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The thick crust of the southern Tibetan and central Andean plateaus includes high-conductivity, low-velocity zones ascribed to partial melt. The melt origin and effect on plateau uplift remain speculative, in particular if plateau uplift happens before continental collision. The East Anatolian Plateau (EAP) has experienced similar, more recent uplift but its structure is largely unknown. Here we present an 80 km deep geophysical model across EAP, constrained by seismic receiver functions integrated with interpretation of gravity data and seismic tomographic, magnetotelluric, geothermal, and geochemical models. The results indicate a 20 km thick lower crustal layer and a 10 km thick mid-crustal layer, which both contain pockets of partial melt. We explain plateau uplift by isostatic equilibration following magmatism associated with roll-back and break-off of the Neo-Tethys slab. Our results suggest that crustal thickening by felsic melt and mafic underplate are important for plateau uplift in the EAP, Andes and Tibet. Partially molten middle and underplated lower crust may control isostatic plateau uplift, with uplift duration corelated to middle crustal thickness, which determines the height and crustal thickness of the Anatolian, Tibetan and Andean plateaux [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: WD repeat domain 12 (WDR12) plays a crucial role in the ribosome biogenesis pathway. However, its biological function in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains poorly understood. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the roles of WDR12 in the occurrence and progression of CRC, as well as its underlying mechanisms. Methods: The expression of WDR12 was assessed through The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Human Protein Atlas (HPA) database. Functional experiments including Celigo assay, MTT assay, and Caspase-3/7 assay were conducted to validate the role of WDR12 in the malignant progression of CRC. Additionally, mRNA chip-sequencing and ingenuity pathway analysis (IPA) were performed to identify the molecular mechanism. Results: WDR12 expression was significantly upregulated in CRC tissues compared to normal colorectal tissues. Knockdown of WDR12 reduced proliferation and promoted apoptosis of CRC cell lines in vitro and in vivo experiments. Furthermore, WDR12 expression had a significantly inverse association with diseases and functions, including cancer, cell cycle, DNA replication, recombination, cellular growth, proliferation and repair, as revealed by IPA analysis of mRNA chip-sequencing data. Moreover, the activation of cell cycle checkpoint kinases proteins in the cell cycle checkpoint control signaling pathway was enriched in the WDR12 knockdown CRC cell lines. Additionally, downregulation of rac family small GTPase 1 (RAC1) occurred upon WDR12 knockdown, thereby facilitating the proliferation and anti-apoptosis of CRC cells. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the WDR12/RAC1 axis promotes tumor progression in CRC. Therefore, WDR12 may serve as a novel oncogene and a potential target for individualized therapy in CRC. These findings provide an experimental foundation for the clinical development of drugs targeting the WDR12/RAC1 axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For working students, reconciling work and school lives is a major challenge. Emerging ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICTs) further exacerbate this challenge, as a constant connection to work via ICTs blurring the boundaries between work and school domains. While the influence of ICTs on users' work and personal lives has received considerable research attention, the lens has not focused on how ICTs usage affect working students. In this study, we theorized the process by which working students' ICTs usage during school time affects their work-school interface experiences. We conducted a time-lagged design with two-phase data collection, and a sample consisted of 266 working students was used to test the proposed hypotheses and theoretical model. The results suggest that as the frequency of work-related ICTs usage during school time increases, working students will experience more work-school conflict; the elevated experience of work-school conflict in turn negatively affects working students' work-school balance satisfaction. Furthermore, our results indicate that the negative effects of ICTs usage presented in this study are stronger (weaker) for those with high segmentation (integration) preference. These findings add to our understanding of the consequences of ICTs usage regarding working students' work-school interface. We provide some recommendations on how to minimize work-school conflict caused by ICTs usage and enhance balance satisfaction, and provide directions for future research in this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of polycrystalline materials are often dominated by defects; two-dimensional (2D) crystals can even be