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Electroluminescent (EL) devices are of great significance for expanding the application range of optoelectronics. However, the realization of EL devices with environment-tolerance, stretchability, mechanical cycling stability, self-adhesion, biocompatibility, and high dielectric constant still remains a challenge. Herein, a type of EL device with enhanced comprehensive performances composing of a chlorinated barium titanate/phosphor/polydimethylsiloxane (Cl-BT/phosphor/PDMS) luminescent layer sandwiched between two silver nanowire-cellulose nanocrystal with II crystalline allomorph/Triton X-100 modified polydimethylsiloxane (AgNW-CNC II/TX-PDMS) electrodes fabricated through a full solution-processing strategy is proposed. Environmentally-friendly CNC II with high transmittance acts as an antioxidant, dispersant and film-former for AgNWs. The hydrophilic modification of TX to PDMS imparts the electrodes with self-adhesion, high stretchability, as well as strong interfacial bonding between TX-PDMS and AgNW-CNC II. The electrodes achieve skin-like modulus by adjusting TX content, endowing the EL devices with a high compliance (186 kPa of Young's modulus). The luminescent layer with Cl-BT exhibits a high dielectric constant (19) and luminance (up to 72 cd m−2). The assembled EL device with excellent cyclic stability (luminance retention 85% after 400 cycles), durability (luminance retention >94% after 400 min) and stretchability (88% luminance at 200% strain) can work properly at broad temperatures (−20 ~ 70 °C) and underwater. This biocompatible and self-adhesive EL device demonstrates great potential for implantable biomedical devices and wearable displays under harsh environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The neural mechanisms underlying language recovery after a stroke remain controversial. This review aimed to summarize the plasticity and reorganization mechanisms of the language network through neuroimaging studies. Initially, we discussed the involvement of right language homologues, perilesional tissue, and domain-general networks. Subsequently, we summarized the white matter functional mapping and remodeling mechanisms associated with language subskills. Finally, we explored how non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) promoted language recovery by inducing neural network plasticity. It was observed that the recruitment of right hemisphere language area homologues played a pivotal role in the early stages of frontal post-stroke aphasia (PSA), particularly in patients with larger lesions. Perilesional plasticity correlated with improved speech performance and prognosis. The domain-general networks could respond to increased "effort" in a task-dependent manner from the top-down when the downstream language network was impaired. Fluency, repetition, comprehension, naming, and reading skills exhibited overlapping and unique dual-pathway functional mapping models. In the acute phase, the structural remodeling of white matter tracts became challenging, with recovery predominantly dependent on cortical activation. Similar to the pattern of cortical activation, during the subacute and chronic phases, improvements in language functions depended, respectively, on the remodeling of right white matter tracts and the restoration of left-lateralized language structural network patterns. Moreover, the midline superior frontal gyrus/dorsal anterior cingulate cortex emerged as a promising target for NIBS. These findings offered theoretical insights for the early personalized treatment of aphasia after stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crafting photoelectrocatalytic materials with robust oxidation-reduction properties for simultaneous hydrogen evolution and pollutant degradation poses a formidable challenge. In this study, a pg-C3N4/β-FeOOH S-scheme heterostructure with a special energy band structure was developed by anchoring porous pg-C3N4 on needle shaped β-FeOOH. Functioning as a hole extraction layer, needle-leaf-like β-FeOOH can facilitate efficient hole migration and enhance charge transport. Remarkably, the optimized 0.2-pg-C3N4/β-FeOOH could degrade 78% of ofloxacin (OFLO) in 90 min. The organic pollutants could absorb a large number of holes, which prompted a greater proportion of photogenerated electrons to actively participate in the hydrogen evolution reaction at the cathode. Consequently, the hydrogen production of 0.2-pg-C3N4/β-FeOOH reached 1452.88 µmol cm−2 h−1, exhibiting a notable increase of 61.81–165.12 µmol cm−2 h−1 compared with that in the absence of pollutants. Experimental and theoretical calculation results underscore that this investigation is grounded in a distinctive electron and hole dual channel transfer mechanism. These findings offer novel insights for the future development of S-scheme heterojunction photoelectrocatalytic materials capable of concurrently degrading pollutants and promoting hydrogen evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intelligent ore sorting stands as a pivotal technology in contemporary mining and production. To establish a more efficient general framework for mineral image recognition, this paper proposes to combine the inductive biases of convolutional neural networks (i.e., locality and translation invariance) with the non-local qualities of transformer architecture (i.e., globality and long-range dependencies) and introduce the self-attention mechanism, which leads to a new series model, called OreFormer. In fine-grained coal sorting, OreFormer demonstrated preferred performance across gas coal, coking coal, and anthracite, which are higher than the purely ConvNet or vision transformer. At the same time, OreFormer variant models achieved a preferred tradeoff between classification performance and efficiency (i.e., they can simultaneously maintain higher classification accuracy), less computational complexity, and smaller model size. In addition, OreFormer had excellent discriminative and feature representation capability, which can distinguish accurately mineral particles with minor apparent differences between categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Here, we explored the phenotype and function of MAIT cells in the peripheral blood of patients with HSP. Methods: Blood samples from HSP patients and HDs were assessed by flow cytometry and single-cell RNA sequencing to analyze the proportion, phenotype, and function of MAIT cells. Th-cytokines in the serum of HSP patients were analyzed by CBA. IgA in