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Abstract Buried pipeline systems are vulnerable to joint damage in earthquakes. Previous studies have shown that bellows joints are effective in increasing deformation capacity and reducing the axial force of the main pipeline. However, the effectiveness of bellows joints in enhancing the deformation capacity of the pipelines is affected by the location of the crossing fault and the soil at the site. This paper constructs and validates a finite element model of a buried steel pipeline connected by a bellows joint using ABAQUS to investigate this issue. The effects of fault location, soil properties, and internal pressure on the bellows joint connected pipelines were analyzed using a finite element model. The results indicate that the bellows joints exhibit the best energy dissipation and deformation enhancement when the fault passes directly through the joints. Bellows joints in soft soil are better at dissipating energy, reducing pipe deformation, and mitigating pipe damage compared to those in hard soils. The internal pressure is helpful to increase the mechanical properties of the pipelines. The findings can provide some guidance for pipeline design and mitigation strategies for ensuring the reliability and safety of buried pipeline systems in earthquake-prone areas.

Background: Sterol side-chain reductase 2 (SSR2) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of plant cholesterol pathway. Despite the importance of watermelon as a horticultural cash crop, the SSR2 gene in watermelon has not been previously studied or reported. Results: In this study, 28 SSR2 genes were identified in the watermelon genome. The physicochemical properties of 28 ClaSSR proteins were predicted by bioinformatics methods, and the gene structure, conserved motif, chromosome localization, phylogenetic analysis, cis-acting elements, expression patterns, promoter activity analysis and subcellular localization of ClaSSRs were studied. The 28 ClaSSRs were unevenly distributed on 11 chromosomes, and phylogenetic analysis showed that they could be grouped into 4 groups with other related Cucurbitaceae homologous genes. Analysis of gene structure and motifs revealed similarities in exons/introns and motifs between members of the same group, further supporting phylogenetic results. The RT–qPCR results showed variations in ClaSSRs expression during watermelon fruit development. The analysis of promoter activity for ClaSSR25 showed strong activity. Subcellular localization studies confirmed that ClaSSR25 is mainly located in the cytoplasm, which aligns with the predicted outcomes. We additionally estimated the network of protein–protein interactions for ClaSSR25 and analyzed proteins that could potentially interact with ClaSSR25 in melon and Arabidopsis thaliana. Conclusions: We conducted bioinformatics analysis and expression analysis of members of the watermelon SSR2 gene family in this work, and the outcomes set the stage for further investigations into the watermelon SSR2 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing crop water productivity is crucial for regional water resource management and agricultural sustainability, particularly in arid regions. However, evaluating the spatial heterogeneity and temporal dynamics of crop water productivity in face of data limitations poses a challenge. In this study, we propose a framework that integrates remote sensing data, time series generative adversarial network (TimeGAN), dynamic Bayesian network (DBN), and optimization model to assess crop water productivity and optimize crop planting structure under limited water resources allocation in the Qira oasis. The results demonstrate that the combination of TimeGAN and DBN better improves the accuracy of the model for the dynamic prediction, particularly for short-term predictions with 4 years as the optimal timescale (R2 > 0.8). Based on the spatial distribution of crop suitability analysis, wheat and corn are most suitable for cultivation in the central and eastern parts of Qira oasis while cotton is unsuitable for planting in the western region. The walnuts and Chinese dates are mainly unsuitable in the southeastern part of the oasis. Maximizing crop water productivity while ensuring food security has led to increased acreage for cotton, Chinese dates and walnuts. Under the combined action of the five optimization objectives, the average increase of crop water productivity is 14.97%, and the average increase of ecological benefit is 3.61%, which is much higher than the growth rate of irrigation water consumption of cultivated land. It will produce a planting structure that relatively reduced irrigation water requirement of cultivated land and improved crop water productivity. This proposed framework can serve as an effective reference tool for decision-makers when determining future cropping plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Anaplasma and Ehrlichia are tick-borne bacterial pathogens that cause anaplasmoses and ehrlichioses in humans and animals. In this study, we examined the prevalence of Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species in ticks and domesticated animals in Suizhou County, Hubei Province in the central China. We used PCR amplification and DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA, groEL, and gltA genes to analyze. We collected 1900 ticks, including 1981 Haemaphysalis longicornis and 9 Rhipicephalus microplus, 159 blood samples of goats (n = 152), cattle (n = 4), and dogs (n = 3) from May to August of 2023. PCR products demonstrated that Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma capra, and an Ehrlichia species were detected in the H. longicornis with the minimum infection rates (MIR) of 1.11%, 1.32%, and 0.05%, respectively; A. bovis, A. capra, and unnamed Anaplasma sp. were detected in goats with an infection rate of 26.31%, 1.31% and 1.97%, respectively. Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species were not detected from cattle, dogs and R. microplus ticks. The genetic differences in the groEL gene sequences of the Anaplasma in the current study were large, whereas the 16S rRNA and gltA gene sequences were less disparate. This study shows that ticks and goats in Suizhou County, Hubei Province carry multiple Anaplasma species and an Ehrlichia species, with relatively higher infection rate of A. bovis in goats. Our study indicates that multiple Anaplasma and Ehrlichia species exist in ticks and goats in the central China with potential to cause human infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: Osthole possesses anti-tumor activities. However, whether osthole can have a radiosensitization effect on hepatic cancer remains unclear. Here, an HCC-LM3 cells-inoculated subcutaneous transplanted tumor was adopted to explore the effect of osthole. Methods: The tumor-bearing mice were treated with 100 mg/kg osthole for 12 days, 4 Gy irradiation twice, or their combination. The tumor volume and weight, lactic acid content, glycolytic enzyme activities, and protein expression of glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β), p‑GSK-3β, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p‑mTOR, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), p‑AMPK, glucose transporter 1/3, and pyruvate kinase M2 were determined. The GSK-3β-overexpressed HCC-LM3 or SK-Hep‑1 cell models were also adopted to verify the effects of osthole on expression of these proteins. Results: The tumor volume and weight, lactic acid content, and glycolytic enzyme activities in tumor tissues were lower in the osthole + radiation group than in the radiation group. Moreover, osthole could reverse the radiation-induced increments of p‑GSK-3β/GSK-3β and p‑mTOR/mTOR protein ratios and the expression of glucose transporter 1/3 and pyruvate kinase M2 proteins in tumor tissues, and increase the protein ratio of p‑AMPK/AMPK. The effects of osthole on these glycolysis-related proteins were also observed in