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• Our new approach for continuous cross-modal hashing (CCMH) can handle arriving new classes (ANCs), which has not been explored before. • The proposed CT-CMH can be flexibly deployed in real-world applications by adopting a single-head setup. • The proposed CT-CMH consisting of HCD and AWIU can effectively address the problem of catastrophic forgetting and hash-code conflicts. • The experimental results and visualizations demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach for the CCMH task. Generally, multimodal data with new classes arrive continuously in the real world. While advanced cross-modal hashing (CMH) focuses primarily on batch-based data with previously observed classes (ASCs), it disregards the effect of newly arriving classes (ANCs) on hash-code conflicts. In addition, class-level continuous hashing scenarios do not suit themselves well with the generic CMH configuration. To solve the aforementioned issues, we propose a novel framework, called CT-CMH, for the new task of continuous cross-modal hashing. For dealing with ANCs, CMH models require the ability of continuous learning, i.e. they can preserve the knowledge of previously observed data and, more crucially, they can be adapted to unseen data with ANCs. Specifically, we introduce the adaptive weight importance updating (AWIU) mechanism to alleviate the catastrophic forgetting problem of CMH and a new hash-code divergence (HCD) method to eliminate hash-code conflicts between ASCs and ANCs. When CT-CMH is equipped with both AWIU and HCD, it can consistently achieve high retrieval performance. The experiment results and visualization analyses validate the effectiveness of our approach. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to introduce and implement the task of CCMH for ANCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The F and Sb co-doped Ti/SnO 2 electrode containing Sn-Sb interlayer was innovatively synthesized for electro-oxidation (EO) removal of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) in water. Stronger oxidation capability and remarkably longer lifetime were performed for Ti/Sn-Sb/SnO 2 -F-Sb electrode than these similar electrodes in this study without Sn-Sb interlayer and F/Sb doping, which could removed more than 99% of PFOS ( C 0 = 100 mg L −1 ) after 120-min electrolysis. The attribute of Ti/Sn-Sb/SnO 2 -F-Sb anode and its EO mechanism were surveyed by XRD, XPS, SEM, and LSV. F and Sb co-doping could improve the stability and EO capability of the electrode, which resulted from that the smooth surface was formed conveniently to produce physically adsorbed hydroxyl radical and lead to relatively high OEP. The operating parameters of EO process were also investigated including current density, pH value, and stirring speed, which revealed the effect of these parameters on PFOS decomposition. Additionally, the mineralization parameters, TOC and F − concentration, as well as short-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids were analyzed in solution during the electrolysis. Consequently, the EO pathway of PFOS was proposed through the detection of intermediates. These results manifest that Ti/Sn-Sb/SnO 2 -F-Sb anode is prospective to effectively decompose PFOS in wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,2,4-Butanetriol (BT) and related derivatives have been widely used in many fields, especially in the military and in medicine. In this paper, we systematically optimized the BT biosynthetic pathway. We first investigated the activities of various NADH dependent aldehyde reductases (ALRs), which catalyze the fourth reaction in the four-step pathway for BT production from xylose in E. coli , and found that a combination of multiple endogenous enzymes catalyzed aldehyde reduction in the BT production bioprocess and that YqhD in E. coli was a main ALR for BT production. In addition, ADH2 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae can effectively catalyze 3,4-dihydroxybutanal to BT. Also, YjhG was identified as the major xylonate dehydratase and was co-overexpressed with YqhD, resulting in an improvement of BT production by 30%. Moreover, we identified and eliminated the competing branch pathway by inactivating 2-keto acid reductases ( yiaE ). Finally, the combination of these approaches led to BT production of 5.1 g/L. In summary, our study provides insights into the biosynthetic pathway for BT production, demonstrates an effective strategy to enhance BT production, and paves the way toward in-depth research on BT biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A temperature-related multiscale quasi-continuum (QC) model is presented herein for the investigation of the finite deformation behaviors, especially buckling and post-buckling, of open-tip single-walled carbon nanocones (SWCNCs) in thermal environments. The hyper-elastic constitutive model is established with the use of so-called temperature-related higher-order Cauchy–Born (THCB) rule as the kinematic description for the deformation of SWCNCs. The corresponding meshless computational scheme is developed to accomplish the numerical simulation of the deformation responses of SWCNCs. The numerical results reveal that the present approach