cocultured supernatant was detected by CBA to analyze antibody production by B cells. Results: The percentage of MAIT cells in HSP patients was significantly reduced compared with that in HDs. Genes related to T cell activation and effector were up-regulated in HSP MAIT cells, indicating a more activated phenotype. In addition, HSP MAIT cells displayed a Th2-like profile with the capacity to produce more IL-4 and IL-5, and IL-4 was correlated with IgA levels in the serum of HSP patients. Furthermore, CD40L was up-regulated in HSP MAIT cells, and CD40L+ MAIT cells showed an increased ability to produce IL-4 and to enhance IgA production by B cells. Conclusion: Our data demonstrate that MAIT cells in HSP patients exhibit an activated phenotype. The enhanced IL-4 production and CD40L expression of MAIT cells in HSP patients could take part in the pathogenesis of HSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies a novel rack scheduling problem with multiple types of multiple storage locations (RS-MTMS), which can decide the retrieval sequence of racks and assign each rack a storage location after visiting a picking station. A major challenge in RS-MTMS is that the storage assignment problem and the retrieval sequence decision are closely coupled. If the RS-MTMS is solved directly, the storage assignment scheme and the retrieval sequence of racks are generally generated separately, thus resulting in poor performance. To overcome this difficulty, we propose a bi-level optimization approach for jointly optimizing the storage assignment and retrieval sequence (BiJSR). In BiJSR, the storage assignment problem is solved by variable neighborhood search (VNS) in the upper-level optimization. Effective candidate modes are incorporated into VNS to improve solution quality and computational efficiency. The sequencing optimization is obtained in the lower-level according to the given storage location set. A transformation strategy with sufficient problem-specific knowledge is developed to identify the lower-level optimization as the traveling salesman problem and its variants. Then these identified problems are solved using the loop-based strategy. Experimental results show that the proposed BiJSR is more effective and efficient than the representative algorithms in solving the RS-MTMS problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of van der Waals heterojunctions with S-scheme charge transfer pathway is expected to be an effective strategy for improvement of photocatalytic performance. Herein, two-dimensional (2D) phosphorus-doped g-C3N4/Bi5O7I van der Waals heterojunctions with reduced graphene oxide as electron bridge (PCN/RGO/Bi5O7I) were successfully synthesized via hydrothermal method. The van der Waals interaction endowed 2D PCN/RGO/Bi5O7I with intimate contact interface, lattice match, tunable band structure, and internal electric field, which efficiently promoted interfacial charge separation and enhanced redox ability of photogenerated charge carriers. As a result, the S-scheme PCN/RGO/Bi5O7I van der Waals heterojunctions exhibited superior photocatalytic performance in ciprofloxacin degradation and real pharmaceutical wastewater treatment. The optimized 12% PCN/RGO/Bi5O7I displayed the highest photocatalytic activity with 92% removal of ciprofloxacin. Importantly, the COD removal efficiency and extent of mineralization of real pharmaceutical wastewater reached 66.9% and 59.8%, respectively, and the biodegradability of pharmaceutical wastewater was significantly improved. The photocatalytic mechanism of the S-scheme PCN/RGO/Bi5O7I van der Waals heterojunctions based on the analysis of reactive species, work function, and internal electric field was presented. This study provides fresh insights into plausible design of S-scheme van der Waals heterojunction to enhance photocatalytic redox ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the model- and data-based event-triggered consensus of heterogeneous leader/follower multi-agent systems (MASs). A dynamic periodic transmission protocol is developed to alleviate the communication and computational burden, where the followers can interact locally with neighbors to approach the dynamics of the leader. Capitalizing on a discrete-time looped-functional, a model-based consensus condition for the closed-loop MASs is derived as linear matrix inequalities (LMIs), along with a design method for obtaining distributed event-triggered controllers and the associated triggering parameters. Upon collecting noise-corrupted state-input measurements in offline open-loop experiments, a data-based leader/follower MAS representation is derived and employed to address the data-driven consensus control problem without explicit MAS models. This result is subsequently generalized to guarantee an ℋ ∞ control performance. Finally, a simulation example is given to corroborate the efficiency of the proposed distributed triggering scheme and the data-driven consensus controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) couple feed-fast cycles to diurnal rhythms. However, it remains largely uncharacterized whether and how meal timing organizes diurnal rhythms beyond the transcriptome. Here, we systematically profile the daily rhythms of the proteome, four PTMs (phosphorylation, ubiquitylation, succinylation and N-glycosylation) and the lipidome in the liver from young female mice subjected to either day/sleep time-restricted feeding (DRF) or night/wake time-restricted feeding (NRF). We detect robust daily rhythms among different layers of omics with phosphorylation the most nutrient-responsive and succinylation the least. Integrative analyses reveal that clock regulation of fatty acid metabolism represents a key diurnal feature that is reset by meal timing, as indicated by the rhythmic phosphorylation of the circadian repressor PERIOD2 at Ser971 (PER2-pSer971). We confirm that PER2-pSer971 is activated by nutrient availability in vivo. Together, this dataset represents a comprehensive resource detailing the proteomic and lipidomic responses by the liver to alterations in meal timing.Post-translational modifications (PTMs) couple feed-fast cycles to circadian clocks. Here, the authors systematically profile daily rhythms of the proteome, 4 PTMs and lipidome in mouse livers under TRF, providing a comprehensive resource detailing rhythmic liver functions shaped by meal timing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned systems are increasingly adopted in various fields, becoming an indispensable technology in daily life. Power systems are the lifeblood of unmanned systems, and affect the working time and task complexity. However, traditional power systems, such as batteries and fuels have a fixed capacity. Therefore, once the power supply is exhausted and cannot be replenished in time, the unmanned systems will stop working. Hence, researchers have increasingly begun paying attention to renewable energy generation technologies. The principles, advantages, and limitations of renewable energy generation technologies are different, and their application effects in different unmanned systems are also uneven. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the application and development status of photovoltaic, thermoelectric, and magnetoelectric generation technologies in four kinds of unmanned systems, including space, aviation, ground, and water, and then summarizes the adaptability and limitations of the three technologies to different systems. Moreover, future development directions are predicted to enhance the reliability of renewable energy generation technologies in unmanned systems. This is the first study to conduct a comprehensive and detailed study of renewable energy generation technologies applied in unmanned systems. The present work is critical for the development of renewable energy generation technologies and power systems for unmanned systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidemiological studies on the effect of organophosphate esters (OPEs) on high blood pressure (BP) among children and adolescents are scant. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to explore the effect of exposure to OPEs on high BP among children and adolescents. A total of 1340 participants were included in the current analyses. Multivariable logistic regression models were implemented to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to examine the association between OPE metabolites and high BP. We also assessed the modified effect of sex, age, and overweight/obesity on this association. Furthermore, quantile g-computation (Qgcomp) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were exhibited to analyze the association between multiple OPE metabolite mixtures and high BP. After adjusting for covariates, the highest (vs. lowest) tertiles of bis (1-choloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BCPP), bis-2-chloroethyl phosphate (BCEP), and di-n-butyl phosphate (DBUP) were associated with 1.23 (95% CI: 0.83, 1.83), 1.27 (95% CI: 0.85, 1.92), and 1.01 (95% CI: 0.67, 1.53) odds ratios for high BP, respectively. In the Qgcomp, a quartile increase in OPE metabolite mixtures was weakly associated with an elevated risk of high BP (adjusted OR: 1.06, 95CI%: 0.81, 1.37). The results from BKMR showed a positive trend of association between OPE metabolite mixture on the risk of high BP. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that higher levels of BCPP, BCEP, and DBUP were weakly associated with high BP among US children and adolescents. Moderate evidence suggested OPE metabolite mixtures had positive joint effects on high BP. Consequently, longitudinal studies with repeated measurements are warranted to examine the relationships between multiple OPE metabolites and high blood pressure among children and adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on aptamer recognition and target-mediated competitive hybridization of hairpin probes, we developed a fluorescence sensor for kanamycin (KAN) detection. The aptamer and KAN binding will open hairpin H1 to release the trigger DNA fragment, which can initiate the competitive hybridization between hairpins H2 and H3. Then, exonuclease III (Exo III) can cleave H2 and H3 to produce numerous DNA3 and DNA4. Through the synergetic hybridization among DNA1, DNA2, DNA3, and DNA4, an active Mg2+-DNAzyme can be formed. The cleavage reaction toward FAM-BHQ-modified DNA2 will produce a high fluorescence signal for KAN assay. Through Exo III–guided cleavage and Mg2+-DNAzyme-based catalysis, the sensor exhibits high sensitivity, with a detection limit of 3.1 fM. This method is robust and has been applied to the detection of KAN in milk and water samples with good accuracy and reliability. Our developed fluorescence sensor exhibits the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity, and good robustness, which are beneficial for KAN detection in food samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional energy-based sound source localization methods have the problems of the large solution space and time-consuming calculation. Accordingly, this paper proposes to use the data collected by each acoustic sensor and their corresponding weights to adaptively initialize the prior area of a target. In this way, the potential existence range of the target is reduced and the location estimate can be determined in a small area. Specifically, we first determine the initial search point based on the current sound data and the set rules. Then, the prior location of the target is iteratively searched according to different sound energy circles’ weights. Next, the prior area of the target is determined around the prior location. Finally, the precise location of the target is further traversed to minimize the objective function, which is constructed by the weighted nonlinear least squares location (WNLS) algorithm. A series of indoor experiments are performed. The results show that our method can effectively improve the positioning accuracy by approximately 13% and greatly reduce the calculation time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented a set of direct numerical simulations on the thermocapillary flow instability of moderate-Prandtl number fluids in annular pools heated from inner cylinder. The emphasis is on the aspect ratio dependence of the critical Marangoni number of flow destabilization and the formation mechanism of the different flow patterns. It was found that the two-dimensional axisymmetric steady flow will bifurcate into three types of oscillatory flows, including the oscillatory concentric rings, the alternating straight spoke and the rotating wave patterns. The bifurcation process depends mainly on the aspect ratio of the annular pool when the radius ratio is fixed. With the increase of the aspect ratio, the first instability flow pattern is oscillatory concentric rings and the corresponding critical Marangoni number and the oscillatory frequency decrease first, and then increase slightly. When the flow pattern transits to the alternating straight spoke pattern at the aspect ratio of 0.415, there are an