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The importance of osteoporosis assessment before lumbar surgery is well recognized. The MRI-based Vertebral Bone Quality (VBQ) score is introduced to evaluate bone quality; however, its diagnostic value has not been well documented. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summarize the diagnostic value of the VBQ score for osteoporosis or osteopenia in patients undergoing lumbar surgery. We comprehensively searched electronic databases for studies exploring the diagnostic accuracy of the VBQ score for osteoporosis/osteopenia in patients with lumbar disease following the PRISMA guidelines. The quality of the included studies was assessed. The VBQ scores were compared between the groups, and the pooled sensitivity, specificity, and summary receiver operating characteristic (ROC) were calculated. Publication bias was assessed, and meta-regression was conducted. We included 17 studies with a total of 2815 patients, with a mean age of 66.4 years and a percentage of females of 72.5%. According to the QUADAS-2 tool, the quality of the included studies was relatively high. The results showed a significantly higher VBQ score in the osteoporosis/osteopenia group compared with the control group. According to the mean VBQ cutoff value of 3.02 ± 0.38 for the diagnosis of osteoporosis, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.76 and 0.74, respectively, and the AUC was 0.81. According to the mean VBQ cutoff value of 2.31 ± 0.18 for the diagnosis of osteopenia, the pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.78 and 0.58, respectively, and the AUC was 0.76. The MRI-based VBQ score could provide useful information for identifying patients with low bone mass who need further evaluation. Future prospective studies are still needed to evaluate the complementary role of the VBQ score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphology of right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) is potentially related to cardiovascular outcomes. However, this relationship still remains to be verified with direct evidence. We retrospectively reviewed cases from the autopsy specimen library in the Center of Forensic Medicine in Sun Yat-sen University from 2017 to 2023. Six RVOT morphological characteristics were measured and their association with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), sudden cardiac death (SCD) and age at death was evaluated. Relationship between myocardial fibrosis in RVOT and CVDs was investigated. RVOT characteristics were recruited by machine learning algorithms for diagnosing CVDs. A total of 2370 cases were finally recruited. Perimeter of sub-valve plane (pSBV) in RVOT was positively associated with risk of CVDs and SCD (OR: 1.21, 95%CI: 1.07–1.37, p = 0.003; OR: 1.33, 95%CI: 1.16–1.52, p < 0.001). Compared with thickness of septum (tS) < 3.0 mm, tS ≥ 3.0 mm was associated with premature death in disease-dominant death (β=-0.16, 95%CI: -0.20 to -0.11, p < 0.001) and SCD (β=-0.15, 95%CI: -0.21 to -0.10, p < 0.001). Degree of myocardial fibrosis in the posterior septum was increased in coronary atherosclerosis (6.86%±2.48% vs. 4.91%±2.14%, p = 0.011) and cardiomyopathies (8.11%±3.24% vs. 4.88%±3.11%, p = 0.005). A logistic regression model, recruiting age, left and right ventricular wall thickness, pSBV, circumference of pulmonary annulus and aortic annulus, was elected as an optimal diagnostic model of CVDs, yielding AUC of 0.734 (95%CI: 0.705–0.763), 0.781 (0.740–0.821) and 0.763 (0.725-0.800) in training, validation and test sets. Increased pSBV significantly correlates with higher risk of CVDs and SCD. And tS ≥ 3.0 mm is an independent risk factor of premature death regardless of diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prognostic value of growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) in predicting long-term adverse outcomes in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients remains limited. Our study examines the association between GDF-15 and adverse outcomes over an extended period in CHD patients and firstly assesses the incremental prognostic effect of incorporating GDF-15 into the Framingham risk score (FRS)-based model. This single-center prospective cohort study included 3,321 patients with CHD categorized into 2,479 acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (74.6%) and 842 non-ACS (25.4%) groups. The median age was 61.0 years (range: 53.0–70.0), and 917 (27.6%) were females. Mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) included cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and heart failure (HF) (inclusive of HF episodes requiring outpatient treatment and/or hospital admission). Cox regression models assessed the associations between GDF-15 and the incidence of all-cause mortality and MACEs. Patients were stratified into three groups based on GDF-15 levels: the first tertile group (< 1,370 ng/L), the second tertile group (1,370–2,556 ng/L), and the third tertile group (> 2,556 ng/L). The C-index, integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), net reclassification improvement (NRI), and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess incremental value. Over a median 9.4-year follow-up, 759 patients (22.9%) died, and 1,291 (38.9%) experienced MACEs. The multivariate Cox model indicated that GDF-15 was significantly associated with all-cause mortality (per ln unit increase, HR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.36–1.64) and MACEs (per ln unit increase, HR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.20–1.38). These associations persisted when GDF-15 was analyzed as an ordinal variable (p for trend < 0.05). Subgroup analysis of ACS and non-ACS for the components of MACEs separately showed a significant association between GDF-15 and both cardiovascular mortality and HF, but no association was observed between GDF-15 and MI /stroke in both ACS and non-ACS patients. The addition of GDF-15 to the FRS-based model enhanced the discrimination for both all-cause mortality (∆ C-index = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.005–0.014; IDI = 0.030, 95% CI: 0.015–0.047; continuous NRI = 0.631, 95% CI: 0.569–0.652) and MACEs (∆ C-index = 0.009, 95% CI: 0.006–0.012; IDI = 0.026, 95% CI: 0.009–0.042; continuous NRI = 0.593, 95% CI: 0.478–0.682). DCA suggested that incorporating GDF-15 into the FRS-based model demonstrated higher net benefits compared to FRS-based models alone (All-cause mortality: FRS-based model: area under the curve of DCA (AUDC) = 0.0903, FRS-based model + GDF-15: AUDC = 0.0908; MACEs: FRS-based model: AUDC = 0.1806, FRS-based model + GDF-15: AUDC = 0.1833). GDF-15 significantly associates with the long-term prognosis of all-cause mortality and MACEs in CHD patients and significantly improves the prognostic accuracy of the FRS-based model for both outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adverse pregnancy outcomes, including recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA), are strongly correlated with water-soluble vitamins, but how to predict RSA occurrence using them remains unsatisfactory. This study aims to investigate the possibility of predicting RSA based on the baseline levels of water-soluble vitamins tested by ultra-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A total of 918 pregnant women was consecutively enrolled in this cross-sectional study. According to the miscarriage numbers, they were divided into normal first pregnancy (NFP, n = 608), once spontaneous abortion (OSA, n = 167), and continuous spontaneous abortion (CSA, n = 143) groups. The Cox proportional-hazards regression model was employed to establish a risk model for predicting RSA. The RSA occurrence was 6.54% in overall pregnant women, with a prevalence of 12.57% in the OSA group and 27.27% in the CSA group. Significant differences were observed in baseline deficiencies of vitamin B3, B5, B6, and B9 among NFP, OSA, and CSA groups (χ2 = 12.191 ~ 37.561, all P < 0.001). Among these vitamins, B9 (HR = 0.89 and 0.88, all P < 0.001) and B6 (HR = 0.83 and 0.78, all P < 0.05) were identified as independent factors in both the OSA and CSA groups; whereas B5 was identified as an additional independent factor only in the CSA group (HR = 0.93, P = 0.005). The Cox proportional-hazards model established using these three vitamins exhibited poor or satisfactory predictive performance in the OSA (Sen = 95.2%, Spe = 39.0%) and CSA (Sen = 92.3%, Spe = 60.6%) groups, respectively. However, B5, B6, and B9 compensatory