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Land use and land cover change (LUCC) process exhibits spatial correlation and temporal dependency. Accurate extraction of spatiotemporal features is important in enhancing the modeling capabilities of LUCC. Cellular automaton (CA) models, recognized as powerful tools for simulating dynamic LUCC processes, are traditionally applied in LUCC, focusing on time-slice driving factor data, often neglecting the temporal dimension. However, the transformer architecture, a highly acclaimed model in machine learning, has been rarely integrated into CA models for the simulation of dynamic LUCC processes. To fill this gap, we proposed a novel spatiotemporal urban LUCC simulation model, namely, transformer-convolutional neural network (TC)-CA. Based on CA models that involve the utilization of a convolutional neural network (CNN) for extracting latent spatial features, TC-CA extends this paradigm by incorporating a transformer architecture to extract spatiotemporal information from temporal driving factor data and temporal spatial features. The evaluation results with Wuxi city as a study area indicated the advantage of our proposed TC-CA against random forest-CA, conventional CNN-CA, artificial neural network-CA, and transformer-CA. Compared with the three non-transformer-based CAs, the TC-CA improved the figure of merit by up to 2.85%–8.14%. This study contributes a fresh spatiotemporal perspective and transformer approach to the field of LUCC modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The value of preoperative multidisciplinary approach remains inadequately delineated in forecasting postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Herein, we aimed to ascertain the efficacy of multi-modality cardiac imaging in predicting post-CABG cardiovascular outcomes. Methods: Patients with triple coronary artery disease underwent cardiac sodium [18F]fluoride ([18F]NaF) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), coronary angiography, and CT-based coronary artery calcium scoring before CABG. The maximum coronary [18F]NaF activity (target-to-blood ratio [TBR]max) and the global coronary [18F]NaF activity (TBRglobal) was determined. The primary endpoint was perioperative myocardial infarction (PMI) within 7-day post-CABG. Secondary endpoint included major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) and recurrent angina. Results: This prospective observational study examined 101 patients for a median of 40 months (interquartile range: 19–47 months). Both TBRmax (odds ratio [OR] = 1.445; p = 0.011) and TBRglobal (OR = 1.797; P = 0.018) were significant predictors of PMI. TBRmax>3.0 (area under the curve [AUC], 0.65; sensitivity, 75.0%; specificity, 56.8%; p = 0.036) increased PMI risk by 3.661-fold, independent of external confounders. Kaplan–Meier test revealed a decrease in MACCE survival rate concomitant with an escalating TBRmax. TBRmax>3.6 (AUC, 0.70; sensitivity, 76.9%; specificity, 73.9%; p = 0.017) increased MACCEs risk by 5.520-fold. Both TBRmax (hazard ratio [HR], 1.298; p = 0.004) and TBRglobal (HR = 1.335; p = 0.011) were significantly correlated with recurrent angina. No significant associations were found between CAC and SYNTAX scores and between PMI occurrence and long-term MACCEs. Conclusion: Quantification of coronary microcalcification activity via [18F]NaF PET displayed a strong ability to predict early and long-term post-CABG cardiovascular outcomes, thereby outperforming conventional metrics of coronary macrocalcification burden and stenosis severity. Trial registration: : The trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Committee (number: ChiCTR1900022527; URL: www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=37933). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlling non-point source (NPS) pollution is crucial for implementing water environment management, and simulating the water quality response to NPS pollution emission control schemes is of great importance. Variational mode decomposition (VMD) can overcome endpoint effects and modal aliasing issues, effectively separating intrinsic mode components. Bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) can fully mine the information contained in time series and has good predictive performance. MIKE21, when coupled with the Ecolab module, can well simulate the diffusion process of NPS pollution. The Weihe River water environment prediction model was constructed using VMD-BiLSTM and MIKE21, with ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), total phosphorus (TP), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as pollution indicators, showing the water quality response of the Weihe River within a few years after the implementation of agricultural and urban NPS pollution emission control schemes. Among them, the COD concentration decreased by up to 71.3%, the NH3-N concentration decreased by up to 31.4%, and the TP concentration decreased by up to 43.1%. In the process of streamflow prediction, VMD-BiSLTM shows satisfactory performance with NSE of 0.89 and R2 of 0.92, which will significantly improve the accuracy of modeling the future water environment. The results also show that the water quality of the Weihe River can be significantly improved by controlling NPS pollution emission, and reducing agricultural NPS pollution emission is key to decreasing ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations and improving water quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multifunctional adsorbents are significant for the treatment of water-soluble dyes in contaminated aquatic systems and oily dyes in colored organic effluents. However, the existing adsorbent for both water-soluble and oil-soluble dyes is rare and the cleanup effect is not ideal. In this study, alginic acid carbon aerogel (AACA) as an effective wide-spectrum adsorbent was prepared through wet-spinning, ion-exchanging, drying, and high-temperature carbonization. AACA obtained a specific surface area of 1046.0 m2 g−1 and a mean pore size of 2.82 nm. The adsorption capacities of AACA for methylene blue (cationic dye), methyl orange (anion dye), and oil red O (oil-soluble dye) were 493.5, 389.5, and 244.2 mg g−1, respectively, which were improved in comparison with those of previously reported calcium alginate and ferric alginate carbon aerogels. The adsorption kinetics of AACA for the three dyes were fit for the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the adsorption isotherms could be explained by the Langmuir model. ACCA revealed good adsorption performance for other eleven different sorts of dyes and binary dye systems. The adsorption mechanism was mainly confirmed to be π–π interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the effect of a combination of Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) with modularization teaching in the context of clinical instruction in trauma care. A total of 244 nursing students who participated in clinical practice in orthopaedic wards from March 2020 to April 2022 were divided into two groups that received the same trauma care teaching content. The control group (n = 119) used the traditional teaching approach, and the experimental group (n = 125) utilized a combination of TeamSTEPPS with a modularization teaching model. A questionnaire was used to assess students' theoretical knowledge, practical skills, self-concepts and professional benefits after one month with the goal of determining their end-of-course performance. The theoretical knowledge scores obtained by the control group and the experimental group were 89.56 ± 4.06 and 91.62 ± 2.84, respectively, and these results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Students preferred the combination of TeamSTEPPS with the modularization teaching model to the traditional instructional method in terms of practical skills, professional self-concepts and professional benefits (P < 0.05). The application of the combination of TeamSTEPPS with modularization teaching in the context of clinical instruction in trauma care made significant contributions to nursing students' mastery of theoretical knowledge and practical skills, enhanced their sense level of professional identity, instilled a correct occupational ideology in such students, and enhanced the professional benefits they were able to obtain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of water quality contributes to the intelligent management of water resources. Water quality indices have time series characteristics and nonlinearity, but the existing models only focus on the forward time series when long short-term memory (LSTM) is introduced and do not consider the parallel computation on the model. Owing to this, a new neural network called LSTM-multihead