abrupt increase of the critical Marangoni number and a sudden decrease of the oscillatory frequency. Furthermore, when the rotating wave pattern appears, the critical Marangoni number decreases gradually, but the corresponding oscillatory frequency has only a slight decrease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This morphological and immunohistochemical study demonstrates that tumors currently known as "middle ear adenomas" are truly well-differentiated epithelial neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) composed of cells comparable to normal intestinal L cells, and therefore, these tumors resemble hindgut NETs. These tumors show consistent expression of glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide, PYY, and the transcription factor SATB2, as well as generic neuroendocrine markers and keratins. The same L cell markers are expressed by cells within the normal middle ear epithelium. These markers define a valuable immunohistochemical profile that can be used for differential diagnosis of middle ear neoplasms, particularly in distinguishing epithelial NETs from paragangliomas. The discovery of neuroendocrine cells expressing the same markers in non-neoplastic middle ear mucosa opens new areas of investigation into the physiology of the normal middle ear and the pathophysiology of middle ear disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To determine whether multi-parametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) can reliably predict proximity of prostate cancer to the prostatic urethra in a contemporary series of men undergoing radical prostatectomy (RP) at two academic centers. Methods: Clinical characteristics of consecutive men undergoing pre-operative mpMRI prior to RP and whole-mount axial serial step-sectioned pathology examination at two academic centers between Jun 2016 and Oct 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Every tumor was characterized by its pathologic minimum distance to the prostatic urethral lumen (pMDUL). Only the cancer closest to the urethra represented the prostatic urethral index lesion. The radiologic minimum distance of the index lesion to the prostatic urethral lumen was measured and noted as ≤ 5 mm versus > 5 mm. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predicting values (PPV and NPV) and area under the receivers operating characteristics curve (AUC) were calculated for performance of mpMRI for predicting pMDUL ≤ 5 mm. Results: Of the 163 surgical specimens examined, 112 (69%) exhibited a pMDUL ≤ 5 mm. These men had significantly higher grade group (GG) and advanced pathological and clinical stage. The rates of high PI-RADS score and presence of gross extracapsular extension were also significantly greater for the group with pMDUL ≤ 5 mm. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 0.641, 51.8, 76.5, 82.9, and 42.4%, respectively, for mpMRI to predict pMDUL < 5 mm. Conclusions: Nearly 70% of men undergoing RP present with tumor within 5 mm of the prostatic urethra. These tumors present higher risk characteristics, and mpMRI exhibited moderate performance and high PPV in their pre-operative detection. Physicians performing partial gland ablation should take these results into consideration during treatment selection and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as a kind of pluripotent adult stem cell have shown great therapeutic potential in relation to many diseases in anti-inflammation and regeneration. The results of preclinical experiments and clinical trials have demonstrated that MSC-derived secretome possesses immunoregulatory and reparative abilities and that this secretome is capable of modulating innate and adaptive immunity and reprograming the metabolism of recipient cells via paracrine mechanisms. It has been recognized that MSC-derived secretome, including soluble proteins (cytokines, chemokines, growth factors, proteases), extracellular vesicles (EVs) and organelles, plays a key role in tissue repair and regeneration in bronchopulmonary dysplasia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), pulmonary arterial hypertension, and silicosis. This review summarizes the known functions of MSC-EV modulation in lung diseases, coupled with the future challenges of MSC-EVs as a new pharmaceutical agent. The identification of underlying mechanisms for MSC-EV might provide a new direction for MSC-centered treatment in lung diseases. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of a series of co-catalysts: iron(III)chloride, zinc chloride, sodium borate, acetic acid, oxalic acid, 10% Pd-C, sodium carbonate, and Raney-Ni as well as H2 at 200 psi reductive conditions were studied on the iron(0)-catalyzed hydrothermal liquefaction of switchgrass at 210 °C. The addition 10% (w/w) iron(III)chloride as a co-catalyst in 60% aq. ethanol, without a hydrogen atmosphere enhanced the liquefaction yield from 55.7 ± 1.5 to 67.6 ± 2.5%. The use of Pd/C (5% w/w) and Raney-Ni (5% w/w) as co-catalysts could also enhance the liquefaction yields to 67.0 ± 3.0 and 72.3 ± 1.8% respectively, in reactions carried out under hydrogen atmosphere at 200 psi, in H2O, 210 °C, 24 h. GC-MS analysis of the liquefaction products revealed that C5-C10 range partially oxygenated products are formed and the composition of the liquefaction product depends on the co-catalyst used. The thermogravimetric and FT-IR analysis of liquefaction residues indicated that polysaccharide fraction is mainly liquefied in these iron(0)-catalyzed liquefactions of switchgrass at 210 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Acute ischemic stroke is a devastating disease with very limited therapeutics. Growing appreciation of dysregulated autophagy contributes to the progression of brain ischemic injury, making it to be an appealing intervention target. In terms of its well-characterized consequences, the signal molecules required for autophagy activation are rather poorly defined. Here, we found the induction of chloride channel-3 (ClC-3) directly activated autophagy, which played an important role in limiting cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Further mechanism exploration discovered that the up-regulation of ClC-3 was critical for the interaction of Beclin1 and Vps34. After ClC-3 knockdown using adeno-associated virus vectors in vivo, the autophagy activation was partially inhibited through disrupting the formation of Beclin1 and Vps34 complex. Consistent with these observations, ClC-3 knockdown could also significantly aggravated cerebral I/R injury through