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Polydiacetylene (PDA) holds promise as a versatile material for biosensing applications due to its unique optical properties and self-assembly capabilities. In this study, we developed a colorimetric detection biosensor system utilizing PDA and aptamer for the detection of microcystin-LR (MC-LR), a potent hepatotoxin found in cyanobacteria-contaminated environments. The biosensor was constructed by immobilizing MC-LR-specific aptamer on magnetic beads, where the aptamer was hybridized with a urease-labelled complementary DNA (cDNA-urease). Upon binding MC-LR, the aptamer undergoes a conformational change to release cDNA-urease. The released cDNA-urease is subsequently captured by PDA bearing a single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). The enzymatic reaction triggers a distinctive color transition of PDA from blue to red. The results demonstrate exceptional sensitivity, with a linear detection range of 5–100 ng/mL and a limit of detection as low as 1 ng/mL. The practicability of the colorimetric method was demonstrated by detecting different levels of MC-LR in spiked water samples. The recoveries ranged from 77.3 to 102% and the color change, visible to the naked eye, underscores the practical utility for on-site applications. Selectivity for MC-LR over other microcystin variants (MC-RR and MC-YR) was confirmed. The colorimetric detection platform capitalizes on the properties of PDA and nucleic acid, offering a robust method for detecting small molecules with potential applications in environmental monitoring and public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bletilla striata is widely used as healthy food and herbal medicine for its hemostasis, anti-ulcer, promoting wound healing, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and immune regulatory functions. Drying methods affect the quality of herbal medicine, including appearance and more importantly the content of active components, which play a decisive role in the medical and tonic functions. In this study, hot air drying (HD), infrared drying (ID), microwave drying (MD), vacuum drying (VD), and freeze drying (FD) were used to evaluate the effect of drying methods on the quality of B. striata tubers. Significant effects of drying methods on the appearance, color, microstructure, water activity, water content, and active component content of B. striata tubers were observed. FD-treated samples retained the majority of the appearance, color, and microstructure, while samples processed with other methods exhibiting various deformation and discoloration. In addition, a significant decline in water content and water activity was detected in FD-treated samples, yet, the content of active components, such as B. striata polysaccharides, total polyphenols, and militarine, was relatively high. After comprehensive comparison, freeze-drying is proposed to be the most suitable method for B. striata drying, which is also recommendable for other tuber drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to simultaneous horizontal and vertical displacement during vertical evacuation, the consequences of stampede congestion accidents can be more severe. Generally, pedestrians trigger a synchronization mechanism at some point during the vertical evacuation process. This synchronization behavior helps prevent stampede congestion and improves evacuation efficiency. This paper designs a well-controlled single-file vertical evacuation experiment. After the experiment, the video footage is imported into the TRACKER system to extract the coordinates of pedestrian step movements, after which the experimental data undergo calculations and visual analysis. The research findings indicate the following: Firstly, when the crowd coordinates trigger the synchronization mechanism, this behavior remains stable as long as pedestrian speed and direction are unchanged; Secondly, the variation in footstep speed over time is not directly related to the footstep synchronization rate of the crowd; Lastly, this study calculated the characteristic density value most likely to trigger the synchronization mechanism during vertical evacuation. This research deepens our understanding of crowd dynamics, reveals the characteristics of pedestrian movement during vertical evacuation, and proposes evacuation guidance strategies based on these features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pampus argenteus is a highly commercial marine fish whose population is declining sharply. Here, we generated a female P. argenteus genome, spanning 536.33 Mb with contig N50 of 1.79 Mb; 24070 genes (99.50% of 24,182) were functionally annotated. To improve quality of it, we assembled a 553.79 Mb genome of male fish with contig N50 of 24.75 Mb through HiFi and ultra-long ONT sequence technologies; 550.82 Mb were anchored onto 24 gap-free chromosomes; 22,892 genes (98.1% of 23,346) were functionally annotated; the QV value was 51.55 with 98.9% of BUSCO and 99.39% coverage of Illumina reads. Finally, we compared this genome with previous published one, revealing 37,301 SVs. 52.82 Mb and 18.05 Mb SDs were characterized in our and published assemblies, respectively, and 48.96 Mb PURs were constructed. Thus, this genome assembly exhibits excellent completeness, continuity and accuracy comparing to the published one, which can be current preferred reference genome. Overall, these works help aquaculture and wild resources recovery of P. argenteus and provide a valuable genetic resource for study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root system plays a crucial role in water and nutrient absorption, making it a significant factor affected by nitrogen (N) availability in the soil. However, the intricate dynamics and distribution patterns of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) root density and N nutrient under varying N supplies in Southern Xinjiang, China, have not been thoroughly understood. A two-year experiment (2021 and 2022) was conducted to determine the effects of five N rates (0, 150, 225, 300, and 450 kg N ha−1) on the root system, shoot growth, N uptake and distribution, and cotton yield. Compared to the N0 treatment (0 kg N ha−1), the application of N fertilizer at a rate of 300 kg N ha−1 resulted in consistent and higher seed cotton yields of 5875 kg ha−1 and 6815 kg ha−1 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. This N fertilization also led to a significant improvement in dry matter weight and N uptake by 32.4% and 53.7%, respectively. Furthermore, applying N fertilizer at a rate of 225 kg N ha−1 significantly increased root length density (RLD), root surface density (RSD), and root volume density (RVD) by 49.6–113.3%, 29.1–95.1%, and 42.2–64.4%, respectively, compared to the treatment without N fertilization (0 kg N ha−1). Notably, the roots in the 0–20 cm soil layers exhibited a stronger response to N fertilization compared to the roots distributed in the 20–40 cm soil layers. The root morphology parameters (RLD, RSD, and RVD) at specific soil depths (0–10 cm in the seedling stage, 10–25 cm in the bud stage, and 20–40 cm in the peak boll stage) were significantly associated with N uptake and seed cotton yield. Optimizing nitrogen fertilizer supply within the range of 225–300 kg N ha−1 can enhance root foraging, thereby promoting the interaction between roots and shoots and ultimately improving cotton production in arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the causes of coronary heart disease (CHD) is genetic factors. In this study, we explored the relationship between CYP2D7 and TCF20 gene polymorphisms and the risk of CHD in the Han Chinese population. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (CYP2D7 rs1800754, CYP2D7 rs2743461, and TCF20 rs760648) were selected and genotyped from 490 cases and 480 controls. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to assess the association between CYP2D7 and TCF20 polymorphisms and the risk of CHD. The association between clinical indicators and polymorphisms was analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey's HSD. The SNP-SNP interactions were obtained by performing multifactor dimensionality reduction (MDR). CYP2D7 rs1800754 and rs2743461 were closely associated with increased risk of CHD (alleles: p = 0.014, p = 0.031). Stratified analysis showed that CYP2D7 rs1800754 and rs2743461 were associated with an increased risk of CHD in men, age > 60 years, BMI ≥ 24, and smoking. Rs1800754 is also associated with an increased risk of CHD associated with alcohol consumption. In addition, TCF20 rs760648 was associated with a reduced risk of CHD in patients aged ≤ 60 years and with CALs. A significant association was found between CYP2D7 rs1800754 and rs2743461 genotypes and levels of UREA, Cr, and LDL-C; TCF20 rs760648 genotypes and levels of RBC. The MDR analysis showed that the three-locus interaction model was the best in the multi-locus model. In conclusion, CYP2D7 rs1800754 and rs2743461 polymorphisms were associated with CHD risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skeleton-based human interaction recognition is a formidable challenge that demands the capability to discern spatial, temporal, and interactive features. However, current research still faces some limitations in identifying spatial, temporal, and interaction features. Methods based on graph convolutional networks often prove to be insufficient in capturing interactive features and structural semantic information of skeletons. In order to solve this problem, we construct a Mutual-semantic Adjacency Matrix (MAM) by amalgamating the relative semantic attention of two skeleton sequences. This MAM was then integrated with the convolution of residual graphs to enhance the extraction of spatial and interaction features. We propose a novel interactive semantics neural network (ISNN) for skeleton-based human interaction recognition to hierarchically fuse MAM and structural semantic information. In addition, integrating the bone stream, we propose a two-stream Interactive Semantics Neural Network (2 s-ISNN). Experiments conducted with our models on two interaction datasets, NTU-RGB+D (mutual) and NTU-RGB+D 120 (mutual), demonstrate significantly improved recognition capabilities in comprehending human interactions. The source code is available at: https://github.com/czant1977/ISNN-master//. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalate plasticizers are gradually restricted in PVC products due to the escalating demand for health and environmental safeguards. Here, novel poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers(PGE), were synthesized utilizing biomass-derived glycerol and 1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid as raw materials via an esterification condensation reaction, with n-octanoic acid serving as an end-capping agent, adjustment of reactant ratios yielded PGE-1 and PGE-0.75, subsequently evaluated for their efficacy in PVC applications. FT-IR and GPC analyses elucidated potential structures and molecular weight distributions of the plasticizers, revealing oligomeric PGE with molecular weights spanning 1000–2000 g mol−1. Mechanical properties, thermal stability, dynamic mechanical analysis, and migration resistance of PVC plasticized with PGE-1 and PGE-0.75 were compared against those employing conventional plasticizers, including di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dioctyl terephthalate (DOTP), and acetyl tributyl citrate (ATBC). The hyperbranched network structure and high molecular weight of PGE conferred superior thermal stability and migration resistance to the plasticized PVC samples. Notably, the T50% of PGE-1/PVC film surpassed that of films plasticized with DEHP, DOTP and ATBC by 107.92, 95.17 and 111.14 °C, respectively. The weight loss of PGE/PVC film in distilled water, anhydrous alcohol and petroleum ether was below 2 wt% during 48 h. Furthermore, the weight loss of each PVC film was below the safety value (5 wt%) during 10 d in three different food simulants. Overall, the obtained poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers exhibit promise as phthalate replacements, owing to their favourable attributes in human health and environmental protection. The poly(glycerol ester) plasticizers derived from biomass glycerol, 1,4-CHDA and n-octanoic acid exhibited superb thermal stability and migration resistance far more than commercial plasticizers in PVC, resulting from the hyperbranched network structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studied the minimum ignition temperature of the dust layer (MITL) of oil-immersed coal and the heat effect and apparent activation energy (Ea) of raw coal and oil-immersed coal. Based upon the results, the addition of crude oil to coal could reduce the MITL, ameliorate the ignition sensitivity, and increase the heat effect of coal dust. The average Ea of oil-immersed coal was lower than that of raw coal. When there was a 10.8 mass% oil-immersed concentration of oil-immersed coal with the most acceptable particle size (≤ 75 μm), the MITL was 24.24% lower than that of raw coal. Furthermore, the exothermic value of oil-immersed coal was 26.67% higher than that of raw coal. Besides, the average Ea of oil-immersed coal was 26.8% lower than that of raw coal. The research herein is expected to improve people's understanding of the thermal hazard characteristics of oil-immersed coal dust, reduce the risk of coal dust fires and explosions, and ensure production safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the additional advantages of integrating contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) into the Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) ultrasound (US) for the characterization of adnexal lesions with solid components. Materials and methods: This prospective multicenter study recruited women suspected of having adnexal lesions with solid components between September 2021 and December 2022. All patients scheduled for surgery underwent preoperative CEUS and US examinations. The lesions were categorized according to the O-RADS US system, and quantitative CEUS indexes were recorded. Pathological results served as the reference standard. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to identify risk factors for malignancy in adnexal lesions with solid components. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was employed to assess diagnostic performance. Results: A total of 180 lesions in 175 women were included in the study. Among these masses, 80 were malignant and 100 were benign. Multivariable analysis revealed that serum CA-125, the presence of acoustic shadowing, and peak intensity (PI) ratio (PImass/PIuterus) of solid components on CEUS were independently associated with adnexal malignancy. The modified CEUS risk stratification model demonstrated superior diagnostic value in assessing adnexal lesions with solid components compared to O-RADS US (AUC: 0.91 vs 0.78, p < 0.001) and exhibited comparable performance to the Assessment of Different NEoplasias in the adnexa (ADNEX) model (AUC 0.91 vs 0.86, p = 0.07). Conclusion: Our findings underscore the potential value of CEUS as an adjunctive tool for enhancing the precision of diagnostic evaluations of O-RADS US. Clinical relevance statement: The promising performance of the modified CEUS risk stratification model suggests its potential to mitigate unnecessary surgeries in the characterization of adnexal lesions with solid components. Key Points: • The additional value of CEUS to O-RADS US in distinguishing between benign and malignant adnexal lesions with solid components requires further evaluation. • The modified CEUS risk stratification model displayed superior diagnostic value and specificity in characterizing adnexal lesions with solid components when compared to O-RADS US. • The inclusion of CEUS demonstrated potential in reducing the need for unnecessary surgeries in the characterization of adnexal lesions with solid components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) is a important cell surface receptor of SARS-CoV-2 S protein. The initial stage of SARS-COV-2 cell infection involves the binding of the S protein to ACE2. Hence, this work presents an innovative strategy to designing ACE2-based peptide inhibitors by considering the surface property and morphology of the S protein RBD. The aim is to develop a short peptide inhibitor that can effectively inhibit S protein-ACE2 interaction Through computational analysis and molecular simulation, the surface properties and morphology of S protein receptor-binding structural domain (RBD) were investigated, while the key residues of ACE2 ligand-binding structural domain (LBD) were identified based on their contributions and non-covalent interactions. Then, peptide inhibitors, consisting of ACE2 key residues, were developed by fitting to the surface characteristics and topographical features of the S protein RBD. Molecular simulation showed that two novel short peptides, IEPFF (I5) and WIEPFF (W6) had high affinity for S protein RBD but a low affinity for the cell membrane. Cellular adsorption studies demonstrated that both I5 and W6 effectively blocked ACE2-S protein binding without significant cytotoxicity. Flow cytometry analysis revealed that both I5 and W6 effectively inhibited S protein binding to the ACE2, resulting in a significant reduction (75 and 79%, respectively) in fluorescence intensity after 30 min of incubation at a concentration of 200 μM. Both I5 and W6 were excellent potential anti SARS-COV-2 drugs. This work provides an innovative perspective for the development of functional peptides for the prevention and management of SARS-COV-2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the association between LE8 scores and mortality risks among individuals diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Utilizing data from the NHANES conducted between 2005 and 2018, survey-weighted multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were utilized. Life's Essential 8 (LE8) scores dose–response associations were assessed using restricted cubic spline regression. Sub-analyses were performed for different categories of CVD. The study consisted of 2164 participants diagnosed with CVD, ranging in age from 20 to 80 years (weighted mean [SE] age, 61.47 [0.34] years; The average total LE8 was 64.97 [0.54]. 