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Purpose: To develop a better radiomic model for the differential diagnosis of benign and lung adenocarcinoma lesions presenting as larger solid nodules and masses based on multiscale computed tomography (CT) radiomics., Materials and Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 205 patients with solid nodules and masses from Center 1 between January 2010 and February 2022 and Center 2 between January 2019 and February 2022. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we retrospectively enrolled 165 patients from two centers and assigned them to the training dataset (n = 115) or the test dataset (n = 50). Radiomics features were extracted from volumes of interest on CT images. A gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) was used for data dimensionality reduction to perform the final feature selection. Four models were developed using clinical data, conventional imaging features and radiomics features, namely, the clinical and image model (CIM), the plain CT radiomics model (PRM), the enhanced CT radiomics model (ERM) and the combined model (CM). Model performance was evaluated to determine the best model for identifying benign and lung adenocarcinoma presenting as larger solid nodules and masses., Results: In the training dataset, the areas under the curve (AUCs) for the CIM, PRM, ERM, and CM were 0.718, 0.806, 0.819, and 0.917, respectively. The differential diagnostic capability of the ERM was better than that of the PRM and the CIM. The CM was optimal. Intermediate and junior radiologists and respiratory physicians achieved improved obviously diagnostic results with the radiomics model. The senior radiologists showed slight improved diagnostic results after using the radiomics model., Conclusion: Radiomics may have the potential to be used as a noninvasive tool for the differential diagnosis of benign and lung adenocarcinoma lesions presenting as larger solid nodules and masses., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Xie et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Lowering the levels of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) is widely considered a promising strategy for the treatment of prion diseases. Building on work that established immediate spatial proximity of PrPC and Na+, K+-ATPases (NKAs) in the brain, we recently showed that PrPC levels can be reduced by targeting NKAs with their natural cardiac glycoside (CG) inhibitors. We then introduced C4'-dehydro-oleandrin as a CG with improved pharmacological properties for this indication, showing that it reduced PrPC levels by 84% in immortalized human cells that had been differentiated to acquire neural or astrocytic characteristics. Here we report that our lead compound caused cell surface PrPC levels to drop also in other human cell models, even when the analyses of whole cell lysates suggested otherwise. Because mice are refractory to CGs, we explored guinea pigs as an alternative rodent model for the preclinical evaluation of C4'-dehydro-oleandrin. We found that guinea pig cell lines, primary cells, and brain slices were responsive to our lead compound, albeit it at 30-fold higher concentrations than human cells. Of potential significance for other PrPC lowering approaches, we observed that cells attempted to compensate for the loss of cell surface PrPC levels by increasing the expression of the prion gene, requiring daily administration of C4'-dehydro-oleandrin for a sustained PrPC lowering effect. Regrettably, when administered systemically in vivo, the levels of C4'-dehydro-oleandrin that reached the guinea pig brain remained insufficient for the PrPC lowering effect to manifest. A more suitable preclinical model is still needed to determine if C4'-dehydro-oleandrin can offer a cost-effective complementary strategy for pushing PrPC levels below a threshold required for long-term prion disease survival., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: GS and DW declare that they are co-inventors on patent applications named ‘Compounds for altering levels of one or more NKA alpha subunits and their use in treating prion diseases or brain diseases associated with cellular prion protein’ filed in the US and Canada as well as a European patent application named ‘Compounds and methods to treat prion and related diseases’ based on a PCT international filing (PCT/CA2022/050358). These patent applications describe the use of CGs for the purpose of reducing steady-state levels of PrPC. This potential conflict-of-interest does not affect the adherence of all authors to journal policies on the sharing of data and materials. This does not alter our adherence to PLoS One policies on sharing data and materials., (Copyright: © 2024 Eid et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The characterization and analysis of rock types based on acoustic emission (AE) signals have long been focal points in earth science research. However, traditional analysis methods struggle to handle the influx of big data. While signal processing methods combined with deep learning have found widespread use in various process analyses and state identification, effective feature extraction using progressive fusion technology still faces challenges in the field of intelligent rock type identification. To address this issue, our study proposes a novel framework for rock type identification based on AE and introduces a new signal identification model called 3CTNet. This model integrates convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and Transformer encoder, intelligently identifying AE of different rock fractures by establishing dependencies between adjacent positions within the data and gradually extracting advanced features. Furthermore, we experimentally compare five oversampling methods, ultimately selecting the adaptive synthetic sampling method (ADASYN) to balance the dataset and enhance the model's robustness and generalization ability. Comparison of the internal structure of our model with a series of time series processing models demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed model structure. Experimental results showcase the high identification accuracy of the intelligent rock type identification model based on 3CTNet, with an overall identification accuracy reaching 98.780%. Our proposed method lays a solid foundation for the efficient and accurate identification of formation rock types in geological exploration and oil and gas development endeavors., Competing Interests: We declare that we have no financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that can inappropriately influence our work, there is no professional or other personal interest of any nature or kind in any product, service and company that could be construed as influencing the position presented in, or the review of, the manuscript entitled., (Copyright: © 2024 Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Depression post-myocardial infarction (MI) is becoming more prevalent. The gut-brain axis (GBA), influenced by the gut microbiota, is a critical component in understanding depression post-MI. Despite the well-established connection between gut microbiota and depression post-MI, this relationship remains incompletely understood., Methods and Analysis: This protocol will follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) 2020 statement. Beginning from inception to October 2023, a systematic search will be conducted across eight electronic databases, including PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Clinical Trials Database, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and China Biomedical Literature Database. Pre-selected studies will be independently assessed by two researchers following a standard inclusion, data extraction and quality assessment protocol. The primary outcome measures are differences in the profile of gut microbiota and rating scale scores for depression. Fixed-effects models will be used when both clinical heterogeneity and statistical heterogeneity are low, otherwise random-effects models will be used. Furthermore, subgroup analyses will be conducted on the depression severity of the participants using the same psychiatric scales employed, study type and geographic region. Random forest plot runs and research-related statistical analyses will be carried out using Rev Man V.5.3 software., Expected Results: This study will identify the association between the gut microbiota and the onset of depression post-MI, and provide evidence for the use of probiotics as an adjunctive treatment for depression post-MI., Trial Registration: Prospero registration number: CRD42023444026., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Antennas play a crucial role in designing an efficient communication system. However, reducing the maximum sidelobe level (SLL) of the beam pattern is a crucial challenge in antenna arrays. Pattern synthesis in smart antennas is a major area of research because of its widespread application across various radar and communication systems. This paper presents an effective technique to minimize the SLL and thus improve the radiation pattern of the linear antenna array (LAA) using the chaotic inertia-weighted Wild Horse optimization (IERWHO) algorithm. The wild horse optimizer (WHO) is a new metaheuristic algorithm based on the social behavior of wild horses. The IERWHO algorithm is an improved Wild Horse optimization (WHO) algorithm that combines the concepts of chaotic sequence factor, nonlinear factor, and inertia weights factor. In this paper, the method is applied for the first time in antenna array synthesis by optimizing parameters such as inter-element spacing and excitation to minimize the SLL while keeping other constraints within the boundary limits, while ensuring that the performance is not affected. For performance evaluation, the simulation tests include 12 benchmark test functions and 12 test functions to verify the effectiveness of the improvement strategies. According to the encouraging research results in this paper, the IERWHO algorithm proposed has a place in the field of optimization., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