suppressing autophagy in vivo, which further confirmed the neuroprotective roles of ClC-3. Collectively, we provided an novel evidence for ClC-3 serving as a crucial regulator of autophagy; and our results indicated that the induction of ClC-3 may serve as a self-protective mechanism against cerebral I/R injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a series of numerical simulations on the effect of heat dissipation on the thermocapillary convection of a low Prandtl number (Pr = 0.011) fluid in an annular pool heated from its inner cylinder. The radius ratio and the aspect ratio of the annular pool set as η = 0.5 and ε = 0.1, respectively. The results show that with the increase of Biot number, the isotherms of the two-dimensional basic flow are seriously compressed near the hot inner cylinder and the thermocapillary flow pattern will be impaired. With the increase of Marangoni number, the thermocapillary convection first evolves from the basic flow to a three-dimensional stationary flow with longitudinal stationary stripes on the free surface, and then to a three-dimensional oscillatory flow featured with the combination of stationary stripes and azimuthal waves, which is caused by the mutual effect of the radial convection, azimuthal local flow and heat dissipation. After the flow destabilization, the amplitude of temperature fluctuation increases and the wave number decreases with the increase of Marangoni number when the free surface is adiabatic. Furthermore, the temperature fluctuation pattern is changed due to the surface heat dissipation. In addition, with the increase of Biot number, the wave number almost keeps constant when Marangoni number is small, but it increases significantly at a large Marangoni number. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese prickly ash is an ecologically and economically important tree species. In southwestern China, its yield is low due to severe fruit and flower drop related to the relatively low nutrient status of shoots and/or flowers caused by a lack of nutrient supply. Therefore, studies on flower bud differentiation are of great importance to improve the yield of Chinese prickly ash. An orthogonal experimental design was used to study the effects of N (urea, 97.8, 195.7 and 391.3 g/individual), P (superphosphate, 150, 300 and 600 g/individual) and K (potassium sulphate, 83.3, 166.7 and 333.3 g/individual) treatments on flower bud differentiation in 3-year-old Zanthoxylum armatum 'Hanyuan Putao Qingjiao' trees. The results showed that N, P and K fertilizer application significantly increased the flower bud differentiation rate, branch diameter and number, the soluble sugar content, the soluble protein content, the C/N ratio, the ABA content and the ABA/IAA ratio but decreased the GA content and IAA content in Chinese prickly ash. The flower bud differentiation rate was positively related to the soluble sugar content, soluble protein content, C/N ratio and ABA/IAA ratio (p < 0.05) but negatively related to GA and IAA (p < 0.05). A higher P content increased the accumulation of nutrients and ABA in the buds, thereby promoting the flower bud differentiation in Z. armatum 'Hanyuan Putao Qingjiao'. From these results, the flower bud differentiation in Z. armatum 'Hanyuan Putao Qingjiao' requires appropriate N, P and K fertilizer ratios and amounts. Treatment 12 (N2P3K1) significantly improved the absorption of nutrients in the buds and promoted the differentiation of flower buds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the parameter identification for a class of nonlinear stochastic systems with colored noise. An input-output representation is derived by eliminating the state variables in the bilinear system. Based on the obtained identification model, a recursive generalized extend least squares algorithm is proposed by using the auxiliary model identification idea. Moreover, a two-stage recursive generalized extended least squares algorithm is presented to reduce the computational burden by using the hierarchical identification principle and the auxiliary model identification idea, respectively. A stochastic gradient identification algorithm is proposed for comparison. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithms have a good performance in estimating the parameters of the bilinear systems with colored noises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Permanent vascular access (PVA) is preferred for long-term hemodialysis. Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) have the best patency and the lowest complication rates compared to arteriovenous grafts (AVG) and tunneled cuffed catheters (TCC). However, AVF need time to mature. This study aimed to investigate predictors of time to first cannulation for AVF in pediatric hemodialysis patients. Methods: Data on first AVF and AVG of patients at 20 pediatric dialysis centers were collected retrospectively, including demographics, clinical information, dialysis markers, and surgical data. Statistical modeling was used to investigate predictors of outcome. Results: First PVA was created in 117 children: 103 (88%) AVF and 14 (12%) AVG. Mean age at AVF creation was 15.0 ± 3.3 years. AVF successfully matured in 89 children (86.4%), and mean time to first cannulation was 3.6 ± 2.5 months. In a multivariable regression model, study center, age, duration of non-permanent vascular access (NPVA), and Kt/V at AVF creation predicted time to first cannulation, with study center as the strongest predictor (p < 0.01). Time to first cannulation decreased with increasing age (p = 0.03) and with increasing Kt/V (p = 0.01), and increased with duration of NPVA (p = 0.03). Secondary failure occurred in 10 AVF (11.8%). Time to first cannulation did not predict secondary failure (p = 0.29), but longer time to first cannulation tended towards longer secondary patency (p = 0.06). Conclusions: Study center is the strongest predictor of time to first cannulation for AVF and deserves further investigation. Time to first cannulation is significantly shorter in older children, with more efficient dialysis treatments, and increases with longer NPVA duration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the schemes of nonlinear offset-free model predictive control (MPC) for reference tracking of ship dynamic positioning (DP) systems, in the presence of slow-varying stochastic disturbances and input constraints. Two offset-free MPC strategies for nonlinear DP systems are proposed. The first approach, namely, the target calculation formulation, estimates the disturbance