attention (LMA) was constructed to predict water quality, using long short-term memory to process time series data and multihead attention for parallel computing and extracting feature information. Additionally, water quality indices have the issues of multiple data types and complex data correlations, as well as missing data and abnormal data problems in water quality data. In order to solve these problems, this study proposes a water quality prediction model called GRA-LMA-based linear interpolation, gray relational analysis and LMA. Two experiments are carried out to verify the predictive performance of the GRA-LMA with the water quality data of the Huaihe River Basin as a case study sample. The first experiment focuses on data processing, including the processing of missing data and abnormal data of water quality data, and the correlation analysis of water quality indices. Linear interpolation is adapted to process the missing data, while a combination of boxplot and histogram is adopted to analyze and eliminate the abnormal data, which is then repaired the abnormal data with linear interpolation. The gray relational analysis is adopted to calculate the correlation between different water quality indices, and water quality indices with high correlation are retained to determine the input variables of the water quality prediction model. The data processing results demonstrate that repairs can be made using linear interpolation without altering the pattern of data change and the model by using the gray relational analysis to reduce the quantity of data it needs as input. In the second experiment, the predictive capacity of GRA-LMA and existing models such as backpropagation neural network (BP), recurrent neural network (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and gate recurrent unit (GRU) was evaluated and compared using different numerical and graphical performance evaluation metrics. Comparative experimental results show that the mean square error of pH, dissolved oxygen, chemical oxygen demand, ammonia nitrogen, electrical conductivity, turbidity, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen of GRA-LMA is reduced to 0.05890, 0.40196, 0.32454, 0.04368, 14.71003, 8.13252, 0.01558, and 0.14345. The results indicate that GRA-LMA has superior adaptability for predicting various water quality indices and can significantly lower the induced prediction error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prostate cancer is the second most frequent cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) as a target has gained increasing attention. This research aims to investigate and understand how altering size of PEG impacts the in vitro and in vivo behavior and performance of PSMA inhibitors, with a specific focus on their pharmacokinetic characteristics and targeting properties. Results: Two 68Ga-labeled PSMA-targeted radiotracers were developed, namely [68Ga]Ga-PP4-WD and [68Ga]Ga-PP8-WD, with varying sizes of polyethylene glycol (PEG). [68Ga]Ga-PP4-WD and [68Ga]Ga-PP8-WD had excellent affinity for PSMA with IC50 being 8.06 ± 0.91, 6.13 ± 0.79 nM, respectively. Both tracers enabled clear visualization of LNCaP tumors in PET images with excellent tumor-to-background contrast. They also revealed highly efficient uptake and internalization into LNCaP cells, increasing over time. The biodistribution studies demonstrated that both radioligands exhibited significant and specific uptake into LNCaP tumors. Furthermore, they were rapidly cleared through the renal pathway, as evidenced by [68Ga]Ga-PP4-WD and [68Ga]Ga-PP8-WD showing a tenfold and a fivefold less in renal uptake, respectively, compared to [68Ga]Ga-Flu-1 in 30 min. Both in vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that PEG size significantly impacted tumor-targeting and pharmacokinetic properties. Conclusions: These radiotracers have demonstrated their effectiveness in significantly reducing kidney uptake while maintaining the absorbed dose in tumors. Both radiotracers exhibited strong binding and internalization characteristics in vitro, displayed high specificity and affinity for PSMA in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The session-based recommendation system aims to predict the user's next click based on their previous session sequence. The current studies generally learn user preferences according to the transitions of items in the user's session sequence. However, other effective information in the session sequence, such as user profiles, is largely ignored which may lead to the model unable to learn the user's specific preferences. In this paper, we propose SR-HetGNN, a novel session recommendation method that uses a heterogeneous graph neural network (HetGNN) to learn session embeddings and capture the specific preferences of anonymous users. Specifically, SR-HetGNN first constructs heterogeneous graphs containing various types of nodes according to the session sequence, which can capture the dependencies among items, users, and sessions. Second, HetGNN captures the complex transitions between items and learns the item embeddings containing user information. Finally, local and global session embeddings are combined with the attentional network to obtain the final session embedding, considering the influence of users' long and short-term preferences. SR-HetGNN is shown to be superior to the existing state-of-the-art session-based recommendation methods through extensive experiments over two real large datasets Diginetica and Tmall. The code and datasets can be found in our GitHub repository https://github.com/LeeHY1996/SR-HetGNN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) microprinting is considered a next-generation manufacturing process for the production of microscale components; however, the narrow range of suitable materials, which include mainly polymers, is a critical issue that limits the application of this process to functional inorganic materials. Herein, we develop a generalised microscale 3D printing method for the production of purely inorganic nanocrystal-based porous materials. Our process is designed to solidify all-inorganic nanocrystals via immediate dispersibility control and surface linking-induced interconnection in the nonsolvent linker bath and thereby creates multibranched gel networks. The process works with various inorganic materials, including metals, semiconductors, magnets, oxides, and multi-materials, not requiring organic binders or stereolithographic equipment. Filaments with a diameter of sub-10 μm are printed into designed complex 3D microarchitectures, which exhibit full nanocrystal functionality and high specific surface areas as well as hierarchical porous structures. This approach provides the platform technology for designing functional inorganics-based porous materials. 3D microprinting is considered a next generation manufacturing process for microscale components. Here, authors develop a generalised microscale 3D printing method to produce purely inorganic nanocrystal-linked porous materials that exhibit excellent functionality and hierarchical porosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We used proteomic sequencing and experimental verification to identify the potential ferroptosis-related proteins in ameloblastoma. Methods: Samples of ameloblastoma (n = 14) and normal gingival tissues (n = 5) were collected for proteomic sequencing to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in ameloblastoma. Ferroptosis-related genes were downloaded from FerrDb V2, which were then compared with DEPs to obtain ferroptosis-related DEPs (FR-DEPs). A functional enrichment analysis was performed, and a protein–protein interaction network was built. The hub proteins were screened using the Cytoscape software, and potential drugs targeting them were retrieved from the DrugBank database. A hub protein was selected for immunohistochemical validation, and its expression was assessed in ameloblastomas, odontogenic keratocysts, dentigerous cysts, and normal gingival tissues. The primary ameloblastoma cells were cultured to explore the effect of the protein on the migratory properties of the tumour cells. Results: A total of 58 FR-DEPs were screened, and six hub proteins were identified: mTOR, NFE2L2, PRKCA, STAT3, EGFR, and CDH1. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that mTOR expression was upregulated in ameloblastomas compared with that in odontogenic keratocysts, dentigerous cysts, and normal gingival tissues. p-mTOR was highly expressed in ameloblastomas, with a positivity rate of 83.3%. In addition, rapamycin, an inhibitor of mTOR, can inhibit the migratory capacity of primary cultured ameloblastoma cells. Conclusion: Our results revealed the ferroptosis-related proteins in ameloblastomas and their underlying biological processes. Additionally, mTOR was overexpressed and was found to be associated with the aggressiveness of ameloblastomas, which may be a potential target for future treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precise rainfall forecasting modeling assumes a pivotal role in water resource planning and management. Conducting a comprehensive analysis of the rainfall time series and making appropriate adjustments to the forecast model settings based on the characterization results of the rainfall series significantly enhance the accuracy of the forecast model. This paper employed the Mann–Kendall and sliding T mutation tests to identify the mutational components in rainfall between 1961 and 2013 at four meteorological stations located in Henan Province. Wavelet analysis was utilized to determine the periodicity of the precipitation series. The model parameters were adjusted based on the mutation and periodicity findings, and appropriate training and test sets were selected accordingly. Rainfall simulation in Henan Province, China, was conducted using a combination of complementary ensemble empirical mode decomposition (CEEMD) and bi-directional long short-term memory (BiLSTM) networks. The integrated approach aimed at predicting rainfall in the region. The findings of this study demonstrate that the CEEMD-BiLSTM model, coupled with feature analysis, yielded favorable results in terms of prediction accuracy. The model achieved a mean MAE (mean absolute error) of 131.210, a mean MRE (mean relative error) of 0.637, a mean RMSE (root mean square error) of 187.776, and an NSE (Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency) above 0.910. The data processed according to the feature analysis results and then predicted; Zhengzhou, Anyang, Lushi, and Xinyang stations improved by 39.548%, 14.478%, 11.548%, and 19.037% respectively compared with the original prediction model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate prediction of monthly runoff in the lower reaches of the Yellow River is crucial for the rational utilization of regional water resources, optimal allocation, and flood prevention. This study proposes a VMD-SSA-BiLSTM coupled model for monthly runoff volume prediction, which combines the advantages of Variational Modal Decomposition (VMD) for signal decomposition and preprocessing, Sparrow Search Algorithm (SSA) for BiLSTM model parameter optimization, and Bi-directional Long and Short-Term Memory Neural Network (BiLSTM) for exploiting the bi-directional linkage and advanced characteristics of the runoff process. The proposed model was applied to predict monthly runoff at GaoCun hydrological station in the lower Yellow River. The results demonstrate that the VMD-SSA-BiLSTM model outperforms both the BiLSTM model and the VMD-BiLSTM model in terms of prediction accuracy during both the training and validation periods. The Root-mean-square deviation of VMD-SSA-BiLSTM model is 30.6601, which is 242.5124 and 39.9835 lower compared to the BiLSTM model and the VMD-BiLSTM model respectively; the mean absolute percentage error is 5.6832%, which is 35.5937% and 6.3856% lower compared to the other two models, respectively; the mean absolute error was 19.8992, which decreased by 136.7288 and 25.7274 respectively; the square of the correlation coefficient (R2) is 0.93775, which increases by 0.53059 and 0.14739 respectively; the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient was 0.9886, which increased by 0.4994 and 0.1122 respectively. In conclusion, the proposed VMD-SSA-BiLSTM model, utilizing the sparrow search algorithm and bidirectional long and short-term memory neural network, enhances the smoothness of the monthly runoff series and improves the accuracy of point predictions. This model holds promise for the effective prediction of monthly runoff in the lower Yellow River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing flood forecasting accuracy, promoting rational water resource utilization and management, and mitigating river disasters all hinge on the crucial role of improving the accuracy of daily flow prediction. The coupled model of Complete Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition with Adaptive Noise (CEEMDAN), Sample Entropy (SE), and Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BiLSTM) demonstrates higher stability when faced with nonlinear and non-stationary data, stronger adaptability to various types and lengths of time series data by utilizing sample entropy, and significant advantages in processing sequential data through the BiLSTM network. In this study, in the context of predicting daily flow at the Huayuankou Hydrological Station in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, a coupled CEEMDAN–SE–BiLSTM model was developed and utilized. The results showed that the CEEMDAN–SE–BiLSTM coupled model achieved the utmost accuracy in prediction and optimal fitting performance. Compared with the CEEMDAN–SE–LSTM, CEEMDAN–BiLSTM, and BiLSTM coupled models, the root mean square error (RMSE) of this model is reduced by 42.77, 182.02, and 193.71, respectively; the mean absolute error (MAE) is reduced by 37.62, 118.60, and 126.67, respectively; and the coefficient of determination (R2) is increased by 0.0208, 0.1265, 0.1381. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of accelerated global climate change and urbanization, the frequency and severity of flood disasters have been increasing. In recent years, influenced by climate change, the Hai-River Basin (HRB) has experienced multiple large-scale flood disasters. During the widespread extraordinary flood event from July 28th to August 1st, 2023, eight rivers witnessed their largest floods on record. These events caused significant damage and impact on economic and social development. The development of hydrological models with better performance can help researchers understand the impacts of climate change, provide risk information on different disaster events within watersheds, support decision-makers in formulating adaptive measures, urban planning, and improve flood defense mechanisms to address the ever-changing climate environment. This study examines the potential for enhancing streamflow simulation accuracy in the HRB located in Northeast China by combining the physically-based hydrological model with the data-driven model. Three hybrid models, SWAT-D-BiLSTM, SWAT-C-BiLSTM and SWAT-C-BiLSTM with SinoLC-1, were constructed in this study, in which SWAT was used as a transfer function to simulate the base flow and quick flow generation process based on weather data and spatial features, and BiLSTM was used to directly predict the streamflow according to the base flow and quick flow. In the SWAT-C-BiLSTM model, SWAT parameters with P values less than 0.4 in each hydrological station-controlled watershed were calibrated, while the SWAT-D-BiLSTM model did not undergo calibration. Additionally, this study utilizes both 30 m resolution land use and land cover (LULC) map and the first 1 m resolution LULC map SinoLC-1 as input data for the models to explore the impact on streamflow simulation performance. Among five models, the NSE of SWAT-C-BiLSTM with SinoLC-1 reached 0.93 and the R2 reached 0.95 during the calibration period, and both of them stayed at 0.92 even in the validation period, while the NSE and R2 of the other four models were all below 0.90 in the validation period. The potential impact of climate change on streamflow in the HRB was evaluated by using predicted data from five global climate models from CMIP6 as input for the best-performing SWAT-C-BiLSTM with SinoLC-1. The results indicate that climate change exacerbates the uneven distribution of streamflow in the HRB, particularly during the concentrated heavy rainfall months of July and August. It is projected that the monthly streamflow in these two months will increase by 34% and 49% respectively in the middle of this century. Furthermore, it is expected that the annual streamflow will increase by 5.6% to 9.1% during the mid-century and by 6.7% to 9.3% by the end of the century. Both average streamflow and peak streamflow are likely to significantly increase, raising concerns about more frequent urban flooding in the capital economic region within the HRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to enhance the simulation of BMPs (Best Management Practices) reduction effects in unmonitored watersheds, in this study, we combined the physically-based hydrological model Soil & Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and the data-driven model Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (Bi-LSTM), using the very-high-resolution (VHR) Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) dataset SinoLC-1 as data input, to evaluate the feasibility of