levels were not associated with RSA occurrence (all P > 0.05). Our study presents a highly sensitive model based on mass spectrometry assay of baseline levels in B vitamins to predict the RSA occurrence as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leukemia is an abnormal proliferation of white blood cells that occurs in bone marrow and expands through the blood. It arises from dysregulated differentiation, uncontrolled growth, and inhibition of apoptosis. Glutamine (GLN) is a "conditionally essential" amino acid that promotes growth and proliferation of leukemic cells. Recently, details about the role of GLN and its metabolism in the diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid, chronic lymphocytic, and acute lymphoblastic leukemia have emerged. The uptake of GLN by leukemia cells and the dynamic changes of glutamine-related indexes in leukemia patients may be able to assist in determining whether the condition of leukemia is in a state of progression, remission or relapse. Utilizing the possible differences in GLN metabolism in different subtypes of leukemia may help to differentiate between different subtypes of leukemia, thus providing a basis for accurate diagnosis. Targeting GLN metabolism in leukemia requires simultaneous blockade of multiple metabolic pathways without interfering with the normal cellular and immune functions of the body to achieve effective leukemia therapy. The present review summarizes recent advances, possible applications, and clinical perspectives of GLN metabolism in leukemia. In particular, it focuses on the prospects of GLN metabolism in the diagnosis and treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. The review provides new directions and hints at potential roles for future clinical treatments and studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlorine-containing Ti-extraction blast furnace slag (TEBFS) is a solid waste produced during titanium removal from high-titanium blast furnace slag. Large amounts of TEBFS affect the local environment and severely limit further process development. A lightweight calcium silicate board was successfully prepared via hydrothermal synthesis. When the mass ratio of TEBFS: Portland cement: diatomite: calcium hydroxide: quartz was 46∶15∶17∶13.9∶8.1, the bulk density, bending strength, and thermal conductivity of the sample were 1.23 g/cm3, 8.2 MPa, and 0.299 W/(m·K), respectively. The overall sample performance met the D1.3 category requirements in the national standard. After being immersed in water with stirring at 30 °C for 60 min, the sample exhibited a curing chlorine efficiency of 40.6%. Mechanical grinding increased slag activity and sample performance. Grinding for 3 min, the activity index of the slag was 72.74%, and the bending strength of the sample increased to 8.7 MPa. Increasing the pozzolanic activity of the slag and reducing the amount of aggregate produced between particles had a positive effect on optimizing sample performance. This paper provides a feasible method for the diversification and clean utilization of TEBFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Lymph node status is a determinant of survival in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. However, the relationship between obesity and lymph node status remains unclear. Therefore, this systematic review aims to evaluate the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and lymph node metastasis in cervical cancer. Methods: Cohort studies through six databases were reviewed until December 2021. Odds ratios (ORs) for lymphatic metastasis were estimated using random-effects models and network meta-analysis. BMI groups for lymph node metastasis were ranked. Heterogeneities were assessed using I2. Subgroup analyses were performed to determine possible sources of heterogeneity. Results: No significant difference was found between obese (BMI ≥ 25) and non-obese patients (BMI < 25) (OR = 1.01; 95% CI 0.69–1.47; P = 0.97). In subgroup analyses, obesity was associated with higher risk among the Americans and advanced-stage patients. The grouping analysis based on BMI and the rankogram values revealed that the '35 ≤ BMI' group had the highest risk of lymph node metastasis. Conclusion: Although there were no significant differences in lymph node metastasis between obese and non-obese cervical cancer patients in overall analysis, patients with BMI ≥ 35 were at significantly higher risk of lymph node metastasis. [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.)

At present, the traditional disassembly method of disconnectors is manual disconnecting, which has not only high work intensity but also low efficiency. The challenge of automatic disconnector removal is the three-dimensional space flexible positioning problem of complex systems. In order to address this issue, an improved positioning method is proposed by this paper, based on three-point fixation and multi-motion pair. First, a coarse positioning and fine positioning mechanism were designed. As the positioning mechanism is the primary condition for the live disassembly robot to complete the mission, the statics of the positioning mechanism was analyzed to ensure the structural strength. On the grounds of analysis results, structural optimizations were made. After that, a three-dimensional model of the disassembly robot was designed to obtain the prototype. Finally, indoors and outdoors experiments were conducted. The experimental results show that both TY-300 and TY-600 can be completely removed and TY-300 (two bolts) connecting plate can be disassembled within 30 minutes, which verifies the high precision and high efficiency of the disassembly robot operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The product–service system (PSS) is a strategic design approach proposed to address sustainability in socio-economic systems amidst rapid industrialization and transition. Evaluating the concept design of a PSS is a crucial and initial step prior to implementation. This study presents an innovative framework for evaluating concept designs of sustainable PSS based on a well-defined evaluation index system via integrating quality function deployment (QFD) and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) while accommodating extended basic uncertain linguistic information (EBULI). Specifically, a QFD-based framework is first developed to identify the requirements of various stakeholders and then to establish the multi-dimensional criteria for evaluating sustainable PSS. Then, a House of Quality-based relationship matrix is introduced to determine the weights of criteria more accurately. Further, an adaptive consensus-reaching process method based on an expert weighting optimization model is proposed to ensure a collective outputs recognized by multiple involved stakeholders. Finally, an improved EBULI-based TOPSIS method is presented to determine the priority ranking of alternative sustainable PSS concepts. A case study on a car-sharing PSS project demonstrates the viability and effectiveness of the proposed QFD–TOPSIS integrated approach under EBULI settings. The alternative PSS concept design, which demonstrates relatively good performance in criteria of high importance, is selected as the most suitable option. Moreover, relevant comparative and sensitivity analyses reveal that the proposed approach exhibits superiorities in appropriate criteria elicitation, accurate weights determination, and high consensus ranking outputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baijiu (a Chinese liquor), one of the six world-renowned distilled liquors, is popular among consumers, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays the most important role. However, the diversity and metabolic differences of S. cerevisiae Baijiu yeasts remain unclear. Here, we first studied S. cerevisiae strains isolated from fermentative agents and then analyzed the environmental tolerance and metabolomic differences among different S. cerevisiae strains. The 29 S. cerevisiae strains were classified into 14 genotypes based on DNA fingerprints. Environmental tolerance analysis revealed differences among yeasts. A total of 88 classes of 854 secondary metabolites were detected via liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC‒MS/MS), 15 of which accounted for more than 1%, and carboxylic acids and their derivatives accounted for the highest percentage (20.73%), followed by benzene and substituted derivatives (12.76%). Both OPLS-DA and differentially abundant metabolite analysis revealed that the