divided and disrupted by a line defect1–3. However, 2D crystals are often required to be processed into films, which are inevitably polycrystalline and contain numerous grain boundaries, and therefore are brittle and fragile, hindering application in flexible electronics, optoelectronics and separation1–4. Moreover, similar to glass, wood and plastics, they suffer from trade-off effects between mechanical strength and toughness5,6. Here we report a method to produce highly strong, tough and elastic films of an emerging class of 2D crystals: 2D covalent organic frameworks (COFs) composed of single-crystal domains connected by an interwoven grain boundary on water surface using an aliphatic bi-amine as a sacrificial go-between. Films of two 2D COFs have been demonstrated, which show Young’s moduli and breaking strengths of 56.7 ± 7.4 GPa and 73.4 ± 11.6 GPa, and 82.2 ± 9.1 N m−1 and 29.5 ± 7.2 N m−1, respectively. We predict that the sacrificial go-between guided synthesis method and the interwoven grain boundary will inspire grain boundary engineering of various polycrystalline materials, endowing them with new properties, enhancing their current applications and paving the way for new applications.A method is reported that produces highly strong, tough and elastic 2D COF films, using a sacrificial go-between, which endows them with new properties, enhances their current applications and paves the way for new applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Tumor metastasis significantly impacts the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, with lymph node (LN) metastasis being the most common and early form of spread. With the development of adjuvant immunotherapy, increasing attention has been paid to the tumor-draining lymph nodes（TDLN) in early-stage NSCLC, especially tumor-metastatic lymph nodes, which provides poor prognostic information but has potential benefits in adjuvant treatment. Methods: We showed the remodeled immune environment in TDLNs through using TCR-seq to analyse 24 primary lung cancer tissues and 134 LNs from 24 lung cancer patients with or without LN metastasis. Additionally, we characterized the spatial profiling of immunocytes and tumor cells in TDLNs and primary tumor sites through using multi-IHC. Results: We found the remodeled immune environment in TDLNs through analyzing primary lung cancer tissues and LNs from NSCLC patients with or without LN metastasis. Considering the intricate communication between tumor and immunocytes, we further subdivided TDLNs, revealing that metastasis-negative LNs from LN-metastatic patients (MNLN) exhibited greater immune activation, exhaustion, and memory in comparison to both metastasis-positive LNs (MPLN) and TDLNs from non-LN-metastatic patients (NMLN). Conclusions: Our data indicate that LN metastasis facilitated tumor-specific antigen presentation in TDLNs and induces T cell priming, while existing tumor cells generate an immune-suppressive environment in MPLNs through multiple mechanisms. These findings contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the immunological mechanisms through which LN metastasis influences tumor progression and plays a role in immunotherapy for NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robustness and generalization are two challenging problems for learning point cloud representation. To tackle these problems, we first design a novel geometry coding model, which can effectively use an invariant eigengraph to group points with similar geometric information, even when such points are far from each other. We also introduce a large-scale point cloud dataset, PCNet184. It consists of 184 categories and 51,915 synthetic objects, which brings new challenges for point cloud classification, and provides a new benchmark to assess point cloud cross-domain generalization. Finally, we perform extensive experiments on point cloud classification, using ModelNet40, ScanObjectNN, and our PCNet184, and segmentation, using ShapeNetPart and S3DIS. Our method achieves comparable performance to state-of-the-art methods on these datasets, for both supervised and unsupervised learning. Code and our dataset are available at https://github.com/MingyeXu/PCNet184. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CAR-T cell therapy did not achieve the desired efficacy in some patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). We conducted single-cell RNA and TCR sequencing as well as methylation chip profiling of peripheral blood samples in DLBCL patients. Patients who achieved complete remission (CR) showed an upward trend in T-cell levels, especially CD8-effector T cells. The responders exhibited T-cell clone expansion, more active T-cell transformation, and frequent cell communication. Highly expressed genes in the CR group were enriched in functions like leukocyte-mediated cytotoxicity and activation of immune response, while the non-CR group was enriched in pathways related to DNA damage and P53-mediated intrinsic apoptotic. More differentially methylated probes (DMPs) were