constructing a water environment model for the Ba-River Basin (BRB) in central China and improving streamflow prediction performance. In the SWAT-BiLSTM model, we calibrated the top five SWAT parameters sorted by P-Value, allowing SWAT to act as a transfer function to convert meteorological data into base flow and storm flow, serving as the data input for the Bi-LSTM model. This optimization improved the Bi-LSTM's learning process for the relationship between the target and explanatory variables. The daily streamflow prediction results showed that the hybrid model had 9 regions rated as "Very good," 2 as "Good," 2 as "Satisfactory," and 1 as "Unsatisfactory" among the 14 regions. The model achieved an NSE of 0.86, R2 of 0.85, and PBIAS of −2.71% for the overall daily streamflow prediction performance during the verification period of the BRB. This indicates that the hybrid model has high predictive accuracy and no significant systematic bias, providing a sound hydrodynamic environment for water quality simulation. The simulation results of different BMPs scenarios showed that in the scenarios with only one BMP measure, stubble mulch had the best reduction effect, with average reductions of 17.83% for TN and 36.17% for TP. In the scenarios with a combination of multiple BMP measures, the combination of stubble mulch, soil testing and formula fertilization, and vegetative filter strip performed the best, achieving average reductions of 42.71% for TN and 50.40% for TP. The hybrid model provides a novel approach to simulate BMPs' reduction effects in regions without measured hydrological data and has the potential for wide application in BMP-related decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of prognostic genes can help in the clinical management of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, there is little overlap in the prognostic genes identified in different NSCLC studies. One reason for this may be the inadequate sample size. Here, the effect of sample size on prognostic genes analysis was investigated based on 515 stage II/III NSCLC cases from two cohorts detected by whole-exome sequencing. Prognostic genes analysis was repeatedly performed 100 times for each sample size level using random resampling methods. In stage II lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) and lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) cases from the TCGA Pan-Lung Cancer cohort, the number of statistically significant prognostic genes first increased with sample size in a power law, then fluctuated steadily, and finally decreased slightly. The power law growth curves were also observed in stage III LUAD and LUSC cases from the TCGA Pan-Lung Cancer cohort and stage III Chinese LUAD cases from the OncoSG cohort. The correlation R2 of the fitted power law growth curves were all greater than 0.99. In addition, at the sample size level where the number of prognostic genes peaked, the mean proportion of true prognostic genes in patients with stage II LUAD and LUSC was 28.32% and 23.12%, which could partly explain the little overlap in prognostic genes between reports. In conclusion, the number of prognostic genes takes a power law growth with the sample size in NSCLC, independent of histopathological subtype, race, and stage. These results also show how sample size affects the reliability of prognostic genes and will aid trial design for genomic mutation-based prognostic studies in NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean is one of the most versatile crops for oil production, human diets, and feedstocks. The vegetative biomass of soybean is an important determinant of seed yield and is crucial for the forage usages. However, the genetic control of soybean biomass is not well explained. In this work, we used a soybean germplasm population, including 231 improved cultivars, 207 landraces, and 121 wild soybeans, to investigate the genetic basis of biomass accumulation of soybean plants at the V6 stage. We found that biomass-related traits, including NDW (nodule dry weight), RDW (root dry weight), SDW (shoot dry weight), and TDW (total dry weight), were domesticated during soybean evolution. In total, 10 loci, encompassing 47 putative candidate genes, were detected for all biomass-related traits by a genome-wide association study. Among these loci, seven domestication sweeps and six improvement sweeps were identified. Glyma.05G047900, a purple acid phosphatase, was a strong candidate gene to improve biomass for future soybean breeding. This study provided new insights into the genetic basis of biomass accumulation during soybean evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Drought stress affects crop growth and productivity by causing morphological, physiological, and molecular changes. Pseudomonas koreensis is a plant-growth-promoting rhizobacterium that has potential for inducing stress tolerance in crops; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Therefore, this study verified the effects of P. koreensis on drought stress in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) and explored the associated mechanisms. Methods: Tomato seedlings that were exposed to the cell-free culture filtrate of P. koreensis GS or not were grown under non-stressed and drought-stressed conditions. Plant and leaf samples subjected to integrated physiological, transcriptomic, and metabolomic analyses. Results: Under drought stress, treatment with cell-free culture filtrate prominently increased plant height (7.7%), root length (17.2%), dry biomass (19.8%), relative water content (19.2%), leaf chlorophyll content (13.6%), and net photosynthesis rate (56.5%) in tomato. The culture filtrate treatment also enhanced catalase and peroxidase activity but decreased malondialdehyde content in drought-stressed leaves. Many differentially expressed genes and accumulated metabolites associated with antioxidant defense were enriched in flavonoid biosynthesis, glutathione metabolism, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, photosynthesis, and fructose and mannose metabolism, which jointly contributed to the alleviation of drought stress. Conclusions: The enhancement of plant antioxidant capacity is the key factor for P. koreensis GS cell-free culture filtrate in alleviating drought stress in tomato. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Bleeding is a common complication of cardiac surgery, especially aortic arch surgery involving moderate hypothermic circulatory arrest. Fibrinogen concentrate has been increasingly used to treat coagulopathic bleeding in cardiac surgery, although its effectiveness and safety are unknown. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate the safety and efficacy of fibrinogen concentrate in patients with acute type A aortic dissection. Methods: From July 2020 to August 2021, 84 patients with acute type A aortic dissection who underwent emergency aortic arch surgery involving MHCA and whose intraoperative fibrinogen level was less than 1.5 g/L were included in this study. Fifty-four patients who were supplemented with fibrinogen concentrate were included in the FC treatment group. Thirty patients were included in the non-FC treatment group. The primary endpoints included the required volumes of individual allogeneic blood products (RBCs, FFP, and PC), volumes of cumulative drainage within 24 and 48 h, and total volumes after infusion of FC, as well as reoperation rates due to bleeding. The secondary endpoint for the study was the incidence of serious adverse events from the infusion of FC to day 45. The serious adverse events defined for the evaluation of the safety of FC were death, pulmonary embolism and other thromboembolic or ischaemic events. The clinical data, routine laboratory tests and plasma fibrinogen levels were obtained at 5 time points. Results: We observed rapid increases in the plasma fibrinogen level and subsequent improvement in haemostasis after the administration of fibrinogen concentrate. The mean fibrinogen level increased from 1.36 ± 0.75 g/L to 2.91 ± 0.76 g/L in the fibrinogen concentrate treatment group. The patients in the fibrinogen concentrate treatment group demonstrated lower volumes of cumulative postoperative drainage and transfused allogeneic blood products than the nonfibrinogen concentrate treatment group. There were no serious adverse events in the fibrinogen concentrate treatment group during hospitalization. Conclusion: Fibrinogen concentrate was effective at increasing the plasma fibrinogen level and significantly reduced the volumes of transfused allogeneic blood products and blood loss in patients with aortic arch surgery. There were no serious adverse events in the patients who received fibrinogen concentrate treatment. Perspective state: The safety and efficacy of