metabolites of the 14 S. cerevisiae genotypes were significantly different, and the differentially abundant metabolites l-erythrulose, 5(s)-HpETE, kaempferide, and cellobiose were obtained. Metabolic pathway analysis revealed that the metabolism of glycine, serine, and threonine differed significantly (p < 0.05). These results revealed the phenotypic diversity of industrial Baijiu yeasts and provided additional options for the utilization of S. cerevisiae yeasts in the brewing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigates the decarbonization potential of large-scale implementation of BECCS (in the form of biomass co-firing and post-combustion amine-based CO2 capture) in over 150 existing coal-fired power plants in China, combining GIS-based geospatial analysis of biomass availability from agricultural residues and modelling of the techno-environmental performance of the retrofitted power plants. Using a 500-m resolution map of cropland in China, the availability of residual biomass at a radius of 25–100 km from each power plant is estimated. The biomass yield is then matched with the required input for a set of co-firing scenarios, identified by the optimal mix of different co-firing ratios (10%, 25%, and 40%) and increasing % of total plant's capacity to be retrofitted with the chosen BECCS system. Power generation performance and required biomass for the retrofitted plants are modelled in the Integrated Environmental Control Model (IECM). According to the results, the total decarbonization potential of the modelled large-scale implementation of BECCS ranges from 0.3 to 1.8 Gt CO2/yr (15–81% of BAU emissions), depending on the biomass collection radius. The Chinese provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, and Henan have the most potential for BECCS implementation, while coal-rich regions (e.g. Inner Mongolia) or highly developed coastal areas (Guangdong, Zhejiang) are constrained by local biomass availability. Overall, this work demonstrates the significant potential of the sustainable large-scale implementation of BECCS in China and provides suggestions to policymakers to include this technology in the portfolio of solutions towards carbon neutrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies focused on exploring phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5Is)-related hearing impairment. This study aimed to comprehensively explore real-world hearing impairment associated with PDE5Is based on the US Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). The characteristics and correlation of PDE5Is-related hearing impairment reported in the FAERS database from the fourth quarter of 2003 to the second quarter of 2023 were analyzed using disproportionality analysis. The Standardized Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) Queries (SMQs) were used to analyze the adverse events (AEs) of hearing impairment. A total of 1,438 reported cases of hearing impairment were associated with four PDE5Is, revealing statistically significant reporting odds ratio (ROR), proportional reporting ratio (PRR), and information component (IC) with the SMQ. The average age of all patients was more than 55 years, over 70% of AEs were reported in men. Most of the reported cases were from the United States. Reports for all the drugs indicated an increase since 2008, except for avanafil. This study showed that the disability rates of PDE5Is were 8.14–40%, the rates of initial or prolonged hospitalization were 6.21–10.24%, and the rates of required intervention were 3.31–9.45%. The pharmacovigilance study identified a potential risk of hearing impairment associated with PDE5Is, indicating the need for continuous monitoring and appropriate management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method for estimating fast neutron energy, based on in situ X-ray fluorescence analysis technology, has been proposed. According to the simulation results, the fluorescence mainly originates from the interactions of intermediate particles protons, electrons, and X/gamma-rays with target atoms. The contribution of fluorescence excited by each type of particle to the overall fluorescence intensity presents distinct characteristics as neutron energy varies. Finally, by analyzing the fluorescence intensity ratios of Ag, Mo, W to Bi as examples, a power function relationship between neutron energy and the fluorescence intensity ratio was derived, preliminary demonstrating the feasibility of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, several molecules have been found to facilitate iron influx, while the types of iron influx channels remain to be elucidated. Here, Piezo1 channel was identified as a key iron transporter in response to mechanical stress. Piezo1-mediated iron overload disturbed iron metabolism and exaggerated ferroptosis in nucleus pulposus cells (NPCs). Importantly, Piezo1-induced iron influx was independent of the transferrin receptor (TFRC), a well-recognized iron gatekeeper. Furthermore, pharmacological inactivation of Piezo1 profoundly reduced iron accumulation, alleviated mitochondrial ROS, and suppressed ferroptotic alterations in stimulation of mechanical stress. Moreover, conditional knockout of Piezo1 (Col2a1-CreERT Piezo1flox/flox) attenuated the mechanical injury-induced intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD). Notably, the protective effect of Piezo1 deficiency in IVDD was dampened in Piezo1/Gpx4 conditional double knockout (cDKO) mice (Col2a1-CreERT Piezo1flox/flox/Gpx4flox/flox). These findings suggest that Piezo1 is a potential determinant of iron influx, indicating that the Piezo1-iron-ferroptosis axis might shed light on the treatment of mechanical stress-induced diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular protein delivery is critical to the development of protein-based biopharmaceuticals and therapies. However, current delivery vectors often suffer from complicated syntheses, low generality among various proteins, and insufficient serum stability. Herein, we developed an enlightened cytosolic protein delivery strategy by dynamically crosslinking epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), low-molecular-weight polyethylenimine (PEI 1.8k), and 2-acetylphenylboric acid (2-APBA) on the protein surface, hence forming the EPP-protein nanocapsules (NCs). EGCG enhanced protein encapsulation via hydrogen bonding, and reduced the positive charge density of PEI to endow the NCs with high serum tolerance, thereby enabling effective cellular internalization in serum. The formation of reversible imine and boronate ester among 2-APBA, EGCG, and PEI 1.8k allowed acid-triggered dissociation of EPP-protein NCs in the endolysosomes, which triggered efficient intracellular release of the native proteins. Such strategy therefore showed high efficiency and universality for diversities of proteins with different molecular weights and isoelectric points, including enzyme, toxin, antibody, and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP), outperforming the commercial protein transduction reagent PULSin and RNP transfection reagent lipofectamine CMAX. Moreover, intravenously (i.v.) injected EPP-saporin NCs efficiently delivered saporin into 4T1 tumor cells to provoke robust antitumor effect. This simple, versatile, and robust cytosolic protein delivery system holds translational potentials for the development of protein-based therapeutics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expanding open-pit mining towards larger mining scales and greater stripping depths increases the potential risks of landslides on high and steep slopes, endangering human life and property. Therefore, it is of great significance to accurately reveal the main controlling factors and identify the key dynamic parameters to understand the formation mechanism and dynamic process of landslides in open-pit mine landslides. On February 22, 2023, a catastrophic landslide occurred at the Xinjing Open-Pit Coal Mine in the Alxa League of Inner Mongolia, resulting in 53 fatalities, 6 injuries, and economic losses of up to 204.3 million RMB. This study analyzed the formation mechanism of the Xinjing landslide based on remote sensing image interpretation, meteorological and seismic data, and geological and hydrological conditions. The results show that the dominant causes are excavation activities and rear-end slag loading, with the disaster formation process including the excavation disturbance, over-mining deformation, and failure and sliding, characterized by the formation of artificial