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Cracks are a common problem in concrete surfaces. With the continuous optimization of machine vision-based inspection systems, effective crack detection and recognition is the core of the entire system. In this study, support vector machine (SVM) was used to distinguish cracks from other regions. To complete the recognition system of the SVM, a framework consisting of an image processing and recognition model was proposed. An algorithm combining the Prewitt operator with the Otsu threshold was proposed for image segmentation. The binary image processed by the new algorithm combined with mathematical morphology can result in a more complete crack zone and fewer interference regions. After the initial parameter extraction, most of the impurity areas were screened by preliminary discrimination, removing 99% of the impurities. This processing step ensured the balance and effectiveness of the samples. To establish an automatic identification model based on SVM with a radial basis function, compactness, occupancy rate, and length-width ratio were selected as input parameters after comparing these three features with all six features of the crack. The recognition accuracy of this system reaches 97.14%, demonstrating that the proposed method is effective and satisfies practical requirements., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

To explore the molecular pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and identify potential therapeutic targets, we performed transcriptome sequencing of lung tissue from mice with hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Our Gene Ontology analysis revealed that "extracellular matrix organization" ranked high in the biological process category, and matrix metallopeptidases (MMPs) and other proteases also played important roles in it. Moreover, compared with those in the normoxia group, we confirmed that MMPs expression was upregulated in the hypoxia group, while the hub gene Timp1 was downregulated. Crocin, a natural MMP inhibitor, was found to reduce inflammation, decrease MMPs levels, increase Timp1 expression levels, and attenuate hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice. In addition, analysis of the cell distribution of MMPs and Timp1 in the human lung cell atlas using single-cell RNAseq datasets revealed that MMPs and Timp1 are mainly expressed in a population of fibroblasts. Moreover, in vitro experiments revealed that crocin significantly inhibited myofibroblast proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix deposition. Furthermore, we demonstrated that crocin inhibited TGF-β1-induced fibroblast activation and regulated the pulmonary arterial fibroblast MMP2/TIMP1 balance by inhibiting the TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling pathway. In summary, our results indicate that crocin attenuates hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension in mice by inhibiting TGF-β1-induced myofibroblast activation., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has high heterogeneity, poor prognosis, and limited treatment success. Recently, an immunohistochemistry-based surrogate classification for the "Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center (FUSCC) subtyping" has been developed and is considered more suitable for clinical application. Seventy-one paraffin-embedded sections of surgically resected TNBC were classified into four molecular subtypes using the IHC-based surrogate classification. Genomic analysis was performed by targeted next-generation sequencing and the specificity of the subtypes was explored by bioinformatics, including survival analysis, multivariate Cox regression, pathway enrichment, Pyclone analysis, mutational signature analysis and PHIAL analysis. AKT1 and BRCA1 mutations were identified as independent prognostic factors in TNBC. TNBC molecular subtypes encompass distinct genomic landscapes that show specific heterogeneities. The luminal androgen receptor (LAR) subtype was associated with mutations in PIK3CA and PI3K pathways, which are potentially sensitive to PI3K pathway inhibitors. The basal-like immune-suppressed (BLIS) subtype was characterized by high genomic instability and the specific possession of signature 19 while patients in the immunomodulatory (IM) subtype belonged to the PD-L1 ≥ 1% subgroup with enrichment in Notch signaling, suggesting a possible benefit of immune checkpoint inhibitors and Notch inhibitors. Moreover, mesenchymal-like (MES) tumors displayed enrichment in the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK)-RAS pathway and potential sensitivity to RTK pathway inhibitors. The findings suggest potential treatment targets and prognostic factors, indicating the possibility of TNBC stratified therapy in the future., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

