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In this paper, we proposed an end-to-end image fusion network based on cascade-skip learning, named CSFusionNet. Inspired by the Unet++ network model, the motivation is to reduce the number of network parameters, make full use of the features extracted by middle network layers, and improve the efficiency of training. Firstly, the input of the proposed method is two- way of source images, and the images are respectively extracted features. The feature maps are generated through their respective encoding and are fused in the decoding part. Secondly, the method proposed is to cascade the feature maps in different layers, and then output them through up-sampling. The first three input layers extract high-dimensional information from the source images and connect to the features of the last three layers before the output layer by cascade-skip learning. Therefore, the details of features can be well preserved in the fused image. Finally, a large number of experiments were carried out in two types of fusion tasks (Vis-Ir image fusion and Multi-Focus image fusion) with three datasets. With the comparison of the state-of-the-art image fusion algorithms, the visual saliency features of the target in the fused image are more prominent in the proposed method, the quantitative results also verify that our proposed network has achieved comparable or even better performance. Among the four widely used evaluation metrics, our method can obtain the optimal or suboptimal value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Ovine pulmonary adenomatosis (OPA) and maedi-visna disease (MVD) are chronic and progressive infectious diseases in sheep caused by Jaagsiekte sheep retrovirus (JSRV) and maedi-visna virus (MVV), respectively. Objective: To investigate the pathological changes and conduct viral gene analysis of OPA and MVD co-occurrence in Inner Mongolia, China. Methods: Using gross pathology, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, ultrastructural pathology, PCR, and sequence analysis, we investigated the concurrent infection of JSRV and MVV in 319 Dorper rams slaughtered in a private slaughterhouse in Inner Mongolia, in 2022. Results: Of the 319 rams included, 3 showed concurrent JSRV and MVV infection. Gross lung pathology showed diffuse enlargement, consolidation, and greyish-white miliary nodules on the lung surface; the trachea was filled with a white foamy fluid; hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes were significantly enlarged. Histopathology results revealed typical OPA and MVD lesions in the lung tissue. Immunohistochemical results were positive for JSRV envelope protein (Env) in the tumor cells and MVV CA in alveolar macrophages. Transmission electron microscopy showed several virions and autophagosomes in the lung tissue, severely damaged mitochondria, and the induced mitophagy. Nucleotide sequences obtained for JSRV env and MVV gag showed the highest homology with the Inner Mongolian strains of JSRV env (JQ837489) and MVV gag (MW248464). Conclusions and Relevance: Our study confirmed that OPA and MVD co-occurrence and identified the pathological changes in Inner Mongolia, China, thereby providing references for the identification of concurrent JSRV and MVV infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) can seriously impair the quality of life of patients and has a remarkable comorbidity with psychological symptoms, which, in turn, can further exacerbate the symptoms of CLBP. Psychological treatments are critical and nonnegligent for the management of CLBP, and thus, should attract sufficient attention. However, current evidence does not suggest the superiority and effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions in reducing psychological symptoms among patients with CLBP. Thus, this study was designed to compare the effectiveness of nonpharmacological interventions for depression, anxiety, and mental health among patients with CLBP and to recommend preferred strategies for attenuating psychological symptoms in clinical practice. Methods: In this systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA), PubMed, Embase Database, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library were searched from database inception until March 2022. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that compare different nonpharmacological interventions for depression, anxiety, and mental health among patients with CLBP were eligible. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses statement was used. Four reviewers in pairs and divided into two groups independently performed literature selection, data extraction, and risk of bias, and certainty of evidence assessments. This NMA was conducted with a random effects model under a frequentist framework. The major outcomes were depression, anxiety, and mental health presented as the standardized mean difference (SMD) with the corresponding 95% CI. Results: A total of 66 RCTs that randomized 4806 patients with CLBP met the inclusion criteria. The quality of evidence was typically low or some risks of bias (47 out of 66 trials, 71.3%), and the precision of summary estimates for effectiveness varied substantially. In addition, 7 categories of interventions with 26 specific treatments were evaluated. For depression, mind body therapy (pooled SMD = -1.20, 95% CI: -1.63 to - 0.78), biopsychosocial approach (pooled SMD = - 0.41, 95% CI: - 0.70 to - 0.12), and physical therapy (pooled SMD = - 0.26, 95% CI: -0.50 to -0.02) exhibited remarkable effectiveness in reducing depression compared with the control group. For managing anxiety, mind body therapy (pooled SMD = - 1.35, 95% CI: - 1.90 to - 0.80), multicomponent intervention (pooled SMD = -0.47, 95% CI: - 0.88 to - 0.06), and a biopsychosocial approach (pooled SMD = -0.46, 95% CI: -0.79 to - 0.14) were substantially superior to the control group. For improving mental health, multicomponent intervention (pooled SMD = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.14 to 1.39), exercise (pooled SMD = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.08 to 1.11), and physical therapy (pooled SMD = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.02-0.92) demonstrated statistically substantial effectiveness compared with the control group. The rank probability indicated that mind body therapy achieved the highest effectiveness in reducing depression and anxiety among patients with CLBP. Besides, the combined results should be interpreted cautiously based on the results of analyses evaluating the inconsistency and certainty of the evidence. Conclusion: This systemic review and NMA suggested that nonpharmacological interventions show promise for reducing psychological symptoms among patients with CLBP. In particular, mind body therapy and a biopsychosocial approach show considerable promise, and mind body therapy can be considered a priority choice in reducing depression and anxiety. These findings can aid clinicians in assessing the potential risks and benefits of available treatments for CLBP comorbidity with psychological symptoms and provide evidence for selecting interventions in clinical practice. More RCTs involving different interventions with rigorous methodology and an adequate sample size should be conducted in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic P‐wave arrival detection is the first task in an earthquake early warning systems. This study proposes a novel detection method for this based on a fractal slope (FS). We improved the calculation method of the fractal dimension to increase the calculation speed and proposed a continuous algorithm. Furthermore, we applied FS in conjunction with the short‐term average over the long‐term average (STA/LTA), named STA/LTA + FS. We designed orthogonal experiments with different parameters and selected a total of 40,020 sets of seismic waves from the Japanese dataset to test the best parameters. A total of 45,302 sets of seismic waves from the STanford EArthquake dataset and the Chinese dataset were selected to test the generality of the proposed method. The results show that the mean error in detection time of the proposed method is +0.042 s for different datasets. In addition, STA/LTA + FS is robust over a wide range of signal‐to‐noise ratio, epicentral distance, and magnitude, with the percentage of timing errors below 0.5 s higher than 95%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that γδT cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of ankylosing spondylitis (AS). In this pilot study, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and healthy volunteers were stained and analyzed by flow cytometry to distinguish γδ T cells and its subtypes, and then to report the distribution of γδ T cells and iyts subtypes and their correlation with ankylosing spondylitis. A total of 17 patients with active AS and 10 age- and gendermatched healthy volunteers were enrolled in this study, and their peripheral blood were drawn to collect mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Flow cytometry was used to analyze γδ T cell subpopulations by measuring the surface and intracellular expressions of phenotypic markers. Serum levels of inflammatory and bone turnover markers were measured, and their correlations with subpopulations of γδ T cells were evaluated. In patients with AS, the Vδ2 fractions within γδ T cells and CD3+ T cells decreased significantly, in particular, the proportions of CD27+ Vδ2 T cells, CD86+CD80+ Vδ1 T cells, and IL17A-secreting and TNFα-secreting Vδ1 T cells within the parental cells decreased significantly. γδ T cells/PBMCs, Vδ2 cells/γδ T cells, and Vδ2 cells/CD3+ T cells were negatively correlated with CRP, whereas Vδ1 cells/CD3+ T cells were negatively correlated with ESR. Vδ1 cells/γδ T cells were positively correlated with CRP, γδ T cells/PBMCs were positively correlated with β-CTx, CD69+CD25+ and IL-17A-secreting Vδ1 cells were positively correlated with TP1NP, and CD69+CD25+ Vδ1 and Vδ2 cells were positively correlated with osteocalcin. Decreases in peripheral Vδ2, CD27+ Vδ2, CD86+CD80+ Vδ1, and IL17A or TNFα-secreting Vδ1 T cells are associated with AS. The correlations between γδ T cell subpopulations and CRP and the CD69+CD25+ subpopulation with TP1NP or osteocalcin suggest that an imbalance in peripheral γδ T cell subpopulations contributes to the pathogenesis of AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thyroid disease is a common endocrine disorder, and thyroid surgeries and postoperative complications have increased recently. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) in endoscopic thyroid surgery using subgroup analysis and determine confounding factors. Materials and Methods: Two researchers individually searched for relevant studies published till November 2022 in the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases. Eventually, eight studies met the inclusion criteria. Heterogeneity was assessed using the Cochran's Q test, and a funnel plot was implemented to evaluate publication bias. The odds ratio or risk difference were calculated using fixed-effects models. The weighted mean difference of continuous variables was calculated. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the disease type. Results: Eight eligible papers included 915 patients and 1242 exposed nerves. The frequencies of transient, permanent and total recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy were 2.64, 0.19 and 2.83%, respectively, in the IONM group and 6.15, 0.75 and 6.90%, respectively, in the conventional exposure group. In addition, analysis of the secondary outcome indicators for the average total length of surgery, localisation time of the RLN, recognition rate of the superior laryngeal nerve and length of incision revealed that IONM reduced the localisation time of the RLN and increased the identification rate of the superior laryngeal nerve. Subgroup analysis showed that IONM significantly reduced the incidence of RLN palsy in patients with malignancies. Conclusions: The use of IONM significantly reduced the incidence of transient RLN palsy during endoscopic thyroid surgery, but it did not significantly reduce the incidence of permanent RLN palsy. However, the reduction in the total RLN palsy was statistically significant. In addition, IONM can effectively reduce the location time of the RLN and increase the recognition rate of the superior laryngeal nerve. Therefore, the application of IONM for malignant tumours is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe postreperfusion syndrome (PRS) is a critical and potentially catastrophic event during deceased donor liver transplantation (LT). Terlipressin has been widely used as a renoprotective agent during the perioperative period of LT. This study was designed to evaluate whether prophylactic terlipressin would reduce the occurrence of severe PRS in deceased donor LT. Methods: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind trial, we randomly assigned adults who underwent deceased donor LT to receive 1 mg of terlipressin or placebo immediately after portal vein (PV) clamping. The primary outcome was the incidence of severe PRS after PV declamping, defined according to hypotension-based criteria per the Peking criteria. Results: Between March 2019 and January 2021, we enrolled 64 patients and randomly assigned 32 to the terlipressin group and 32 to the control group. Severe PRS was significantly less frequent in the terlipressin group than in the control group (9.4 vs. 53.1%; OR, 0.09; 95% CI, 0.02-0.36; P< 0.001). The vasopressor requirements for inferior vena cava clamping and severe PRS were significantly reduced by the intervention compared to controls (all P<0.01). Prophylactic terlipressin stabilized the mean arterial pressure (P= 0.001) and heart rate (P=0.040) at 30 min after anhepatic phase but increased the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) at 5 min after reperfusion (P= 0.003). Patients in the terlipressin group had a decreased right PV flow velocity following reperfusion (P=0.001), a longer postoperative mechanical ventilation time (P =0.029), a lower initial poor graft function rate (P =0.012), and lower peak alanine transaminase levels (P= 0.032) after transplantation. Conclusion: The prophylactic use of terlipressin reduces the incidence of severe PRS in deceased donor LT. However, concerns remain regarding elevated PCWP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the lack of music knowledge extraction tools and public datasets, there are relatively few studies on music entity relation extraction. The Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformer (BERT) model considers contextual information and provides more dynamic, richer vector representations of generated words. Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Units (BGRU) has longdistance learning capability, which can obtain rich contextual semantic feature. Therefore, this paper proposes a deep learning model based on BERT and BGRU combined with an attention mechanism for Chinese music relation extraction. Experimental results show that the proposed method obtains good results when extracting the relation between musical entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article performs groups of shaking table tests to study the dynamic damage characteristics of the slope that is composed with inclined bedrock, upper overburden soil layer, and weak soil interlayer. The prototype is of the entrance slope of the Mount Zheduo tunnel, which is located in the mountains of the western Sichuan Plateau in China. The test model is designed based on the similarity theory. The peak ground acceleration (PGA) amplification coefficient, Fourier transform, and transfer function theory are employed to analyze the test results. The results before slope failure indicate that the PGA amplification coefficient of both the overburden layer and the weak interlayer increases as the excitation intensity increases. At the same time, the dynamic response of weak interlayer is amplified on low-frequency wave excitation while that is impaired when high-frequency seismic waves dominate. When the slope is damaged, the slope undergoes large shear deformation: the whole overburden layer slides along the weak interlayer, and the PGA amplification coefficient of the weak interlayer sharply decreases. The frequency response function indicates that the vibration relationship between the upper part of the weak interlayer and the slope surface is very close, and the slope surface vibration may be mainly affected by the vibration in the upper part of the weak interlayer, which reflects the early predictability in the failure symptoms of the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As smart education is continuously deepened in higher education, personalized learning resource recommendation has developed into a significant research field of smart learning. Although the prediction accuracy has been improved by knowledge tracing models established on the basis of students' historical learning data, how to design and apply personalized learning recommendation by combining classroom teaching of higher education is a great difficulty. To recommend personalized learning resources meeting the teaching requirements in higher education, the Q-LRDP-D (Learning Resource Difficulty Prediction and Dijkstra based on Q matrix) algorithm was proposed in this study. First, learning resources were modeled in accordance with Q matrix