slopes, deformation of high and steep slopes due to over-mining and coal stripping, and failure induced by external disturbance, respectively. In addition, the source location, dynamic evolution, and key kinematic parameters of the landslide were determined based on the seismic signal inversion. The inversion results show that the landslide has a volume of approximately 6.88 × 106 m3, the main sliding process lasts 35 s with a maximum velocity of 13.7 m/s, and the horizontal displacement is 165 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychological maltreatment is a concern linked to a variety of psychosocial and developmental adjustment problems among Chinese youth. The current study used latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify profiles of Chinese college students with differing patterns of childhood psychological maltreatment experience (i.e., abuse & neglect). We identified five profiles with varying degrees of maltreatment relative to one another: (1) Low Maltreatment (low abuse, low neglect), (2) Moderately Low Maltreatment (moderately low abuse, moderately low neglect), (3) Neglect (low abuse, moderately high neglect), (4) Moderate Maltreatment (moderate abuse, moderate neglect), and (5) High Maltreatment (high abuse, high neglect). Memberships in the Low Maltreatment and Neglect profile groups were associated with sex, parental education, and family income but no differences were found between the other profiles. These findings suggest that sociodemographic information alone is inadequate for accurately discriminating between moderately and highly maltreated Chinese youth and young adults. Profiles characterized by relatively high psychological maltreatment exhibited greater addiction to online gaming and cyberbullying perpetration. This presents findings relevant to how youths and young adults may seek virtual outlets to cope with their childhood maltreatment experiences amid recent government-mandated internet gaming curfews. Interventions aimed at fostering proper coping skills during critical developmental periods should be considered. Highlights: Five profiles of psychological maltreatment were found for college students in China. Low psychological maltreatment was the most common profile while high psychological maltreatment was the most uncommon. The majority of students reported experiencing some form of psychological maltreatment. Moderate to high psychological maltreatment profiles also reported higher online gaming addiction and cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Integrating GAB methods with high-throughput phenotyping, genome editing, and speed breeding hold great potential in designing future smart peanut cultivars to meet market and food supply demands. Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), a legume crop greatly valued for its nourishing food, cooking oil, and fodder, is extensively grown worldwide. Despite decades of classical breeding efforts, the actual on-farm yield of peanut remains below its potential productivity due to the complicated interplay of genotype, environment, and management factors, as well as their intricate interactions. Integrating modern genomics tools into crop breeding is necessary to fast-track breeding efficiency and rapid progress. When combined with speed breeding methods, this integration can substantially accelerate the breeding process, leading to faster access of improved varieties to farmers. Availability of high-quality reference genomes for wild diploid progenitors and cultivated peanuts has accelerated the process of gene/quantitative locus discovery, developing markers and genotyping assays as well as a few molecular breeding products with improved resistance and oil quality. The use of new breeding tools, e.g., genomic selection, haplotype-based breeding, speed breeding, high-throughput phenotyping, and genome editing, is probable to boost genetic gains in peanut. Moreover, renewed attention to efficient selection and exploitation of targeted genetic resources is also needed to design high-quality and high-yielding peanut cultivars with main adaptation attributes. In this context, the combination of genomics-assisted breeding (GAB), genome editing, and speed breeding hold great potential in designing future improved peanut cultivars to meet market and food supply demands. [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.)

It needs to input the shear viscosity of carrier liquids during analyzing behaviors and properties of micron and nano-meter particles in suspensions, but it is impossible to adopt effective values for shear-thinning liquids. A method was brought forward to estimate shear viscosity based on longitudinal viscosity from acoustic attenuation and speed velocity of these liquids; then, influences of shear viscosity on both particle size distribution (PSD) and zeta potential were researched during attenuation and electroacoustic analysis of submicron ceria particles in these liquids. It was found that the aqueous carrier liquids with sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) determined by the new method should be Newtonian liquids with shear viscosity between 1.15 and 1.25 mPa·s, although they showed shear thinning and had much higher shear viscosity in limited range of shear rate during viscometer testing. Input values of shear viscosity had great influences on both PSD and zeta potential results, where d50 and zeta potential had deviations as high as 5 times and 27 times, respectively. And, the deviations could be reduced to 10 to 20% when the shear viscosity of pure water was adopted. These deviations were discussed based on visco-inertial attenuation and electroacoustic theories, and these results could provide a new way to research dispersion behaviors and properties of particles in shear-thinning liquids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigating deformation behavior of fractured reservoir bank slopes during impoundment plays an essential role in safety control of high arch dams. Because of changes in water levels during impoundment, the fractures are subjected to varying water pressure and cyclic wetting–drying conditions. In this numerical study, mechanical, physical, and chemical water–rock interactions in rock fractures are incorporated into discrete element modeling of fractured reservoir bank slopes, and effects of mechanical, physical, and chemical water–rock interactions on deformation of fractured reservoir bank slopes are investigated based on a case study of valley deformation at the Xiluodu Hydropower Station. The mechanical water–rock interaction is considered by the effective stress law, while the physical and chemical water–rock interactions are modeled by some empirical deterioration laws. The results showed that the modeled and monitored deformation behaviors of fractured reservoir bank slopes are in good agreement. The slip of shear zones due to water pressure elevation and mechanical parameter weakening is the main reason of impoundment-induced valley contraction. Discrete element method considering water–rock interactions can serve as a robust and reasonable tool to predict the deformation magnitude of fractured reservoir bank slope. Highlights: Mechanical, physical and chemical water–rock interactions in rock fractures are incorporated into discrete element modeling of fractured reservoir bank slopes. Four scenarios are designed to understand the role of mechanical, physical and chemical water–rock interactions on deformation of fractured reservoir bank slopes. The slip of shear zones due to water pressure elevation and mechanical parameter weakening is the main reason of impoundment-induced valley contraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to deeply explore the denitration mechanism of flue gas circulation in flue and sinter bed, starting from flue gas circulation, this paper studied the reaction behavior of circulating flue gas in flue and sinter through the principle of chemical thermodynamics. At the same time, the thermodynamic balance of CO–NO–O2 was calculated. And the mechanism of CO–NO denitration was deduced and analyzed. On this basis, the sintering flue gas composition for CO–NO denitration mechanism was investigated by gas distribution tests and metallurgical properties of sinter tests. The study showed that the denitration route of reducing NO to N2 by CO in flue gas was feasible. Thermodynamically, low temperature, high CO, and high Calcium Ferrite (CaFe2O4) were conducive to the CO–NO denitration. Sinter can catalyze CO–NO denitration. With