To achieve the accuracy and anti-interference of the motion control of the soft robot more effectively, the motion control strategy of the pneumatic soft bionic robot based on the improved Central Pattern Generator (CPG) is proposed. According to the structure and motion characteristics of the robot, a two-layer neural network topology model for the robot is constructed by coupling 22 Hopfield neuron nonlinear oscillators. Then, based on the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), the membership functions are offline learned and trained to construct the CPG-ANFIS-PID motion control strategy for the robot. Through simulation research on the impact of CPG-ANFIS-PID input parameters on the swimming performance of the robot, it is verified that the control strategy can quickly respond to input parameter changes between different swimming modes, and stably output smooth and continuous dynamic position signals, which has certain advantages. Then, the motion performance of the robot prototype is analyzed experimentally and compared with the simulation results. The results show that the CPG-ANFIS-PID motion control strategy can output coupled waveform signals stably, and control the executing mechanisms of the pneumatic soft bionic robot to achieve biological rhythms motion propulsion waveforms, confirming that the control strategy has accuracy and anti-interference characteristics, and enable the robot have certain maneuverability, flexibility, and environmental adaptability. The significance of this work lies in establishing a CPG-ANFIS-PID control strategy applicable to pneumatic soft bionic robot and proposing a rhythmic motion control method applicable to pneumatic soft bionic robot., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The "Internet Plus" era has established a closer connection between sports and individuals. This study used data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies and focused on the middle- and younger-aged population aged 15 to 59 years. Employing a negative binomial regression model, this study empirically analyzed the impact of Internet use on physical exercise and its internal mechanisms among this population. The findings revealed that (1) Internet use significantly promoted physical exercise in the middle- and younger-aged population, with the frequency of physical exercise increasing to 1.549 times the original value; (2) The positive effects of the internet on physical exercise outweighed the negative effects, with online learning and entertainment enhancing physical exercise and online socialization limiting it. Specifically, online learning and entertainment increased the frequency of physical exercise among the middle- and younger-aged population by 0.063 and 0.018, respectively. Online socialization reduced the frequency by 0.023; and (3) The influence of internet use on physical exercise varies; significantly, it positively affects the exercise frequency among individuals over 35 years old and shows a positive correlation with employment status, including both employed individuals and those out of the labor market. The positive role of Internet use in encouraging physical exercise participation among the middle- and young-aged groups should be valued and enhanced., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Causation and effectuation are two fundamental decision-making logics that managers use for crucial firm strategic decisions. However, existing research has yet to agree on the relationship between the two logics, supporting both the substitution and complementarity of causation and effectuation in influencing firm performance. This leaves us with a puzzle: How do causation and effectuation combine in balance to improve firm performance? To address the gap, we utilize a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) with data collected from 344 small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China to uncover the dynamic relationships between the two logics. Our findings indicate that causation or effectuation alone is insufficient to achieve superior firm performance. By distinguishing between four dimensions of effectuation, we identify three types of configurations for high performance: (1) causation with promotion-focused effectuation principles; (2) causation with prevention-focused effectuation principles; (3) causation with hybrid-focused effectuation principles. More importantly, we find that the effectiveness of the configurations depends on the firm development stage. Our findings provide SMEs with practical insights into how to effectively choose their decision-making logic when faced with different firm growth challenges., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Yu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The adsorption and desorption of phosphorus (P) in soil constitute a crucial internal cycle that is closely associated with soil fertility, exerting direct influence on the quantity, form, and availability of P within the soil. The vertical spatial variation characteristics of soil adsorption and desorption were investigated for the 0-100 cm soil layer in the northeast black soil region in this study. The maximum adsorption capacity (Qmax) and maximum adsorption buffer capacity (MBC) of black soil in the study area ranged from 313.8 to 411.9 mg kg-1 and from 3.1 to 28.8 L kg-1, respectively, within the soil layer of 0-100 cm depth, exhibiting an increasing trend with greater soil depth. The degree of P adsorption saturation (DPS) exhibited a contrasting trend with the variations in Qmax and MBC, ranging from 3.8% to 21.6%. The maximum desorption capacity (Dmax) and desorption rate (Dr) of soil P ranged from 112.8 to 215.7 mg kg-1 and 32.1% to 52.5%, respectively, while the readily desorbable P (RDP) in soil was within the range of 1.02 to 3.35 mg kg-1. Both Dmax, Dr, and RDP exhibited a decreasing trend with increasing soil depth before showing an upward trend. These research findings not only provide essential background data for the systematic investigation of soil P in the black soil region but also serve as a valuable reference for assessing soil quality in this area., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Post-stroke fatigue is a typical complication following stroke. However, existing research primarily focused on its underlying mechanisms, and its impact on rehabilitation outcomes has yet to be uncovered., Objective: This study aims to explore the impact of post-stroke fatigue on rehabilitation outcomes during hospitalization., Method: This was a prospective multicenter observational study including 46 stroke patients receiving comprehensive rehabilitation treatment. Patients' basic information was recorded upon admission and patients' functional independence was assessed with Functional Independence Measure (FIM) both upon admission and discharge. One week after rehabilitation treatment, fatigue, positivity in daily activity, attention, and memory were assessed. Serum biochemical indicators and levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) were assessed weekly following admission. The pain scores were assessed during the first week of hospitalization to calculate the average. Correlation analysis, linear regression and propensity score matching (PSM) were used to analyze the impact of fatigue on FIM scores at discharge and length of hospital stay., Result: The proportion of patients with low fatigue was 39.13% and significant improvement was revealed in FIM scores upon admissions and discharge [(50.67±18.61) vs. (75.13±21.04), P<0.05]. Positivity in daily activity, attention, and age are factors that influence post-stroke fatigue. After PSM, low-fatigue group (Fatigue score< 3) showed significant higher motor function independence at discharge [(54.39 ± 15.42) vs. (41.89 ± 14.90), P<0.05] and shorter hospital stay [(28.54±9.13)d vs. (37.32 ± 9.81)d, P<0.05] than high-fatigue group. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) in level of CRP between the first inpatient week and the third week, with declining trend., Conclusion: Post-stroke fatigue can affect the rehabilitation outcomes regarding motor function independence and length of hospital stay., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2024 Zeng et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Objective: This meta-analysis aims to assess the efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH)., Methods: We comprehensively searched randomized controlled trials in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, WanFang, and Chinese BioMedical Literature Database from inception until October 25, 2024. The literature on the clinical efficacy of autologous PRP for ONFH was collated. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the literature was screened, quality evaluated and the data was extracted. Meta-analysis was carried out with the software Review Manager 5.4.1 software and Stata 17.0 software. In addition, potential publication bias was detected by the funnel plot test and Egger's test. The GRADE system was used to evaluate the quality of evidence for outcome indicators., Results: Fourteen studies involving 909 patients were included in this study. Compared with non-PRP, PRP exhibited significant improvements in the Harris hip score (HHS) at 3 months (MD = 3.58, 95% Cl: 1.59 to 5.58, P = 0.0004), 6 months (MD = 6.19, 95% Cl: 3.96 to 8.41, P < 0.00001), 12 months (MD = 4.73, 95% Cl: 3.24 to 6.22, P < 0.00001), ≥ 24 months (MD = 6.83, 95% Cl: 2.09 to 11.59, P = 0.0003), and the last follow-up (MD = 6.57, 95% Cl: 4.81 to 8.33, P < 0.00001). The PRP also showed improvement in HHS compared to baseline than the non-PRP at 3 months (MD = 3.60, 95% Cl: 1.26 to 5.94, P = 0.003), 6 months (MD = 6.17, 95% Cl: 3.74 to 8.61, P < 0.00001), 12 months (MD = 5.35, 95% Cl: 3.44 to 7.25, P < 0.00001), ≥ 24 months (MD = 8.19, 95% Cl: 3.76 to 12.62, P = 0.0003), and the last follow-up (MD = 6.94, 95% Cl: 5.09 to 8.78, P < 0.00001). The change in visual analog scale (VAS) score 3 months post intervention (MD = -0.33, 95% Cl: -0.52 to -0.13, P = 0.001), 6 months (MD = -0.69, 95% Cl: -0.90 to -0.48, P < 0.00001), 12 months (MD = -0.75, 95% Cl: -1.05 to -0.46, P < 0.00001), ≥ 24 months (MD = -1.05, 95% Cl: -1.20 to -0.89, P < 0.00001), and the last follow-up (MD = -0.75, 95% Cl: -0.97 to -0.54, P < 0.00001). The PRP also showed a decrease in VAS score compared to baseline than the non-PRP at 3 months (MD = -0.29, 95% Cl: -0.41 to -0.17, P = 0.003), 6 months (MD = -0.63, 95% Cl: -0.96 to -0.30, P = 0.0002), 12 months (MD = -0.78, 95% Cl: -1.22 to -0.33, P = 0.0006), ≥ 24 months (MD = -1.11, 95% Cl: -1.27 to -0.96, P < 0.00001), and the last follow-up (MD = -0.74, 95% Cl: -1.05 to -0.43, P < 0.00001). Additionally, it was found that the PRP group had the advantages in the following aspects: collapse rate of the femoral head (RR = 0.33, 95% Cl: 0.17 to 0.62, P = 0.0006), rate of conversion to total hip arthroplasty (RR = 0.37, 95% Cl: 0.18 to 0.74, P = 0.005), and overall complications (RR = 0.33, 95% Cl: 0.13 to 0.83, P = 0.02). The GRADE evidence evaluation showed overall complication as very low quality and other indicators as low quality., Conclusion: There is limited evidence showing benefit of PRP therapy for treatment of ONFH patients, and most of this evidence is of low quality. Caution should therefore be exercised in interpreting these results. It is recommended that future research involve a greater number of high-quality studies to validate the aforementioned conclusions., Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ #recordDetails, CRD42023463031., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Guo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

In the context of integrating sports and medicine domains, the urgent resolution of elderly health supervision requires effective data clustering algorithms. This paper introduces a novel higher-order hybrid clustering algorithm that combines density values and the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Initially, the traditional PSO algorithm is enhanced by integrating the Global Evolution Dynamic Model (GEDM) into the Distribution Estimation Algorithm (EDA), constructing a weighted covariance matrix-based GEDM. This adapted PSO algorithm dynamically selects between the Global Evolution Dynamic Model and the standard PSO algorithm to update population information, significantly enhancing convergence speed while mitigating the risk of local optima entrapment. Subsequently, the higher-order hybrid clustering algorithm is formulated based on the density value and the refined PSO algorithm. The PSO clustering algorithm is adopted in the initial clustering phase, culminating in class clusters after a finite number of iterations. These clusters then undergo the application of the density peak search algorithm to identify candidate centroids. The final centroids are determined through a fusion of the initial class clusters and the identified candidate centroids. Results showcase remarkable improvements: achieving 99.13%, 82.22%, and 99.22% for F-measure, recall, and precision on dataset S1, and 75.22%, 64.0%, and 64.4% on dataset CMC. Notably, the proposed algorithm yields a 75.22%, 64.4%, and 64.6% rate on dataset S, significantly surpassing the comparative schemes' performance. Moreover, employing the text vector representation of the LDA topic vector model underscores the efficacy of the higher-order hybrid clustering algorithm in efficiently clustering text information. This innovative approach facilitates swift and accurate clustering of elderly health data from the perspective of sports and medicine integration. It enables the identification of patterns and regularities within the data, facilitating the formulation of personalized health management strategies and addressing latent health concerns among the elderly population., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Mining wastewater with heavy metals poses a serious threat to the ecological environment. However, the acute single and combined ecological effects of heavy metals, such as chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni), on freshwater ostracods, and the development of relevant prediction models, remain poorly understood. In this study, Heterocypris sp. was chosen to investigate the single and combined acute toxicity of Cr and Ni. Then, the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model was used to predict the combined toxicity of Cr and Ni. The single acute toxicity experiments revealed high toxicity for both Cr and Ni. In addition, Cr exhibited greater toxicity compared to Ni, as evidenced by its lower 96-hour half-lethal concentration (LC50) of 1.07 mg/L compared to 4.7 mg/L for Ni. Furthermore, the combined acute toxicity experiments showed that the toxicity of Cr-Ni was higher than Ni but lower than Cr. Compared with the concentration addition (CA) and independent action (IA) models, the predicted results of the QSAR model were more consistent with the experimental results for the Cr-Ni combined acute toxicity. So, the high accuracy of QSAR model identified its feasibility to predict the toxicity of heavy metal pollutants in mining wastewater., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Su et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Due to traditional classification methods' limitations, some cryptic species remain undiscovered. To better explore the existence of the Schrenck salamander (Salamandrella tridactyla, a cryptic species of Siberian salamander S. keyserlingii) in China, we conducted a molecular phylogenetic analysis to confirm the taxonomic relationship among Salamandrella species and investigate genetic variation. We used complete sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene from 65 specimens collected across a wide range in Northeastern China. Thirty-five haplotypes were obtained from six populations. They showed medium-high haplotype diversity (Hd) and low nucleotide polymorphism (π). The phylogenetic tree and haplotype network analysis revealed that populations from Greater Khingan Ridge (Huma: HM) and Lesser Khingan Ridge (Tieli: TL) belong to S. keyserlingii, while populations from Changbai Mountain (Shangzhi-zhuziying: SZ, Shangzhi-cuijia: SC, Hailin: HL, and Baishan: BS) belong to S. tridactyla. This indicates the monophyly of Salamandrella and each of the two species. There was a substantial level of genetic differentiation between different species and within populations of the same species. This differentiation was significantly related to geographical distance. At last, the mismatch distribution and neutrality analyses indicated that the TL populations have undergone expansion of history. The study supplements the distributional range of Schrenck salamander. And it provides a theoretical basis for species conservation of Salamandrella species., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

To further enhance the residual current detection capability of low-voltage distribution networks, an improved adaptive residual current detection method that combines variational modal decomposition (VMD) and BP neural network (BPNN) is proposed. Firstly, the method employs the envelope entropy as the adaptability function, optimizes the [k, ɑ] combination value of the VMD decomposition using the bacterial foraging-particle swarm algorithm (BFO-PSO), and utilizes the interrelation number R as the classification index with the Least Mean Square Algorithm (LMS) to classify, filter, and extract the effective signal from the decomposed signal. Then, the extracted signals are detected by BPNN, and the training data are utilized to predict the residual current signals. Simulation and experimental data demonstrate that the proposed algorithm exhibits strong robustness and high detection accuracy. With an ambient noise of 10dB, the signal-to-noise ratio is 16.3108dB, the RMSE is 0.4359, and the goodness-of-fit is 0.9627 after processing by the algorithm presented in this paper, which are superior to the Variational Modal Decomposition-Long Short-Term Memory (VMD-LSTM) and Normalized-Least Mean Square (N-LMS) detection methods. The results were also statistically analyzed in conjunction with the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which demonstrated significance at the experimental data level, indicating the high accuracy of the algorithms presented in this paper and providing a certain reference for new residual current protection devices for biological body electrocution., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Bai et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in China in early 2020, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 has continued to increase, and the Chinese government's policy of "static management" in the first round of the epidemic may affect the health behavior adjustment of Chinese residents. Using survey data on the TCM health literacy of 4016 residents in China (Gansu Province), a causal inference approach was used to explore the impact of the emergence of confirmed cases of COVID-19 on residents' TCM health literacy. We found that the emergence of confirmed cases can increase by 3.5%-7.0% in residents' TCM health literacy. Among them, the TCM health literacy of uneducated residents has not improved significantly, and the residents with secondary education have increased significantly by 8%. For those with higher education, the number of residents increased significantly by 6%. At the