499 participants experienced mortality, with 350 deaths attributed to CVD. After accounting for potential covariates, LE8 score was found to be associated with a decreased both all-cause mortality (OR 0.34, CI 0.22–0.51) and CVD mortality (OR 0.40, CI 0.23–0.68). A survey-weighted multivariable Cox model with restricted cubic splines identified the lowest all-cause mortality (P < 0.001) and CVD mortality (P < 0.001) risk when LE8 reach at 63.75 (P < 0.001). The results highlight the association between LE8 scores and reduced mortality in CVD patient population. The implementation of comprehensive initiatives that prioritize healthy dietary patterns, will play a crucial role in alleviating the impact of cardiovascular disease and improving cardiovascular health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lexical databases are essential tools for studies on language processing and acquisition. Most previous Chinese lexical databases have focused on materials for adults, yet little is known about reading materials for children and how lexical properties from these materials affect children's reading comprehension. In the present study, we provided the first large database of 2999 Chinese characters and 2182 words collected from the official textbooks recently issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) of the People's Republic of China for most elementary schools in Mainland China, as well as norms from both school-aged children and adults. The database incorporates key orthographic, phonological, and semantic factors from these lexical units. A word-naming task was used to investigate the effects of these factors in character and word processing in both adults and children. The results suggest that: (1) as the grade level increases, visual complexity of those characters and words increases whereas semantic richness and frequency decreases; (2) the effects of lexical predictors on processing both characters and words vary across children and adults; (3) the effect of age of acquisition shows different patterns on character and word-naming performance. The database is available on Open Science Framework (OSF) (https://osf.io/ynk8c/?view%5fonly=5186bd68549340bd923e9b6531d2c820) for future studies on Chinese language development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In this study, we investigated the effects of gallic tannic acid (GTA) supplementation on the growth performance, intestinal digestive enzymes, morphology and microbial composition of common carp (Cyprinus carpio). The basal diet (CK) was supplemented with 5 g/kg (TL), 10 g/kg (TM) and 20 g/kg (TH) for 6 weeks. Compared with the CK group, adding GTA (10 g/kg) significantly increased the weight gain rate (WG%), specific growth rate (SGR%) and body condition factor ratio (CF) of common carp (p < 0.05) and reduced the fish feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p < 0.05). GTA supplementation significantly increased digestive enzyme activity, including amylase (Ams), protease (Prt) and lipase (Lps) (p < 0.05). Supplementing GTA can also enhance the innate immunity of common carp by reducing the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (Alt), aspartate aminotransferase (Ast), malondialdehyde (Mda), and increasing catalase (Cat), total superoxide dismutase (Khorshidi, Paknejad, Sodagar, Hajimoradloo, & Shekarabi) levels (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the intestinal barrier is improved. Increases in villus length, goblet cell number, and occludin a (oclna) gene expression levels were observed. RT‒PCR results showed that GTA increasedthe expression levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (igf1) and interleukin 4 (il4) and reduce the expression levels interleukin 6 (il6) mRNA in the fish intestine (p < 0.05). Adding GTA to the diet significantly increased the abundance of beneficial bacteria Gemmobacter, Shinella and Actinobacteriota_unclassified, indirectly increased the activity of digestive enzymes and promoted the growth of fish. KEGG analysis shows that 10 g/kg of GTA can significantly enhance the lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and amino acid metabolism pathways of the intestinal microbiota in fish (p < 0.05), thereby positively affecting the enhancement of intestinal digestive enzymes. These results indicated that adding GTA to feed can effectively improve the growth performance of common carp by promoting intestinal health. We strongly recommend GTA at a concentration of 10 g/kg as a beneficial dietary supplement for common carp farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virus‒host protein‒lncRNA interaction (VHPLI) predictions are critical for decoding the molecular mechanisms of viral pathogens and host immune processes. Although VHPLI interactions have been predicted in both plants and animals, they have not been extensively studied in viruses. For the first time, we propose a new deep learning-based approach that consists mainly of a convolutional neural network and bidirectional long and short-term memory network modules in combination with transfer learning named CBIL‒VHPLI to predict viral–host protein‒lncRNA interactions. The models were first trained on large and diverse datasets (including plants, animals, etc.). Protein sequence features were extracted using a k-mer method combined with the one-hot encoding and composition–transition–distribution (CTD) methods, and lncRNA sequence features were extracted using a k-mer method combined with the one-hot encoding and Z curve methods. The results obtained on three independent external validation datasets showed that the pre-trained CBIL‒VHPLI model performed the best with an accuracy of approximately 0.9. Pretraining was followed by conducting transfer learning on a viral protein–human lncRNA dataset, and the fine-tuning results showed that the accuracy of CBIL‒VHPLI was 0.946, which was significantly greater than that of the previous models. The final case study results showed that CBIL‒VHPLI achieved a prediction reproducibility rate of 91.6% for the RIP-Seq experimental screening results. This model was then used to predict the interactions between human lncRNA PIK3CD-AS2 and the nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) of the H5N1 virus, and RNA pull-down experiments were used to prove the prediction readiness of the model in terms of prediction. The source code of CBIL‒VHPLI and the datasets used in this work are available at https://github.com/Liu-Lab-Lnu/CBIL-VHPLI for academic usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With global climate warming, extreme climate events are becoming more frequent, posing a great threat to crop production. In this study, twelve extreme climate indices (ECIs) were defined to characterize climate events prone to occurring during key phenological stages of wheat. Additionally, eighteen Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6) were selected to analyze the spatial–temporal characteristics and trends of these ECIs under four emission scenarios of the future Shared Socioeconomic Pathway (SSP). The Delta Change Method (DCM) was used to correct the bias of GCM data, and the arithmetic mean and Independence Weighted Mean (IWM) were used to aggregate the results of different GCMs to improve the projection accuracy of ECIs. Overall, the IWM ensemble results can better reproduce historical changes of ECIs than multi-model arithmetic mean