is effective and efficient for the prediction of the buckling behaviors of SWCNCs at finite temperature. It is found that the buckling and post-buckling of SWCNCs are strongly dependent on the rotation angle of cutting lines, the top radius, the height and the apex angle. The mechanical properties and buckling of SWCNCs with large top radius and apex angle are close to those of graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western Pacific Warm Pool, covering much of the western Pacific equatorial region, contains the warmest surface waters exceeding 28.5 °C. A thorough investigation is necessary to assess radiolarian composition in such unique oceanographic conditions. In this study, we analyzed 80 surface sediment samples collected from the western equatorial Pacific. On the basis of principal coordinates analysis, three major radiolarian assemblages in sediment samples are identified: assemblages from northern and southern sediments, and an Ethmodiscus- rich fauna. Co-occurring highly abundant radiolarians and Ethmodiscus diatom fragments are reported for the Ethmodiscus- rich fauna. To explain this phenomenon we propose two hypotheses: that radiolarian assemblages co-existed in the upper column, or that assemblages indicate co-preservation in a sediment thanatocoenose. Net primary production, sea surface temperature, and phosphate, best explain the species composition of the northern and southern faunas in the oligotrophic warm western equatorial Pacific waters. Dominant species with higher proportions in the southern fauna, including Dictyocoryne muelleri and D. profundum groups, Spongaster tetras , and Stylodictya multispina , may sensitively respond to net primary production, or rather food availability. The higher abundances of the Tetrapyle and Phorticium groups in the northern fauna indicate their preference for cooler and inorganic nutrient-rich waters, and decreased dependence on food source associated with net primary production, possibly due to their obligate photosynthetic associations. • Radiolarians in the western Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) are investigated. • North, South, and Ethmodiscus -rich faunas are identified in the western WPWP. • Primary production is an important determinant for radiolarian composition. • Radiolarians show highest diversity and abundance in the Ethmodiscus -rich fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the vibrational properties of four- and five-layered graphene sheets (GSs) embedded in the elastic matrix are analyzed based on a multi-layered continuum model with considering the vdW interaction of any two layers of GSs. The influences of vdW interaction and the surrounding matrix on the vibrational properties four- and five-layered GSs embedded in elastic medium are investigated in detail. The results show that the surrounding matrix has a significant effect on the foundational frequency of MLGSs, while these factors are neglectable for the other higher-order frequencies. These results will be helpful for engineering application of four- and five-layered GSs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes an open and extensive validation study carried out by the Specialist Committee on Ships in Operation at Sea (SOS) of the International Towing Tank Conference (ITTC) on the newly developed SHOPERA-NTUA-NTU-MARIC (SNNM) wave-added resistance prediction method. The SNNM method aims at a simple, fast and transparent determination of the added resistance in regular waves of arbitrary encounter directions, even when the hull geometry is not available. Prior to the validation study, a series of acceptance criteria for the new method were specified by the committee. Contributions of 1,477 added resistance experimental data samples from 8 institutions were collected, analyzed and cross-checked with satisfactory outcome, which finally led to the inclusion of the new method into the ITTC recommended sea trial procedure as an important progress. Some aspects of concerns are discussed in detail and further work in the future is recommended. • Latest and most remarkable progress of ITTC recommended sea trial procedure for analyzing the wave effect in arbitrary direction. • Establishment of a high-quality experimental added resistance database about 1500 points for open validation study. • Validation study is carried out strictly following agreed procedure by all ITTC-SOS committee members. • The performance of new method is much better than agreed as acceptance criteria. • The behavior of added resistance in relatively short waves is elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Maillard reaction with ribose, GOS and COS reduces shrimp tropomyosin allergenicity. • Maillard reaction induces conformational change of tropomyosin. • Maillard reaction selectively changes conformation and allergenicity of TM epitope. • α-Helix reduction mediated the effect of Maillard reaction on tropomyosin. Abstract Tropomyosin (TM), the predominant shellfish allergen, has induced severe food allergy worldwide, but efficient prevention and cure measures are limited nowadays. In the present study, we introduced an approach to eliminate Penaeus chinensis TM by Maillard reaction with reducing sugars including