same time, the emergence of confirmed cases will increase the residents' practical TCM health literacy and decrease theoretical TCM health literacy. Through heterogeneity analysis, we explored the impact mechanism of confirmed cases on residents' TCM health literacy. We believe that the emergence of confirmed cases will make residents more inclined to participate in TCM-free clinics, theme activities, and other ways to acquire TCM knowledge., Competing Interests: we have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Zhu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and para-perirenal fat thickness in comparison with other indices of adiposity in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)., Methods: This single-center, retrospective and cross-sectional study evaluated 337 patients with T2DM. The obesity-related indicators including height, weight, body surface area (BSA), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), para-perirenal fat thickness (PRFT), total abdominal fat (TAF), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT). eGFR was calculated by CKD-EPI equation. The correlation between eGFR and obesity-related indicators was performed by pearson or spearman correlation analysis and multivariate linear regression., Results: 337 subjects (mean age, 60.2 ± 11.6 years; 195 males, 57.9%) were evaluated. eGFR was negatively correlated with height, weight, BMI, PRFT, TAF, SAT, and VAT, among which the correlation between eGFR and PRFT was the strongest (r = -0.294, p< 0.001). eGFR remained the strongest correlation with PRFT in the subgroup separated by sex (r = -0.319 in the male subgroup, and -0.432 in the female subgroup, respectively, p < 0.001). Age and PRFT were the independent predictive factors for eGFR. PRFT was the best predictor of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in T2DM (AUC = 0.686, p = 0.001, 95% CI: 0.582-0.791). CKD in T2DM can be predicted well by linking age with PRFT (AUC = 0.708, p<0.001, 95% CI = 0.605-0.812)., Conclusions: PRFT is more closely related to glomerular filtration rate than other obesity-related indicators in T2DM. The model combining age with PRFT could predict CKD in T2DM well., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist, (Copyright: © 2023 Xu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Output instability is one of the important constraints limiting the large-scale application of renewable energy. The development of comprehensive energy systems can effectively improve energy utilization efficiency, but there is still a problem of randomness in renewable energy output. The paper conducts research on the uncertainty of distributed energy output and load, constructs a comprehensive energy system optimization model that takes into account the robustness of bilevel programming, and solves the model using the firefly algorithm. The calculation results show that optimizing uncertainty can significantly reduce the actual operating costs of the system, with a maximum reduction of 14.43%. When the distributed wind power interval is within [0190], a dynamic balance between cost and consumption rate can be achieved., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Yu, Zhao. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Pathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica pose serious public health threats due to their ability to cause severe gastroenteritis and life-threatening sequela, particularly in young children. Moreover, the emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance in these bacteria have complicated control of infections. Alternative strategies that effectively target these enteric pathogens and negate or reduce the need of antibiotics are urgently needed. Such an alternative is the CRISPR-Cas9 system because it can generate sequence-specific lethal double stranded DNA breaks. In this study, two self-transmissible broad host range conjugative plasmids, pRK24 and pBP136, were engineered to deliver multiplexed CRSIPR-Cas9 systems that specifically target Enterohemorrhagic and Enteropathogenic strains of E. coli (EHEC and EPEC), S. enterica, and blaCMY-2 antibiotic resistance plasmids. Using in vitro mating assays, we show that the conjugative delivery of pRK24-CRISPR-Cas9 carrying guide RNAs to the EPEC/EHEC eae (intimin) gene can selectively kill enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157 eae+ cells (3 log kill at 6 h) but does not kill the isogenic Δeae mutant (P<0.001). Similar results were also obtained with a pBP136 derivative, pTF16, carrying multiplexed guide RNAs targeting E. coli eae and the S. enterica ssaN gene coding for the type III secretion ATPase. Another pBP136 derivative, TF18, carries guide RNAs targeting S. enterica ssaN and the antibiotic resistance gene, blaCMY-2, carried on the multi-drug resistant pAR06302. Introduction of pTF18 into bacteria harboring pAR06302 showed plasmids were cured at an efficiency of 53% (P<0.05). Using a murine neonate EPEC infection model, pTF16 was delivered by a murine derived E. coli strain to EPEC infected mice and showed significant reductions of intestinal EPEC (P<0.05). These results suggest that establishing conjugative CRISPR-Cas9 antimicrobials in the intestinal microbiome may provide protection from enteric pathogens and reduce antibiotic resistance without disrupting the normal microbiota., Competing Interests: Authors have no competing interests., (Copyright: © 2023 Sheng et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Numerous studies have shown that the function of earthworms may depend on their ecotype and density, which affects how they impact soil microbial and nematode communities. However, it is unclear how different earthworm species and densities alter the composition of soil microbial and nematode communities and how these modifications impact the soil micro-food web. The structural equation model (SEM) is a more accurate tool for identifying the intricate relationships between various trophic levels in the soil micro-food webs than the widely used bivariate data analysis. In order to ascertain the effects of earthworm species, including epigeic earthworm Eisenia fetida and anecic earthworm Metaphire guillelmi, as well as varying densities on the composition of main microbial groups, soil nematodes and their relationships, a microcosm experiment was conducted in a greenhouse. After nine weeks of observation, compared with the control treatments, Eisenia fetida increased the biomasses of total microorganism and bacteria, whereas Metaphire guillelmi decreased the biomasses of total microorganism, bacteria, and gram-positive bacteria, but showed an increase in AMF biomass. Additionally, both two earthworm species decreased the abundance of total soil nematode, bacterivores, and omnivore-predators, which is in contrast with the control treatments. The SEM results indicated that the addition of Eisenia fetida at different densities had indirect negative effects on the abundance of omnivore-predators, as it significantly increased the content of soil organic carbon, ammonium nitrogen, and nitrate nitrogen. The bottom-up effects were found to be the dominant forces, which promoted bacterial-dominated decomposition channels. The addition of Metaphire guillelmi with different density had direct negative impact on bacterivores and fungivores. Moreover, it had indirect negative effects on omnivore-predators by altering the soil properties. The dominant forces were still the bottom-up effects. Our study suggests that different earthworm species have distinct mechanisms that affect the soil micro-food web in different ways., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Niu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a worldwide problem that results in death or disability for millions of people every year. Progressive neurological complications and long-term impairment can significantly disrupt quality of life. We demonstrated the feasibility of multiple magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities to investigate and predict aberrant changes and progressive atrophy of gray and white matter tissue at several acute and chronic time points after moderate and severe parasagittal fluid percussion TBI. T2-weighted imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) were performed. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were imaged sequentially on days 3, 14, and 1, 4, 6, 8, and 12 months following surgery. TBI caused dynamic white and gray matter alterations with significant differences in DTI values and injury-induced alterations in cerebral blood flow (CBF) as measured by PWI. Regional abnormalities after TBI were observed in T2-weighted images that showed hyperintense cortical lesions and significant cerebral atrophy in these hyperintense areas 1 year after TBI. Temporal DTI values indicated significant injury-induced changes in anisotropy in major white matter tracts, the corpus callosum and external capsule, and in gray matter, the hippocampus and cortex, at both early and chronic time points. These alterations were primarily injury-severity dependent with severe TBI exhibiting a greater degree of change relative to uninjured controls. PWI evaluating CBF revealed sustained global reductions in the cortex and in the hippocampus at most time points in an injury-independent manner. We next sought to investigate prognostic correlations across MRI metrics, timepoints, and cerebral pathology, and found that diffusion abnormalities and reductions in CBF significantly correlated with specific vulnerable structures at multiple time points, as well as with the degree of cerebral atrophy observed 1 year after TBI. This study further supports using DTI and PWI as a means of prognostic imaging for progressive structural changes after TBI and emphasizes the progressive nature of TBI damage., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.)