and any individual GCM. The results indicated that the ECIs across wheat growing area in China were significant spatial heterogeneity during the historical period from 1981 to 2010. Under future climate scenarios, the frequency of extreme high temperature events would significantly increase in most regions, and the intensity will increase by 0.13–0.99 ° and 0.44–2.41 ℃ during 2031–2060 and 2071–2100. However, the stress of extreme low temperature events during wheat growth periods would decrease. Although the changes of extreme precipitation events under different climate scenarios were not significant, these showed considerably spatial differences across wheat growing area. In order to maintain high and stable yield of wheat, it is important to take measures to mitigate the effects of future extreme climate events on wheat production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing threat of ocean warming has led to the more frequent endangerment of coral reefs, including the heat-tolerant Pavona decussata. To shed light on the molecular mechanisms involved in the response of coral to ocean warming, we investigated the gene expression profiles of P. decussata after natural thermal stress. Using PacBio Sequel II sequencing technology, we obtained relatively complete transcriptome data for P. decussata and then analyzed its gene expression quantitatively with Illumina RNA-seq technology. We acquired information on gene function, structure, and expression profile from coral host and zooxanthellae. Analysis of Illumina sequencing data revealed that unbleached coral host might rely on the active utilization of amino acids to maintain a stable living condition based on the tricarboxylic acid cycle under high temperature stress, and that zooxanthellae might benefit from ammonium produced by coral host. Moreover, the downregulation of unbleached coral host gene expression in innate immune pathways centered on the transcription factors that heat shock factor and nuclear factor (NF)-κB, as well as the tyrosine kinase pathway, might be crucial for maintaining the equilibrium of the zooxanthellae under thermal stress. Thus, the differences in these molecular mechanisms could determine, to some extent, whether coral host can maintain a symbiotic relationship with algae under heat stress. This study elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying differences in thermal tolerance within P. decussata species and supported further theoretical basis in coral molecular biology and ecological conservation, which enhance our comprehension of coral responses to future climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of an intelligent road network system requires many sensors for acquiring data from roads, bridges, and vehicles, thereby enabling comprehensive monitoring and regulation of road networks. Given this large number of required sensors, the sensors must be cost-effective, dependable, and environmentally friendly. Here, we show a laser upgrading strategy for coal tar, a low-value byproduct of coal distillation, to manufacture flexible strain-gauge sensors with maximum gauge factors of 15.20 and 254.17 for tension and compression respectively. Furthermore, we completely designed the supporting processes of sensor placement, data acquisition, processing, wireless communication, and information decoding to demonstrate the application of our sensors in traffic and bridge vibration monitoring. Our novel strategy of using lasers to upgrade coal tar for use as a sensor not only achieves the goal of turning waste into a resource but also provides an approach to satisfy large-scale application requirements for enabling intelligent road networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although extensive efforts have been made to dampen the thermoacoustic instability, successfully controlling the pressure oscillations in modern gas turbines or aeroengines remains challenging. The influence of the acoustic liner on the longitudinal thermoacoustic mode in a model annular combustor is investigated by Large Eddy Simulation (LES) in this work. The result of the self-excited longitudinal thermoacoustic instability without the liner agrees well with the frequency and acoustic analysis of the pressure mode based on experimental data. Three different bias flow velocities of the liner located downstream of the combustor are then simulated. The results reveal that the existence of the liner influences not only the acoustic field but also the flow field. When the bias velocity is large, it leads to intense turbulence-induced fluctuations, and the pressure oscillation is modulated intermittently. It shows that the weak coupling between flow and pressure oscillations plays a significant role in the onset of the intermittency of a thermoacoustic system. Based on the dynamic analysis of the thermoacoustic system with the acoustic liner, this intermittency is caused by the influence of the flow field on the flame-acoustic coupling. Finally, a low-order modeling method based on Van der Pol (VdP) oscillator with additive stochastic forcing is conducted to reproduce the evolving dynamics of the thermoacoustic system. Although the numerical cases demonstrated in this work are relatively simpler than those in a practical combustion system, the results are helpful for us to understand the effect of the acoustic liner and show the attractive potential to apply this device to suppress thermoacoustic instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the low-resistance shape optimization design of amphibious robots, an efficient optimization design framework is proposed to improve the geometric deformation flexibility and optimization efficiency. In the proposed framework, the free-form deformation parametric model of the flat slender body is established and an analytical calculation method for the height constraints is derived. CFD method is introduced to carry out the high-precision resistance calculation and a constrained Kriging-based optimization method is built to improve the optimization efficiency by circularly infilling the new sample points which satisfying the constraints. Finally, the shape of an amphibious robot example is optimized to get the low-resistance shape and the results demonstrate that the presented optimization design framework has the advantages of simplicity, flexibility and high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution weather data is crucial for assessing future climate change impacts on local environments, yet downscaling low-resolution Global Climate Models (GCMs) outputs and addressing associated uncertainty remain significant challenges. In this study, we propose a novel spatial weather generator using generative networks, specifically a numerical conditional deep convolutional generative adversarial network (cDCGAN), as a promising solution. The cDCGAN generates high-resolution weather data from low-resolution GCM outputs and was applied to four case areas in China under four Shared Socio-economic Pathway (SSP) scenarios. The results demonstrate the cDCGAN's accuracy, consistency, and stability, with low uncertainties. The model performs optimally in low-elevation plains and tropical regions. The cDCGAN offers advantages in uncertainty analysis over traditional downscaling methods, serving as a valuable tool for climate change analysis, response estimation, and environmental management decision-making within the spatial statistics domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exceptional points (EPs) have recently emerged as a new method for engineering the response of open physical systems, that is, systems that interact with the environment. The systems at the EPs exhibit a strong response to a small perturbation. Here, we show a method by which the sensitivity of silicon resonant sensors can be enhanced when operated at EPs. In our experiments, we use a pair of mechanically coupled silicon micromechanical resonators constituting a parity–time (PT)-symmetric dimer. Small perturbations introduced on the mechanically coupled spring cause the frequency to split from the EPs into the PT-symmetric regime without broadening the two spectrum linewidths, and this frequency splitting scales with the square root of the perturbation strength. The overall signal-to-noise ratio is still greatly enhanced, although the measured noise spectral density of the EP sensing scheme has a slight increase comparable to the traditional counterpart. Our results pave the way for resonant sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and hypothesis: Transperineal ultrasound (TPUS) is an