based on the augmented disturbance model, and employs a target calculator to address the MPC optimization problem. The second approach, namely, the delta input formulation, works with the augmented velocity model to lump the effects of disturbances into the input estimates. By successively on-line linearizing the state-space model at the current operating point, the future outputs are explicitly predicted, and then the nonlinear optimization problem becomes an easy quadratic optimization problem. The unscented Kalman filter is adopted for the state estimation. By implementing simulations for two scenarios of disturbances with parametric plant-model mismatch, the effectiveness of the two strategies is demonstrated. Results show that the closed-loop control performance of the delta input formulation method is superior, for its good robustness to the stochastic disturbance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented a linear-stability analysis on thermocapillary-buoyancy convection in radially heated annular pool filled in 5cSt silicone oil / HT-70 two-layer fluids. The influences of the aspect ratio, radius ratio and thickness ratio on the flow stability were discussed. Results indicate that the system is most unstable when the thickness ratio is close to 0.375. Flow bifurcation appears when the thickness ratio varies from 0.625 to 0.875. Three corresponding destabilization mechanisms were revealed. Effect of buoyancy convection and the upper boundary condition on the flow stability were also analyzed. The upper rigid wall can enhance the flow stability in the annular two-layer system, especially when the thickness ratio is near 0.75. Furthermore, the buoyancy can greatly reduce the flow stability comparing with that under the microgravity condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel adaptive unscented Kalman filter (AUKF) is presented and applied to ship dynamic positioning (DP) system with model uncertainties of time-varying noise statistics, model mismatch and slow varying drift forces. The adaptive algorithm is proposed to simultaneously online adapt the process and measurement noise covariance by adopting the main principle of covariance matching. The measurement noise covariance is adapted based on residual covariance matching method, and then the process noise covariance is adjusted by using adaptive scaling factor. Simulation comparisons among the proposed RQAUKF, the strong tracking UKF (RSTAUKF) and the standard UKF show that the proposed RQAUKF can effectively improve the estimation accuracy and stability, and can assist the controller to obtain better control performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hemodialysis (HD) guidelines recommend permanent vascular access (PVA) in children unlikely to receive kidney transplant within 1 year of starting HD. We aimed to determine predictors of primary and secondary patency of PVA in pediatric HD patients.Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were performed for first PVAs in 20 participating centers. Variables collected included patient demographics, complications, interventions, and final outcome.Results: There were 103 arterio-venous fistulae (AVF) and 14 AV grafts (AVG). AVF demonstrated superior primary (p = 0.0391) and secondary patency (p = 0.0227) compared to AVG. Primary failure occurred in 16 PVA (13.6%) and secondary failure in 14 PVA (12.2%). AVF were more likely to have primary failure (odds ratio (OR) = 2.10) and AVG had more secondary failure (OR = 3.33). No demographic, clinical, or laboratory variable predicted primary failure of PVA. Anatomical location of PVA was predictive of secondary failure, with radial having the lowest risk compared to brachial (OR = 12.425) or femoral PVA (OR = 118.618). Intervention-free survival was predictive of secondary patency for all PVA (p = 0.0252) and directly correlated with overall survival of AVF (p = 0.0197) but not AVG. Study center demonstrated statistically significant effect only on intervention-free AVF survival (p = 0.0082), but not number of complications or interventions, or outcomes.Conclusions: In this multi-center pediatric HD cohort, AVF demonstrated primary and secondary patency advantages over AVG. Radial PVA was least likely to develop secondary failure. Intervention-free survival was the only predictor of secondary patency for AVF and directly correlated with overall access survival. The study center effect on intervention-free survival of AVF deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The linear-stability analyses of thermocapillary flow in an annular two-layer system subjected to a radial temperature gradient were conducted. The annular pool with upper free surface and adiabatic bottom is filled with immiscible double layer liquid of 5cSt silicone oil / HT-70. The outer wall of the annular pool is heated and inner wall is cooled. The results indicate that the critical Marangoni number decreases with the increase of aspect ratio and radius ratio. The effect of the ratio of the lower liquid thickness to the total double layer thickness on the convection onset is complicated. The minimum critical Marangoni number is located near the thickness ratio of 0.125. Moreover, there is one Hopf bifurcation from the steady to oscillatory flow when the thickness ratio varies from 0.625 to 0.75. At the same time, two types of flow destabilizing mechanism are identified. Comparing with the results with upper rigid wall, it can be found that the stability of thermocapillary convection in annular two-layer system with the free surface reduces largely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a highly active photocatalyst, g-C3N4/TiO2 heterojunction nanocomposites were in situ synthesized by simple ultrasonic mixing and calcination by using TiO2 and melamine as precursors. The morphology and structure of the prepared photocatalysts were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activities of g-C3N4/TiO2 nanocomposites to degrade Orange II (AO7) under visible light irradiation were evaluated. Results showed that the photocatalytic rate of the prepared g-C3N4/TiO2 photocatalyst to degrade AO7 was about three times than that of pristine TiO2 and g-C3N4. The g-C3N4/TiO2 composite with a ratio of 1:4 had the highest degradation efficiency for AO7 solution. Its degradation efficiency under acidic conditions was significantly higher than that under alkaline conditions. The enhancement of photocatalytic activity can be attributed to the formation of heterojunctions between g-C3N4 and TiO2, which leads to rapid charge transfer and the efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. The recycling experiment indicated that the photocatalyst of g-C3N4/TiO2 nanocomposites still maintained good photochemical stability and recyclability after five cycles; this finding was important for its practical applications. A series of free radical trapping experiments showed that •O2− played a crucial role in the degradation of AO7.