Manual image segmentation consumes time. An automatic and accurate method to segment multimodal brain tumors using context information rich three-dimensional medical images that can be used for clinical treatment decisions and surgical planning is required. However, it is a challenge to use deep learning to achieve accurate segmentation of medical images due to the diversity of tumors and the complex boundary interactions between sub-regions while limited computing resources hinder the construction of efficient neural networks. We propose a feature fusion module based on a hierarchical decoupling convolution network and an attention mechanism to improve the performance of network segmentation. We replaced the skip connections of U-shaped networks with a feature fusion module to solve the category imbalance problem, thus contributing to the segmentation of more complicated medical images. We introduced a global attention mechanism to further integrate the features learned by the encoder and explore the context information. The proposed method was evaluated for enhance tumor, whole tumor, and tumor core, achieving Dice similarity coefficient metrics of 0.775, 0.900, and 0.827, respectively, on the BraTS 2019 dataset and 0.800, 0.902, and 0.841, respectively on the BraTS 2018 dataset. The results show that our proposed method is inherently general and is a powerful tool for brain tumor image studies. Our code is available at: https://github.com/WSake/Feature-interaction-network-based-on-Hierarchical-Decoupled-Convolution., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Shen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: With the increasing pressures of modern life and work, combined with a growing older population, the incidence of comorbid anxiety and myocardial infarction (MI) is increasing. Anxiety increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with MI and significantly affects their quality of life. However, there is an ongoing controversy regarding the pharmacological treatment of anxiety in patients with MI. The concomitant use of commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and antiplatelet medications such as aspirin and clopidogrel may increase the risk of bleeding. Conventional exercise-based rehabilitation therapies have shown limited success in alleviating anxiety symptoms. Fortunately, non-pharmacological therapies based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, such as acupuncture, massage, and qigong, have demonstrated promising efficacy in treating MI and comorbid anxiety. These therapies have been widely used in community and tertiary hospital settings in China to provide new treatment options for patients with anxiety and MI. However, current studies on non-pharmacological TCM-based therapies have predominantly featured small sample sizes. This study aims to comprehensively analyze and explore the effectiveness and safety of these therapies in treating anxiety in patients with MI., Method: We will systematically search six English and four Chinese databases by employing a pre-defined search strategy and adhering to the unique rules and regulations of each database to identify studies that fulfilled our inclusion criteria, to qualify for inclusion, patients must be diagnosed with both MI and anxiety, and they must have undergone non-pharmacological TCM therapies, such as acupuncture, massage, or qigong, whereas the control group received standard treatments. The primary outcome measure will be alterations in anxiety scores, as assessed using anxiety scales, with secondary outcomes encompassing the evaluations of cardiopulmonary function and quality of life. We will utilize RevMan 5.3 to conduct a meta-analysis of the collected data, and subgroup analyses will be executed based on distinct types of non-pharmacological TCM therapies and outcome measures., Results: A narrative summary and quantitative analysis of the existing evidence on the treatment of anxiety patients with MI using non-pharmacological therapies guided by Traditional Chinese Medicine theory., Conclusion: This systematic review will investigate whether non-pharmacological interventions guided by TCM theory are effective and safe for anxiety in patients with MI, and provide evidence-based support for their clinical application., Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42022378391., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Co-fermentation of lignite and biomass has been considered as a new approach in achieving clean energy. Moreover, the study of the characteristics of solid phase in the synergistic degradation process is of great significance in revealing their synergistic relationship. Accordingly, in order to produce biogas, lignite, straw, and the mixture of the two were used as the substrates, the solid phase characteristics of which were analyzed before and after fermentation using modern analytical methods. The results revealed that the mixed fermentation of lignite and straw promoted the production of biomethane. Moreover, the ratios of C/O and C/H were found to be complementary in the co-fermentation process. Furthermore, while the relative content of C-C/C-H bonds was observed to be significantly decreased, the aromatics degree of lignite was weakened. Also, while the degree of branching increased, there found to be an increase in the content of cellulose amorphous zone, which, consequently, led to an increase in the crystallinity index of the wheat straw. Hence, the results provide a theoretical guidance for the efficient utilization of straw and lignite., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Research on underwater image processing has increased significantly in the past decade due to the precious resources that exist underwater. However, it is still a challenging problem to restore degraded underwater images. Existing prior-based methods show limited performance in many cases due to their reliance on hand-crafted features. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an effective unsupervised generative adversarial network(GAN) for underwater image restoration. Specifically, we embed the idea of contrastive learning into the model. The method encourages two elements (corresponding patches) to map the similar points in the learned feature space relative to other elements (other patches) in the data set, and maximizes the mutual information between input and output through PatchNCE loss. We design a query attention (Que-Attn) module, which compares feature distances in the source domain, and gives an attention matrix and probability distribution for each row. We then select queries based on their importance measure calculated from the distribution. We also verify its generalization performance on several benchmark datasets. Experiments and comparison with the state-of-the-art methods show that our model outperforms others., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Lan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Objective: The relationship between physical activity (PA) and the risk of frailty has not reached a conclusive result. This systematic review with meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effect of PA on the onset of frailty in the community-dwelling middle and older age adults by pooling data from cohort studies., Methods: A systematic literature search was performed via PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science up to June 01, 2021. Pooled adjusted effect estimates (ES) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by using the random-effect model and by comparing the highest with lowest levels of PA. Heterogeneity was tested using the I2 statistic and Q-test. The quality of evidence was evaluated by using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach., Results: A total of ten cohort studies with 14 records were selected, and the GRADE approach classified the quality of evidence as low. In comparison with the lowest level of PA, the highest level of PA was associated with 41% decreased odds of frailty (ES: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.51-0.67; I2 = 70.0%, P-heterogeneity < 0.001) after pooling results from included studies. In stratified analysis by frailty assessment approach, the highest level of PA was significantly associated with 37% (ES 0.63, 95% CI: 0.52-0.77, 49% (ES: 0.51, 95% CI: 0.41-0.63), and 30% (ES: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.65-0.75) reduced odds of frailty when pooling studies using criteria of physical frailty, multidimensional model, and accumulation of disability, respectively. Stratified analyses further by PA indicators and PA assessment tools yielded similar protective effects in any subgroups., Conclusions: This study with moderate-certainty evidence shows that a higher level of PA was associated with lower odds of frailty, and the benefits of PA for frailty prevention were independent of frailty assessment tools, PA indicators, and PA assessment methods. Findings from this study may help implement active exercise strategies to prevent frailty., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2022 Zhao et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Compressed fluorescence lifetime imaging (Compressed-FLIM) is a novel Snapshot compressive imaging (SCI) method for single-shot widefield FLIM. This approach has the advantages of high temporal resolution and deep frame sequences, allowing for the analysis of FLIM signals that follow complex decay models. However, the precision of Compressed-FLIM is limited by reconstruction algorithms. To improve the reconstruction accuracy of Compressed-FLIM in dealing with large-scale FLIM problem, we developed a more effective combined prior model 3DTGp V&#95;net, based on the Plug and Play (PnP) framework. Extensive numerical simulations indicate the proposed method eliminates reconstruction artifacts caused by the Deep denoiser networks. Moreover, it improves the reconstructed accuracy by around 4dB (peak signal-to-noise ratio; PSNR) over the state-of-the-art TV+FFDNet in test data sets. We conducted the single-shot FLIM experiment with different Rhodamine reagents and the results show that in practice, the proposed algorithm has promising reconstruction performance and more negligible lifetime bias., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