CD74 is a type-II transmembrane glycoprotein that has been linked to tumorigenesis. However, this association was based only on phenotypic studies, and, to date, no in-depth mechanistic studies have been conducted. In this study, combined with a multi-omics study, CD74 levels were significantly upregulated in most cancers relative to normal tissues and were found to be predictive of prognosis. Elevated CD74 expression was associated with reduced levels of mismatch-repair genes and homologous repair gene signatures in over 10 tumor types. Multiple fluorescence staining and bulk, spatial, single-cell transcriptional analyses indicated its potential as a marker for M1 macrophage infiltration in pan-cancer. In addition, CD74 expression was higher in BRCA patients responsive to conventional chemotherapy and was able to predict the prognosis of these patients. Potential CD74-activating drugs (HNHA and BRD-K55186349) were identified through molecular docking to CD74. The findings indicate activation of CD74 may have potential in tumor immunotherapy., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Psoriasis, which is one of the most common skin diseases, involves an array of complex immune constituents including T cells, dendritic cells and monocytes. Particularly, the cytokine IL17A, primarily generated by TH17 cells, assumes a crucial function in the etiology of psoriasis. In this study, a comprehensive investigation utilizing bulk RNA analysis, single-cell RNA sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics was employed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of psoriasis. Our study revealed that there is an overlap between the genes that are differentially expressed in psoriasis patients receiving three anti-IL17A monoclonal antibody drugs and the genes that are differentially expressed in lesion versus non-lesion samples in these patients. Further analysis using single-cell and spatial data from psoriasis samples confirmed the expression of hub genes that had low expressions in psoriasis tissue but were up-regulated after anti-IL17A treatments. These genes were found to be associated with the treatment effects of brodalumab and methotrexate, but not adalimumab, etanercept, and ustekinumab. Additionally, these genes were predominantly expressed in fibroblasts. In our study, fibroblasts were categorized into five clusters. Notably, hub genes exhibited predominant expression in cluster 3 fibroblasts, which were primarily engaged in the regulation of the extracellular matrix and were predominantly located in the reticular dermis. Subsequent analysis unveiled that cluster 3 fibroblasts also established communication with epithelial cells and monocytes via the ANGPTL-SDC4 ligand-receptor configuration, and their regulation was governed by the transcription factor TWIST1. Conversely, cluster 4 fibroblasts, responsible for vascular endothelial regulation, were predominantly distributed in the papillary dermis. Cluster 4 predominantly engaged in interactions with endothelial cells via MDK signals and was governed by the distinctive transcription factor, ERG. By means of an integrated analysis encompassing bulk transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, and spatial transcriptomics, we have discerned genes and clusters of fibroblasts that potentially contribute to the pathogenesis of psoriasis., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Biosurfactants are attracting much interest due to their potential application as therapeutic agents in the medical and cosmetic field. Previous studies have demonstrated that biosurfactant such as sophorolipid (SL) exhibits immunomodulatory effects. In this article, we found the potential of sophorolipid for inhibiting histamine-induced itch and preliminarily explored its molecular basis. First, behavioral tests indicated that SL can remit the histamine-induced scratching behaviors of mice. Second, SL can suppress the the calcium influx induced by histamine, HTMT and VUF8430 in HaCaT cells. RT-PCR analysis showed that the histamine-induced upregulation of mRNA levels of phospholipase Cγ1, 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R), and protein kinase Cα can be inhibted by SL, suggesting that SL may impede the PLC/IP3R signaling pathway activated by histamine. In further tests, the capsaicin-induced calcium influx can also be inhibited by SL. The immunofluorescence and molecular docking analysis indicated that SL acts as an inhibitor of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) activation to decrease calcium influx against stimuli. In summary, these results revealed that SL may inhibit histamine-induced itch by decreasing PLC/IP3R signaling pathway activation and modulating TRPV1 activity. This paper indicates that SL can be a useful treatment for histamine-dependent itch., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