ᅟ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of tuina therapy for primary insomnia.Methods: Nine Chinese and English databases were searched from the inception to May 2017 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) studying tuina therapy for insomnia. The enrolled articles were all RCTs with tuina as the monotherapy or major therapy in the experiment group, with clear diagnostic criteria for primary insomnia well recognized worldwide or in China, and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) as one of the outcome measures. Two researchers evaluated the risk of bias and quality of the enrolled studies by following Cochrane Handbook version 5.1.0. The meta-analysis was performed by RevMan version 5.3.Results: Eleven studies were included with a total of 1 076 participants. The Western medication adopted in the control groups were benzodiazepine receptor agonists. The studies were all assessed as high risk of bias for blinding since blinding method was unable to be performed due to the specificity of tuina therapy; no study reported the support of fund or potential interest conflict, so they were all rated unclear for selective reporting. The meta-analysis showed that compared with other traditional Chinese medicine therapies, tuina worked more effectively in reducing the PSQI score (MD=-4.11<0, 95% confidence interval (CI)-6.01 to-2.22, P<0.0001); compared with oral administration of Western medication, tuina showed more significant efficacy in reducing the PSQI score (MD=-3.42<0, 95%CI-5.19 to-1.66, P<0.0001). Subgroup analysis showed that head tuina alone showed no significant difference compared with oral administration of Western medication regarding the change of PSQI score (MD=-4.19<0, 95%CI-8.87 to 0.50, P>0.05); a combination of head and back tuina could more effectively reduce the PSQI score compared with oral administration of Western medication (MD=-2.08<0, 95%CI-3.09 to-1.06, P<0.0001).Conclusion: Tuina can produce more significant efficacy in treating primary insomnia compared with other traditional Chinese medicine therapies and oral administration of Western medication, especially the combination of head and back tuina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Powdered activated carbon-treated lignocellulosic syrup prepared from energy cane bagasse was evaluated as a potential feedstock in the production of fumaric acid by Rhizopus oryzae ATCC® 20344™. Energy cane bagasse was pretreated with dilute ammonia and enzymatically hydrolyzed with commercially available enzymes, Cellic® CTec2 and HTec2. The collected hydrolysate samples were subjected to powdered activated carbon adsorption for the removal of non-sugar compounds (i.e., organic acids, furaldehydes, total phenolic compounds) and concentrated to a final 65°Bx syrup (mostly xylose and glucose sugars). The use of lignocellulosic syrup, the effect of nitrogen source, medium additives, and initial pH in the seed culture medium on fungal morphology were investigated. The carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio in the acid production medium was also optimized for maximum yields in fumaric acid production. Optimum seed culture medium conditions (2.0 g/L urea, 3.0 pH) produced the desired compact, smooth, and uniform fungal pellets. Optimum acid production medium conditions (400 C/N ratio, 0.2 g/L urea) resulted in a fumaric acid production of 34.20 g/L, with a yield of 0.43 g/g and a productivity of 0.24 g/L/h. These results were comparable to those observed with the control medium (pure glucose and xylose). The present study demonstrated that lignocellulosic syrup processed from dilute ammonia pretreated energy cane bagasse has potential as a renewable carbon source for fumaric acid fermentation by Rhizopus oryzae ATCC® 20344™. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring the operational state of sensors promptly and the accurate diagnosis of faults are essential. This paper proposes an improved fault diagnosis scheme for sensors, which includes both fault detection and fault identification. Firstly, trend analysis combined with least squares support vector machine (TA-LSSVM) method is proposed and implemented to detect faults. Secondly, an improved error correcting output coding-support vector machine (ECOC-SVM) based fault identification method is proposed to distinguish different sensor failure modes. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, experiments are conducted with an MTi-series sensor, and some comparisons are made with other fault identification methods. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed fault diagnosis scheme offers an essential improvement with detection real-time property and better identification accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modified adaptive observer based backstepping control system for dynamic positioning of ship is proposed. As an improvement, the adaptive observer takes the first-order wave frequency model and the bias term which represent the slowly varying environmental disturbances and the unmodeled dynamics. Thus, the wave-frequency motions are filtered out, and only the reconstructed low-frequency motions are sent as inputs of the controller. Furthermore, as the ship dynamics parameters are unknown, the adaptive estimation law is designed for both the unknown ship dynamics and the unmeasured state variables. Based on the estimated states and parameters, backstepping controller considering the integral action is designed. Global exponential stability (GES) for the total system is proved using Lyapunov direct method. Simulation results show a good performance of the observer and control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AE (alopecia and excoriation) is a mouse mutant phenotype that harbours a mutation in Gsdma3. Gsdma3 has been reported to regulate the development of skin and hair follicles. However, its role in the mammary glands has not been reported. In this study, we found that descendants bred from an AE mother died within 12 days after birth. Then, we found that the expression of Gsdma3 varied among the developmental