ribose, galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) and chitosan-oligosaccharide (COS), which reduced the allergenicity by up to 60%. We also evaluated the conformational changes of TM during reaction by far-UV circular dichroism, and found the reaction-induced alternation from α-helix to β-sheet. We further determined the effect of Maillard reaction on TM allergenic epitopes to investigate the detailed mechanisms, and revealed the structure preference of different sugars. Correlation analysis with experimental data revealed that α-helix mediated the allergenicity elimination by Maillard reaction. There results provided theoretical foundations for the improvement and application of Maillard reaction in allergenic food processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Filter inconsequential short waves that have no significant influence on a ship's wave drag, sinkage and trim. • Relations that determine negligible short waves in terms of Froude number and three main hull-shape parameters. • Parametric analysis based on Hogner potential flow model for a wide range of Froude numbers and 120 ship hulls. Abstract The important basic practical problem of filtering inconsequential short waves that have no significant influence upon the wave drag, the sinkage and the trim experienced by a ship that travels at a constant speed in calm water of large depth is considered. This problem is an essential and nontrivial element of the prediction of ship waves via the use of a Green function that satisfies the linearized boundary condition at the free surface. Simple analytical relations that explicitly determine the wavenumber of insignificant short waves in terms of the Froude number and three main parameters that broadly characterize the ship hull shape are given for ships with bow, midship and stern regions and for ships with wide transoms. These relations are obtained via a parametric numerical analysis, based on the classical Hogner potential flow model, for a wide range of Froude numbers and a large number of hull forms associated with a broad range of hull-shape parameters. The relations provide an effective way of filtering negligible short waves that have no appreciable influence upon the wave drag, the sinkage and the trim of a ship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mining interesting itemsets on massive data is a necessary topic in data mining. Nowadays, most studies use frequency or utility as primary measure. However, using these two measures individually has its own limitations. For example, itemsets with high frequencies may have low profits while itemsets with high utilities perhaps appear occasionally, so they might be misleading. In addition, the existing algorithms can only deal with small-medium scale database, and their performances degrade significantly when data is expanded. To address these drawbacks, this paper proposes a novel high utility occupancy itemset mining algorithm SHO (Suffix-based High-utility Occupancy itemset mining), it considers both quantities and profits of itemsets. SHO designs the algorithm from suffix-based partitioning, generation pruning and itemsets linking, it can mine high utility occupancy itemsets on large-scale database effectively. At the beginning, the database are divided into some non-overlapping suffix-based partitions and stored in vertical format, then the support and utility occupancy of itemset can be calculated in a certain partition instead of traversing total database. Besides, two optimization strategies and four pruning strategies are proposed to make SHO faster. The extensive experiments show that SHO is much better than the current state-of-the-art algorithm, the efficiency can be improved up to 3 orders of magnitude. • A suffix-partitioning-based SHO algorithm is proposed to mine HUOIs on massive data. • Two optimization strategies are proposed to prune itemsets as early as possible. • Four pruning strategies and two upper bounds are designed. • Extensive experimental results show high efficiency of the SHO algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general reaction–diffusion–advection system modeling the competition between two aquatic species in a river/stream is studied. Under certain mild conditions, we first establish a complete classification on all possible global dynamical behaviors of this system. Then by regarding the competition coefficients as bifurcation parameters, we present further a clear picture on the global dynamics. Our main results improve a previous work of Xu et al. (2020)by considering a much more general setting and more importantly removing the technical condition (see (A 1) below). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To explore the candidate genes involved in the pathogenesis of non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) using bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification.Methods: The gene expression profiles (GSE9210) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. We performed function enrichment analyses, constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and identified hub genes. Further, the miRNA-hub genes regulatory network was constructed. Finally, the expression level of CEP55 was verified using RT-qPCR and Western blot, and its diagnostic value was analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.Results: 626 DEGs were identified, including 11 upregulated and 615 downregulated genes. Function enrichment analyses showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in spermatogenesis, fertilization, meiotic cell cycle, flagellated sperm motility, sperm capacitation, spermatid nucleus differentiation and male meiotic nuclear differentiation. The top 10 hub genes were identified including CCNB2, BUB1, TOP2A, BIRC5, CENPF, PBK, NCAPG, DLGAP5, NUF2 and CEP55. In the miRNAs prediction, the hsa-miRNA-449a, hsa-miRNA-34c-5p and hsa-miRNA-34b-5p may be implicated in NOA. In the validation stage, the expression level of CEP55 was significantly decreased in patients with NOA compared to patients with OA. ROC analysis showed that CEP55 had a good diagnostic value for NOA and the combination of CEP55, FSH and mean testicular volume enhanced the prediction performance.Conclusions: This study identified key genes associated with NOA and their biological functions. Furthermore, CEP55 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of NOA, which will provide novel insights into the targeting therapy of NOA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We proposed a model for nanogear drive system with intersecting axes between motor and rotor for rotation transmission. • Between 40 K and 100 K, the rotor has stable asynchronous rotation with 60° of intersecting angle. • When the input rotational frequency is very high, the rotation transmission ratio is independent on temperature < 100 K. • Results guide the potential application of the present nanodevice in a nanomachine. Using molecular dynamics simulation, the dynamic response of a nanogear drive system with intersecting axes was investigated. The nanogear drive system made from carbon nanotubes (CNT) contains two parts, i.e., a motor and a nanobearing. Their tube axes have an intersecting angle of θ. Due to van der Waals (vdW) interaction at their adjacent edges, the rotor in the bearing can be driven to rotate by the constant-speed motor. By increasing the value of θ , the vdW interaction decreases and the difference between the rotational frequencies of the motor and the rotor becomes larger. Especially, at temperature below 100 K, the system with θ = 60° has very stable and asynchronous transmission effect, which will benefit potential application of an asynchronous rotation transmission nanosystem in a nanomachine. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impact of hypoxia on cell survival and EGFR level depends on cell type and density. • EGFR downregulation contributes to hypoxia-induced cell death. • Hypoxia-induced autophagy can decrease EGFR expression. • EGFR loss is related to hypersensitivity of cells under hypoxia to radiotherapy. Treatment failure through radioresistance of tumors is associated with activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Tumor cell proliferation, DNA-repair, hypoxia and metastases-formation are four mechanisms in which EGFR signaling has an important role. However, the effect of hypoxia on EGFR expression is still controversial. In this study, we demonstrated that hypoxia enhanced EGFR expression and sustained cell survival in SiHa, CAL 27 and A549 cells at both low and high cell desnities, while in MCF-7, MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cells, EGFR and cell survival were regulated by hypoxic treatment in a cell-density dependent manner: upregulated at low cell density and downregulated at high cell density. In MCF-7 and HeLa xenografts in nude mice, EGFR expression varied inversely with the pimonidazole level that was used as an indicator of hypoxia, accordant with the effect of hypoxia at high cell density in vitro. Hypoxia induced more remarkable cell autophagy at high cell density than at low cell density. Autophagy inhibitor 3MA, rather than proteasome inhibitor MG132 inhibited hypoxia-mediated EGFR loss and shifted cell death to cell survival in HeLa cells. The MCF7 cells' sensitivity to ionizing radiation (IR) under hypoxia was also conditional on the cell densities when the hypoxia treatment was introduced, inversely associated with the expression levels of EGFR. Altogether, hypoxia can decrease EGFR expression in some cell lines by enhancing autophagy at high cell density, leading to cell death and hypersensitivity to radiotherapy. This study may help to understand how hypoxia influences EGFR expression and radiosensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Experimental and numerical studies on the hydrodynamic forces and moments of the ONR Tumblehome (ONRT) hull during oblique towing tests are performed. The experiments are carried out in the towing tank of Marine Design and Research Institute of China (MARIC) and the numerical simulations are based on the open-source CFD library OpenFOAM. Validations of the numerical methods are provided by comparison with experimental measurements from tests at two advancing speed. And then the investigations of advancing speed effects on hydrodynamic derivatives used in MMG model are performed numerically. Specifically, X v v , Y v , N v of the ONRT hull at four advancing speed are yielded via linear regression of