GSK-3β-overexpressed HCC-LM3 or SK-Hep‑1 cell models. Conclusion: Osthole has a radiosensitizing effect on subcutaneous transplanted hepatocellular carcinoma, and its mechanism may be related to inhibition of GSK-3β/AMPK/mTOR pathway-controlled glycolysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Laparoscopic isolated caudate lobectomy is still a challenging operation for surgeons. The access route of the operation plays a vital role during laparoscopic caudate lobectomy. There are few references regarding this technique. Here, we introduce a preferred inferior vena cava (IVC) approach in laparoscopic caudate lobectomy. Methods: Twenty-one consecutive patients with caudate hepatic tumours between June 2016 and December 2021 were included in this study. All of them received laparoscopic caudate lobectomy involving an IVC priority approach. The IVC priority approach refers to prioritizing the dissection of the IVC from the liver parenchyma before proceeding with the conventional left or right approach. It emphasizes the importance of the IVC dissection during process. Clinical data, intraoperative parameters and postoperative results were evaluated. Sixteen patients were performed pure IVC priority approach, while 5 patients underwent a combined approach. We subsequently compared the intraoperative and postoperative between the two groups. Results: All 21 patients were treated with laparoscopic technology. The operative time was 190.95 ± 92.65 min. The average estimated blood loss was 251.43 ± 247.45 ml, and four patients needed blood transfusions during the perioperative period. The average duration of hospital stay was 8.43 ± 2.64 (range from 6.0 to 16.0) days. Patients who underwent the pure inferior vena cava (IVC) approach required a shorter hepatic pedicle clamping time (26 vs. 55 min, respectively; P < 0.001) and operation time (150 vs. 380 min, respectively; P = 0.002) than those who underwent the combined approach. Hospitalization (7.0 vs. 9.0 days, respectively; P = 0.006) was shorter in the pure IVC group than in the combined group. Conclusions: Laparoscopic caudate lobectomy with an IVC priority approach is safe and feasible for patients with caudate hepatic tumours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rare Metals is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Central South University is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Some heavy metals are associated with periodontitis; whereas most of these associations have focused on individual metal, there are no specific studies on the effects of combined heavy metal exposure on periodontitis. We conducted an analysis on the association between urinary heavy metal exposure and periodontitis in participants aged 30 years and older using multiple logistic regression and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). This analysis was performed on data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2011 to 2014. The study found that using logistic regression, the 4th quartile of urinary lead and molybdenum and the 3rd quartile of urinary strontium were positively associated with periodontitis compared to the reference quartile after adjusting for covariates. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was 1.738 (1.069–2.826), 1.515 (1.025–2.239), and 1.498 (1.010–2.222), respectively. The 3rd and 4th quartiles of urinary cobalt were negatively associated with periodontitis, and their ORs and 95% CIs were 0.639 (0.438–0.934) and 0.571 (0.377–0.964), respectively. The BKMR model showed that urinary barium, lead, and molybdenum were positively associated with periodontitis in a range of concentrations and urinary cobalt, manganese, tin, and strontium were negatively correlated with periodontitis. Furthermore, the overall association between urinary heavy metals and periodontitis was positive. Our study provides evidence for an association between exposure to multiple urinary heavy metals and periodontitis. However, further longitudinal studies are needed to explore the specific mechanisms involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The ClaH3K4s and ClaH3K27s gene families are subfamilies of the SET family, each with a highly conserved SET structure domain and a PHD structural domain. Both participate in histone protein methylation, which affects the chromosome structure and gene expression, and is essential for fruit growth and development. Methods and results: In order to demonstrate the structure and expression characteristics of ClaH3K4s and ClaH3K27s in watermelon, members of the watermelon H3K4 and H3K27 gene families were identified, and their chromosomal localization, gene structure, and protein structural domains were analyzed. The phylogeny and covariance of the gene families with other species were subsequently determined, and the expression profiles were obtained by performing RNA-Seq and qRT-PCR. The watermelon genome had five H3K4 genes with 3207-8043 bp nucleotide sequence lengths and four H3K27 genes with a 1107-5499 bp nucleotide sequence. Synteny analysis revealed the close relationship between watermelon and cucumber, with the majority of members displaying a one-to-one covariance. Approximately half of the 'Hua-Jing 13 watermelon' ClaH3K4s and ClaH3K27s genes were expressed more in the late fruit development stages, while the changes were minimal for the remaining half. H3K4-2 expression was observed to be slightly greater on day 21 compared to other periods. Moreover, ClaH3K27-1 and ClaH3K27-2 were hardly expressed throughout the developing period, and ClaH3K27-4 exhibited the highest expression. Conclusion: These results serve as a basis for further functional characterization of the H3K4 and H3K27 genes in the fruit development of watermelon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed at analyzing and comparing the perioperative results and long-term oncological outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) treated with laparoscopic (LLR) versus open liver resection (OLR). Methods: Clinicopathological data of HCC patients with T2DM who underwent LLR or OLR as initial treatment from four medical centers were retrospectively reviewed. The survival outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) were compared with those of patients who underwent open liver resection (OLR). Using the Kaplan–Meier method, survival curves for the two groups of patients were generated, and the log-rank test was used to compare survival differences. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to match patients of the LLR and OLR groups in a 1:1 ratio. Results: 230 HCC patients with T2DM were enrolled, including 101 patients in the LLR group and 129 patients in the OLR group. After PSM, 90 patients were matched in each of the study group. Compared with the OLR group, the LLR group had less blood loss, a shorter hospitalization and fewer postoperative complications. The LLR group had a significantly better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) than the OLR group before and after PSM. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that HCC patients with T2DM had survival benefits from LLR regardless of the course of T2DM. Conclusions: Laparoscopic liver resection for HCC patients with T2DM can be safely performed with favorable perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes at high-volume liver cancer centers, regardless of the course of T2DM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grape is an economically important crop but recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation and in vitro regeneration. Here, we have developed a protocol for transient transformation of grapes by investigating the effects of explant pre-culture and duration of vacuum infiltration on transformation efficiency. Using sliced grape berries of "Shine-Muscat" (Vitis labrusca × Vitis vinifera) between the end of fruit expansion phase and the mature stage as explants, we firstly compared the effect of pre-culture explants into a susceptible state (incubation on Murashige and Skoog (MS) agar plate in the dark at 25 ± 1 °C for 48 h) with no pre-culture and then tested different vacuum infiltration times on transformation efficiency using β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter system. Pre-culture increased the susceptibility of explants to the agrobacteria infection and increased transient transformation efficiency as assessed by histochemical GUS activity, with intense blue coloration compared with the faint staining observed in the non-susceptible explants. Using a Circulating Water Vacuum Pump system to facilitate agrobacteria entry into berry cells, we tested vacuum durations of 5, 10, and 15 min and observed that transformation efficiency increased with vacuum duration of infiltration. These results were confirmed by relative gene expression of GUS transgene as assessed by RT-qPCR and GUS activity assay. To further confirm the usefulness of our protocol, we transiently transformed grape berries with the hydrogen peroxide sensor gene VvHPCA3, and this was confirmed by gene expression analysis as well as increased sensitivity of the explants to hydrogen peroxide treatment. Overall, this study has resulted in a simple but efficient transient transformation protocol for grape berries and would be a valuable tool for the rapid testing of gene function and the study of key regulatory networks in this important crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osthole is a natural coumarin substance that has an inhibitory effect on hepatic cancer, but its radiosensitization effect on hepatoma cells has not been reported. This study aimed to investigate the effect of osthole. Human HCC-LM3 and SK-Hep-1 hepatoma cells were used and treated with or without osthole, irradiation, or their combination; the cell survival, migration, colony formation, DNA damage repair, intracellular lactic acid content, and glycolysis-related glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β), p-GSK-3β, AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), p-AMPK, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), p-mTOR, glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1), GLUT-3, and pyruvate kinase isozyme type M2 (PKM2) protein expressions were determined. Compared with the irradiation group, the osthole plus irradiation group could further decrease the survival rate, migration, colony formation, and DNA damage repair of both hepatoma cells, indicating a synergistic effect of the combination treatment. Moreover, the combination of osthole and irradiation could decrease the content of intracellular lactic acid, ratios of intracellular p-GSK-3β/GSK-3β and p-mTOR/mTOR proteins, and expressions of intracellular GLUT-1/3 and PKM2 proteins, and increase the ratio of intracellular p-AMPK/AMPK proteins. Osthole can increase the radiosensitivity of hepatoma cells, and its radiosensitization mechanisms may be related to glycolytic inhibition by attenuating the GSK-3β/AMPK/mTOR pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accelerated speed of contemporary life and work raises people's psychological stress in general, and the prevalence rate of depression has been increasing in recent years. Therefore, effectively preventing and diagnosing depression is becoming a focus of medical study. This paper proposes a model for depression prediction based on BiAttention-GRU (Bimodal Attention and Gate Recurrent Unit) by analyzing text, speech and facial expression features associated with depression. In which PAttention (Parallel Attention) is used to extract essential local features from each modal to reduce the influence of irrelevant information. FAttention (Fusion Attention) is employed to calculate the contribution degree of each model and their fusion features. GRU is utilized to extract the temporal information for the features upper and lower segments. Finally, the Softmax layer is used to achieve depression prediction results. Comparing the proposed approach with the CNN-Attention, GRU-Attention, BiAttention (Bimodel Attention), Bert etc. The results demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms than other models. The prediction accuracy achieved by the proposed method is 89.77%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution remote sensing images have the characteristics of complex background environment, clustering of objects, etc., the complex background makes the remote sensing image contain a large number of irrelevant ground objects with a high similarity or overlap, which makes the edge and texture of the objects not clear enough, and this leads to low recognition accuracy of ground objects such as airports, dams, and golf field, although the size of this object is large. Based on this problem, this paper proposes a remote sensing image object detection method based on the YOLOv5 network. By improving the backbone extraction network, the network structure can be deepened to get more information about large objects, and the detection effect can be improved by adding an attention mechanism and adding an output layer to enhance feature extraction and feature fusion. The pre-training weight is obtained by transfer learning and used as the training weight of the improved YOLOv5 to speed up the network convergence. The experiment is carried out on the DIOR dataset, the results show that the improved YOLOv5 network can significantly improve the accuracy of large object recognition compared with the YOLO series network and the EfficientDet model on DIOR dataset, and the mAP of the improved YOLOv5 network is 80.5%, which is 2% higher than the original YOLOv5 network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oasis-desert ecotone as a transitional zone is sensitive and vulnerable to hydro-climatic changes and anthropogenic activities in maintaining oasis stability and combating desertification. The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is an important indicator for evaluating the desert vegetation restoration status. However, it is difficult to quantify individual and interactive impacts of hydro-climatic changes and anthropogenic activities on NDVI in the oasis-desert ecotone. This paper introduces the hydro-climate elasticity and geographical detector approach to assess the influences of hydro-climate changes and human activities on NDVI in Qira oasis-desert ecotone, Northwest China during 2000–2019. Results show that the climatic elasticities of NDVI reflect that the NDVI is more sensitive to precipitation (0.318) than to temperature (0.290), while the NDVI becomes more sensitive to variation in soil moisture content (0.219) than that in the groundwater table (0.150) in hydrological elasticities. The land-use change caused by human activities results in a decrease of NDVI, accounting for 90% of NDVI reduction. The human activities indicate the strongest influence on NDVI. The nonparametric elasticity estimator proposed is illustrated good agreement with the spatiotemporal synchronism of NDVI to hydro-climatic changes. The interaction analysis of geographical detector reveals that the interaction among influencing factors has a bivariate enhancement relationship and a nonlinear enhancement effect on NDVI. This study contributes to clarifying the individual influencing and interactive relationships of NDVI to hydro-climatic factors and human activities, and assist land restoration practitioners to evaluate the desert vegetation restoration status under current and future hydro-climatic changes in arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem services (ESs) refer to the benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems. These services are subject to environmental changes and human interventions, which introduce a significant level of uncertainty. Traditional ES modeling approaches often employ Bayesian networks, but they fall short in capturing spatiotemporal dynamic change processes. To address this limitation, dynamic Bayesian networks (DBNs) have emerged as stochastic models capable of incorporating uncertainty and capturing dynamic changes. Consequently, DBNs have found increasing application in ES modeling. However, the structure and parameter learning of DBNs present complexities within the field of ES modeling. To mitigate the reliance on expert knowledge, this study proposes an algorithm for structure and parameter learning, integrating the InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-Offs) model with DBNs to develop a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics and uncertainty of ESs in the Tarim River Basin, China from 2000 to 2020. The study further evaluates the tradeoffs and synergies among four key ecosystem services: water yield, habitat quality, sediment delivery ratio, and carbon storage and sequestration. The findings show that (1) the proposed structure learning and parameter learning algorithm for DBNs, including the hill-climb algorithm, linear analysis, the Markov blanket, and the EM algorithm, effectively address subjective factors that can influence model learning when dealing with uncertainty; (2) significant spatial heterogeneity is observed in the supply of ESs within the Tarim River Basin, with notable changes in habitat quality, water yield, and sediment delivery ratios occurring between 2000–2005, 2010–2015, and 2015–2020, respectively; (3) tradeoffs exist between water yield and habitat quality, as well as between soil conservation and carbon sequestration, while synergies are found among habitat quality, soil retention, and carbon sequestration. The land-use type emerges as the most influential factor affecting the tradeoffs and synergies of ESs. This study serves to validate the capacity of DBNs in addressing spatiotemporal dynamic changes and establishes an improved research methodology for ES modeling that considers uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust information on consumptive water use (evapotranspiration, ET) derived from remote sensing can significantly benefit water decision-making in agriculture, informing irrigation schedules and water management plans over extended regions. To be of optimal utility for operational usage, these remote sensing ET data should be generated at the sub-field spatial resolution and daily-to-weekly timesteps commensurate with the scales of water management activities. However, current methods for field-scale ET retrieval based on thermal infrared (TIR) imaging, a valuable diagnostic of canopy stress and surface moisture status, are limited by the temporal revisit of available medium-resolution (100 m or finer) thermal satellite sensors. This study investigates the efficacy of a data fusion method for combining information from multiple medium-resolution sensors toward generating high spatiotemporal resolution ET products for water management. TIR data from Landsat and ECOSTRESS (both at ~ 100-m native resolution), and VIIRS (375-m native) are sharpened to a common 30-m grid using surface reflectance data from the Harmonized Landsat-Sentinel dataset. Periodic 30-m ET retrievals from these combined thermal data sources are fused with daily retrievals from unsharpened VIIRS to generate daily, 30-m ET image timeseries. The accuracy of this mapping method is tested over several irrigated cropping systems in the Central Valley of California in comparison with flux tower observations, including measurements over irrigated vineyards collected in the GRAPEX campaign. Results demonstrate the operational value added by the augmented TIR sensor suite compared to Landsat alone, in terms of capturing daily ET variability and reduced latency for real-time applications. The method also provides means for incorporating new sources of imaging from future planned thermal missions, further improving our ability to map rapid changes in crop water use at field scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The launch of NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) and the European Space Agency's Sentinel-1A/B synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites provides the opportunity to advance a multi-sensor remote sensing approach to crop monitoring. While ECOSTRESS and Sentinel-1A/B have been used separately to assess vegetation conditions, a study that quantifies the synergistic usefulness of both to monitor crops has not been performed. This study assesses the complementary uses of Sentinel-1A SAR and ECOSTRESS land surface temperature (LST) and evapotranspiration (ET) datasets to assess vine growth and conditions in blocks located in Sonoma County, California for 2018. Results indicate Sentinel-1A SAR dual-polarization backscatter measurements ( σ VV 0 and σ VH 0 ) have different sensitivities to vine leafiness and moisture content, based on measured vineyard field data and radiometric modeling. SAR and modeled σ VV 0 backscatter suggest higher sensitivity to surface conditions and trunk and cane moisture, while SAR and modeled σ VH 0 backscatter indicate higher sensitivity to vine leafiness and canopy moisture. ECOSTRESS LST measurements were sharpened to a 30 m resolution using a data mining sharpener and ET measurements were generated with a retrieval algorithm approach for select dates. Spearman's rank correlation and linear regressions analyses between SAR backscatter to ECOSTRESS datasets indicate stronger relationships between σ VH 0 backscatter to LST and ET relative to σ VV 0 backscatter. The results suggest Sentinel-1A SAR σ VH 0 backscatter can provide indications of vine leaf volume and moisture state that can be related to LST and ET measurements, providing useful information for vineyard management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf material explants of Pulsatilla tongkangensis Y. N. Lee & T. C. Lee were used to regenerate plants of this endangered species by somatic embryogenesis and organogenesis from meristematic nodules, induced by MS medium supplemented with zeatin (Zn) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Globular structures were induced on the surface of the explants after 2 weeks and after 6–7 weeks of culture, multiple shoots developed from the nodules. Morpho-histological analysis of light green globular, heart-shaped structures resembling somatic embryos revealed, however, that these were organogenic, with strongly vacuolated parenchymatous cells surrounded by a single layer of epithermal cells, and tracheid elements, but no root pole. Milky-white callus also developed around the nodules after 4–6 weeks. Morpho-histological analysis of the globular, heart-, and torpedo-shaped stages of regenerants present in this callus confirmed the development of somatic embryos in the milky-white structures, characterized by deeply staining, small cells with rich cytoplasm, very little vascular tissue in the developing embryos, and no vascular connection with the surrounding callus. The highest rooting frequency (93.33%) was achieved on MS medium containing 1.5 mg/l NAA. Plantlets were acclimatized and successfully transferred to pots. Our results provide a plant regeneration system with potential for germplasm conservation of endangered plants and the rapid propagation and molecular breeding of P. tongkangensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze the long-term oncological outcomes of Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stages 0–A hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients associated with or without microvascular invasion (MVI) treated with laparoscopic versus laparotomic liver resection. Methods: Clinicopathological data of HCC patients with BCLC stages 0–A from four medical centers were retrospectively reviewed. The survival outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy were compared with those who underwent laparotomic hepatectomy. Subgroup analyses in terms of MVI were further performed to explore the effect of surgical approaches on the long-term survival outcomes. Propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was used to match patients between the laparoscopic and laparotomic resection groups in a 1:1 ratio. Results: 495 HCC patients at BCLC stages 0–A were enrolled, including 243 in the laparoscopic resection group and 252 in the laparotomic resection group. Laparoscopic resection group had a shorter operation time, less blood loss, a lower frequency of blood transfusion and postoperative complication rates. The laparoscopic resection group had a significantly better overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) than the laparotomic resection group before and after PSM. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that OS and RFS of patients without MVI were remarkably better in the laparoscopic resection group compared with the laparotomic resection group. However, no significant differences in OS and RFS between the two groups were found in patients with MVI after PSM. Conclusions: Pure laparoscopic hepatectomy for patients with BCLC stages 0–A HCC can be performed safely with favorable perioperative and long-term oncological outcomes at high-volume liver cancer centers, regardless of the presence of MVI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given a dataset S of points in R 2 , the range closest-pair (RCP) problem aims to preprocess S into a data structure such that when a query range X is specified, the closest-pair in S ∩ X can be reported efficiently. The RCP problem can be viewed as a range-search version of the classical closest-pair problem, and finds applications in many areas. Due to its non-decomposability, the RCP problem is much more challenging than many traditional range-search problems. This paper revisits the RCP problem, and proposes new data structures for various query types including quadrants, strips, rectangles, and halfplanes. Both worst-case and average-case analyses (in the sense that the data points are drawn uniformly and independently from the unit square) are applied to these new data structures, which result in new bounds for the RCP problem. Some of the new bounds significantly improve the previous results, while the others are entirely new. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape fragmentation is considered a serious threat to eco-environmental integrity and socioeconomic development. Although many studies have focused on landscape fragmentation resulting from agricultural production and urbanization, landscape fragmentation from the aspects of patterns, driving forces, and the policy perspective of ecosystems has rarely been investigated. Oases, as a unique landscape, face severe fragmentation in arid and semiarid regions. This study applied a combination of approaches, including remote sensing image interpretations, landscape fragmentation metrics, and community surveys, to analyze patterns and their driving forces, as well as the policy implications for future land consolidation, in the Hotan oasis of Northwest China from the space and time perspectives. Results show that the frequent occurrence of summer flood events changes the patch number, density, size, and splitting degree of oasis–desert ecotone vegetation. The socioeconomic factors including total population and irrigation area are more important driving forces on oasis landscape fragmentation, compared with natural factors such as temperature and precipitation. Rural expansion, road and canal system developments caused by population growth, and the rising number of households increase oasis landscape fragmentation. Rapid economic development, such as agricultural expansion and urbanization, has imposed the intensification of landscape fragmentation. Fragmentation reaches peak when agricultural development makes up 40–50% of study area. Rural residential reconstruction and farmland transfer policies facilitate the intensive utilization of land toward oasis fragmentation solutions, but many factors, such as landholders' household characteristics and living conditions, are partly responsible for the challenges in land consolidation. This study also demonstrates that intense human activities pose a great threat for land consolidation and sustainable development of oasis landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A process of NaOH molten salt roasting–water leaching to treat titanium–vanadium slag obtained by direct reduction of titanomagnetite concentrates was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC) techniques were used to characterize the samples. The results show that anosovite (MgxTi3−xO5) and clinopyroxene [Ca(Ti,MgAl)(SiAl)2O6] are the major phases of titanium–vanadium slag. In the NaOH molten salt roasting process, titanium is converted to intermediate product Na2TiO3 and vanadium is converted to water-soluble vanadate. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the roasting process conditions. NaOH to slag mass ratio (N/S) and roasting temperature are the main influential factors. Under the optimal roasting conditions, i.e., roasting temperature of 550 °C, N/S of 1.20, and roasting time of 80 min, the conversions of titanium and vanadium are 96.5 % and 93.0 %, respectively. In the water leaching process, Na2TiO3 is converted to amorphous structure of H2TiO3 since Na+ is exchanged with H+. Up to 93.0 % vanadium is leached out under the optimal leaching conditions. Titanium and vanadium in the titanium–vanadium slag can be separated and then recovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coalbed methane not only is a new clean energy source, but also has potential damage to ecological environment. Water and methane coexist in coal reservoir; understanding the adsorption of water on coal and its impact on pore structure and methane adsorption of coal is vital to evaluate the reserves and productivity of coalbed methane. In the paper, water adsorption characteristics of various rank coals are firstly investigated by ten mathematical models. The modified Dent model provides a best fit, followed by GAB and Dent models. For GAB model, the primary site adsorption is more difficult to reach saturation, and the contribution rate of the secondary site adsorption is surprisingly high at P/P0 approaching 0, which can be attributed to the possible overestimation of GAB monolayer adsorption capacity and secondary site adsorption. Besides, the low-rank coal sample YZG2 exhibits more prominent hysteresis than middle- to high-rank coals. The low-pressure hysteresis can be attributed to the water-water interactions over the primary site and the strengthened binding forces of water molecules in the water desorption process. In contrast, the high-pressure hysteresis largely depends on pore structure of coal such as ink-bottle pores, especially for the studied sample YZG2. Besides, pore analyses by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption method show that the pre-adsorbed water has remarkable influence on micropores smaller than 10 nm, and the micropores smaller than 4 nm almost disappear for water-equilibrated coals, which is closely related to the formed water clusters and capillary water in pore throats. This finding reveals that more methane gas can only be adsorbed in the larger pores of moist coal, and provides an explanation for water weakening methane adsorption capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deep understanding of the neuronal connectivity and networks with detailed cell typing across brain regions is necessary to unravel the mechanisms behind the emotional and memorial functions as well as to find the treatment of brain impairment. Brain-wide imaging with single-cell resolution provides unique advantages to access morphological features of a neuron and to investigate the connectivity of neuron networks, which has led to exciting discoveries over the past years based on animal models, such as rodents. Nonetheless, high-throughput systems are in urgent demand to support studies of neural morphologies at larger scale and more detailed level, as well as to enable research on non-human