effective tool for evaluating the integrity of the levator ani muscle (LAM). Several operating steps are required to obtain the standard multi-slice image of the LAM, which is experience dependent and time consuming. This study was aimed at evaluating the feasibility and reproducibility of the built-in software, Smart-pelvic™, in reconstructing standard tomographic images of LAM from 3D/4D TPUS volumes. Methods: This study was conducted at a tertiary teaching hospital, enrolling women who underwent TPUS. Tomographic images of the LAM were automatically reconstructed by Smart-pelvicTM and rated by two experienced observers as standard or nonstandard. The anteroposterior diameter (APD) of the levator hiatus was also measured on the mid-sagittal plane of the automatically and manually reconstructed images. The APD measurements of each approach were compared using Bland–Altman plots, and interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate intra- and inter-observer reproducibility. Meanwhile, the time taken for the reconstruction process of both methods was also recorded. Results: The ultrasound volume of a total of 104 patients were included in this study. Using Smart-pelvicTM, the overall success rate of the tomographic image reconstruction was 98%. Regarding measurements of APD, the ICC between the automatic and manual reconstruction methods was 0.99 (0.98, 0.99). The average time taken for reconstruction per case was 2.65 ± 0.52 s and 22.08 ± 3.45 s, respectively. Conclusions: Using Smart-pelvicTM to reconstruct tomographic images of LAM is feasible, and it can promote TPUS by reducing operator dependence and improving examination efficiency in a clinical setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining bio-based functional reagents and biopolymers has become a solution to address the needs of sustainability, health, and safety as society has grown. This study developed a waterproof and intumescent flame retardant system for epoxy resin (EP) by combining hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene and melamine with vanillin, synthesizing a ternary polymer flame retardant (HCPVM), combining carbon and gas sources, and using piperazine pyrophosphate (PAPP) as an acid source. The test results showed that HCPVM could participate in the curing reaction of EP and improve the mechanical properties of EP material. At the same time, the flame retardancy and water resistance of the material have been significantly improved. The peak heat release rate (PHRR) of EP/3.5 PAPP/0.5 HCPVM was 65.43% lower than that of pure EP. Additionally, the system's LOI and UL-94 did not significantly change after five days of boiling. In summary, this study's waterproof bio-based intumescent flame retardant solution broadens the application possibilities for EP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polylactic acid (PLA) surgical suture is considered to be one of the most ideal materials for tissue closure due to its rich raw materials and excellent biological properties. However, surgical sutures face great challenges due to problems such as wound infection and tissue reaction in practical applications. In order to improve the clinical applicability of surgical sutures, we constructed a new drug-loading system for core-spun surgical sutures. The shell was composed of nanofibrous membranes composed of polyglycolic acid (PGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) and ciprofloxacin (CIP) antibacterial drugs, and the core layer adopts PLA filament. By adjusting the composition ratio of PGA and PCL in the shell, a new mode of regulating the release rate and release cycle of the suture was constructed. According to different wound healing time, different drug release cycles of surgical suture were selected. In the study, the structure of the core-spun yarn can be clearly observed by scanning electron microscope, the higher the shell PGA content and drug loading, the faster the drug release rate. When the carrier ratio PGA/PCL was 80/20 and the drug loading was 3%, the drug release rate was the fastest and the drug release was high; finally, antibacterial experiments showed that the suture had excellent antibacterial effect and could effectively kill Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The successful preparation of core-spun yarn surgical suture provides a new idea for the study of new antibacterial surgical suture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compensatory growth (CG) in fish is heavily influenced by nutrient metabolism. However, there are limited studies examining how nutrient metabolism is regulated during this process. For silver pomfret, an important commercial marine fish, it's crucial to establish effective starvation and re-feeding strategies to ensure good water quality and fast growth. To identify the complete compensatory growth model of silver pomfret, we conducted an experiment with a control group (normal feeding) and three starvation/re-feeding groups. We observed that the recovery of weight and condition factor in the 14-day starvation and 14-day re-feeding groups was significantly faster than other groups, indicating full compensatory growth. Thus, we selected this group for the next experiment. We performed untargeted metabolomics and transcriptome analysis of muscle tissue on Day 14, 21 and 28 (CG process), and examined the key regulatory genes of nutrient metabolism on Day 0, 7, 14, 21 and 28 (starvation and re-feeding process). Our data revealed that during starvation, silver pomfret first utilized carbohydrates and short-chain lipids, followed by proteins and long-chain lipids. After re-feeding, lipids accumulated first, resulting in rapid growth, followed by the recovery of protein content in muscle. During starvation, the expression of anabolic-related genes such as TER and CALR decreased, and catabolic-related genes such as TSC2 and MLYCD increased, promoting the AMPK pathway. During re-feeding, anabolic-related gene expression increased without AMPK inhibition. Our findings provide insights into the energy utilization strategies of fish and molecular regulation during compensatory growth in fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We cultured silver pomfret for 20 days, decreasing water temperature from 18 to 8 ℃, and sampled muscle every 5 days. Muscle fiber degeneration and apoptosis began to increase at 13 ℃ detected by HE and TUNEL staining. Further analysis of transcriptome revealed that several apoptosis-related pathways were highly enriched by differentially expressed genes (DEGs). We analyzed 10 DEGs from these pathways by RT-qPCR during the temperature-decreasing process. JNK1, PIDD, CytC, Casp 3, and GADD45 were up-regulated after 15 and 20 days, while DUSP3, JNK2, and PARP genes were down-regulated after 15 and 20 days. DUSP5 was up-regulated from 10 to 20 days, and C-JUN was up-regulated after 20 days. We analyzed apoptosis in PaM cells under different temperatures (26 ℃, 23 ℃, 20 ℃, 17 ℃, and 14 ℃). The cell viability significantly declined from 14 to 20 ℃; the TUNEL and IHC results showed that the apoptosis signal increased with the temperature dropping, especially in 17 ℃ and 14 ℃; DUSP5, JNK1, CytC, C-JUN, Casp 3, and GADD45 were up-regulated at 17 ℃ and 14 ℃, and PIDD was up-regulated at 20 ℃, 17 ℃, and 14 ℃. DUSP3 was up-regulated at 20 ℃ but down-regulated at 17 ℃ and 14 ℃, and PARP was down-regulated at 17 ℃ and 14 ℃. JNK2 was up-regulated at 20 ℃ but down-regulated at 17 ℃ and 14 ℃. Our results suggest that DUSP could help inhibit apoptosis in the initial stage of cold stress, but low temperature could down-regulate it and up-regulate JNK-C-JUN, inducing apoptosis in a later stage. These data provide a basis for the study of the response mechanism of fish to cold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the axial compression performance and stress–strain relationship of confined high-strength recycled aggregate concrete (HSRAC) columns were investigated and assessed through uniaxial compression tests. The test variables included the recycled coarse aggregate replacement ratio (RCA-RR), stirrup ratio, steel fiber content, concrete strength, and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer sheet confinement. The results revealed that the incorporation of RCA in concrete led to an increase in the peak strain as well as a reduction in the elastic modulus and ductility. The brittle characteristic of HSRAC became more significant with the increase in the RCA-RR, which was reflected in the steeper descending branch of the stress–strain curve. However, enhancing lateral confinement or adding steel fibers could compensate for the weakness of the poor deformation capacity of HSRAC. The elastic–plastic deformation index of hoop-confined HSRAC with a 2% stirrup ratio was 69.70% higher than that of unconfined HSRAC. Meanwhile, the addition of steel fiber with a volume content of 1% improved the ultimate strain of hoop-confined HSRAC by 55.45%. Based on tests conducted on thirty columns, the analytic expression of the stress–strain model for the confined HSRAC was developed by regression analysis, and the accuracy of the recommended model was verified through finite element analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