the hydrodynamic forces and moments predicted by CFD calculations. Finally, the relationship between hydrodynamic derivatives and advancing speed are concluded and the expressions of hydrodynamic derivatives that can be used in MMG model are given. Highlights • Experimental and numerical methods are used to investigate the hydrodynamic forces and moment of the ONRT hull during oblique towing tests and the experimental measurements and numerical results are well validated. • The idea, proposed in this work, that considers a varying hydrodynamic derivatives in the MMG model is new. And considering the speed loss during maneuvering motions of a ship, it is reasonable to take the advancing speed effects on the hydrodynamic derivatives into account. • Numerical simulations of the oblique towing tests at four different advancing speed are performed and the expressions of hydrodynamic derivatives in the form of advancing speed are given. These expressions can be used in the MMG model as varying hydrodynamic derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Linear surface crack can be formed on the surface of the round steel because of non-metallic inclusions during the rolling process. • The shape of the surface crack can be changed during gear forging process with material flow. • Open cracks can provide diffusion channels for carbon atom diffusion during carburizing and quenching. • The shape of the surface crack changed in forging can be numerically simulated and reproduced with the help of point tracking technology in finite element analysis. The phenomenon of surface cracks in steering shaft gear after carburizing and quenching was analyzed by combining experimental research, theoretical analysis, and numerical simulation. The chemical composition, crack morphology, non-metallic inclusions, microstructure, microhardness, and forging process were analyzed and studied by means of directly reading spectrometer, metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometer, and micro hardness tester. The evolution process of surface crack morphology was numerically simulated and reproduced with the help of Deform 3D point tracking technology. The results show that linear surface cracks are formed on the surface of the round steel because of Alumina-type non-metallic inclusions, which destroy the continuity of the steel matrix during the rolling process. Surface cracks become arc-shaped due to the regular plastic flow direction of the material and propagate in the depth direction during the forging process. Crack provide a channel for the diffusion of C atoms during carburizing and quenching process, therefore carburized layer with gradient distribution is formed on both sides of the crack. The carburized layer reacts with oxygen during quenching and subsequent tempering, resulting in a certain degree of oxidation on both sides of the crack and the crack tail. Therefore, the surface cracks found in the steering shaft gear after carburizing and quenching are originated from the rolling cracks formed by non-metallic inclusions of steel. The rolling cracks have undergone further evolution in the subsequent forging and carburizing quenching process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the different heat transfer mechanisms in living biological tissue during pulse laser irradiation are studied with the fractional thermal wave bio-heat transfer (FTWBT) equation, the thermal wave bio-heat transfer (TWBT) equation and the Pennes bio-heat transfer (PBT) equation, respectively. The corresponding non-Fourier boundary condition is established and the analytical solutions based on the three models are obtained by employing the Fourier and Laplace transform methods. The heat wave propagation characteristics in biological tissues are revealed and discussed in detail. The results show that the FTWBT model has advantages over the others to describe the bio-heat transfer in laser therapy as long as the boundary condition is correct. The heat transfer predicted by the FTWBT model reveals the thermal diffusion feature as well as the thermal wave behavior, which is dependent on the fractional order parameter and biological tissue relaxation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A chirality-dependent peridynamic (CDPD) model is proposed, and is applicable to the simulations of fracture in graphene sheets of large size with the effect of any chirality. • A special coarse-grain (CG) technique is introduced in the spatial discretization in the CDPD simulations without changing the original micro chiral structures of graphene sheets. • This work reveals that the crack prefers to propagate along the zigzag direction in different chiral graphene sheets. • This work shows that the combined CDPD model and CG technique can be extended to the studies on various chirality-related problems. Based on the bond-based peridynamic (BPD) method, a chirality-dependent peridynamic (CDPD) model is proposed for the fracture analysis of single layer graphene sheets (SLGS). The peridynamic (PD) parameters in the CDPD model are derived by analyzing the stress-strain relations of SLGS at atomic scale, and thus the CDPD model can provide a multiscale insight into the fracture analysis of SLGS with considering the effect of