primates (NHP) and human brains. The advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and computational resources bring great opportunity to ‘smart’ imaging systems, i.e., to automate, speed up, optimize and upgrade the imaging systems with AI and computational strategies. In this light, we review the important computational techniques that can support smart systems in brain-wide imaging at single-cell resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agroforestry system has been considered as an efficient solution to reconcile land use conflicts by tree-crop interaction and supplement. However, the water productivity, tradeoffs, and water-use portfolios of farm diversification in agroforestry combination with tree and/or crop monocultures are still missing, especially in arid water shortage regions. Based on portfolio theory and farmer perception, this study integrates experimental data, meteorological parameters, farmers questionnaire, and yields and prices to assess water use efficiencies, economic return-risk tradeoffs, and portfolio optimizations of diversification farm systems in Moyu oasis of Northwest China. Results show that all the planting layouts of agroforestry systems provide a better economic income than the combination in mixing agroforestry and monocultures in water-use tradeoffs using Sharp ratio. Moreover, allocating part farm area to the nut/fruit trees can increase economic water-use return compared to more crop cultivations, providing a good complement to farm income. The Sharpe ratios of the walnut/wheat, walnut/maize, and walnut/alfalfa intercropping for 23.70%, 15.71%, and 60.60% give the highest economic water-use return compared to the other planting layouts. Nevertheless, according to the minimum risk portfolio and risk-averse farmers' preference, the combination of the walnut/wheat, walnut/maize, and walnut/alfalfa intercropping and monocultures of jujube and apricot (the ratios of 32.01%, 27.63%, 8.11%, 9.81 and 22.45%) is recommended to use for planting layout in the study area. It is concluded that the combination with nut/fruit-crop agroforestry and sole nut/fruit tree is a financially efficient diversification strategy to improve the water use efficiency and economic tradeoffs in arid water shortage regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursuing purely organic materials with high-efficiency near-infrared (NIR) emissions is fundamentally limited by the large non-radiative decay rates (knr) governed by the energy gap law. To date, reported endeavors to decelerate knr are mainly focused on reducing the electron-vibration coupling with the electronic nonadiabatic coupling assumed as a constant. Here, we demonstrated a feasible and innovative strategy by employing intermolecular charge-transfer (CT) aggregates (CTA) to realize high-efficiency NIR emissions via nonadiabatic coupling suppression. The formation of CTA engenders intermolecular CT in the excited states; thereby, not only reducing the electronic nonadiabatic coupling and contributing to small knr for high-efficiency NIR photoluminescence, but also stabilizing excited-state energies and achieving thermally activated delayed fluorescence for high-efficiency NIR electroluminescence. This work provides new insights into aggregates and opens a new avenue for organic materials to overcome the energy gap law and achieve high-efficiency NIR emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evapotranspiration (ET) is one of the most important components of global hydrologic cycle and has significant impacts on energy exchange and climate change. Numerous models have been developed to estimate ET so far; however, great uncertainties in models still require considerations. The aim of this study is to reduce model errors and uncertainties among multi-models to improve daily ET estimate. The Bayesian model averaging (BMA) method is used to assemble eight ET models to produce ET with Landsat 8 satellite data, including four surface energy balance models (i.e., SEBS, SEBAL, SEBI, and SSEB) and four machine learning algorithms (i.e., polymars, random forest, ridge regression, and support vector machine). Performances of each model and BMA method were validated through in situ measurements of semi-arid region. Results indicated that the BMA method outperformed all eight single models. The four most important models obtained by the BMA method were ranked by random forest, SVM, SEBS, and SEBAL. The BMA method coupled with machine learning can significantly improve the accuracy of daily ET estimate, reducing uncertainties among models, and taking different intrinsic benefits of empirically and physically based models to obtain a more reliable ET estimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turnip (Brassica rapa L.) is widely consumed as a vegetable and traditional Chinese medicine with high dietary fiber content. Soluble dietary fiber (SDF) and insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) were obtained from white turnips, and the IDF was modified with alkaline hydrogen peroxide to obtain modified IDF (MIDF) and modified SDF (MSDF). The compositional, structural, and functional properties of the four samples were investigated. After modification, the modified dietary fibers (MDFs) showed smaller particle sizes and lower contents of pectin and polyphenol than those of unmodified dietary fibers (DFs) The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) showed that compared to the DFs, the MDFs were smaller and had more exposed hydroxyl groups. Analysis of the microrheological behaviors showed that the MDFs had higher viscosity than that of the DFs, with a looser structure for the MSDF and a stable structure for the MIDF. Therefore, due to structural changes, the physical and functional properties of the MDFs were improved compared to those of the unmodified DFs. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the particle size was positively correlated with the pectin content. The water holding capacity (WHC), oil adsorption capacity (OAC) and water swelling capacity (WSC) showed positive correlations with each other. This work indicated that white turnip could be a potential new source of DFs, which presented desirable functional properties after modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Petroleum-industry wastewater (PI-WW) is a potential source of water that can be reused in areas suffering from water stress. This water contains various fractions that need to be removed before reuse, such as light hydrocarbons, heavy metals and conditioning chemicals. Constructed wetlands (CWs) can remove these fractions, but the range of PI-WW salinities that can be treated in CWs and the influence of an increasing salinity on the CW removal efficiency for abovementioned fractions is unknown. Therefore, the impact of an increasing salinity on the removal of conditioning chemicals benzotriazole, aromatic hydrocarbon benzoic acid, and heavy metal zinc in lab-scale unplanted and Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia planted vertical-flow CWs was tested in the present study. P. australis was less sensitive than T. latifolia to increasing salinities and survived with a NaCl concentration of 12 g/L. The decay of T. latifolia was accompanied by a decrease in the removal efficiency for benzotriazole and benzoic acid, indicating that living vegetation enhanced the removal of these chemicals. Increased salinities resulted in the leaching of zinc from the planted CWs, probably as a result of active plant defence mechanisms against salt shocks that solubilized zinc. Plant growth also resulted in substantial evapotranspiration, leading to an increased salinity of the CW treated effluent. A too high salinity limits the reuse of the CW treated water. Therefore, CW treatment should be followed by desalination technologies to obtain salinities suitable for reuse. In this technology train, CWs enhance the efficiency of physicochemical desalination technologies by removing