C# is one of the most widely used programming languages. However, to the best of our knowledge, there has been no work in the literature aimed at enabling search-based software testing techniques for applications running on the.NET platform, like the ones written in C#. In this paper, we propose a search-based approach and an open source tool to enable white-box testing for C# applications. The approach is integrated with a.NET bytecode instrumentation, in order to collect code coverage at runtime during the search. In addition, by taking advantage of Branch Distance, we define heuristics to better guide the search, e.g., how heuristically close it is to cover a branch in the source code. To empirically evaluate our technique, we integrated our tool into the EvoMaster test generation tool and conducted experiments on three.NET RESTful APIs as case studies. Results show that our technique significantly outperforms gray-box testing tools in terms of code coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of information diffusion can cause changes in the emotions of individuals, which in turn can have an impact on the process of disease spreading. This paper describes a coupled information-disease spreading model based on multiplex networks, taking into account individual emotions, which can be used to investigate the interaction between positive and negative information diffusion, emotion accumulation, and disease spreading. In our model, emotions act as a mediator of the interaction between information diffusion and disease spreading, with individuals reacting emotionally based on the information they receive, and emotions in turn influencing disease infection and recovery through accumulation. In addition, to measure the impact of emotions, we introduce two indicators: the emotion threshold and the immune impact factor. The Micro-Markov chain approach is used for the theoretical analysis to derive the dynamic evolution process of the model and to calculate the prevalence threshold. We validate the theoretical analysis through extensive numerical simulations. The results show that individual emotions can have an impact on the disease spreading process. Specifically, positive emotions can effectively inhibit the spread of disease, slow down the rate of an outbreak, and reduce outbreak size in a population, while negative emotions can greatly facilitate the spread of disease, accelerate the rate of disease prevalence, and increase outbreak size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low-frequency magnetic interference induced by the laboratory power supply is one of the main decoherence sources of trapped-ion qubits. Synchronizing the experimental sequence with the phase of power line is widely used to mitigate this problem, but this results in a significant decrease in experimental efficiency. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate a simple active compensation method to reduce the observed 50 Hz and 150 Hz strong magnetic interference in an ion trap induced by the power line. In our method, a single 40 Ca + ion is used as the magnetic probe and an reverse compensation signal is generated by a programmable arbitrary waveform generator (AWG). After compensation, an 86 % reduction of the periodic magnetic field fluctuation and over 35-fold extension of the coherence time from 70 to 2500 μ s were observed. This method can also be applied to suppress other spectral components of the magnetic field fluctuation related to the power line, and it is also useful for other atomic systems such as neutral atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclin-dependent kinase 12 (CDK12) has been found to regulate tumor progression. However, its function in gastric carcinoma (GC) remains controversial. This work aimed to explore the exact effect of CDK12 on GC progression. We detected the expression of CDK12 in GC cells and normal gastric mucosal epithelial cells. Then CDK12 function on GC cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis was researched by colony formation experiment, Transwell experiment, and angiogenesis assay. Moreover, CDK12 effect on the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway activity was explored by western blot. Further, we used LY294002 (10 μM) to treat GC cells to verify whether CDK12 regulates GC progression by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. Additionally, CDK12 effect on the expression of prognostic factors of GC was detected by western blot, including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and Ki67. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were utilized to evaluate the expression of mRNAs and proteins. As a result, CDK12 was upregulated in GC cells. CDK12 overexpression facilitated the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of GC cells. However, CDK12 silencing showed an opposite result. CDK12 overexpression activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, but CDK12 silencing inactivated it in GC cells. The blockage of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway induced by LY294002 treatment counteracted the promotion of CDK12 on the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of GC. Further, CDK12 silencing suppressed the expression of ALP and Ki67 proteins in GC cells. Taken together, CDK12 promotes the proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis of GC by activating the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. It may be a novel target for GC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in software testing often involves the development of software prototypes. Like any piece of software, there are challenges in the development, use and verification of such tools. However, some challenges are rather specific to this problem domain. For example, often these tools are developed by PhD students straight out of bachelor/master degrees, possibly lacking any industrial experience in software development. Prototype tools are used to carry out empirical studies, possibly studying different parameters of novel designed algorithms. Software scaffolding is needed to run large sets of experiments efficiently. Furthermore, when using AI-based techniques like evolutionary algorithms, care needs to be taken to deal with their randomness, which further complicates their verification. The aforementioned represent some of the challenges we have identified for this domain. In this paper, we report on our experience in building the open-source EvoMaster tool, which aims at system-level test case generation for enterprise applications. Many of the challenges we faced would be common to any researcher needing to build software testing tool prototypes. Therefore, one goal is that our shared experience here will boost the research community, by providing concrete solutions to many development challenges in the building of such kind of research prototypes. Ultimately, this will lead to increase the impact of scientific research on industrial practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The operating principles of Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) boilers involve a significant amount of heat accumulation, which forms the thermal inertia of the boiler and hinders the improvement of its variable load response rate. This study aims to characterize the thermal inertia of CFB boilers by evaluating the change in the boiler's heat accumulation corresponding to the change in unit power generation. The thermal inertia of a 330 MW CFB boiler was determined through the collection of operating data under four different operating conditions of 30%, 50%, 75%, and 100% load. The study proposes to substitute the existing refractory material with a metal grille to reduce the thermal inertia of the boiler. The effect of the metal grille on heat transfer was confirmed through verification on a 440 t/h CFB boiler, and its performance change and thermal inertia reduction were further predicted. The