identified in the baseline of the non-CR group (779 vs 350). GSEA analysis revealed that the genes annotated by DMPs were associated with cellular immune functions in T cells, including the generation of chemokines, leukocyte-mediated cytotoxicity, and cell-killing functions. The genes with low expression in the non-CR group exhibited a high methylation status. There is heterogeneity in the cellular, molecular, and epigenetic characteristics of host T cells in patients with different clinical outcomes. Intrinsic defects in T cells are important factors leading to poor efficacy of CAR-T therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on studying the microbiological properties of the Tibetan Palace Museum, which is located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and contains a vast collection of cultural heritage artifacts. The air quality of the museum is critical to the preservation of these artifacts, and factors such as microbial species, concentration, and particle size distribution are important indicators of air quality. The paper examines the concentration levels, particle size distribution, species diversity, and correlation between environmental factors and microorganisms in the museum. The study found that the concentration of bacteria was 2–3 times higher than normal, while the concentration of fungi was lower than average. The predominant microorganisms in the museum were Bacillus cereus, Bacillus psychrodurans, and Neurospora terricola. The research also discovered that the concentration of microorganisms was positively correlated with PM2.5 concentration and negatively correlated with temperature, relative humidity, and PM10 concentration. The study concludes that the museum's micro-environment is not ideal for the preservation of ancient books and cultural relics, and more research is necessary to identify the general microbiological traits and eradicate hazardous species in plateau museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robustness and generalization are two challenging problems for learning point cloud representation. To tackle these problems, we first design a novel geometry coding model, which can effectively use an invariant eigengraph to group points with similar geometric information, even when such points are far from each other. We also introduce a large-scale point cloud dataset, PCNet184. It consists of 184 categories and 51,915 synthetic objects, which brings new challenges for point cloud classification, and provides a new benchmark to assess point cloud cross-domain generalization. Finally, we perform extensive experiments on point cloud classification, using ModelNet40, ScanObjectNN, and our PCNet184, and segmentation, using ShapeNetPart and S3DIS. Our method achieves comparable performance to state-of-the-art methods on these datasets, for both supervised and unsupervised learning. Code and our dataset are available at https://github.com/MingyeXu/PCNet184. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To evaluate the value of time-serial CT radiomics features in predicting progression-free survival (PFS) for lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) patients after epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) therapy. Materials and methods: LUAD patients treated with EGFR-TKIs were retrospectively included from three independent institutes and divided into training and validation cohorts. Intratumoral and peritumoral features were extracted from time-serial non-contrast chest CT (including pre-therapy and first follow-up images); moreover, the percentage variation per unit time (day) was introduced to adjust for the different follow-up periods of each patient. Test-retest was performed to exclude irreproducible features, while the Boruta algorithm was used to select critical radiomics features. Radiomics signatures were constructed with random forest survival models in the training cohort and compared against baseline clinical characteristics through Cox regression and nonparametric testing of concordance indices (C-indices). Results: The training cohort included 131 patients (74 women, 56.5%) from one institute and the validation cohort encompassed 41 patients (24 women, 58.5%) from two other institutes. The optimal signature contained 10 features and 7 were unit time feature variations. The comprehensive radiomics model outperformed the pre-therapy clinical characteristics in predicting PFS (training: 0.78, 95% CI: [0.72, 0.84] versus 0.55, 95% CI: [0.49, 0.62], p < 0.001; validation: 0.72, 95% CI: [0.60, 0.84] versus 0.54, 95% CI: [0.42, 0.66], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Radiomics signature derived from time-serial CT images demonstrated optimal prognostic performance of disease progression. This dynamic imaging biomarker holds the promise of monitoring treatment response and achieving personalized management. Key Points: • The intrinsic tumor heterogeneity can be highly dynamic under the therapeutic effect of EGFR-TKI treatment, and the inevitable development