the increase of temperature, the denitration effect showed the rule of first rising and then declining, and the best effect of sinter catalyzed CO–NO denitrification was at 640 °C. Therefore, reducing the O2 content in the sintering circulating flue gas to enhance the reduction atmosphere, the flue gas passing through the sinter with high CaFe2O4 content at 640 °C can promote the reduction of NO by CO, which is conducive to the denitrification of sintering flue gas. There is a great prospect for sintering flue gas denitrification in the sinter-circle-cooling machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selective laser sintering (SLS) polymer powders involve multi-physical field transient phenomena that are critical to the optimization of SLS process parameters but challenging to observe experimentally. In this study, a two-dimensional multi-physics field simulation method was used to couple the thermal-force-flow fields involved in SLS. Laser energy density was introduced to characterize the interaction between process parameters such as laser power and scanning speed, and the free surface evolution, material migration, and molten pool evolution of nylon 12 (PA12) at different energy densities were thoroughly investigated. Accordingly, the optimal process parameters for SLS were determined as a laser energy density of 0.08 J/mm2, i.e., laser power of 12 W, scanning pitch of 0.12 mm, and scanning speed of 1500 mm/s. The same process parameters were then used to validate the simulation model. Experimental results show that the density, cross-sectional profile, and compression property are also optimal with the same energy density of 0.08 J/mm2. Full agreement with the simulation results indicates that the multi-physics simulation method provides an effective approach for SLS parameter optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The slurry jet technique is widely used for flue gas desulfurization, whereas the increase in its absorption efficiency is required to meet the increasingly strict exhaust emission standards. In this work, we developed a Venturi-type slurry jet nozzle to improve the efficiency of flue gas desulfurization. As anticipated, the absorption efficiency of SO2 can be enhanced by increasing the liquid flow rate (impinging stream) and reducing the nozzle throat diameter, which increases the surface area for gas absorption. Interestingly, the absorption efficiency can be further improved by introducing Venturi-generated bubbles. At a constant liquid flow rate of 1 m3/h and pH of 7, using an 8 mm Venturi injector instead of an 8 mm traditional nozzle results in an approximate 6.3% increase in absorption efficiency. The mass transfer coefficient K G a for the former is 1.15 times higher than that for the latter. This study provides a simple and feasible caustic scrubber transformation method for the industrial flue gas desulfurization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Darwin's naturalization conundrum describes two seemingly contradictory hypotheses regarding whether alien species closely or distantly related to native species should be more likely to naturalize in regional floras. Both expectations have accumulated empirical support, and whether such apparent inconsistency can be reconciled at the global scale is unclear. Here, using 219,520 native and 9,531 naturalized alien plant species across 487 globally distributed regions, we found a latitudinal gradient in Darwin's naturalization conundrum. Naturalized alien plant species are more closely related to native species at higher latitudes than they are at lower latitudes, indicating a greater influence of preadaptation in harsher climates. Human landscape modification resulted in even steeper latitudinal clines by selecting aliens distantly related to natives in warmer and drier regions. Our results demonstrate that joint consideration of climatic and anthropogenic conditions is critical to reconciling Darwin's naturalization conundrum. Alien species could be either more or less likely to become naturalized where closely related species occur. This study reveals a global latitudinal pattern whereby successfully naturalized alien plants are more closely related to natives at higher latitudes, reinforced by human modification of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that coal is not a homogeneous substance, it is of great significance to identify and quantify the structural characteristics thereof for comprehensive analysis. In this paper, the non-caking coal in Chicheng Coal Mine was selected as the research object. The C, H, O, N, and S contents in the coal samples were obtained by proximate/ultimate analysis experiments. The structural characteristics of aromatic, aliphatic hydrocarbons, and oxygen-containing functional groups in the experimental coal samples were obtained by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) experiments. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments were performed to obtain the occurrence state of N and S elements in coal samples. Nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) experiments provided the carbon skeleton structural information of the coal samples. The macromolecular structure model of non-caking coal in the Chicheng Coal Mine was established on this basis. The molecular formula of non-caking coal in Chicheng Coal Mine was determined to be C207H181O32N3S.The13C NMR-predicted spectrum of the model showed good consistency with the 13C NMR-experimental spectrum obtained from the experiments, providing researchers with reference to the construction ideas and methods of molecular structure models of different coal samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-dimensional optimization problems are increasingly pervasive in real-world applications nowadays and become harder and harder to optimize due to increasingly interacting variables. To tackle such problems effectively, this paper designs a random elite ensemble learning swarm optimizer (REELSO) by taking inspiration from human observational learning theory. First, this optimizer partitions particles in the current swarm into two exclusive groups: the elite group consisting of the top best particles and the non-elite group containing the rest based on their fitness values. Next, it employs particles in the elite group to build random elite neighbors for each particle in the non-elite group to form a positive learning environment for the non-elite particle to observe. Subsequently, the non-elite particle is updated by cognitively learning from the best elite among the neighbors and collectively learning from all elites in the environment. For one thing, each non-elite particle is directed by superior ones, and thus the convergence of the swarm could be guaranteed. For another, the elite learning environment is randomly formed for each non-elite particle, and hence high swarm diversity could be maintained. Finally, this paper further devises a dynamic partition strategy to divide the swarm into the two groups dynamically during the evolution, so that the swarm gradually changes from exploring the immense solution space to exploiting the found optimal areas without serious diversity loss. With the above mechanisms, the devised REELSO is expected to explore the search space and exploit the found optimal areas properly. Abundant experiments on two popularly used high-dimensional benchmark sets prove that the devised optimizer performs competitively with or even significantly outperforms several state-of-the-art approaches designed for high-dimensional optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracellular protein therapeutics holds great potentials for the treatment of glioblastoma, which however, is greatly challenged by the unmet demands to concomitantly penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and glioblastoma cell membrane barrier with high efficiency and selectivity. Herein, a unique pro-protein platform was developed via facile green synthesis, which allowed efficient and selective delivery into glioblastoma cells in a carrier-free manner. Pro-proteins were engineered via reversible modification of native proteins in the aqueous buffer with 3,4-dihydroxy-phenylalanine, the substrate of L-type amino acid transporter (LAT1), bridged with a phenylboronic acid-containing linker. By harnessing the LAT1-mediated direct transport mechanism, the optimized pro-protein, named protein-M2-D, can efficiently penetrate BBB after i.v. injection, and subsequently enable selective and endocytosis-free