results indicate that over 50% of the total thermal inertia of CFB boilers originates from the refractory material. The use of metal grille in place of refractory material improved heat transfer in the furnace, resulting in a decrease of the furnace chamber temperature by 13°C in the 330 MW CFB boiler. This reduction of thermal inertia by 30%–35% will facilitate faster load lifting and lowering of the boiler, fulfilling the requirement for flexible peaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversies still exist over the necessity of equipping with an emergency water supply system in the supercritical circulating fluidized bed/CFB unit. To resolve the dispute, research on the safety of the heating surfaces in the supercritical CFB boiler during the electricity failure accident under the assumption of not putting the emergency water supply system into use must be conducted. However, due to the low incidence rate of this accident, no relevant data have been reported yet. To provide useful data for the related research, a breakdown accident of the main feed water pump that happened in a 350 MW supercritical CFB boiler was introduced in this work. The analysis of the physical processes in both the furnace and water side of the boiler during this accident was performed. Then the discussion on the similarities and discrepancies between the two accidents was carried out. It was found out that with appropriate handling, the data collected in two periods of the breakdown accident of the main feed water pump can provide a reference for the verification of the prediction model of the electricity failure accident. Finally, a preliminary prediction model was established as the first step of the verification work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the predictive performance and reproducibility of Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) ultrasound (US) system in evaluating adnexal masses between sonologists with varying levels of expertise. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study conducted between May 2019 and May 2020, which included 147 adnexal mases with pathological results. Four sonologists with varying experiences independently assigned an O-RADS US category to each adnexal mass twice. The intra- and inter-observer agreement was assessed using weighted kappa values. The area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value (PPV and NPV) were assessed for each sonologist. Results: Of the 147 adnexal mases, 115 (78.2%) lesions were benign and 32 (21.8%) lesions were malignant. Considering O-RADS > 3 as a predictor for adnexal malignancy, the predictive accuracies of the four sonologists were excellent, with AUCs ranging from 0.831 to 0.926. The predictive accuracies of O-RADS US by experienced sonologists were significantly higher compared to inexperienced sonologists (all P values < 0.005). The O-RADS US presented high sensitivity and NPV value for each sonologist. With regard to the reproducibility of O-RADS, the intra- and inter-observer agreement among experienced sonologists performed better than inexperienced sonologists. Conclusion: O-RADS showed difference in the predictive accuracy and reproducibility in the evaluation of adnexal masses among sonologists with different levels of expertise. Training is required for inexperienced sonologists before the generalization of O-RADS classification system in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel dual-amplification system based on CRISPR-Cas12a and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was developed for colorimetric determination of MC-LR. This dual-amplification was accomplished by combining the nuclease activity of CRISPR-Cas12a with the redox activity of HRP. HRP linked to magnetic beads through an ssDNA (MB-ssDNA-HRP) was used to induce a color change of the 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB)-H2O2 chromogenic substrate solution. Specific binding of MC-LR with its aptamer initiated the release of a complementary DNA (cDNA), which was designed to activate the trans-cleavage activity of CRISPR-Cas12a. Upon activation, Cas12a cut the ssDNA linker in MB-ssDNA-HRP, causing a reduction of HRP on the magnetic beads. Consequently, the UV–Vis absorbance of the HRP-catalyzed reaction was decreased. The dual-signal amplification facilitated by CRISPR-Cas12a and HRP enabled the colorimetric detection of MC-LR in the range 0.01 to 50 ng·mL−1 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 4.53 pg·mL−1. The practicability of the developed colorimetric method was demonstrated by detecting different levels of MC-LR in spiked real water samples. The recoveries ranged from 86.2 to 118.5% and the relative standard deviation (RSD) was 8.4 to 17.6%. This work provides new inspiration for the construction of effective signal amplification platforms and demonstrates a simple and user-friendly colorimetric method for determination of trace MC-LR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oxidative stress, as a characteristic of cellular aerobic metabolism, plays a crucial regulatory role in the development and metastasis of gastric cancer (GC). Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators in GC development. However, research on the prognostic patterns of oxidative stress-related lncRNAs (OSRLs) and their functions in the immune microenvironment is currently insufficient. We identified the OSRLs signature (DIP2A-IT1, DUXAP8, TP53TG1, SNHG5, AC091057.1, AL355001.1, ARRDC1-AS1, and COLCA1) from 185 oxidative stress-related genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort via random survival forest and Cox analyses, and the results were subsequently validated in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) dataset. The patients were divided into high- and low-risk groups by the risk score of the OSRLs signature. Longer overall survival was detected in the low-risk group than in the high-risk group in both the TCGA cohort (P < 0. 001, HR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.31–0.62) and the GEO cohort (P = 0.014, HR = 0.67, 95% CI 0.48–0.93). Next, multivariate Cox analysis identified that the risk model was an independent prognostic characteristic (HR > 1, P = 0.005), and time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and nomogram analysis were utilized to evaluate the predictive ability of the risk model. Next, gene set enrichment analysis revealed that the immune-related pathway, Wnt/ β -catenin signature, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 signature, and cytokine‒cytokine receptor interaction was enriched. High-risk patients were more responsive to CD200, TNFSF4, TNFSF9, and BTNL2 immune checkpoint blockade. The results of qRT‒PCR further proved the accuracy of our bioinformatic analysis. Overall, our study identified a novel OSRLs signature that can serve as a promising biomarker and prognostic indicator, which provides a personalized predictive approach for patient prognosis evaluation and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytoskeleton-associated protein 2-like (CKAP2L), a cell cycle-related protein, is correlated to tumor progression in some tumors. But there were no pan-cancer studies on CKAP2L, and its role in cancer immunotherapy is also unclear. The expression levels, expression activity, genomic alterations, DNA methylation and functions of CKAP2L in various tumors, as well as the associations between CKAP2L expression and patient prognosis, chemotherapy sensitivity, and tumor immune microenvironment, were all analyzed in a comprehensive pan-cancer analysis of CKAP2L by various databases, analysis websites, and R software. The experiments were also conducted to verify the analysis results. In the majority of cancers, CKAP2L expression and activity were markedly elevated. Elevated CKAP2L expression led to poor prognostic outcomes in patients, and is an independent risk factor for most tumors. Elevated CKAP2L causes decreased sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents. Knockdown of CKAP2L significantly inhibited the proliferation and metastasis capacity of the KIRC cell lines and resulted in cell cycle G2/M arrest. In addition, CKAP2L was closely related to immune subtypes, immune cell infiltration, immunomodulators and immunotherapy markers (TMB, MSI), patients with high CKAP2L expression were more sensitive to immunotherapy in the IMvigor210 cohort. The results indicate that CKAP2L is a pro-cancer gene that serves as a potential biomarker for predicting patient outcomes. By inducing cells to transition from the G2 phase to the M phase, CKAP2L may promote cell