organics that induce membrane fouling. Hence, P. australis planted CWs are a suitable option for the treatment of water with a salinity below 12 g/L before further treatment or direct reuse in water scarce areas worldwide, where CWs may also boost the local biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We revisit a classical graph-theoretic problem, the single-source shortest-path (SSSP) problem, in weighted unit-disk graphs. We first propose an exact (and deterministic) algorithm which solves the problem in O (n log 2 n) time using linear space, where n is the number of the vertices of the graph. This significantly improves the previous deterministic algorithm by Cabello and Jejčič [CGTA'15] which uses O (n 1 + δ) time and O (n 1 + δ) space (for any constant δ > 0 ) and the previous randomized algorithm by Kaplan et al. [SODA'17] which uses O (n log 12 + o (1) n) expected time and O (n log 3 n) space. More specifically, we show that if the 2D offline insertion-only (additively) weighted nearest-neighbor problem with k operations (i.e., insertions and queries) can be solved in f(k) time, then the SSSP problem in weighted unit-disk graphs can be solved in O (n log n + f (n)) time. Using the same framework with some new ideas, we also obtain a (1 + ε) -approximate algorithm for the problem, using O (n log n + n log 2 (1 / ε)) time and linear space. This improves the previous (1 + ε) -approximate algorithm by Chan and Skrepetos [SoCG'18] which uses O ((1 / ε) 2 n log n) time and O ((1 / ε) 2 n) space. More specifically, we show that if the 2D offline insertion-only weighted nearest-neighbor problem with k 1 operations in which at most k 2 operations are insertions can be solved in f (k 1 , k 2) time, then the (1 + ε) -approximate SSSP problem in weighted unit-disk graphs can be solved in O (n log n + f (n , O (ε - 2))) time. Because of the Ω (n log n) -time lower bound of the problem (even when approximation is allowed), both of our algorithms are almost optimal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims/hypothesis: Adiponectin stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis through peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α), a major regulator of mitochondrial biogenesis. MOTS-c (mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA) is a biologically active mitochondrial-derived peptide encoded by mitochondrial DNA. It influences the mechanisms of obesity and diabetes. We hypothesised that the adiponectin pathway may regulate the production and/or secretion of MOTS-c in skeletal muscle. We aimed to determine whether exercise and adiponectin affect MOTS-c to improve insulin resistance in mice. Methods: To investigate this hypothesis, we used wild-type C57BL/6 mice subjected to high-fat diet, an exercise regimen, and i.p. injection of recombinant mouse adiponectin (Acrp30) or MOTS-c, and adiponectin knockout (Adipoq−/−) mice (C57BL/6 background) subjected to i.p. injection of Acrp30. C2C12 myotubes were also treated with sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) inhibitor, PGC-1α inhibitor, SIRT1 activator, plasmid-expressed active APPL1 (adaptor protein, phosphotyrosine interacting with PH domain and leucine zipper), pcDNA-SIRT1, or siRNA against APPL1, SIRT1 or PGC-1α. Results: In Adipoq–/– mice, MOTS-c levels in the plasma and skeletal muscle were downregulated. In C2C12 myotubes, adiponectin increased the mRNA expression of MOTS-c. APPL1 protein level following adiponectin treatment positively correlated with MOTS-c protein and mRNA levels in C2C12 myotubes. SIRT1 overexpression increased the adiponectin-induced mRNA and protein expression of MOTS-c, SIRT1 and PGC-1α. Pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of PGC-1α suppressed the increases in MOTS-c mRNA and protein levels induced by SIRT1 overexpression. In mice, plasma and skeletal muscle MOTS-c levels were significantly downregulated following high-fat-diet. Exercise and i.p. Acrp30 or MOTS-c increased MOTS-c levels and adiponectin mRNA and protein expression in the plasma and skeletal muscle. Conclusions/interpretation: Our findings showed that the APPL1–SIRT1–PGC-1α pathway regulates the production and/or secretion of skeletal muscle MOTS-c by mediating adiponectin signalling. Our study provides an insight into the cellular and molecular pathways underlying the pathogenesis of diabetes and shows that MOTS-c is a potential novel therapeutic target in the treatment of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider the unimodality of the principal eigenvector of graphs. A unimodal lemma of the principal eigenvector on internal paths is obtained. This unimodal lemma is used to establish a cycle version of Li–Feng transformation with respect to the spectral radius. Another application of unimodal lemma is to determine the unicyclic graph with minimal spectral radius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil environment and water quality face large pressure due to the rapid expansion of greenhouse cultivation in China. However, studies rarely provide the linkage between farmers' practices and soil degradation in greenhouse cultivation field. In this study, a field survey and sampling of greenhouse cultivation soil were conducted in five regions of China to investigate the accumulation and variation characteristics of soil ion compositions in the field. First, the pH, ion compositions, and electrical conductivity (EC) of 132 composite soil samples were analyzed. Second, farmers' practices with regard to fertilizer, crop yield, and soil degradation processes were surveyed. Lastly, soil nutrient status was evaluated by different grades, and the principal component analysis method was used to analyze the main sources of soil ion compositions. Results of the study reveal the following: (1) Enrichment of greenhouse soil nutrient was mainly caused by excessive fertilization, which introduced the secondary salinization phenomenon for 3–5 years in plastic greenhouse and 1–3 years in multispan greenhouse. (2) Significant changes between the EC and salt ion composition of open soil and greenhouse cultivated soil were observed. The contents of nitrate nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen in the greenhouse soil were high. (3) After a certain period of cultivation in the greenhouse, salt accumulation, pH decline, and varying degrees of acidification were observed in the soil profile. The relationship between soil pH and EC values indicated that the balance of soil compositions was broken. The recommended methods for sustaining greenhouse cultivation include balanced fertilization, rotation practices, and reasonable water utilization in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermodynamic and kinetic mechanisms of Taixi anthracite during its graphitization process were explored. To understand the variation trends of carbon arrangement order, microcrystal size, and graphitization degree against temperature during the graphitization process, a series of experiments were performed using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Subsequently, the influencing factors of the dominant reaction at different temperatures were analyzed using thermodynamics and kinetics. The results showed that the graphitization process of Taixi anthracite can be divided into three stages from the perspective of reaction thermodynamics and kinetics. Temperature played a crucial role in the formation and growth of a graphitic structure. Meanwhile, multivariate mechanisms coexisted in the graphitization process. At ultrahigh temperatures, the defects of synthetic graphite could not be completely eliminated and perfect graphite crystals could not be produced. At low temperatures, the reaction is mainly controlled by dynamics, while at high temperatures, thermodynamics dominates the direction of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Footwear prints are important evidence in criminal investigation. They represent changes in the surface morphology