To prevent soil pollution caused by polyethylene (PE) films in the central region of Gansu, China, liquid mulching made from cow dung (CDLM) was trailed in silage maize fields. The degradation of CDLM and PE films, soil temperature, soil organic matter content, silage maize yield and water use efficiency (WUE) were evaluated for three years (2018-2020). The degradability of CDLM has been found to be much stronger than the one of PE films, with CDLM degrading 40-60 days after sowing and finishing around 100 days. CDLM had a lower insulating impact than PE films but a higher insulating effect than non-mulching films as the control (CK); CDLM could successfully increase soil organic matter, with a total increase of 1.01% over three years. CDLM increased silage maize yield by 6.2% compared to PE films and 17.2% compared to CK. Consequently, CDLM may be an interesting alternative to PE films for enhancing silage maize yield while decreasing soil contamination., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The distribution pattern of the microbial community in mountains is an important component of biodiversity research. Many environmental factors vary significantly with elevation on a relatively small scale in subalpine and alpine environments. These factors may markedly affect microbial community composition and function. In this study, we analyzed phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles and phosphorus (P) fractions in soils from 9 sites along an elevation gradient (3500-4100 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) of the Shergyla Mountain, Tibet in China. Many biomarker PLFAs indicated that there were biogeochemical trends of the microbial distribution patterns of some soil microorganisms, which were most often increasing, U-shaped and unimodal trends along the elevation gradient. A redundancy analysis (RDA) and correlations indicated that P factors (e.g., Resin-Pi, NaHCO3-Pi and NaHCO3-Po) were more important in controlling the microbial PLFA distribution pattern than other factors (e.g., MAT, MAP, pH, TOC, TN and soil moisture) in this study area. Microorganisms are strongly associated with P fractions. Our results suggested that microbial communities were subjected to P stresses and that the distribution patterns of microbial communities were shaped by bioavailable P along the elevation gradient. Our work also hints that P geochemical processes drive the microbial diversity of the Shergyla Mountains., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Urban spatial expansion is known as an important indicator of urbanization. In order to provide a reference for urban spatial expansion in the future high-quality development strategy of the Yellow River Basin (YB) cities in China, it is necessary to identify and calculate urban spatial expansion patterns. For this reason, we provide a "Spatiotemporal pattern-Center of gravity migrationt-Expansion pattern" solution to identify and calculate urban spatial expansion patterns in the YB. More specifically, 78 prefecture-level cities in the YB were selected as the subjects of the study, using the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Operational Line Scan System (DMSP/OLS) and the National Polarimetric Partnership/Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (NPP/VIIRS) nighttime light data (NTL), together with the center of gravity shift and common edge detection models, to identify the YB urban expansion patterns from 2000-2018. The results suggest that: (1) on the spatial pattern, there is a obvious difference in the expansion intensity and growth rate of the urban built-up (UB) areas of cities in the upper and middle reaches of YB. In addition, there are also certain differences between the expansion patterns of provincial capital cities and non-capital cities; (2) The UB areas of YB has steadily expand from 3,500 km2 in 2000 to 10,600 km2 in 2018, amongst which the expansion of provincial capital cities is the most obvious 1919 km2; (3) Interestingly it is also discovered that urban expansion in Qinghai Province, the sourceland of the YB, takes place in a diffuse way, with the shifting of the centre of gravity for four types of total area, net increase in area, rate of growth and intensity of expansion followed a "northwest to southeast" tendency of development., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

It is widely anticipated that a reduction of brain levels of the cellular prion protein (PrPC) can prolong survival in a group of neurodegenerative diseases known as prion diseases. To date, efforts to decrease steady-state PrPC levels by targeting this protein directly with small molecule drug-like compounds have largely been unsuccessful. Recently, we reported Na,K-ATPases to reside in immediate proximity to PrPC in the brain, unlocking an opportunity for an indirect PrPC targeting approach that capitalizes on the availability of potent cardiac glycosides (CGs). Here, we report that exposure of human co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes to non-toxic nanomolar levels of CGs causes profound reductions in PrPC levels. The mechanism of action underpinning this outcome relies primarily on a subset of CGs engaging the ATP1A1 isoform, one of three α subunits of Na,K-ATPases expressed in brain cells. Upon CG docking to ATP1A1, the ligand receptor complex, and PrPC along with it, is internalized by the cell. Subsequently, PrPC is channeled to the lysosomal compartment where it is digested in a manner that can be rescued by silencing the cysteine protease cathepsin B. These data signify that the repurposing of CGs may be beneficial for the treatment of prion disorders., Competing Interests: GS, MM and DW declare that they are co-inventors on a provisional patent (United States Provisional Application No. 63/159,289) named ‘Compounds and methods to treat prion and related diseases’ describing the use of cardiac glycosides for the purpose of reducing steady-state levels of PrPC. No other competing interests exist, and this provisional patent does not alter the adherence of these authors to all PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

The cell orientation characteristics of the natural combs of honey bees have received much research attention. Although natural combs have been shown to be composed of cells with three orientations-vertical, intermediate (oblique), and horizontal-the proportion of comb cells in these three orientations varies. Knowledge of the comb-building preferences of honey bees is essential for the installation of wax comb foundations, and clarification of the cell orientation characteristics of natural honey bee combs is important for beekeeping. The purpose of this study was to determine the cell orientation characteristics of natural combs of Eastern honey bees (Apis cerana cerana) and Western honey bees (Apis mellifera ligustica). Newly built combs were used to measure the orientation of hexagonal cells and calculate the proportion of cells in different orientations relative to the total number of cells. The number of eggs laid by queens in the cells of different orientations was also determined. The orientation of cells in the natural combs of Eastern and Western honey bees was determined based on the value of the minimum included angle between the pair of parallel cell walls and a vertical line connecting the top and bottom bars of the movable frame in the geometric plane of the comb: 0°≤θ≤10°, 10°<θ≤20°, and 20°<θ≤30° for vertical, intermediate, and horizontal orientations, respectively. Natural combs were composed of cells with at least one orientation (vertical or horizontal), two orientations (vertical + intermediate (oblique) or vertical + horizontal), or three orientations (vertical + intermediate + horizontal), and the proportions of combs with the three aforementioned configurations differed. Both Eastern honey bees and Western honey bees preferred building combs with cells in a vertical orientation. Queens showed no clear preference for laying eggs in cells of specific orientations. The results of this study provide new insight that could aid the production and cutting of wax comb foundations of Eastern and Western honey bees. Our study highlights the importance of installing wax comb foundations compatible with the comb-building preferences of bees., Competing Interests: We declare no conflict of interest and no competing or financial interests.

Secreted frizzled-related protein 2 (SFRP2) is a glycoprotein with frizzled-like cysteine-rich domain that binds with Wnt ligands or frizzled receptors to regulate Wnt signaling. SFRP2 is frequently hypermethylated in glioma patients, and analysis of TCGA data indicates that SFRP2 is one of the most downregulated genes in radiotherapy treated glioma patients. In the present study, we aimed to explore the potential function of SFRP2 in tumorigenesis and radioresistance of glioma. The RNA sequencing data of TCGA glioma samples were downloaded and analyzed. SFRP2 expression in 166 glioma patients was evaluated by qRT-PCR. The potential functions of SFRP2 in glioma were evaluated by loss-of-function assays and gain-of-function assays in glioma cell lines. We found that SFRP2 was downregulated in radiotherapy-treated glioma patients, and low SFRP2 expression was correlated with advanced tumor stage and poor prognosis. CRISP/Cas9-meidated SFRP2 knockdown promoted soft agar colony formation, cancer stemness and radioresistance of glioma cells, while enforced SFRP2 expression exhibited opposite effects. Moreover, Wnt/β-catenin signaling was activated in radiotherapy treated glioma patients. SFRP2 knockdown activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling in glioma cell lines, while overexpression of SFRP2 inhibited Wnt/β-catenin activation. Besides, pharmacological inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by XAV-939 abrogated the effects of SFRP2 knockdown on cancer stemness and radioresistance of glioma cells. Our data for the first time demonstrated a role of SFRP2 in radioresistance of glioma cells, and suggested that inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling might be a potential strategy for increasing radiosensitivity of glioma patients., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

The prion protein (PrP) is best known for its ability to cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases in humans and animals. Here, we revisited its molecular environment in the brain using a well-developed affinity-capture mass spectrometry workflow that offers robust relative quantitation. The analysis confirmed many previously reported interactions. It also pointed toward a profound enrichment of Na,K-ATPases (NKAs) in proximity to cellular PrP (PrPC). Follow-on work validated the interaction, demonstrated partial co-localization of the ATP1A1 and PrPC, and revealed that cells exposed to cardiac glycoside (CG) inhibitors of NKAs exhibit correlated changes to the steady-state levels of both proteins. Moreover, the presence of PrPC was observed to promote the ion uptake activity of NKAs in a human co-culture paradigm of differentiated neurons and glia cells, and in mouse neuroblastoma cells. Consistent with this finding, changes in the expression of 5'-nucleotidase that manifest in wild-type cells in response to CG exposure can also be observed in untreated PrPC-deficient cells. Finally, the endoproteolytic cleavage of the glial fibrillary acidic protein, a hallmark of late-stage prion disease, can also be induced by CGs, raising the prospect that a loss of NKA activity may contribute to the pathobiology of prion diseases., Competing Interests: DW, MM and GS declare the filing of a provisional patent for the treatment of prion diseases that builds on the relationship between NKAs and PrP.