fibrinogen concentrate were investigated in acute type A aortic dissection patients with aortic arch surgery. Fibrinogen concentrate was effective at increasing the plasma fibrinogen level and significantly reduced the volumes of transfused allogeneic blood products and blood loss; there were no serious adverse events in the patients who received fibrinogen concentrate treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development and extensive use of electronic equipment have brought about increasingly serious electromagnetic pollution; developing highly flexible electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding material with high-electromagnetic shielding efficiency is of great significance. However, most EMI materials suffer from insufficient flexibility and complicated preparation methods. Herein, two kinds of multilayer MXene/CNT hybrid films were prepared by alternating filtration and mixing filtration, respectively. Surprisingly, the films with self-assembly structure prepared by mixing filtration exhibit higher electrical conductivity (295 S/m), electromagnetic shielding performance (46.52 dB) and specific shielding effectiveness (43,487 dB cm2 g− 1) at a thickness of 0.055 mm, compared to the films with alternating structure prepared by alternating filtration. These excellent properties are due to the reduction of self-accumulation and contact resistance between MXene in the self-assembly structure. And the films can be easily folded into the shape of an airplane, which shows their great flexibility. Our work provides a facile and feasible method for preparing the composite films for EMI shielding applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Five loci related to soybean protein and amino acid contents were colocated by performing linkage mapping and GWAS. The haplotype analysis showed that Glyma.08G109100 may be useful to improve the soybean seed composition. Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) seeds are good protein sources. Although genetic variation is abundant, natural variation in seed amino acids and their derived traits is lacking across soybean accessions. Here, we determined the contents of protein and 17 amino acids, obtained 36 derived traits based on the protein and total amino acid contents, and derived 34 traits based on seven amino acid family groups. Furthermore, we performed a linkage analysis of the contents of 17 amino acids and 73 amino acid-derived traits based on the recombinant inbred line (RIL)-derived Kefeng No. 1 × Nannong 1138–2. Six hundred thirty-nine quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified, explaining 6.07–39.00% of the phenotypic variation. Among these loci, five were detected in diverse soybean accessions using a genome-wide association study. A network analysis revealed that some loci that were significantly associated with multiple amino acids were tightly linked on chromosome 8 based on linkage disequilibrium values, which also further confirmed the results of the correlation analysis among amino acid traits. Through a combination of a genome-wide association study, linkage analysis, qRT–PCR, and genomic polymorphism comparison, Glyma.08G109100 on chromosome 8, which may affect amino acid contents, was selected. The haplotype analysis showed that Hap-T of Glyma.08G109100 may be useful to improve the contents of protein and 16 amino acids in soybean. This study provides new insights into the genetic basis of the amino acid composition in soybean seeds and may facilitate marker-based breeding of soybean with improved nutritional value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore diabetes-related knowledge levels among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the influencing factors, correlations and paths of patients' mental and emotional status based on a structural equation model. A total of 1512 patients with T2DM in 18 tertiary general hospitals in Hunan Province. A descriptive correlational study. The study was conducted and surveyed with the general information questionnaires, including the Audit of Diabetes Knowledge (AD knowl), the Problem Areas in Diabetes 5 scale (PAID-5) and the World Health Organization Five-Item Well-Being Index (WHO-5). The structural equation model showed that PAID-5 and WHO-5 scores (P < 0.05) were affected by diabetes self-management, medical history/treatment and knowledge. According to the model, the common risk factors affecting the mental and emotional status of diabetic patients were general demographic characteristics (less exercise time and greater economic burden), medical history/treatment of diabetes (longer course of disease, more hospitalizations due to diabetes, and more acute or chronic complications), and lower levels of diabetes-related knowledge. In addition, solitude was also a risk factor for low levels of happiness. The diabetes-related knowledge levels of T2DM patients are very low, and these patients generally experience emotional disorders, which deserves close attention. The structural equation model can be used to explore the influencing factors and correlations of the psychological and emotional status of diabetic patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A four-year-old boy developed recurrent fever and severe pneumonia in April, 2022. High-throughput sequencing revealed a reassortant avian influenza A-H3N8 virus (A/Henan/ZMD-22-2/2022(H3N8) with avian-origin HA and NA genes. The six internal genes were acquired from Eurasian lineage H9N2 viruses. Molecular substitutions analysis revealed the haemagglutin retained avian-like receptor binding specificity but that PB2 genes possessed sequence changes (E627K) associated with increased virulence and transmissibility in mammalian animal models. The patient developed respiratory failure, liver, renal, coagulation dysfunction and sepsis. Endotracheal intubation and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation were administered. H3N8 RNA was detected from nasopharyngeal swab of a dog, anal swab of a cat, and environmental samples collected in the patient's house. The full-length HA sequences from the dog and cat were identical to the sequence from the patient. No influenza-like illness was developed and no H3N8 RNA was identified in family members. Serological testing revealed neutralizing antibody response against ZMD-22-2 virus in the patient and three family members. Our results suggest that a triple reassortant H3N8 caused severe human disease. There is some evidence of mammalian adaptation, possible via an intermediary mammalian species, but no evidence of person-to-person transmission. The potential threat from avian influenza viruses warrants continuous evaluation and mitigation. The H3N8 influenza virus is known to circulate in wild birds but cross-species transmission to mammalian hosts was also reported. In this case study, the authors report human infection with a reassortment avian influenza A H3N8 virus in a four-year old boy that developed severe symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actively controlling the polarization states of terahertz (THz) waves is essential for polarization-sensitive spectroscopy, which has various applications in anisotropy imaging, noncontact Hall measurement, and vibrational circular dichroism. In the THz regime, the lack of a polarization modulator hinders the development of this spectroscopy. We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that conjugated bilayer chiral metamaterials (CMMs) integrated with Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST225) active components can achieve nonvolatile and continuously tunable optical activity in the THz region. A THz time-domain spectroscopic system was used to characterize the device, showing a tunable ellipticity (from ‒36° to 0°) and rotation of the plane polarization (from 32° to 0°) at approximately 0.73 THz by varying the GST225 state from amorphous (AM) to crystalline (CR). Moreover, a continuously tunable chiroptical response was experimentally observed by partially crystallizing the GST225, which can create intermediate states, having regions of both AM and CR states. Note that the GST225 has an advantage of nonvolatility over the other active elements and does not require any energy to retain its structural state. Our work allows the development of THz metadevices capable of actively manipulating the polarization of THz waves and may find applications for dynamically tunable THz circular polarizers and polarization modulators for THz emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response of rhizosphere microbial community structure and co-occurrence patterns to liquid organic fertilizer in sunflower cropland was investigated. Moderate and severe saline-alkaline soils were treated with liquid organic