theory. Then, students' learning difficulty was predicted through the long short-term memory (LSTM) algorithm of a learning resource difficulty prediction module, followed by cyclic prediction through combining the to-be-learned knowledge points as required by teaching units to form a directed path diagram of learning resources. Next, the least learning resources conforming to students' learning levels were recommended using the shortest path algorithm to complete learning tasks. Lastly, the accuracy and effectiveness of the established model were verified through undergraduate teaching experiments. Results demonstrate that the modeling of learning resources in higher education on the basis of Q matrix theory is applicable to the LSTM algorithm. In comparison with the benchmark algorithm, its precision is obviously improved. With the recommendation algorithm, the average return on learning resources in the experimental class is 6.31, which is considerably higher than that in the control group. This study provides a certain reference for improving students' learning efficiency through recommendation algorithms in higher education and teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Maedi/Visna virus (MVV) is a contagious viral pathogen that causes considerable economic losses to the sheep industry worldwide. Objectives: In China, MVV has been detected in several regions, but its molecular characteristics and genetic variations were not thoroughly investigated. Methods: Therefore, in this study, we conducted next-generation sequencing on an MVV strain obtained from northwest China to reveal its genetic evolution via phylogenetic analysis. Results: A MVV strain obtained from Inner Mongolia (NM) of China was identified. Sequence analysis indicated that its whole-genome length is 9193 bp. Homology comparison of nucleotides between the NM strain and reference strains showed that the sequence homology of gag and env were 77.1%-86.8% and 67.7%-75.5%, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the NM strain was closely related to the reference strains isolated from America, which belong to the A2 type. Notably, there were 5 amino acid insertions in variable region 4 and a highly variable motif at the C-terminal of the surface glycoprotein (SU5). Conclusions: The present study is the first to show the whole-genome sequence of an MVV obtained from China. The detailed analyses provide essential information for understanding the genetic characteristics of MVV, and the results enrich the MVV library. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyphenols widely exists in various foods, including main crops, fruits, beverages and some wines. Famous representatives of polyphenols, such as resveratrol in red wine, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate in green tea, chlorogenic acid in coffee, anthocyanins in colored fruits, procyanidins in grape seed have become hot research topics in food science and nutrition. There have been thousands of papers on the biochemistry, chemistry, nutritional values and population-based investigations of dietary polyphenols. In this chapter, we reviewed the published articles and database of dietary polyphenols to draw a profile for the classification, structural identification, and biological activities mainly based on enzymes, cell bioassay and animal models, as well as the population-based investigation results. The typical compound and its health benefits for each category of polyphenols was also introduced. The identification of dietary polyphenols could be solved by combined spectroscopy methods, of which the liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry is highlighted to greatly increase the efficiency on structural identification. Although the population-based investigation showed some controversial results for health benefits, the multi-functions of dietary polyphenols on preventing metabolic syndromes, various cancers and neurodegenerative disease have attracted much attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proportion of new energy power generation gets higher and higher, due to the depletion of fossil energy resources. However, new energy power is generally unstable, so that it is necessary to use energy storage batteries to balance the power peak and valley. Although lithium-ion batteries have been widely used in various fields, in particular for large-scale energy storage, the low abundance of lithium in the earth crust makes it untenable to meet the ever-intense future demand. Sodium ion batteries, which have similar energy storage mechanism to lithium-ion batteries, have attracted significant attentions due to their abundant raw material resources, low cost, and fairly high energy densities. Layered transition metal oxides are a class of the most promising cathode materials for sodium ion batteries, owing to their high theoretical specific capacities, good conductivity, and fast diffusion kinetics. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive review of the electrochemical performance, structural characteristics, performance shortcomings and modification technologies about the O3- and P2-type layered transition metal oxide cathode materials. The application potentials of layered materials are summarized and analyzed, which provides a reference for the industry to select the most promising and practical layered cathode material for sodium ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giardia lamblia is a common enteric pathogen associated with diarrheal diseases. There are some reports of G. lamblia infection among different breeds of cattle in recent years worldwide. However, it is yet to know whether cattle in Jiangxi province, southeastern China is infected with G. lamblia. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the prevalence and examine the multilocus genotypes of G. lamblia in cattle in Jiangxi province. A total of 556 fecal samples were collected from 3 cattle breeds (dairy cattle, beef cattle, and buffalo) in Jiangxi province, and the prevalence and genotypes of G. lamblia were determined by the nested PCR amplification of the beta-giardin (bg) gene. A total of 52 samples (9.2%) were positive for G. lamblia. The highest prevalence of G. lamblia was detected in dairy cattle (20.0%), followed by that in beef cattle (6.4%), and meat buffalo (0.9%). Multilocus sequence typing of G. lamblia was performed based on sequences of the bg, triose phosphate isomerase and glutamate dehydrogenase loci, and 22, 42, and 52 samples were amplifiable, respectively, forming 15 MLGs. Moreover, one mixed G. lamblia infection (assemblages A and E) was found in the present study. Altogether, 6 novel assemblage E subtypes (E41*-E46*) were identified for the first time. These results not only provided baseline data for the control of G. lamblia infection in cattle in this southeastern province of China, but also enriched the molecular epidemiological data and genetic diversity of G. lamblia in cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC), characterized by early metastasis, relapse, relapse and resistance and poor prognosis, still faces difficulties in treatment. Recently, Immunotherapy is a novel treatment for SCLC, researchers are also eager to achieve a breakthrough in targeted treatment of SCLC. Genomic instability of SCLC and sensitivity to cytotoxic chemotherapy, therefore, poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors targeting DNA repair related pathways have become a hotspot in the research of SCLC targeted therapy. Studies on PARP inhibitors in SCLC have been conducted in combination with other therapeutic strategies, including the treatment of recurrent SCLC and first-line treatment, as well as maintenance treatment after induction. These studies also explored the predictive markers of PARP inhibitors in SCLC. Although the current results of PARP inhibitors in SCLC are limited, and the predictive markers are also inconsistent, we also see that PARP inhibitors could be a breakthrough for precision medicine of SCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia, as a water pollutant, can result in water eutrophication, aquatic organisms poison and other environmental issues. Therefore, detection of ammonia in water is beneficial for protection of a water source. Herein, a direct electrochemical aqueous ammonia sensor was constructed based on Pt nanoparticles-polypyrrole/Ni foam (Pt-PPy/Ni foam) electrode. Electrochemical experiments demonstrated that the Pt-PPy/Ni foam electrode showed good electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of ammonia in alkaline solution and a direct electrochemical aqueous ammonia sensor was proposed accordingly. Well-dispersed Pt nanoparticles with the size of 260 ± 20 nm were anchored on a PPy layer to further increase the performance, especially the detection limit of the sensor. The ammonia sensor presented a detection limit of 12.36 nM (Sensitivity/Noise = 3), a sensitivity of 4.19 µA µm-1 and a wide linear range from 0.5 µm to 400 µm, as well as presenting great anti-interference capability and stability. These excellent performances of the sensor could be mainly attributed to great electrocatalytic ability of Pt nanoparticles, self-supported structure and synergistic effect between PPy and Pt nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fibrous media composed of elliptical fibers is widely used owing to the high filtration efficiency. However, there are few studies on the arrangement of non-circular fibers, although the single non-circular fiber has been clearly investigated. In this article, two-dimensional numerical geometries of fibrous media with different elliptical fiber arrangements, namely, random distribution structure, dense-sparse structure, and bimodal structure, are developed for studying filtration performance. The results show that the large aspect ratio and solid volume fraction represent low particle penetration. When the particle diameter (Dp) is small, the quality factor of bimodal structure is higher than the dense-sparse structure, especially at Dp = 50 nm. For the large Dp, the opposite is true. Meanwhile, reducing fiber diameter (Df) is more significant than increasing solid volume fraction in terms of improving penetration. As for dense-sparse structure, replacing the elliptical fibers in sparse layers with circular fibers can comprehensively improve the quality factor of fibrous media. However, if the replacement between elliptical fiber and circular fiber occurs in dense layer, it will result in high quality factor at Dp ≤ 500 nm, while low quality factor at Dp > 500 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blended learning is an information-based teaching method. This method is applied in network marketing course and verifying its teaching effect is a problem worthy of research. By combining blended learning-related theories, student features, and course requirements, a WeChat-based blended learning pattern applicable to network marketing course was proposed in this study. A teaching design of WeChat-based blended learning was created, followed by a teaching experiment. Quantitative analysis was used to verify the teaching results of the experimental and control classes. Results demonstrate that the learning effect of experimental class adopting WeChat-based blended learning is superior to that of the control class adopting traditional teaching method. WeChatbased blended learning lengthens extracurricular learning time, enhances students' learning interest, and increases the opportunity of student--teacher exchange. This study provides references for developing WeChat-based hybrid learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]