of drug resistance may disrupt the duration of clinical benefit. Decision-making remained challenging in practice to detect the emergence of acquired resistance during the early response phase. • Time-serial CT-based radiomics signature integrating intra- and peritumoral features offered the potential to predict progression-free survival for LUAD patients treated with EGFR-TKIs. • The dynamic imaging signature allowed for prognostic risk stratification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telomeres are involved in the development and progression of gastric cancer (GC). However, the association of telomerase regulation-related lncRNAs with prognosis and immunotherapy responsiveness in gastric cancer is unclear. Methods: This study systematically evaluated the relationship between lncRNAs co-expressed with 67 telomerase regulatory genes and gastric cancer prognosis. The risk scores of the samples were calculated based on telomerase regulation-related lncRNAs with prognostic value, and the samples were classified into high-/low-risk groups. The prognostic value of risk groups was then evaluated, a GC prognostic prediction model based on risk groups and clinical characteristics was established, and the prediction accuracy of the model was clarified by receiving operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration curves. Finally, the value of risk grouping in GC immunotherapy sensitivity was predicted by comparing MSI status and tumor mutation load between the high- and low-risk groups. Results: We identified 13 lncRNAs with prognostic value co-expressed with telomerase regulatory genes and observed that the prognosis of the low-risk group was significantly better than that of the high-risk group. Meanwhile, a GC overall survival (OS) prediction model based on risk grouping and clinical characteristics was developed, and ROC curves and calibration curves confirmed the good predictive ability of the model. In addition, the low-risk group exhibited a higher tumor mutation load and MSI-H, suggesting a possible benefit of immunotherapy. Conclusion: We found that telomerase regulation-related lncRNAs have prognostic value in GC patients and contribute to the exploration of more effective immunotherapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small bowel adenocarcinoma (SBA) is a gastrointestinal malignancy with low incidence but poor prognosis, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. This study aimed to explore potential disease-causing biomarkers of SBA. The gene expression datasets of SBA and normal samples were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. First, differential gene expression analysis and weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) were performed. Common genes (CGs) were obtained by intersection of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and optimal modal genes of WGCNA. Subsequently, a protein‒protein interaction network was established to screen hub genes, and target genes were obtained by Lasso regression analysis of hub genes. An SBA risk prediction model was established based on target genes. The prediction accuracy of the model was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). The levels of immune cell infiltration and activation of immune pathways were compared between SBA and normal samples using the "ggpubr" and "reshape2" packages. A total of 1058 DEGs were identified. WGCNA showed that the signature gene in the brown module was significantly associated with SBA (p = 7E−17), and 469 CGs were obtained. Four target genes (APOA4, APOB, COL1A2, FN1) were identified and showed excellent prediction of SBA risk (AUC = 0.965). In addition, active dendritic cells and macrophages showed higher infiltration levels in SBA. Meanwhile, the APC_co_stimulation pathway and parainflammation pathway were strongly active in SBA. Four target genes (APOA4, APOB, COL1A2, FN1) may be involved in the pathogenesis of small bowel adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite increasing evidence that dysbiosis of urinary microbiota is closely correlated with bladder cancer, the influence of the urinary microbiota on immune evasion and tumor growth in bladder cancer is unknown. This study investigated whether the urinary microbiota influences intratumoral infiltration of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells, expression of Ki-67 and clinical prognosis in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Forty male patients, including 12 and 28 with or without recurrence, respectively, were retrospectively enrolled. Midstream urine samples were preoperatively collected. Urinary microbiota composition was analyzed by 16s rDNA sequencing. Alpha and beta diversities were measured. LEfSe analysis was employed to identify specific bacteria associated with recurrence. Intratumoral infiltration of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells and Ki-67 expression were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Patients with recurrence had higher α-diversity