Ablative fractional laser treatment is considered the gold standard for skin rejuvenation. In order to understand how fractional laser works to rejuvenate skin, we performed microarray profiling on skin biopsies to identify temporal and dose-response changes in gene expression following fractional laser treatment. The backs of 14 women were treated with ablative fractional laser (Fraxel®) and 4 mm punch biopsies were collected from an untreated site and at the treated sites 1, 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after the single treatment. In addition, in order to understand the effect that multiple fractional laser treatments have on skin rejuvenation, several sites were treated sequentially with either 1, 2, 3, or 4 treatments (with 28 days between treatments) followed by the collection of 4 mm punch biopsies. RNA was extracted from the biopsies, analyzed using Affymetrix U219 chips and gene expression was compared between untreated and treated sites. We observed dramatic changes in gene expression as early as 1 day after fractional laser treatment with changes remaining elevated even after 1 month. Analysis of individual genes demonstrated significant and time related changes in inflammatory, epidermal, and dermal genes, with dermal genes linked to extracellular matrix formation changing at later time points following fractional laser treatment. When comparing the age-related changes in skin gene expression to those induced by fractional laser, it was observed that fractional laser treatment reverses many of the changes in the aging gene expression. Finally, multiple fractional laser treatments, which cover different regions of a treatment area, resulted in a sustained or increased dermal remodeling response, with many genes either differentially regulated or continuously upregulated, supporting previous observations that maximal skin rejuvenation requires multiple fractional laser treatments. In conclusion, fractional laser treatment of human skin activates a number of biological processes involved in wound healing and tissue regeneration., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Leaf morphology exhibits tremendous diversity between and within species, and is likely related to adaptation to environmental factors. Most poplar species are of great economic and ecological values and their leaf morphology can be a good predictor for wood productivity and environment adaptation. It is important to understand the genetic mechanism behind variation in leaf shape. Although some initial efforts have been made to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for poplar leaf traits, more effort needs to be expended to unravel the polygenic architecture of the complex traits of leaf shape. Here, we performed a genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of poplar leaf shape traits in a randomized complete block design with clones from F1 hybrids of Populus deltoides and Populus simonii. A total of 35 SNPs were identified as significantly associated with the multiple traits of a moderate number of regular polar radii between the leaf centroid and its edge points, which could represent the leaf shape, based on a multivariate linear mixed model. In contrast, the univariate linear mixed model was applied as single leaf traits for GWAS, leading to genomic inflation; thus, no significant SNPs were detected for leaf length, measures of leaf width, leaf area, or the ratio of leaf length to leaf width under genomic control. Investigation of the candidate genes showed that most flanking regions of the significant leaf shape-associated SNPs harbored genes that were related to leaf growth and development and to the regulation of leaf morphology. The combined use of the traditional experimental design and the multivariate linear mixed model could greatly improve the power in GWAS because the multiple trait data from a large number of individuals with replicates of clones were incorporated into the statistical model. The results of this study will enhance the understanding of the genetic mechanism of leaf shape variation in Populus. In addition, a moderate number of regular leaf polar radii can largely represent the leaf shape and can be used for GWAS of such a complicated trait in Populus, instead of the higher-dimensional regular radius data that were previously considered to well represent leaf shape., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

F-box proteins play critical roles in plant responses to biotic/abiotic stresses. In the present study, a total of 68 wheat F-box/Kelch (TaFBK) genes, unevenly distributed across 21 chromosomes and encoding 74 proteins, were identified in EnsemblPlants. Protein sequences were compared with those of Arabidopsis and three cereal species by phylogenetic and domain analyses, where the wheat sequences were resolved into 6 clades. In silico analysis of a digital PCR dataset revealed that TaFBKs were expressed at multiple developmental stages and tissues, and in response to drought and/or heat stresses. The TaFBK19 gene, a homolog of the Attenuated Far-Red Response (AFR) genes in other plant species, and hence named TaAFR, was selected for further analysis. Reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) was carried out to determine tissue-specific, hormone and stress (abiotic/biotic) responsive expression patterns. Of interest, TaAFR was expressed most abundantly in the leaves, and its expression in response to leaf rust variants suggests a potential role in compatible vs incompatible rust responses. The protein was predicted to localize in cytosol, but it was shown experimentally to localize in both the cytosol and the nucleus of tobacco. A series of protein interaction studies, starting with a yeast-2-hybrid (Y2H) library screen (wheat leaf infected with incompatible leaf rust pathogens), led to the identification of three TaAFR interacting proteins. Skp1/ASK1-like protein (Skp1) was found to interact with the F-box domain of TaAFR, while ADP-ribosylation factor 2-like isoform X1 (ARL2) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) were shown to interact with its Kelch domain. The data presented herein provides a solid foundation from which the function and metabolic network of TaAFR and other wheat FBKs can be further explored., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Lung cancer (LC) is a malignant tumor that poses the greatest threat to human health and life. Most studies suggested that the occurrence of LC is associated with environmental and genetic factors. We aimed to explore the association between COL6A4P2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and CHD risk in the Chinese Southern Han population. Based on the 'case-control' experimental design (510 cases and 495 controls), we conducted an association study between five candidate COL6A4P2 SNPs and the corresponding LC risk. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by logistic regression to analyze the LC susceptibility under different genetic models. The results showed that COL6A4P2 rs34445363 was significantly associated with LC risk under alleles model (OR = 1.26, 95%CI: 1.01-1.58, p = 0.038). In addition, rs34445363 was also significantly associated with LC risk under the log-additive model (OR = 1.26, 95%CI: 1.01-1.58, p = 0.041). The results of subgroup analysis showed that rs34445363 (OR = 1.42, 95%CI: 1.03-1.95, p = 0.033) and rs61733464 (OR = 0.72, 95%CI: 0.52-0.99, p = 0.048) were both significantly associated with LC risk in the log-additive model among participants who were ≤ 61 years old. We also found that the variation of rs34445363 (GA vs. GG, OR = 1.73, 95%CI: 1.04-2.86, p = 0.034) and rs77941834 (TA vs. TT, OR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.06-3.34, p = 0.032) were associated with LC risk in the codominant model among female participants. Our study is the first to find that COL6A4P2 gene polymorphism is associated with LC risk in the Chinese Han population. Our study provides a basic reference for individualized LC prevention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. In this study, several authors were employed by a commercial company (Xi’an 21st Century Biological Sicence and Technology Co., Ltd). This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Soil microbial communities are affected by interactions between agricultural management (e.g., fertilizer) and soil compartment, but few studies have considered combinations of these factors. We compared the microbial abundance, diversity and community structure in two fertilizer dose (high vs. low NPK) and soil compartment (rhizosphere vs. bulk soils) under 6-year fertilization regimes in a continuous garlic cropping system in China. The soil contents of NO3- and available K were significantly higher in bulk soil in the high-NPK. The 16S rRNA gene-based bacterial and archaeal abundances were positively affected by both the fertilizer dose and soil compartment, and were higher in the high-NPK fertilization and rhizosphere samples. High-NPK fertilization increased the Shannon index and decreased bacterial and archaeal richness, whereas the evenness was marginally positively affected by both the fertilizer dose and soil compartment. Soil compartment exerted a greater effect on the bacterial and archaeal community structure than did the fertilization dose, as demonstrated by both the nonmetric multidimensional scaling and redundancy analysis results. We found that rhizosphere effects significantly distinguished 12 dominant classes of bacterial and archaeal communities, whereas the fertilizer dose significantly identified four dominant classes. In particular, a Linear Effect Size analysis showed that some taxa, including Alphaproteobacteria, Rhizobiales, Xanthomonadaceae and Flavobacterium, were enriched in the garlic rhizosphere of the high-NPK fertilizer samples. Overall, the fertilizer dose interacted with soil compartment to shape the bacterial and archaeal community composition, abundance, and biodiversity in the garlic rhizosphere. These results provide an important basis for further understanding adaptive garlic-microbe feedback, reframing roots as a significant moderating influence in agricultural management and shaping the microbial community., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Because large numbers of artworks are preserved in museums and galleries, much work must be done to classify these works into genres, styles and artists. Recent technological advancements have enabled an increasing number of artworks to be digitized. Thus, it is necessary to teach computers to analyze (e.g., classify and annotate) art to assist people in performing such tasks. In this study, we tested 7 different models on 3 different datasets under the same experimental setup to compare their art classification performances when either using or not using transfer learning. The models were compared based on their abilities for classifying genres, styles and artists. Comparing the result with previous work shows that the model performance can be effectively improved by optimizing the model structure, and our results achieve state-of-the-art performance in all classification tasks with three datasets. In addition, we visualized the process of style and genre classification to help us understand the difficulties that computers have when tasked with classifying art. Finally, we used the trained models described above to perform similarity searches and obtained performance improvements., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Percutaneous ablation is currently deemed an additionally treatment option for benign thyroid nodules in the world, but possibly different effect among the ablation