stages of mammary glands. Subsequently, we systematically studied the phenotype of the mammary glands of AE and wild-type mice, revealing that the mammary glands were smaller in AE mice. The mammary glands of AE mice exhibited shorter ductal extension and less bifurcation. Immunohistochemistry staining indicated that the mammary glands of AE mice displayed more proliferating cells during puberty while secreting less β-casein during pregnancy and lactation. The lymph nodes in the mammary glands of the AE mice were larger and showed some pigmentation, suggesting that the immune reaction in the mammary glands was up-regulated. Under a transmission electron microscope, residual bodies were observed in the lymph nodes in the mammary glands of AE mice. Thus, we report a new function of Gsdma3 in regulating the development of mammary glands, and we demonstrate that the Gsdma3 gene may act as a suppressor of the immune reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chronic inflammation is associated with increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes. The role of pro-inflammatory diet in the risk of cancer mortality and CVD mortality in prediabetics is unclear. We examined the relationship between diet-associated inflammation, as measured by dietary inflammatory index (DII) score, and mortality, with special focus on prediabetics. Methods: This prospective cohort study used data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). We categorized 13,280 eligible participants, ages 20-90 years, according to glycosylated hemoglobin (HgbA1c) level and identified 2681 with prediabetes, defined as a glycosylated hemoglobin percentage of 5.7-6.4. Computation of DII scores and all statistical analyses were conducted in 2015. The DII was computed based on baseline dietary intake assessed using 24-h dietary recalls (1988-1994). Mortality was determined from the National Death Index records through 2006. Over follow-up ranging between 135 and 168 person-months, a total of 3016 deaths were identified, including 676 cancer, 192 lung cancer, 176 digestive-tract cancer, and 1328 CVD deaths. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to estimate hazard ratios. Results: The prevalence of prediabetes was 20.19 %. After controlling for age, sex, race, HgbA1c, current smoking, physical activity, BMI, and systolic blood pressure, DII scores in tertile III (vs tertile I) was significantly associated with mortality from all causes (HR 1.39, 95 % CI 1.13, 1.72), CVD (HR 1.44, 95 % CI 1.02, 2.04), all cancers (HR 2.02, 95 % CI 1.27, 3.21), and digestive-tract cancer (HR 2.89, 95 % CI 1.08, 7.71). Findings for lung cancer (HR 2.01, 95 % CI 0.93, 4.34) suggested a likely effect. These results were moderately enhanced after additional adjustment for serum low-density lipoprotein and triglyceride and following eliminating deaths during the first year. Conclusions: A pro-inflammatory diet, as indicated by higher DII scores, is associated with an increased risk of all-cause, CVD, all-cancer, and digestive-tract cancer mortality among prediabetic subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: High-fat and high-carbohydrate diets cause a number of metabolic disorders in mammals. However, little is known about metabolomic changes caused by dietary imbalances in fish. Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the impacts of high-fat diet (HFD), high-carbohydrate diet (HCD) and high-fat-high-carbohydrate diet (HFHCD) on metabolites in a farmed cyprinid fish Megalobrama amblycephala. Methods: We have employed the H NMR-based metabolomic approach to measure the concentrations of metabolites in plasma and liver of four different diet groups: HFD, HCD, HFHCD and control. Multivariate statistical analyses were used to determine significantly changed metabolites between all group-pairs. Results: All three test diets have affected metabolic profiles, phenotypes and clinical chemistry. High-fat diets (HFD, HFHCD) resulted in a higher average weight than HCD, but high-carbohydrate diets (HCD, HFHCD) caused signs of liver damage. HCD has resulted in elevated metabolites in energy pathways, leading to further disturbances in creatine pathway. Excess of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism products in the HFHCD group appears to have caused 'congestion' of the TCA cycle, causing a significant decline in the numbers of amino acids entering the cycle, which in turn resulted in elevated levels of seven amino acids in this group. Gut microbiota metabolites (TMA) exhibited a strong positive correlation with the carbohydrate content and a negative correlation with the fat content in diets. Conclusion: These results provide an important insight into the diet-affected metabolic disorders that often lead to financial losses in the aquaculture of Megalobrama amblycephala. Graphical Abstract: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visible-light-driven In-rich AgInS nanoplates and nanotubes were successfully prepared by a convenient co-precipitation strategy at low temperature. The effect of different In/Ag molar ratio in the raw materials on the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic activity of AgInS was investigated. The In/Ag molar ratio has an obvious effect on the morphology of AgInS, and the physicochemical properties and photocatalytic activity of AgInS are also dependent on the In/Ag molar ratio. When the molar ratio of In/Ag is 9, the photoluminescence intensity of AgInS reaches a minimum value, while its photocurrent density is maximum (0.011 mA/cm), indicating the most efficient separation of electron-hole pairs. The AgInS with the In/Ag molar ratio of 9 exhibits the highest visible-light photocatalytic activities with almost complete degradation of 2-nitrophenol, which is attributed to the narrowest band gap and the most efficient separation of electron-hole pairs. Moreover, In-rich AgInS exhibits excellent regeneration ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spline spaces over rectangular T-meshes have been discussed in many papers. In this paper, we consider spline spaces over non-rectangular T-meshes. The dimension formulae of spline spaces over special simply connected T-meshes have been obtained. For T-meshes with holes, we discover a new type of dimension instability. We construct a relationship between the dimension of the spline space over a T-mesh $\mathcal {T}$ with holes and the dimension of the spline space over a simply connected T-mesh associated with $\mathcal {T}$ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]