compared to those without (Shannon Index, P = 0.0007, Simpson Index, P = 0.0004). Distinct beta diversity was observed between recurrence and non-recurrence groups (weighted Unifrac P = 0.02; unweighted Unifrac P = 0.001). LEfSe analysis showed that the recurrence group displayed marked enrichment of Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Corynebacterium, and Acinetobacter genera. Patients with higher alpha diversity had elevated Ki-67 expression than those with lower alpha diversity (P = 0.0194), although microbial diversity was unassociated with infiltration of FoxP3+ regulatory T cells (P = 0.1653). Patients with lower urinary microbial diversity had prolonged recurrence-free survival compared to those with higher diversity. Perturbation of urinary microbiota may induce immune evasion and tumor growth, eventually contributing to unfavorable outcomes. Additional study is warranted to confirm a causal role of urinary microbiota in modulating antitumor immune response and survival in bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass-derived carbon materials are often applied in green energy storage systems like supercapacitors due to the abundance, facile access, low cost and nontoxicity. In this work, biomass-derived porous carbon spheres (PCSs) have been prepared by the carbonization and etching of sodium alginate (SA). Using polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a template, N-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are grown evenly on the surface of the PCSs, which drastically improves the pseudocapacitive activity and electrical conductivity. The prepared N-GQD/PCS/PAA electrode has a remarkable specific capacitance of 419.3 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. The symmetric supercapacitor assembled with N-GQD/PCS/PAA electrode exhibits a great specific capacitance of 337.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. Particularly, the device displays an ultrafast charge/discharge rate of 2.5 V s−1, demonstrating excellent rate capability and structural stability. The supercapacitor based on N-GQD/PCS/PAA possesses high energy density of 11.72 W h kg−1 and excellent cycle stability. A high mass loading (9.18 mg cm−2) with the energy density of 8.54 W h kg−1 is also investigated to realize the practical application for the device. In general, a novel biomass-derived carbon electrode modified with highly electrochemical active N-doped graphene quantum dots has been constructed to provide an effective way for high performance energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass-derived carbon materials are often applied in green energy storage systems like supercapacitors due to the abundance, facile access, low cost and nontoxicity. In this work, biomass-derived porous carbon spheres (PCSs) have been prepared by the carbonization and etching of sodium alginate (SA). Using polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a template, N-doped graphene quantum dots (N-GQDs) are grown evenly on the surface of the PCSs, which drastically improves the pseudocapacitive activity and electrical conductivity. The prepared N-GQD/PCS/PAA electrode has a remarkable specific capacitance of 419.3 F g−1 at 1 A g−1. The symmetric supercapacitor assembled with N-GQD/PCS/PAA electrode exhibits a great specific capacitance of 337.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1. Particularly, the device displays an ultrafast charge/discharge rate of 2.5 V s−1, demonstrating excellent rate capability and structural stability. The supercapacitor based on N-GQD/PCS/PAA possesses high energy density of 11.72 W h kg−1 and excellent cycle stability. A high mass loading (9.18 mg cm−2) with the energy density of 8.54 W h kg−1 is also investigated to realize the practical application for the device. In general, a novel biomass-derived carbon electrode modified with highly electrochemical active N-doped graphene quantum dots has been constructed to provide an effective way for high performance energy storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residual stresses and deformation in additive manufactured (AM) are two main barriers which hinder its extensive application seriously. In recent years, pulsed laser additive manufacturing has been widely examined for its advantages such as lower finer microstructure, more excellent mechanical properties, and heat accumulation in comparison with continuous-wave laser additive manufacturing. Few researches about residual stress of pulsed laser additive manufacturing, however, have been studied, and the development law of stain and residual stress is not clear. In this work, a three-dimensional (3D) transient uncoupled thermo-elastic-plastic model for pulsed-wave laser additive manufacturing procedure is carried through to examine the residual stress distribution and thermal history in 316L laser cladding. Excellent acceptance between the experimental measurements and the numerical results is obtained. It is discovered that pulsed-wave laser additive that manufactures