fertilizer containing mainly small molecular organic compounds (450 g L–1) at a rate of 4500 L ha–1 year−1 over 2 years. Compared with the untreated soils, organic fertilizer treatment increased soil nutrient concentrations by 13.8–137.1% while reducing soil pH and salinity by 5.6% and 54.7%, respectively. Organic fertilizer treatment also improved sunflower yield, plant number, and plant height by 28.6–67.3%. Following organic fertilizer treatment, fungal α-diversity was increased, and the effects of salinity-alkalinity stress on rhizosphere microbial communities were alleviated. The relative abundances of some halotolerant microbes and phytopathogenic fungi were reduced in organic fertilizer-treated soils, in contrast to increases in the relative abundances of plant growth-promoting microbes and organic matter decomposers, such as Nocardioides, Rhizophagus, and Stachybotrys. Network analysis revealed that severe salinity-alkalinity stress stimulated cooperation among bacteria, while organic fertilizer treatment tended to stimulate the ecosystem functions of fungi with higher proportions of fungi-bacteria and fungi-fungi links. More keystone taxa (e.g., Amycolatopsis, Variovorax, and Gemmatimonas) were positively correlated with soil nutrient concentrations and crop yield-related traits in organic fertilizer-treated soils. Overall, liquid organic fertilizer amendment could attenuate the adverse effects of salinity-alkalinity stress on sunflower yield by improving soil quality and optimizing rhizosphere microbial community structure and co-occurrence patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we replace the ℓ 0 norm with the variation of generalized Gaussian function Φ α (x) in sparse signal recovery. We firstly show that Φ α (x) is a type of non-convex sparsity-promoting function and clearly demonstrate the equivalence among the three minimization models (P 0) : min x ∈ R n ‖ x ‖ 0 subject to A x = b , (E α) : min x ∈ R n Φ α (x) subject to A x = b and (E α λ) : min x ∈ R n 1 2 ‖ A x - b ‖ 2 2 + λ Φ α (x). The established equivalent theorems elaborate that (P 0) can be completely overcome by solving the continuous minimization (E α) for some α s, while the latter is computable by solving the regularized minimization (E α λ) under certain conditions. Secondly, based on DC algorithm and iterative soft thresholding algorithm, a successful algorithm for the regularization minimization (E α λ) , called the DCS algorithm, is given. Finally, plenty of simulations are conducted to compare this algorithm with two classical algorithms which are half algorithm and soft algorithm, and the experiment results show that the DCS algorithm performs well in sparse signal recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To be investigated whether Th17/Treg cells regulated by Interleukin-6 in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Methods: The distributions of Th17 and Treg cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and tissues got from 46 CRSwNP patients and 14 controls were evaluated. Th17 and Treg cells and cells-related cytokines in serum were assessed in means of cytometric bead array (CBA) multiplex assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). Spleen cells were isolated from spleen of 20 normal BALB/c mice (male), isolated and purified with CD4 antibody immunomagnetic bead kit. CD4+ cells were divided into three groups, including TGF-β1, TGF-β1+ IL-6 and control (PBS). Treg and Th17 cells and cells related cytokines were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) after collecting spleen cells. The level of IL‐10 and IL‐17 in supernatant was measured by ELISA. Results: Th17/Treg ratio and the level of IL-6 in both ECRSwNP (P < 0.05) and non-ECRSwNP (P < 0.05) were significantly increased when compared with control group, these were consistent with the previous findings. Experiments in vitro suggested that the level of Th17 cells in IL-6+ TGF-β1 group was significantly increased than TGF-β1 group and control group (P < 0.05). The ratio of cells expressed RoRγt in IL-6+ TGF-β1 group was much higher than TGF-β1 group (P < 0.05). Conclusion: IL-6 might regulate the function of Th17 and Treg cells and the Th17/Treg ratio and have a role in the pathogenesis of CRSwNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, by using the nonequilibrium molecular dynamics and the kinetic theory, we examine the tailored nanoscale thermal transport via a gas-filled nanogap structure with mechanically-controllable nanopillars in one surface only, i.e., changing nanopillar height. It is found that both the thermal rectification and negative differential thermal resistance (NDTR) effects can be substantially enhanced by controlling the nanopillar height. The maximum thermal rectification ratio can reach 340% and the ∆T range with NDTR can be significantly enlarged, which can be attributed to the tailored asymmetric thermal resistance via controlled adsorption in height-changing nanopillars, especially at a large temperature difference. These tunable thermal rectification and NDTR mechanisms provide insights for the design of thermal management systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The solid-liquid interfacial thermal transport depends on the physical properties of the interfaces, which have been studied extensively in open literature. However, the fundamental understanding on the mechanism of the solid-liquid interfacial thermal transport is far from clear. In the present paper, heat transfer through solid-liquid interfaces is studied based on the non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. It is shown that the interfacial heat transfer can be enhanced by increasing interfacial coupling strength or introducing the nanostructured surfaces. The underlying mechanism of the interfacial thermal transport is analyzed based on the calculation results of the heat flux distribution, potential mean force, and the vibrational density of states at the interfacial region. It is found that the interfacial thermal transport is dominated by the kinetic and virial contributions in the interface region. The enhancement of the interfacial heat transfer can be attributed to the fluid adsorption on the solid surface under a strong interfacial interaction or by the nanostructured solid surfaces, which reduce the mismatch of the vibrational density of states at the solid-liquid interface region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insertions and deletions (InDels) can be used as molecular markers in genetic studies and marker-assisted selection breeding. However, genetic improvement in tobacco has been hindered by limited genetic diversity information and relatedness within available germplasm. A Chinese tobacco variety, Yueyan-98, was resequenced using restriction-site associated DNA (RAD-seq) approach to develop InDel markers. In total, 32,884 InDel loci were detected between Yueyan-98 and the K326 reference sequence [18,598 (56.55%) deletions and 14,288 (43.45%) insertions], ranging from 1 to 62 bp in length. Of the 6,733 InDels (> 4 bp) that were suitable for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, 150 were randomly selected. These 150 InDels were unevenly distributed on 23 chromosomes, and the highest numbers of InDels were observed on chromosomes Nt05, Nt13, and Nt23. The average density of adjacent InDels was 19.36 Mb. Thirty-seven InDels were located in genic regions. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based markers were developed to validate polymorphism; 113 (79.80%) of the 150 InDel markers showed polymorphism and were further used for genetic diversity analysis of 50 tobacco accessions (13 from China, 1 from Mexico, and 36 from the USA). The average expected heterozygosity (He) and polymorphism information content (PIC) values were 0.28 ± 0.16 and 0.38 ± 0.10, respectively. The average Shannon diversity index (I) was 0.34 ± 0.18, with genetic diversity ranging from 0.13–0.57. The 50 accessions were classified into two groups with a genetic similarity coefficient of 0.68. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and population structure analysis showed similar results and divided the population into two groups unrelated to their geographical origins. AMOVA showed 4% variance among the population and the remaining 96% within the population, suggesting low genetic differentiation between two subpopulations. Furthermore, 10 InDels (19 alleles) were significantly identified for tobacco plant height using GLM+Q model at P < 0.005. Among these, three markers (Nt-I-26, Nt-I-41, and Nt-I-44) were detected in at least two environments, with phenotypic variance explained (PVE) ranging from 14.03 to 32.68%. The polymorphic InDel markers developed can be used for hybrid identification, genetic diversity, genetic linkage map construction, gene mapping, and MAS breeding programs of tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-infrared photothermal nanomaterial is expected to synergize chemotherapy and photothermal therapy, which provided a higher tumor therapeutic effect than single therapy. In this article, the hollow mesoporous polydopamine (HMPDA) microcapsules modified with gold (Au) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared as nanodrug carriers using silica as the templates. The adsorption properties of HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules for methylene blue (MB) dyes were studied, as well as the load and release properties for adriamycin hydrochloride (DOX) and in vitro cytotoxicity. Finally, the photothermal properties of the above microcapsules were investigated. The results showed that the HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules had high photothermal conversion efficiency, the average DOX capacity of the carriers was 334.78 mg/g within 24 h, and the release rate was about 44.8% under photothermal conditions within 8 h. The preparation process of HMPDA@AuNPs microcapsules was simple and mild, with excellent drug loading capacity, pH-targeted release performance, good photothermal property and biocompatibility. The combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy made it valuable as a drug carrier in the application of tumor diagnosis and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data-driven algorithms for predicting mechanical properties with small datasets are evaluated in a case study on gear steel hardenability. The limitations of current data-driven algorithms and empirical models are identified. Challenges in analysing small datasets are discussed, and solution is proposed to handle small datasets with multiple variables. Gaussian methods in combination with novel predictive algorithms are utilized to overcome the challenges in analysing gear steel hardenability data and to gain insight into alloying elements interaction and structure homogeneity. The gained fundamental knowledge integrated with machine learning is shown to be superior to the empirical equations in predicting hardenability. Metallurgical-property relationships between chemistry, sample size, and hardness are predicted via two optimized machine learning algorithms: neural networks (NNs) and extreme gradient boosting (XGboost). A comparison is drawn between all algorithms, evaluating their performance based on small data sets. The results reveal that XGboost has the highest potential for predicting hardenability using small datasets with class imbalance and large inhomogeneity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lightweight and conductive MXene/reduced graphene oxide (MX/rGO) aerogels have great potential in the field of electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. To achieve better EMI shielding performance, some fabrication ways and reduction methods for MX/rGO aerogels have been tried, but still far from the expectation. Herein, we develop a feasible technique to fabricate MX/rGO aerogels, i.e., unidirectional-freezing and subsequent mild chemical reduction treatment using the mixture of hydroiodic acid and acetic acid glacial. The lightweight MX/rGO hybrid aerogel with the weight ratio of MX/rGO 5:5 demonstrates superior electrical conductivity (467 S/m) and EMI shielding performance (57.67 dB). When the weight ratio of MX/rGO becomes 3:5, the EMI shielding performance reaches as high as 21,427 dB cm2 g−1, which is almost higher than the EMI shielding performance of the 3D aerogels reported by the current available literature. The MX/rGO aerogels developed in this paper shows the great application potential in protecting the wearable and intelligent devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean (Glycine max) serves as a major source of protein and edible oils worldwide. The genetic and genomic bases of the adaptation of soybean to tropical regions remain largely unclear. Here, we identify the novel locus Time of Flowering 16 (Tof16), which confers delay flowering and improve yield at low latitudes and determines that it harbors the soybean homolog of LATE ELONGATED HYPOCOTYL (LHY). Tof16 and the previously identified J locus genetically additively but independently control yield under short-day conditions. More than 80% accessions in low latitude harbor the mutations of tof16 and j, which suggests that loss of functions of Tof16 and J are the major genetic basis of soybean adaptation into tropics. We suggest that maturity and yield traits can be quantitatively improved by modulating the genetic complexity of various alleles of the LHY homologs, J and E1. Our findings uncover the adaptation trajectory of soybean from its temperate origin to the tropics. How soybean, a temperate origin crop, adapted to a tropical environment remains unclear. Here, the authors report Tof16, an ortholog of LHY, and the previously identified J locus, control soybean yield under short-day condition and loss of function of these two genes contributes to the adaptation to tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the research of existing video summarization algorithms, this paper proposes a video summarization algorithm based on block sparse representation. This algorithm is mainly used to record multi-screen videos with similar content and to create video advertisements for multiple videos. First, the video is divided into multiple blocks according to the similarity, and the size of the block is controlled, and then, multiple video blocks are embedded in the space, and representative video blocks are selected through sparse display. This study is based on the annual heavy rainfall in a specific area of the Loess Plateau in 2020 and takes the factors that affect the risk of college sports as the research object. The goal of this article is to evaluate and determine the degree of sports risk in colleges and universities through the establishment of a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model, determine the weight of risk indicators, and determine the risk prevention system. On this basis, this article puts forward some suggestions: improve students' self-awareness, improve safety awareness, strengthen the safety guidance of physical education teachers, increase the importance of school leaders' safety, improve the school's risk prevention mechanism, and strengthen the emergency response capabilities of ordinary medical staff, strengthen the management of medical staff, strengthen the management of school sports facilities, build and improve student sports injury insurance, make contributions to the management of sports risk prevention in colleges and universities, and lay the foundation for the construction of a healthy campus. Therefore, this paper uses the existing abstract video technology to describe and study the extreme rainfall climate in a certain place and conduct a narrative research on the sports risk assessment in university stadiums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Linkage mapping and GWAS identified 67 QTLs related to soybean glycinin, β-conglycinin and relevant traits. Polymorphisms of the candidate gene Gy1 promoter were associated with the glycinin content in soybean. The major components of storage proteins in soybean seeds are glycinin and β-conglycinin, which play important roles in determining protein nutrition and soy food processing properties. Increasing the protein content while improving the ratio of glycinin to β-conglycinin is substantially important for soybean protein improvement. To investigate the genetic mechanism of storage protein subunits, 184 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross of Kefeng No. 1 and Nannong 1138-2 and 211 diverse soybean cultivars were used to detect loci related to glycinin (11S), β-conglycinin (7S), the sum of glycinin and β-conglycinin (SGC), and the ratio of glycinin to β-conglycinin (RGC). Sixty-seven QTLs and 11 hot genomic regions were identified as affecting the four traits. One genetic region (q10-1) on chromosome 10 was associated with multiple traits by both linkage and association analysis. Eight genes in 11 hot genomic regions might be related to soybean protein subunit. The candidate gene analysis showed that polymorphisms in Gy1 promoters were significantly correlated with the 11S content. The QTLs and candidate genes identified in the present study allow for further understanding the genetic basis of 11S and 7S regulation and provide useful information for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in soybean quality improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of targeted reserve requirement ratio cuts (TRRRCs) on tax avoidance among small and