With the aim of improving soil fertility, it is of great significance to put forward optimal irrigation and nitrogen fertilizer application strategies for improving land productivity and alleviating non-point source pollution effects. To overcome this task, a 6-hidden layer neural network with a preference mechanism, namely Preference Neural network (PNN), has been developed in this study based on the field data from 2018 to 2020. PNN takes soil total nitrogen, organic matter, total salt, pH, irrigation time and target soil depth as input, and irrigation amount and nitrogen application rate (N rate) as output, and the prior preference matrix was used to adjust the learning of weight matrix of each layer. The outcomes indicated that the predictive accuracy of PNN for irrigation amount were (R 2  = 0.913, MAE = 0.018, RMSE = 0.022), and for N rate were (R 2  = 0.943, MAE = 0.009, RMSE = 0.011). The R 2 predicted by PNN at the irrigation amount and N rate were 40.03% to more than 99% and 40.33% to more than 99% higher than those obtained using support vector regression (SVR), linear regression (LR), logistic regression (LOR) and traditional back propagation neural network (BPNN), respectively. In addition, compared with the neural network (Reverse Multilayer Perceptron, RMLP) with the same structure but no preference structure, the R 2 of the predicted irrigation amount and N rate by PNN increased by 25.81% and 27.99%, respectively. The results showed that, through the irrigation of 93 to 102, 92 to 98 and 92 to 98 mm, along with nitrogen applications of 65 to 71, 64 to 73 and 72 to 81 kg/hm 2 at 17, 59 and 87 days after sowing, respectively, the organic matter, total nitrogen, total salt content and pH of the soil would reach high fertility levels simultaneously., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Behavioral isolation in animals can be mediated by inherent mating preferences and assortative traits, such as divergence in the diel timing of mating activity. Although divergence in the diel mating time could, in principle, promote the reproductive isolation of sympatric, conspecific populations, there is currently no unequivocal evidence of this. We conducted different mate-choice experiments to investigate the contribution of differences in diel mating activity to the reproductive isolation of the rice and water-oat populations of Chilo suppressalis. The results show that inter-population difference in diel mating activity contributes to assortative mating in these populations. In the rice population, most mating activity occurred during the first half of the scotophase, whereas in the water-oat population virtually all mating activity was confined to the second half of the scotophase. However, when the photoperiod of individuals from the water-oat population was altered to more closely align their mating activity with that of the rice population, mate choice was random. We conclude that inter-population differences in diel mating time contribute to assortative mating, and thereby the partial reproductive isolation, of these host-associated populations of C. suppressalis.

Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1) increases the expression of TGF-β family genes, which are known as profibrogenic cytokines in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis. In this study, we determined whether TGF-β1 regulated the expression of TREM-1 in a mouse model of pulmonary fibrosis. The expression of TGF-β1 and TREM-1 was increased on day 7, 14, and 21 after single intratracheal injection of bleomycin (BLM). And there was positive correlation between the expression of TGF-β1 and TREM-1. TGF-β1 increased expression of TREM-1 mRNA and protein in a time- and dose-dependent manner in mouse macrophages. The expression of the activator protein 1 (AP-1) was increased in lung tissues from mouse after BLM injection and in mouse macrophages after TGF-β1 treatment, respectively. TGF-β1 significantly increased the relative activity of luciferase in the cells transfected with plasmid contenting wild type-promoter of TREM-1. But TGF-β1 had no effect on the activity of luciferase in the cells transfected with a mutant-TREM1 plasmid carrying mutations in the AP-1 promoter binding site. In conclusion, we found the expression of TREM-1 was increased in lung tissues from mice with pulmonary fibrosis. TGF-β1 increased the expression of TREM-1 in mouse macrophages partly via the transcription factor AP-1.