delivery of various proteins including enzymes, toxins, and antibodies into glioblastoma cells, wherein intracellular H2O2 triggered traceless restoration of the native protein structure. Systemic administration of saporin-M2-D provoked potent anti-tumor efficacy against orthotopic U87 glioblastoma in mice, without inducing systemic toxicity. Such a facile, versatile, and robust platform renders a promising paradigm for cytosolic protein delivery and glioblastoma treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and predicting the shear mechanical characteristics of rock fractures subjected to different pore water pressures is vital for the safety and the stability of the reservoir bank slope. A series of direct shear tests were conducted on granite fractures covering various reservoir impoundment-relevant pore water pressures. The results reveal that as pore water pressure increases, the peak shear strength, residual shear strength, shear stiffness, and peak shear displacement show a decreased trend, while the peak dilation increases with the pore water pressure. The shear-induced reductions in fracture surface parameter (Z2) and the sheared-off volumes of asperities decrease with the increase in pore water pressure. An empirical function is presented to successfully describe the evolutions of the shear parameters and the volume of sheared-off asperities with pore water pressure. Under drained conditions, it is found that shear failure will cause a transient drop in pore water pressure, and the pore water pressure fluctuation coefficient can be used as an early warning indicator for potential damage of fractures. In addition, a singular-value decomposition method is employed to fit the peak and residual shear strength with pore water pressure, which indicates that the effective stress principle can satisfactorily explain the hydro-mechanical mechanism of rock fractures. Before the shear failure, the effective stress coefficient is close to unit, while it is reduced after the shear failure due to the increase in the actual contact area caused by asperity degradation and gouge formation. Highlights: An empirical formula is proposed to quantify the shear mechanical parameters of rock fractures under different pore water pressure. Effective stress coefficient tends to decrease after shear failure due to the increased actual contact area caused by asperity degradation and gouge formation. The pore water pressure fluctuation coefficient is presented as an early warning indicator for potential damage of fractures. The effective stress principle can satisfactorily explain the hydro-mechanical mechanism of rock fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increase in proximity to one's family amid university closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mechanisms underlying how family cohesion influenced students' sleep remain understudied. Using a large sample of college students in China (N = 1,178) during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study examined the serial mediating roles of sense of security and perceived stress on the effect of family cohesion on sleep disturbance. Generalized linear modeling serial mediation analysis with 1,000 resampled bootstrapping methods showed that sense of security and perceived stress were negatively and positively associated with sleep disturbance, respectively. Furthermore, sense of security and perceived stress fully mediated the indirect effect of family cohesion on sleep disturbances. Implications and conclusions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability of reservoir bank slope during impoundment is significant for the safe operation of hydropower stations. The deformation evolution of a slope adjacent to dam is analyzed based on the field monitoring data. The main influencing factors and spatial distribution of the slope deformation during impoundment are identified based on the multiple regression model and K-means cluster analysis, respectively. Subsequently, the deformation mechanism of the slope is analyzed by three-dimensional nonlinear finite element method. Then, an inversion analysis method based on improved adaptive genetic algorithm and back propagation neural network is proposed. The measured deformations of 44 monitoring points are used to inverse a total of 27 mechanical parameters, including deformation parameters, strength parameters and Biot coefficients of 9 materials. Finally, the influence of sample numbers on the prediction accuracy and the robustness of the neural network are discussed. The results indicate that the deformation rate of the slope is substantially associated with the impounding process. The water pressure component and aging component of the deformation account for a relatively high proportion while the temperature component is negligible. The deformation is mainly affected by material softening and effective stress of shallow-buried fractured rock mass, in which the latter dominates. The water load on the dam surface is the deformation inducement of the deep rock mass. The proposed inversion method can reasonably obtain the weakening rate of materials and make the numerical model accurately fit in with the actual state of the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat meters have become an important measurement technology in the national energy conservation and emission reduction project in meeting the requirements of energy consumption monitoring and the charging of heating systems. Different from the conventional separable calibration method for heat meters, a novel integral calibration method with the aid of a high-precision electric meter was proposed in this paper, which can solve the difficult problem of calibrating inseparable heat meters. The composition of integral calibration uncertainty in metering thermal leakage capacity and internal energy change is analyzed from theoretical and practical perspectives based on experimental results. Compared with the maximum permissible error (around 2.6%) of heat meters calculated under multiple actual operating conditions according to relevant standards, the accuracy of the integral calibration method is around 0.06%, proving it is accurate, intuitive, and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been proved that the modification and ratio of media can improve the pollutant purification and stormwater infiltration capacity effectively for bioretention system. However, the addition of solid waste or its recycled products modifiers may increase the risk of contaminants leaching, especially in situations of strong load impact or pollutant accumulation and the long-term operation. Thus affecting the health of the media ecosystem, benign growth of plants and reducing the purification effect. For problems with unclear leaching mechanism and influencing factors of solid waste modified bioretention media. In this study, representative solid wastes including leaf compost (LC), corn straw biochar (bio-char) water treatment residues (WTR), fly ash (FA), and recycled aggregate of construction waste (RACW) were used as modifiers to prepare bioretention improved media. The leaching mechanism and time-varying characteristics of these improved media were studied through static adsorption test and modern detection technologies; the adsorption capacity of WTR (natural air drying granulation or high-temperature pyrolysis to produce biochar) for ammonia (NH4+-N) and orthophosphate (PO43−) is stronger than that of other materials. In the dynamic adsorption experiment (intermittent pulse tests of desorption-adsorption-desorption process) of improved media, pollutants outflow concentration showed a trend of decreasing-increasing-decreasing under the influence of background content of pollutants, inflow load, and operation time, and the leaching of NO3−-N was the most obvious in the leaching process. The contents of TN, TP, and heavy metals (Cu, Zn, and Cd) after the experiment were all higher than those before the dynamic adsorption experiment, and the average pollutant concentration removal rates were 54.1%, 71.1%, 95.1%, 91.8%, and 94.2%, respectively. This indicates that the total cumulative amount during the study period is greater than the leaching amount, and WTR and RACW are more pronounced. The leaching characteristics of solid waste improved fillers from several aspects of media parameter, influence factors, detection method, and resistance-control technologies were revealed and elucidated their leaching-clogging interaction mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: As a simple and invasive treatment, arthroscopic medial meniscal posterior horn resections (MMPHRs) can relieve the obstructive symptoms of medial meniscus posterior root tears (MMPRTs) but with the risk of aggravating biomechanical changes of the joint. The aim of this study was to analyze dynamic simulation of the knee joint after medial meniscus posterior root tear and posterior horn resection. Methods: This study established static and dynamic models of MMPRTs and MMPHRs on the basis of the intact medial meniscus model (IMM). In the finite element analysis, the three models were subjected to 1000 N axial static load and the human walking gait load defined by the ISO14243-1 standard to evaluate the influence of MMPRTs and MMPHRs on knee joint mechanics during static standing and dynamic walking. Results: In the static state, the load ratio of the medial and lateral compartments remained nearly constant (2:1), while in the dynamic state, the load ratio varied with the gait cycle. After MMPHRs, at 30% of the gait cycle, compared with the MMPRTs condition, the maximum von Mises stress of the lateral meniscus (LM) and the lateral tibial cartilage (LTC) were increased by 166.0% and 50.0%, respectively, while they changed by less than 5% during static analysis. The maximum von Mises stress of the medial meniscus (MM) decreased by 55.7%, and that of the medial femoral cartilage (MFC) increased by 53.5%. Conclusion: After MMPHRs, compared with MMPRTs, there was no significant stress increase in articular cartilage in static analysis, but there was a stress increase and concentration in both medial and lateral compartments in dynamic analysis, which may aggravate joint degeneration. Therefore, in clinical treatments, restoring the natural structure of MMPRTs is first recommended, especially for physically active patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Spinopelvic reconstruction after sacral tumour resection is one of the most demanding procedures in sacral tumour surgery. The aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of spinopelvic reconstruction with 3D-printed prostheses in sacral giant cell tumours and the clinical outcomes and complications at follow-up. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed ten consecutive patients with giant cell tumors of the sacrum who underwent intralesional nerve-sparing resection with curative intent and custom implant reconstruction between 2016 and 2021. There were four males and six females with a mean age of 40.2 years (range, 25–62 years) at surgery. A computer-aided-design implant was prepared using 3D printing technology that was both matched to the bone defect and biomechanically evaluated. A 3D-printed surgical guide was used to replicate the resection procedure as planned. We analyzed operational outcomes, oncological outcomes, functional outcomes, complications, and prosthetic outcomes. Pain at rest was assessed according to a 10-cm VAS score. The results of functional improvement were evaluated using the MSTS-93 score at the final follow-up. Results: All patients were observed for 26 to 61 months, with an average follow-up of 43.8 months. No deep infection or prosthetic structural failure occurred in this study. A total of 80% of patients had good neurological function and normal urinary, bowel, and ambulatory functions. The mean MSTS score was 24.1 (range, 22–26). The mean VAS score was 2 (range 0 to 2). Delayed wound healing occurred in three patients, and the wounds healed after debridement. One case had local recurrence and survived tumour-free after resection of the recurrent lesion. An aseptic loosening was found in a patient that did not require secondary surgery. By radiographical assessments, we found that 90% of implants were well osseointegrated at the final follow-up examination. Conclusions: The 3D-printed sacral implants might provide a promising strategy for spinopelvic reconstruction in sacral giant cell tumours undergoing intralesional nerve-sparing surgery with satisfactory clinical outcomes, osseointegration, and excellent durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin K2 plays an important role in electron transport, blood coagulation, and calcium homeostasis, and researchers have been trying to use microbes to produce it. Although our previous studies have shown that gradient radiation, breeding, and culture acclimation can improve vitamin K2 production in Elizabethkingia meningoseptica, the mechanism is still unclear. This study is the first which performs genome sequencing of E. meningoseptica sp. F2 as a basis for subsequent experiments and further comparative analyses with other strains. Comparative metabolic pathway analysis of E. meningoseptica sp. F2, E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, and other vitamin K2 product strains revealed that the mevalonate pathway of E. meningoseptica sp. F2 is different in bacteria at the system level. The expressions of menA, menD, menH, and menI in the menaquinone pathway and idi, hmgR, and ggpps in the mevalonate pathway were higher than those in the original strain. A total of 67 differentially expressed proteins involved in the oxidative phosphorylation metabolic pathway and citric acid cycle (TCA cycle) were identified. Our results reveal that combined gradient radiation breeding and culture acclimation can promote vitamin K2 accumulation probably by regulating the vitamin K2 pathway, oxidative phosphorylation metabolism pathway, and the citrate cycle (TCA cycle). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Travelling waves induced by spanwise Lorentz force for skin-friction drag reduction are studied in the present work using direct numerical simulations, with particular focus on the streamwise and spanwise travelling waves. The overall picture of drag reduction in the frequency-wavenumber parameter space, ω - κ x - κ z is uncovered. It is found that both drag reduction maps for the streamwise and spanwise travelling waves are featured with a drag reduction ( D R ) region and a drag increase ( D I ) region. For the streamwise travelling wave of spanwise Lorentz force, the D R and D I regions are located in the same parameter regime compared to that of the streamwise travelling wave of spanwise wall velocity, while for the spanwise travelling wave, the D R variation at any fixed κ z is similar to that of spanwise oscillating Lorentz force. An exploration of the oblique travelling wave with an angle to the mean flow shows that the optimal drag reduction appears when the wave travels backward relative to the flow direction, and the "ribbon" structure is a general phenomenon appearing in all oblique travelling wave cases. The ensemble averaged positive and negative quasi-streamwise vortices become asymmetric when the travelling wave is imposed, and the near-wall high- and low-speed streaks are significantly tilted in the spanwise direction. Spanwise oscillation, streamwise and spanwise travelling waves share strong similarity in the statistics, energy spectra as well as turbulent structure modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid accumulation of large-scale single-cell RNA-seq datasets from multiple institutions presents remarkable opportunities for automatically cell annotations through integrative analyses. However, the privacy issue has existed but being ignored, since we are limited to access and utilize all the reference datasets distributed in different institutions globally due to the prohibited data transmission across institutions by data regulation laws. To this end, we present scPrivacy, which is the first and generalized automatically single-cell type identification prototype to facilitate single cell annotations in a data privacy-preserving collaboration manner. We evaluated scPrivacy on a comprehensive set of publicly available benchmark datasets for single-cell type identification to stimulate the scenario that the reference datasets are rapidly generated and distributed in multiple institutions, while they are prohibited to be integrated directly or exposed to each other due to the data privacy regulations, demonstrating its effectiveness, time efficiency and robustness for privacy-preserving integration of multiple institutional datasets in single cell annotations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Face recognition technology has been widely used in the field of artificial intelligence. The technology needs to be carried out normally under the appropriate light, however, there is not ideal light, even poor-lighted for the face recognition device, and with the head in deflect angle. The poor-lighted under various head poses will influence the face recognition significantly. To address the issue, we present a novel and practical architecture based on deep fully convolutional neural network and generative adversarial networks for illumination normalization of facial images. The proposed method is termed as illumination normalization generative adversarial network. Compared with previous methods based on deep learning, our approach does not require identity and illumination label as input. We preserve identities of faces by an elaborately-designed generator together with content loss. Moreover, the framework of our scheme is simpler than previous methods based on deep learning. It can address the illumination of frontal and non-frontal face. In order to fairly evaluate the proposed method against state-of-the-art models, the peak signal to noise ratio is employed to estimate the performance of illumination normalization algorithm. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves favorable normalization results against previous models under various head poses and illumination challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) comprises individual sheets stacked into a bulk-phase structure. Compared with bulk-phase MoS2, the few-layer MoS2 presents a two-dimensional nanostructure similar to graphene, which has the advantages of large specific surface area and many unsaturated vacancies in the edge layer and has broad application prospects in the fields of photoelectricity and catalysis. Here, a simple and practical method of exfoliating bulk-phase MoS2 is proposed. The bulk-phase MoS2 was sonicated using chitosan/acetic acid (CS/HAc) solution to obtain oligomeric MoS2. The raw materials used in this method have good biocompatibility, the preparation process and operation are simple, and the pollution caused to the environment is small, which meets the green chemical standard. The method provides a new idea and way for the peeling treatment of other laminated materials. The results show that the stacking of (002) crystal plane of MoS2 samples after treatment with CS/HAc solution is reduced and the crystalline phase is changed from polycrystalline to single-crystal structure, which has great potential for applications in optical and electrical fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a correction notice for an article titled "Concept Design Evaluation of Sustainable Product-Service Systems: A QFD-TOPSIS Integrated Framework with Basic Uncertain Linguistic Information" published in the journal Group Decision & Negotiation. The correction adds the missing Acknowledgements section, which acknowledges the support received from various funding sources. The original article has been corrected. The publisher, Springer Nature, remains neutral regarding jurisdictional claims and institutional affiliations. The authors of the article are Qiang Yang, Zhen-Song Chen, Jiang-Hong Zhu, Luis Martínez, Witold Pedrycz, and Mirosław J. Skibniewski. [Extracted from the article]

Currently, various machine learning (ML) techniques have been developed to solve geotechnical engineering problems. However, the lack of representative field samples limits the application of ML models. A shield jamming risk prediction method based on numerical samples and random forest (RF) classifier is proposed. The database with samples of different shield jamming risk levels is established by numerical simulation of the TBM construction process. By setting different values and combinations, seven influencing parameters, i.e., advance rate, overcut, elastic modulus, tensile strength, in situ stress, maximum thrust and friction coefficient are considered. The shield jamming risk level is determined according to the ratio of the total friction force to TBM residual thrust. Feature importance analysis indicates that elastic modulus, overcut and in-situ stress are the major influencing factors of shield jamming. Based on the labeled database, the RF model integrating multiple decision trees is established to capture the complex relationship between shield jamming risk and different influencing factors. The trained model has shown a good prediction performance on test set, and the prediction results of six field instances in DXL tunnel are in good agreement with the actual shield jamming situation. Compared with other conventional classifiers, i.e., support vector machine (SVM), k-nearest neighbors (KNN), decision tree (DT) and logistic regression (LR), the proposed FR classifier has stronger prediction accuracy and generalization ability. Additionally, the influence of sample numbers and sample imbalance is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tobacco is an important economic crop, but the quality and yield have been severely impaired by bacterial wilt disease (BWD) caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Methods and results: Here, we describe a transgenic approach to prevent BWD in tobacco plants. A new root-specific promoter of an NtR12 gene was successfully cloned. The NtR12 promoter drove GUS reporter gene expression to a high level in roots but to less extent in stems, and no significant expression was detected in leaves. The Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIP) gene from Momordica charantia was also cloned, and its ability to inhibit Ralstonia solanacearum was evaluated using RIP protein produced by the prokaryotic expression system. The RIP gene was constructed downstream of the NtR12 promoter and transformed into the tobacco cultivar "Cuibi No. 1" (CB-1), resulting in many descendants. The resistance against BWD was significantly improved in transgenic tobacco lines expressing NtR12::RIP. Conclusion: This study confirms that the RIP gene confers resistance to BWD and the NtR12 as a new promoter for its specific expression in root and stem. Our findings pave a novel avenue for transgenic engineering to prevent the harmful impact of diseases and pests in roots and stems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the traditional "variable-centered" approach, this study used a "person-centered" approach to reveal the distinct profiles of aggressive behavior among 851 Chinese college students, and tested how these profiles were related to two potential protective factors (emotional intelligence and self-esteem) and one outcome (friendship quality). Our results showed five different profiles (labeled as low, hostile, indirect, moderate, and high aggression groups) that exhibited different characteristics of aggressive behavior and differential associations with the protective and outcome variables. Three groups (the low, hostile, and indirect aggression groups) had higher levels of emotional intelligence and friendship quality than the other two groups (the moderate and high aggression groups). In terms of self-esteem, the low aggression group showed higher self-esteem than did the hostile, indirect, and moderate aggression groups, who in turn showed higher self-esteem than did the high aggression group. The study suggests that using the "person-centered" approach may considerably deepen our understanding of aggressive behavior among college students and its relationship with other variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrodeposited copper is a very critical technology for 3D interconnection structure to ensure the stability of signal transmission in IC package substrate. However, Cu(I) produces during long-term electrodeposition and has an obvious adverse effect on the surface microstructure and brightness of electrodeposited copper. In this paper, Fe(III) was introduced into the electrodeposited copper system to solve the negative effect of Cu(I) on the electrodeposited copper layer and improve the surface performance of copper layer. The galvanostatic measurement (GM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and polarization curves were used to explore the effect of Cu(I) and Fe(III) on the electrochemical behaviors of the electrolyte system. Simultaneously, the surface microscopic characterization and brightness of the copper layers were observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), camera, diffraction of x-rays (XRD), and 3D confocal laser microscope (3D-CLM). Finally, the results showed that Fe(III) improved the surface microstructure, recovered brightness of copper layer, and restored the ratio of the copper crystal planes (200) and (220). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]