modalities is not clear. So we aim to evaluate the efficacy and complications of thermal/chemical ablation by network meta-analysis., Materials and Methods: In the network meta-analysis, PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library databases were searched from 1980 to 2020. Studies of adults with thyroid benign nodules under percutaneous ablation therapy were included. Percentage mean volume change, symptom score change, cosmetic score change and complications were evaluated by network meta-analysis., Results: In the network meta-analysis, Radiofrequency Ablation(RFA) with 2 treatment sessions group was associated with the highest reduction for the mean volume change during 6-month follow-up (MD = 79.09 and 95% CrI:48.23-89.94). There is no significant difference in the incidence of complications. Subgroup analysis showed that 2 sessions of Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) ranks the highest probability (surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) values 77.9) of being the most efficacious treatment for solid or predominantly solid benign nodules. Ethanol ablation (EA) ranked first (SUCRA value 81.1) in the treatment for cyst or predominantly cyst benign nodules., Conclusion: RFA appears to be superior to other US-guided percutaneous ablation in reducing benign thyroid nodule volume during short- and long-term follow-up. In the subgroup analysis, RFA with 2 treatment sessions showed the most significant effectiveness for solid benign thyroid nodules and EA showed more effectiveness to decrease the volume of cyst benign thyroid nodules., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Inconel 718 alloy is widely used in aero-engines and high-temperature environments. However, residual stress caused by processing and molding leads to an uneven distribution of internal pressure, which reduces the reliability of service process. Therefore, numerical simulation of the nanoindentation process was applied to evaluate the effect of residual stress on the machined subsurface of Inconel 718. A gradient material model of Inconel 718 was established in ABAQUS finite element software. Mechanical properties based on nanoindentation testing showed an influence of residual stress in combination with indenter geometry. The orthogonal experimental results show that under diverse residual stress states, the indenter's geometry can affect the pile-up of the material surface after nanoindentation and significantly influence the test results. With increases in piling-up, the error caused by residual stress on the characterization of the mechanical properties of the hardened layer increases. Through the establishment of a numerical model, the influence of residual stress can be predicted within nanoindentation depths of 300 nm., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Background: Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is a severe form of extrapulmonary tuberculosis and its early diagnosis is very difficult leading to present with severe disability or die. The current study aimed to assess the accuracy of metagenomic next generation sequencing (mNGS) for TBM, and to identify a new test for the early diagnosis of TBM., Methods: We searched for articles published in Embase, PubMed, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and Wanfang Data up to June 30, 2020 for studies that assessed the efficacy of mNGS for the diagnosis of TBM. Then, the accuracy between mNGS and a composite reference standard (CRS) in these articles was compared using the meta-analysis approach., Results: Four independent studies with 342 samples comparing mNGS and a CRS were included in this study. The sensitivity of mNGS for TBM diagnosis ranged from 27% to 84%. The combined sensitivity of mNGS was 61%, and the I2 value was 92%. Moreover, the specificity of mNGS for TBM diagnosis ranged from 96% to 100%. The combined specificity of mNGS was 98%, and the I2 value was 74%. The heterogeneity between studies in terms of sensitivity and specificity was significant. The area under the curve (AUC) of the summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) of mNGS for TBM was 0.98., Conclusions: The sensitivity of mNGS for TBM diagnosis was moderate. Furthermore, the specificity was extremely high, and the AUC of the SROC indicated a very good diagnostic efficacy. mNGS could be used as an early diagnostic method for TBM, however, the results should be treated with caution for the heterogeneity between studies was extremely significant., Systematic Review Registration: INPLASY202070100., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In recent years, the health and economic effects of air pollution have attracted considerable attention, and health and insurance services have been closely related to residents' welfare. However, there are few studies on the influence of pollution on household purchases of insurance. Using data from the 2013 and 2015 China Household Finance Surveys, this study investigates the effect of air pollution on insurance purchases using Logit and Poisson regression models. It is found that air pollution significantly increases the probability of household insurance purchases and the level of premium expenditure, although the impact of air pollution on insurance purchases shows a degree of heterogeneity. Health insurance is more sensitive to air pollution than life insurance and other types of insurance. In areas where NO2 and O3 are the main types of pollutants, air pollution has a greater impact on household insurance purchases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

In the present study, a new class of heavy tailed distributions using the T-X family approach is introduced. The proposed family is called type-I heavy tailed family. A special model of the proposed class, named Type-I Heavy Tailed Weibull (TI-HTW) model is studied in detail. We adopt the approach of maximum likelihood estimation for estimating its parameters, and assess the maximum likelihood performance based on biases and mean squared errors via a Monte Carlo simulation framework. Actuarial quantities such as value at risk and tail value at risk are derived. A simulation study for these actuarial measures is conducted, proving that the proposed TI-HTW is a heavy-tailed model. Finally, we provide a comparative study to illustrate the proposed method by analyzing three real data sets from different disciplines such as reliability engineering, bio-medical and financial sciences. The analytical results of the new TI-HTW model are compared with the Weibull and some other non-nested distributions. The Baysesian analysis is discussed to measure the model complexity based on the deviance information criterion., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Annexin A1 (anxA1) is an immunomodulatory protein that has been proposed as a tumor vascular target for antitumor biologic agents, yet to date the vascular expression of anxA1 in specific tumor indications has not been systematically assessed. Attempts to evaluate vascular anxA1 expression by immunohistochemistry are complicated by a lack of available antibodies that are both specific for anxA1 and bind the N-terminal-truncated form of anxA1 that has previously been identified in tumor vasculature. To study the vascular expression pattern of anxA1 in non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), we isolated an antibody capable of binding N-terminal-truncated anxA127-346 and employed it in immunohistochemical studies of human lung specimens. Lung tumor specimens evaluated with this antibody revealed vascular (endothelial) anxA1 expression in five of eight tumor samples studied, but no vascular anxA1 expression was observed in normal lung tissue. Tumor microarray analysis further demonstrated positive vascular staining for anxA1 in 30 of 80 NSCLC samples, and positive staining of neoplastic cells was observed in 54 of 80 samples. No correlation was observed between vascular and parenchymal anxA1 expression. Two rodent tumor models, B16-F10 and Py230, were determined to have upregulated anxA1 expression in the intratumoral vasculature. These data validate anxA1 as a potential vascular anti-tumor target in a subset of human lung tumors and identify rodent models which demonstrate anxA1 expression in tumor vasculature., Competing Interests: All authors are employees or shareholders of AstraZeneca. There are no patents, products in development, or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials

The myeloproliferative neoplasms, polycythemia vera, essential thrombocytosis and primary myelofibrosis are hematopoietic stem cell disorders and share driver mutations that either directly activate the thrombopoietin receptor, MPL, or activate it indirectly through gain-of-function mutations in the gene for JAK2, its cognate tyrosine kinase. Paradoxically, MPL surface expression in hematopoietic stem cells is also reduced in the myeloproliferative neoplasms due to abnormal post-translational glycosylation and premature destruction of JAK2, suggesting that the myeloproliferative neoplasms are disorders of MPL processing since MPL is the only hematopoietic growth factor receptor in hematopoietic stem cells. To examine this possibility, we genetically manipulated MPL expression and maturation in a JAK2V617F transgenic mouse model of polycythemia vera. Elimination of MPL expression completely abrogated the polycythemia vera phenotype in this JAK2V617F transgenic mouse model, which could only be partially restored by expression of one MPL allele. Most importantly, elimination of thrombopoietin gene expression abrogated the polycythemia vera phenotype in this JAK2V617F transgenic mouse model, which could be completely restored by expression of a single thrombopoietin allele. These data indicate that polycythemia vera is in part a thrombopoietin-dependent disorder and that targeting the MPL-thrombopoietin axis could be an effective, nonmyelotoxic therapeutic strategy in this disorder., Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: ARM receives research funding from Alnylam. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Rice-crab culture is the characteristic rice ecological breeding model used in the Panjin area of Liaohe River Basin, China, and it can improve the ecological environment and create increased economic benefits. From a food perspective, both rice yield and quality, which are closely related to the fertilization mode, should be considered. However, the effect of different fertilization modes on rice quality has not been comprehensively investigated in this co-culture system. This study investigated the effects of three fertilization modes(FP1, FP2, and OPT) divided according to different fertilization types and methods on rice yield and quality, and set up a non-fertilized control group. In the rice-crab culture system, FP2 used fewer fertilizers and had a lower economic cost, and the yield was only slightly less than that of OPT(highest yield) but there was no statistical difference. FP2 elicited the best appearance quality and better cooking and eating quality among all treatment modes. Compared with CK, three fertilization modes significantly increased the protein content in rice and decreased the amylose content, which would lead to the deterioration of rice eating quality. However FP2 had the least protein increase and the least amylose reduction. There was no significant change in crude fat and starch content. Therefore, the FP2 fertilization mode was the best choice for the rice-crab culture system, as it significantly improved rice yield and increased rice quality at a relatively low cost., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.