Nitrogen is fundamental to all life forms and is also one of the most limiting of nutrients for plant growth. Several clades of angiosperms have developed symbiotic relationships with actinorhizal bacteria that fix atmospheric nitrogen and increase access to this nutrient. However, the evolutionary patterns of actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses remain unclear to date. Furthermore the underlying environmental pressures that led to the gain of symbiotic actinorhizal nitrogen fixation have never been investigated. Here, we present the most comprehensive genus-level phylogenetic analysis of the nitrogen-fixing angiosperms based on three plastid loci. We found that actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing species are distributed in nine distinct lineages. By dating the branching events, we determined that seven actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing lineages originated during the Late Cretaceous, and two more emerged during the Eocene. We put forward a hypothesis that multiple gains of actinorhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses in angiosperms may have been associated with increased global temperatures and high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide during these two time periods, as well as the availability of open habitats with high light conditions. Our nearly complete genus-level time-tree for the nitrogen-fixing clade is a significant advance in understanding the evolutionary and ecological background of this important symbiosis between plants and bacteria.

Dim-light vision is present in all bats, but is divergent among species. Old-World fruit bats (Pteropodidae) have fully developed eyes; the eyes of insectivorous bats are generally degraded, and these bats rely on well-developed echolocation. An exception is the Emballonuridae, which are capable of laryngeal echolocation but prefer to use vision for navigation and have normal eyes. In this study, integrated methods, comprising manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI), f-VEP and RNA-seq, were utilized to verify the divergence. The results of MEMRI showed that Pteropodidae bats have a much larger superior colliculus (SC)/ inferior colliculus (IC) volume ratio (3:1) than insectivorous bats (1:7). Furthermore, the absolute visual thresholds (log cd/m(2)•s) of Pteropodidae (-6.30 and -6.37) and Emballonuridae (-3.71) bats were lower than those of other insectivorous bats (-1.90). Finally, genes related to the visual pathway showed signs of positive selection, convergent evolution, upregulation and similar gene expression patterns in Pteropodidae and Emballonuridae bats. Different results imply that Pteropodidae and Emballonuridae bats have more developed vision than the insectivorous bats and suggest that further research on bat behavior is warranted.

Free controls of optic/acoustic waves for bending, focusing or steering the energy of wavefronts are highly desirable in many practical scenarios. However, the dispersive nature of the existing metamaterials/metasurfaces for wavefront manipulation necessarily results in limited bandwidth. Here, we propose the concept of dispersionless wavefront manipulation and report a theoretical, numerical and experimental work on the design of a reflective surface capable of controlling the acoustic wavefront arbitrarily without bandwidth limitation. Analytical analysis predicts the possibility to completely eliminate the frequency dependence with a specific gradient surface which can be implemented by designing a subwavelength corrugated surface. Experimental and numerical results, well consistent with the theoretical predictions, have validated the proposed scheme by demonstrating a distinct phenomenon of extraordinary acoustic reflection within an ultra-broad band. For acquiring a deeper insight into the underlying physics, a simple physical model is developed which helps to interpret this extraordinary phenomenon and predict the upper cutoff frequency precisely. Generations of planar focusing and non-diffractive beam have also been exemplified. With the dispersionless wave-steering capability and deep discrete resolution, our designed structure may open new avenue to fully steer classical waves and offer design possibilities for broadband optical/acoustical devices.

Ascertaining the existence of hidden objects in a complex system, objects that cannot be observed from the external world, not only is curiosity-driven but also has significant practical applications. Generally, uncovering a hidden node in a complex network requires successful identification of its neighboring nodes, but a challenge is to differentiate its effects from those of noise. We develop a completely data-driven, compressive-sensing based method to address this issue by utilizing complex weighted networks with continuous-time oscillatory or discrete-time evolutionary-game dynamics. For any node, compressive sensing enables accurate reconstruction of the dynamical equations and coupling functions, provided that time series from this node and all its neighbors are available. For a neighboring node of the hidden node, this condition cannot be met, resulting in abnormally large prediction errors that, counterintuitively, can be used to infer the existence of the hidden node. Based on the principle of differential signal, we demonstrate that, when strong noise is present, insofar as at least two neighboring nodes of the hidden node are subject to weak background noise only, unequivocal identification of the hidden node can be achieved.