micro enterprises (SMEs) with operating revenues below specific cutoffs in China. Using a regression discontinuity design, we causally show that, by increasing loan availability, TRRRCs significantly alleviate the financial constraints and cash dependence of SMEs and consequently reduce tax avoidance. This is especially the case among firms with lower market power and higher entertainment and travel costs. Our findings provide evidence for the real effect of TRRRCs on corporate tax avoidance and show the inclusive effect of TRRRCs on SMEs. In doing so, we indirectly reveal a rent-seeking channel underlying bank lending, thus offering clear policy implications for regulators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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We present an improved clustering approach for grouping regional GPS stations with similar annual signals into four similarity levels. A newly introduced criterion, the annual phase difference among stations, reinforces the clustering process and resolves the discrepancy among the annual signals of stations classified into several clusters. Comparisons show that the improved method enhances the accuracy and representativeness of the land surface deformation features derived from the mean annual signals of clustered stations. With respect to CMONOC stations throughout mainland China, the observed GPS coordinate time series are probably more reliable for acquiring real land surface deformations when employing the 25 regional clusters derived from the improved approach in comparison with some modeled surface loading models (SLMs), which potentially contain mistakes. Based on the results of the improved technique, descriptions of the annual land surface deformation throughout China are given to illustrate the characteristics of the annual signals of GPS station motions in different regions. For the annual signals of the 25 clusters discussed, those of 10 clusters show obvious sinusoidal shapes, including 7 clusters in Southwest China. The peaks and troughs of these annual motion signals happen during different times of a year for northern and southern station signals. In applications to land surface deformation, the improved method can play a preliminary but significant role in searching for the most stable stations before comparing the results of GPS with other geodetic techniques, such as the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and SLMs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to visit multiple asteroids in a space mission. In this paper, the multiple asteroids mission optimization is implemented using cluster analysis and probability-based beam search. Clustering is performed to select the first asteroid to visit. Four cluster algorithms are investigated and affinity propagation is selected. Then four beam search algorithms that are deterministic beam search and three probability-based beam search variants, probabilistic beam search, ant-colony beam search, and evolving beam search, are applied to search for the rendezvous sequence. Deterministic beam search as a heuristic tree search algorithm is widely applied in multitarget sequence optimization, but it has an obvious drawback of the conflict between the number of pruned nodes and the possibility of finding optimal solutions, which can be improved by probability-based beam search. Among three probability-based beam search, the ant-colony beam search has a learning mechanism, and evolving beam search is constructed based on ant-colony beam search and has an evolutionary mechanism. Results show that the introduction of randomness can improve beam search, and beam search variants with the learning and evolutionary mechanism have an excellent performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a type of multiconfiguration mechanism that can operate in an under-actuated state, metamorphic mechanisms were proposed more than two decades ago and attracted significant interest. Studies on structural synthesis of metamorphic mechanisms tend to focus more on metamorphic techniques and the structural synthesis of source mechanisms for metamorphic mechanisms. By designing different constraint architectures of metamorphic joints, multistructures can be obtained from the same source metamorphic mechanism. To determine the constraint architectures of metamorphic joints and their different assembly combinations, a kinematic status matrix and a corresponding constraint status matrix are constructed based on the metamorphic cyclogram of a source mechanism. According to the equivalent resistance gradient model and the constraint status matrix, an equivalent resistance matrix for the metamorphic joints is proposed. A structural synthesis matrix of the metamorphic mechanism is then obtained from the equivalent resistance matrix by deducing the constraint form vectors of the metamorphic joints. Furthermore, a kinematic diagram synthesis of the source metamorphic mechanism of a planar single-loop metamorphic mechanism is proposed, which is based on only the 14 one- or zero-degrees-of-freedom linkage groups. The entire structural design method of a metamorphic mechanism is based on the structural synthesis matrix and is presented as a systematic process. Finally, the proposed structural design approach is illustrated by two examples to verify its feasibility and practicality. This study provides an effective method for designing a practical multi-mobility and multiconfiguration planar single-loop metamorphic mechanism with a single actuator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the failure analysis of products with high reliability requirements, it is often encountered that the failure data cannot be obtained for a long period of time. Based on this situation, the reliability evaluation method of zero-failure data has been developed and achieved certain results in the actual engineering application process. In this paper, when the product life is subject to Weibull distribution, the reliability evaluation of the bearings is obtained according to the optimal confidence limit evaluation method. A method to extend the application of optimal confidence limits is proposed. Combined with the results of numerical simulation case studies, the results indicate that the type of zero-failure data grouping has a direct impact on the reliability evaluation results, and the reliability estimate is closer to the real situation in a certain period of mission time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal pigmentation primarily depends on the presence and mixing ratio of chromatophores, functioning in animal survival and communication. For the benthic and carnivorous Siniperca chuatsi, pigmentation pattern is key to concealment and predation. In this study, the formation, distribution, and main pattern of chromatophores were observed in the embryos, larvae, skins, and visceral tissues from S. chuatsi. Melanophores were firstly visualized in the yolk sac at segmentation stage, and then they were migrated to the whole body and further clustered into the black stripes, bands, and patches. In adult S. chuatsi, the head, black band, and body side skins mainly contained melanophores, showing as deep or light black. The abdomen skin mainly contained iridophores, showing as silvery. In the eye, the pigment layers were located in the epithelial layers of iris and retina and shown as black. Then, the pigmentation-related gene, tyrosinase gene from S. chuatsi (Sc-tyr) was analyzed by bioinformatics and quantitative methods. The Sc-tyr gene encoded a protein with 540 amino acids (Sc-TYR). The Sc-TYR contained two copper ion binding sites, which were coordinated by six conserved histidines (H182, H205, H214, H366, H370, H393) and necessary for catalytic activity. The Sc-TYR was well conserved compared with TYR of various species with higher degree of sequence similarity with other fishes (77.6–98.3%). The qRT-PCR test showed that the Sc-tyr mRNA reached the peak value at segmentation stage in the embryo development, the black skins displayed a higher expression level than that in silvery skin, and the eye had the highest expression level compared with other tissues. Further research on enzyme activity showed that the expression patterns of tyrosinase activity were similar to that of the Sc-tyr mRNA. Comparing with the results of molecular and phenotype, it was found that the temporal and spatial distributions of tyrosinase corresponded well with changes in pigmentation patterns and the intensity of skin melanization. This study initially explored the pigmentation formation and tyrosinase expression, which served as a foundation for further insight into the genetics mechanism of body color formation in S. chuatsi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]