due to disturbance to fine particle distributions. Existing non-contact optical detection methods usually measure the light intensity contrasts between the footwear prints and the ground, which can be enhanced by grazing incident illumination. We take polarization images of footwear prints on different types of floors using a commercial single lens reflex color camera. Results show that adding linear polarizers in front of the camera lens and light source improves the contrast of footwear print images. The best contrasts are achieved in degree of linear polarization. In addition, the three-color channels of the camera can be used to examine the spectral features of the polarization images. According to the experimental results, the best contrast is obtained at the blue channel. The current work shows that grazing incidence polarized light imaging can effectively enhance the contrast of the footwear prints against the floors, which would help obtain footwear evidence in criminal investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hadoop, employing the MapReduce programming paradigm, has been widely accepted as the standard framework for analyzing big data in distributed environments. Unfortunately, this rich framework has not been exploited for processing large-scale computational geometry operations. This paper introduces CG_Hadoop; a suite of scalable and efficient MapReduce algorithms for various fundamental computational geometry operations, namely polygon union, Voronoi diagram, skyline, convex hull, farthest pair, and closest pair, which present a set of key components for other geometric algorithms. For each computational geometry operation, CG_Hadoop has two versions, one for the Apache Hadoop system and one for the SpatialHadoop system, a Hadoop-based system that is more suited for spatial operations. These proposed algorithms form the nucleus of a comprehensive MapReduce library of computational geometry operations. Extensive experimental results run on a cluster of 25 machines over datasets of size up to 3.8B records show that CG_Hadoop achieves up to 14x and 115x better performance than traditional algorithms when using Hadoop and SpatialHadoop systems, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vegetation of desert oasis regulates the regional microclimate in arid or hyper-arid regions. A wide range of studies on the oasis microclimate effects have been conducted under sunny conditions. However, less concern has been focused on microclimatic variations of oasis effects caused by the influences of different types and coverage of vegetation in oasis during other different weather events, especially during catastrophic weather conditions. Based on the measurements from 1 August, 2010 to 30 December, 2014 in the Qira oasis, a hyper arid zone of southern Taklimakan desert, Northwest China, this paper investigates the existences and variabilities of the oasis microclimate effects during dust storm, blown sand, floating dust, and rain events and analyzes the impacts of different types of vegetation (bare desert, sparse desert grassland, desert oasis dense shrub grassland and forests, and oasis crops and fruit trees) on desert oasis microclimates. Moreover, the importance of maintaining the oasis sustainability mirrored by the oasis microclimate effects is highlighted and discussed. Results show that the oasis with abundant vegetation exerts cooling and humidifying effects under four weather events relative to bare desert land. As a result of high wind velocities, the oasis microclimatic effects are weakened during catastrophic weather conditions such as dust storm or blown sand events. The type and coverage of vegetation and the topography as well as weather events jointly impact on the oasis microclimate effects. The findings of this work provide an implication for the conservation and restoration of oasis vegetation to maintain both the oasis microclimate environment and the sustainability of desert oasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Glioblastoma is the most aggressive cancer that begins within the brain. In clinic, temozolomide was used as anti-tumor drugs for glioblastoma chemotherapy, but showed limited effect. Therefore, how to improve the effect of temozolomide to glioblastoma is urgently needed.Methods: The cell viability of T98G cells was detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Apoptosis was detected using the Annexin-V-FITC & PI apoptosis kit and assessed by flow cytometry. The expression levels of Bax, B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), phos-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK), phos-extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) and phos-p38 were determined by western blot. The effect of ultrasound and temozolomide combination in mice was determined by survival analysis.Results: Compared with temozolomide treatment alone, ultrasound and temozolomide combination inhibited the cell viability, and promotes apoptosis of human glioblastoma T98G cells. Bax level increased, while Bcl-2 level decreased in combination group. Mechanically, combination treatment promoted apoptosis via JNK and p38 pathways. In mouse glioblastoma model, combination treatment improved overall survival.Conclusions: Ultrasound enhanced anti-tumor effect of temozolomide in glioblastoma cells via JNK and p38 pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Piroxicam (PRX) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The thermal decomposition process of PRX was investigated with thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. The gaseous products generated by thermal decomposition were characterized with thermogravimetric analysis coupled with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The residues of the thermal decomposition at various temperatures were identified with infrared spectroscopy. The molecular bond orders were calculated using an ab initio method from the GAMESS program of quantum chemistry. The mechanism of thermal decomposition for PRX was discussed. The results indicated that the thermal decomposition of PRX is a two-stage process with the initial temperature of 198 °C either in nitrogen or air atmospheres. The thermal decompositions of the first stage in two atmospheres are the same process. The main part of the molecule, including sulfamide, amide, benzene ring and pyridine ring, decompose simultaneously and to form gasifiable small molecules and carbonaceous residue in the first stage. The second stage in nitrogen is a slow thermal pyrolysis process of carbonaceous residue. The forepart of the second stage in air is a slow thermal pyrolysis process as like as in nitrogen, and the later period of the second stage is an oxidation (combustion) reaction process of carbonaceous residue. PRX is stable under ambient temperature and air atmosphere, and it can be preserved for long-term storage under ambient temperature and in air atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pb(Mn1/3Sb2/3)0.01(Ni1/3Nb2/3)0.495(Zr0.3Ti0.7)0.495O3+x wt% Ta2O5 (PMS-PNN-PZT, x = 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) lead piezoelectric ceramics were prepared by a traditional two-step solid-state reaction method. The effect of Ta2O5 content on the phase structure, microstructure, electrical properties and dielectric relaxation of PMS-PNN-PZT ceramics was investigated. The XRD patterns show that all ceramics have pure perovskite structure. Ta2O5 doping can promote the grain growth and improve electrical properties. And the ceramics have high relaxation behavior. When x = 0.4, it exhibits optimum electrical performance: d33 = 805 pC/N, kp = 66%, εr = 6838, tanδ = 1.4%, Tc = 118.5 °C, γ = 1.9618, Ec = 3.652 kV/cm, Pr = 21.91 µC/cm2. This indicates that Ta2O5 can be used as an effective dopant in PMS-PNN-PZT ceramics and the ceramics can be used as the main material for multilayer ceramic capacitors and electro-strictive actuators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]