proliferation and metastasis. Furthermore, CKAP2L is closely related to the tumor immune microenvironment and can be used as a biomarker to predict tumor immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outbreaks of Microcystis blooms can affect growth of submerged plants, which in turn can inhibit cyanobacterial growth. Microcystin (MC)-producing and non-MC-producing Microcystis strains typically coexist in Microcystis-dominated blooms. However, the interaction between submerged plants and Microcystis at strain level is not clear. This study was aimed at assessing the effects of a submerged macrophyte Myriophyllum spicatum on one MC-producing versus one non-MC-producing strains of the cyanobacterium Microcystis using plant-Microcystis co-culture experiments. The impacts of Microcystis on M. spicatum were also examined. It showed that the MC-producing Microcystis strain had a higher resistance to negative impacts by the cocultured submerged plant M. spicatum than the non-MC-producing strain. By contrast, the plant M. spicatum was impacted more by the MC-producing Microcystis than the non-MC-producer. The associated bacterioplankton community was affected more by the MC-producing Microcystis than the cocultured M. spicatum. The MC cell quotas were significantly higher in the coculture treatment (the PM + treatment, p < 0.05), indicating that the production and release of MCs might be a key factor responsible for the reduced impact of M. spicatum. The higher concentrations of dissolved organic and reducing inorganic compounds might eventually exacerbate the recovering capacity of coexisting submerged plants. Overall, this study indicated that the capacity to produce MCs, as well as the density of Microcystis, should be taken into account when attempting to reestablish submerged vegetation to undertake remediation works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stability, low cost, non-toxicity, excellent pigment, and optical and electrical properties of TiO2 have prompted its wide application. Moreover, the microwave is a new green heating technology that can promote crystal nucleation and growth; therefore, researchers have applied microwave heating to prepare rutile TiO2. In this study, the phase transformation kinetics and enhancement mechanism of rutile TiO2 prepared by microwave-enhanced calcination of metatitanic acid-doped TiC were investigated. Microwave radiation and TiC doping effectively lowered the phase transition temperature point (450 °C) for the anatase-to-rutile transformation (ART) with a reduction of 600 °C under different calcination conditions. Subsequently, the isothermal phase transformation kinetics of the ART process of the calcination of metatitanic acid was studied by the Johnson–Mehl–Avrami–Kolmogorov model. The ART activation energy was 40.81 kJ/mol, which was only 0.43–0.0028 times that of commonly reported values. Moreover, the preparation process could generate a large number of oxygen vacancies and improve the optical properties of the products. Therefore, this approach is considered a new method for preparing photocatalysts with improved performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The designed method aims to perform image classification tasks efficiently and accurately. Different from the traditional CNN-based image classification methods, which are greatly affected by the number of labels and the depth of the network. Although the deep network can improve the accuracy of the model, the training process is usually time-consuming and laborious. We explained how to use only a few of labels, design a more flexible network architecture and combine feature distillation method to improve model efficiency while ensuring high accuracy. Specifically, we integrate different network structures into independent individuals to make the use of network structures more flexible. Based on knowledge distillation, we extract the channel features and establish a feature distillation connection from the teacher network to the student network. By comparing the experimental results with other related popular methods on commonly used data sets, the effectiveness of the method is proved. The code can be found at https://github.com/ZhangXinba/Semi_FD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims at developing novel thermal protective fabrics with three-dimensional spacer woven structure, using basalt fibers and polyimide fibers. Different properties of three-dimensional spacer woven fabrics were discussed, such as flame retardant, thermal insulation, thermal protection performance and thermal stability. In addition, the effects of spacing heights on different thermal protection properties were also explored. The limiting oxygen index and vertical burning tests were used to evaluate flame retardant performance. Results demonstrated that the LOI value of the outer basalt fabric is greater than 69% and that of the inner polyimide fabric is greater than 35%, indicating an excellent flame retardant property. The thermal insulation performance of fabrics was characterized by the thermal resistance and insulation rate. Results confirmed that the insulation rate and thermal resistance of fabric spaced at a height of 0 mm are much lower than other fabrics with spacer yarn height, which means that the thermal insulation performance of three-dimensional fabrics has been greatly improved compared with two-dimensional fabrics. In terms of thermal protection performance, the fabric with a spacing height of 8 mm has the highest TPP value and consequently shows the best thermal protection performance. Furthermore, the shape and quality of the sample are stable after heat treatment, suggesting that the designed fabric has good thermal stability. Finally, the heat transfer process of the fabric was observed by performing numerical simulations at high temperature on fabrics with a spacing height of 8 mm. The simulation results showed that the air layer in the middle of the fabric acted as a heat insulation barrier, which makes the heat transfer slower and thus effectively improves the thermal protection performance of the fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using rolling circle amplification (RCA) and two different ways of signal readout, we developed analytical methods to detect the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S protein). We modified streptavidin-coated magnetic beads with an aptamer of RBD through a biotin-tagged complementary DNA strand (biotin-cDNA). Binding of RBD caused the aptamer to dissociate from the biotin-cDNA, making the cDNA available to initiate RCA on the magnetic beads. Detection of RBD was achieved using a dual signal output. For fluorescence signaling, the RCA products were mixed with a dsDNA probe labeled with fluorophore and quencher. Hybridization of the RCA products caused the dsDNA to separate and to emit fluorescence (λex = 488 nm, λem = 520 nm). To generate easily detectable UV–vis absorbance signal, the RCA amplification was extended to produce DNA flower to encapsulate horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The HRP-encapsulated DNA flower catalyzed a colorimetric reaction between H2O2 and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) to generate an optical signal (λabs = 450 nm). The fluorescence and colorimetric assays for RBD have low detection limits (0.11 pg mL−1 and 0.904 pg mL−1) and a wide linear range (0.001–100 ng mL−1). For detection of RBD in human saliva, the recovery was 93.0–100% for the fluorescence assay and 87.2–107% for the colorimetric assay. By combining fluorescence and colorimetric detection with RCA, detection of the target RBD in human saliva was achieved with high sensitivity and selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphogypsum (PG) is a solid waste product generated during wet-process phosphoric acid production. Various impurities considerably reduce the purity, whiteness, and application range of PG. This article analyzes the physical properties of PG in detail and systematically examines the content and distribution of impurities. Based on the obtained results, a simple process for the efficient removal of almost all impurities in the PG is proposed. The purity and whiteness of the purified gypsum (CaSO4) significantly increased to 99% and 92%, respectively. The migration of impurities and the material balance of this process were then analyzed. Most importantly, the purified gypsum showed high CO2 sequestration efficiency for CO2 mineral sequestration, through which a high value-added CaCO3 product was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]