which are critical for guiding therapy. This work not only illustrates exact roles of intermolecular forces in driving the formation of β-sheets, but also provides a guideline for the construction of a multi-modal analytical system for disease diagnosis.

Neuropathic pain (NP) is pain caused by somatosensory nervous system injury or disease. Its prominent symptoms are spontaneous pain, hyperalgesia, and allodynia, and the sense of pain is extremely strong. Owing to the complex mechanism, conventional painkillers lack effectiveness. Recently, research on the treatment of NP by stem cells is increasing and promising results have been achieved in preclinical research. In this review, we briefly introduce the neuropathic pain, the current treatment strategy, and the development of stem cell therapy, and we collected the experimental and clinical trial articles of many kinds of stem cells in the treatment of neuropathic pain from the past ten years. We analyzed and summarized the general efficacy and mechanism of stem cells in the treatment of neuropathic pain. We found that the multiple-mechanism approach was different from the single mechanism of routine clinical drugs; stem cells play a role in peripheral mechanism, central mechanism, and disinhibition of spinal cord level that lead to neuropathic pain, so they are more effective in analgesia and treatment of neuropathic pain.

Elaeagnus angustifolia L. is a deciduous tree of the Elaeagnaceae family. It is widely used in the study of abiotic stress tolerance in plants and for the improvement of desertification-affected land due to its characteristics of drought resistance, salt tolerance, cold resistance, wind resistance, and other environmental adaptation. Here, we report the complete genome sequencing using the Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) platform and Hi-C assisted assembly of E. angustifolia. A total of 44.27 Gb raw PacBio sequel reads were obtained after filtering out low-quality data, with an average length of 8.64 Kb. And 39.56 Gb clean reads was obtained, with a sequencing coverage of 75×, and Q30 ratio > 95.46%. The 510.71 Mb genomic sequence was mapped to the chromosome, accounting for 96.94% of the total length of the sequence, and the corresponding number of sequences was 269, accounting for 45.83% of the total number of sequences. The genome sequence study of E. angustifolia can be a valuable source for the comparative genome analysis of the Elaeagnaceae family members, and can help to understand the evolutionary response mechanisms of the Elaeagnaceae to drought, salt, cold and wind resistance, and thereby provide effective theoretical support for the improvement of desertification-affected land.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) can be rationally designed with desired physicochemical properties for a far-ranging application in catalytic systems. Herein, a biguanide-functionalized covalent organic framework was designed and prepared via N-alkylation reaction, exhibiting a granular aggregate structure with high specific surface area. The biguanide-decorated DG–COF can be used as a highly efficient basic catalyst for the Knoevenagel condensation and Knoevenagel-Michael-cyclocondensation reaction. The present methodology is of excellent yields, short reaction times and simple operational procedure. DG–COF catalytic performance does not change after eight-times regeneration.

Economic benefit analysis of distributed generation (DG) is helpful for the formulation and adjustment of the DG industry policy, and the dynamic visual simulation model couldimprove the accuracy in decision making. This paper first reviewed the domestic and foreign research status of distributed generation(DG） economic benefit, then analysed the direct benefits, indirect benefits and the costs of DG through the cost-benefit master model of DG set up by System Dynamics method. Meanwhile, each cost-benefit sub model is also provided. Finally simulation for 5 MW photovoltaic power station is carried out and its costs and benefits are presented. The validity of the model was verified for the results conforming to the anticipated target, the results also showed that subsidies had significant effects on the benefits of DG and the indirect benefits, especially carbon reduction benefit are obvious.

Amylopectin retrogradation greatly affects the overall characteristics of starch. It occurs gradually over a long period of time and the results of its measurement are often subtle. In this study, three types of amylopectin crystal seeds (ACS) were prepared and added to rice amylopectin to enhance the detectability of amylopectin retrogradation. Among the ACS, two crystal seeds with B-type structures increased the relative crystallinity of retrograded amylopectin by a maximum of 4.73% and the retrogradation rate constant from 0.035 up to the maximum 0.045 d−1. These results indicated that these two types of ACS with similar crystal structures increased the nuclei formation during amylopectin recrystallization. The remaining crystal seed had an A-type structure and no significant effect on amylopectin retrogradation. Therefore, it was speculated that pure amylopectin retrograded by forming nuclei with a B-type structure, and the nuclei formed subsequently induced adjacent chains to form the eventual starch crystal.

Reasonable mining scheme is of great significance for safety and efficiency of mining activity and environmental protection. In view of the limitation that the traditional mine surveying and mapping method can’t provide accurate terrain data for the mining scheme design, moreover, the common mining design software can’t be combined with the 3D real scene mining situation for scheme analysis and evaluation, this paper proposed a design method based on 3D real scene model by combining the UAV Remote sensing technology and 3D geographic information technology. This method can make the mining design agree with the demand of mining efficiency and environmental protection, improving the rationality of mining design.

This study aimed at exploring the effects of exogenous seed crystals on the starch recrystallization. A-type and B-type seed crystals from rice starch were added to rice starch paste during cooling to analyze the changes in retrogradation process. DSC results indicated that B-type seed improved the uniformity of crystal size and the degree of crystal perfection; it also affected the nucleation mode of retrograded starches at 4 °C, while A-type seed did not affect these properties. The XRD showed that the unit cell was compact, and the crystal grain became larger upon the introduction of B-type seed, while A-type seemed to loosen the cell. The SAXS reflected that B-type seed increased the thickness of the imperfect lamellar structure formed during recrystallization, while A-type seed decreased it. These findings might be due to the molecular segment arrangement on the nuclei growth surface affecting the arrangement of starch molecular segments approaching the nuclei.

Elaeagnus angustifolia L. is a deciduous tree of the Elaeagnaceae family. It is widely used in the study of abiotic stress tolerance in plants and for the improvement of desertification-affected land due to its characteristics of drought resistance, salt tolerance, cold resistance, wind resistance, and other environmental adaptation. Here, we report the complete genome sequencing using the Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) platform and Hi-C assisted assembly of E. angustifolia. A total of 44.27 Gb raw PacBio sequel reads were obtained after filtering out low-quality data, with an average length of 8.64 Kb. Assembly using Canu gave an assembly length of 781.09 Mb, with a contig N50 of 486.92 Kb. A total of 39.56 Gb of clean reads was obtained, with a sequencing coverage of 75×, and Q30 ratio > 95.46%. The 510.71 Mb genomic sequence was mapped to the chromosome, accounting for 96.94% of the total length of the sequence, and the corresponding number of sequences was 269, accounting for 45.83% of the total number of sequences. The genome sequence study of E. angustifolia can be a valuable source for the comparative genome analysis of the Elaeagnaceae family members, and can help to understand the evolutionary response mechanisms of the Elaeagnaceae to drought, salt, cold and wind resistance, and thereby provide effective theoretical support for the improvement of desertification-affected land.

Quaternary compounds Cu2FeSnS4 (CFTS), a promising alternative material for solar cell absorber layer, were successfully synthesised by a liquid reflux method in a mixture solvent of triethylenetetramine-ethylene glycol (TETA-EG, 1:1, v/v) at 230°C for 3 h under the atmospheric pressure condition. The phase, micro-structure, morphology, chemical composition and optical properties of the as-synthesised CFTS micro/nano particles were characterised using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrophotometer. The results showed that the stannite structured CFTS micro/nano particles with close to theoretical stoichiometric ratio were pure and well-crystallised, the particle size ranged from 70 to 240 nm and the particles were well-distributed, the band gap was about 1.25 eV which indicated its suitable application as the absorption layer of thin film solar cells.