chirality. In order to increase the efficiency of CDPD simulations of large atomic-scale systems, a special coarse-grain (CG) technique is employed by considering the chiral structure of SLGS in the CDPD simulations. The effect of grid type, grid orientation and grid spacing on the numerical convergence is investigated. The proposed CDPD model is validated by comparing with the available molecular dynamics (MD) results, and the comparisons demonstrate the importance of considering the atomistic structure of SLGS when PD theory is applied in the fracture analysis because the chirality dominates the propagating directions of cracks. The crack propagations in SLGS with various chiralities are studied using the CDPD model. The numerical results indicate that the fracture of SLGS is significantly dependent on the chirality. Especially, examples of large-sized SLGS (750 nm × 750 nm) with about 20 million atoms in the corresponding fully atomistic systems demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed CDPD model in the simulation of microscale structures of SLGS without loss of chiral features. To study such large systems is almost impractical for the fully atomistic simulation. This study also provides a significant insight for extending the PD model to the studies on chirality-related materials at microscale. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Design of the hybrid bivalent BV vector and biosafety assessment of hybrid BV. • Hybrid BV conferred prolonged transgene expression in vitro. • Hybrid BV conferred complement resistance and sustained hEA expression. • Hybrid BV conferred transgene expression efficacy in vivo and antitumor effects of hEA. Baculovirus (BV) is a potential gene delivery vector but only mediates transient transgene expression and easily inactivated by human complement. To this end, we intend to develop a novel bivalent BV vector for complement resistance and sustained transgene expression, and evaluate its effect in anti-angiogenesis gene therapy. The results showed that the hybrid bivalent BV significantly prolonged the expression of enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) in vitro for at least 90 days at over 109 a.u. total fluorescence intensity, and exhibited significantly higher complement resistance. The control BV-mediated eGFP expression gradually declined within 15 days and showed lower transduction efficiency. In vivo studies confirmed that the hybrid bivalent BV exhibited longer duration of eGFP expression and higher transduction efficacy than the control BVs. Based on these findings, we further constructed a hybrid BV expressing the antiangiogenic fusion protein containing human endostatin and angiostatin (hEA). The hybrid BV-expressed hEA significantly prolonged the expression level of hEA with enhanced anti-angiogenic activities compared to the control groups, as evidenced by ELISA, cell proliferation, migration and tubular formation assays. With the stable expression of hEA, the hybrid BV conferred hEA more significant inhibitory effect on hepatocellular carcinoma tumor growth and significantly extended the life span of mice. These data implicate that the SB-based BV surface display system may have broad prospects as a novel platform for gene therapy of tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To detect the large-scale spatial pattern of the benthic macroinvertebrate communities and the relationship with their environment on the East China Sea shelf, forty sites were sampled for benthic macroinvertebrates and environmental variables during August and September 2015. A total of 12529 benthic macroinvertebrate individuals and 274 species were collected, with crustaceans being predominant, followed by mollusks. Four communities were identified by hierarchical agglomerative cluster (HAC) analysis and cross-verified by non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination: an Inshore community (IC); a Transitional community (TC); a Northern offshore community (NOC); and a Southern offshore community (SOC). Significant differences in their community structure were found by permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA). The indicator species varied among the four communities, with Solenocera crassicornis , Sternaspis scutata and Virgularia sp. dominating IC, Solenocera koelbeli , Trachysalambria curvirostris and Nitidotellina valtonis dominating TC, Parapenaeus fissuroides , Onustus exutus and Drachiella morum dominating NOC, and Heikeopsis japonica , Solenocera pectinulata and Actiniaria dominating SOC. Significant differences among communities were detected for species number (S), Margalef's index (d), Pielou's index (J ′), Hill's number (N ∞), total taxonomic distinctness (SΔ +), average phylogenetic diversity (Φ +), total phylogenetic diversity (SΦ +) and abundance through statistical analyses. The redundancy analysis (RDA) model revealed that turbidity, silicate and depth were significant environmental variables influencing the benthic macroinvertebrates. Variation partitioning (VPA) showed that water characteristics had a greater impact than sediment conditions on the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates in the East China Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]