attributes melt pools with periodic shape changes, the thermal stress evolution process moves like heartbeat periodically, and the residual stress distribution in laser cladding direction is similar to zigzag inhomogeneity. Furthermore, the influence of laser pulse parameters on residual stress distribution has been studied, and the results indicated that decreasing constant duty cycle and laser pulse length reduces the size and stress gradient of maximum stress' region for x-direction tensile stresses. It provides operation parameters' optimization choice with guidance to control or reduce residual stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full application of machine learning has caused plenty of problems with privacy-preserving. Especially in multi-party machine learning, private data is often exposed in the aggregation,transmission, and communication phase, which leads to the problem of private data leakage. Existing works use secure multi-party computing (SMPC) or secret-sharing technology to ensure the privacy-preserving of multi-party machine learning. Nevertheless, it brings enormous cost and feasibility drawbacks. The partition method of datasets is one of the most critical factors affecting the performance of machine learning. Vertically partitioned data has the problems of incomplete feature information held by a single participant and complicated training process. Therefore, it has to be tackled urgently that how to efficiently and safely complete the multi-party training using vertically partitioned datasets. Moreover, training logistic regression models efficiently is one of the directions worth working on. In this paper, we propose a protocol using that can complete the logistic regression modeling of vertically partitioned data by asynchronous gradient sharing. At the same time, we use an efficient homomorphic encryption method to protect private data. The experiments show that our protocol can reduce the training time in the case of a small impact on the output results, and speedup can be over 10x. Meanwhile, it will ensure the security of the vertically partitioned dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earthquakes are a consequence of the motions of the planet's tectonic plates, yet predicting when and where they may occur, and how to prepare remain some of the shortcomings of using scientific knowledge to protect human life. A devastating Mw 7.0 earthquake on October 30, 2020, offshore Samos Island, Greece was a consequence of the Aegean and Anatolian upper crust being pulled apart by north–south extensional stresses resulting from slab rollback, where the African plate is subducting northwards beneath Eurasia, while the slab is sinking by gravitational forces, causing it to retreat southwards. Since the retreating African slab is coupled with the overriding plate, it tears the upper plate apart as it retreats, breaking it into numerous small plates with frequent earthquakes along their boundaries. Historical earthquake swarms and deformation of the upper plate in the Aegean have been associated with massive volcanism and cataclysmic devastation, such as the Mw 7.7 Amorgos earthquake in July 1956 between the islands of Naxos and Santorini (Thera). Even more notable was the eruption of Santorini 3650 years ago, which contributed to the fall of the Minoan civilization. The Samos earthquake highlights the long historical lack of appreciation of links between deep tectonic processes and upper crustal deformation and geological hazards, and is a harbinger of future earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, establishing a basis for studies to institute better protection of infrastructure and upper plate cultures in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Visual tracking has been a popular task in computer vision in recent years, especially for long-term tracking. A novel object tracking framework is proposed in this paper. For surveillance cameras with overlapping areas, the target area is divided into several regions corresponding to each camera, and a simple re-matching method is used by matching the colors according to the segmented parts. For surveillance cameras without overlapping areas, a time estimation model is employed for continuously tracking objects in different fields of view (FoVs). A demonstration system for collaborative tracking in real time situation is realized finally. The experimental results show that compared with current popular algorithms, the proposed approach has good effect in accuracy and computation time for the application of continuously tracking the pedestrians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because AlexNet is too shallow to form a strong feature representation, the trackers based on the Siamese network have an accuracy gap comparing with state-of-the-art algorithms. Both deep features and appearance features benefit tracking accuracy. To combine these two kinds features, the modified pre-trained VGG16 network is fine-tuned as one branch of the backbone network. Secondly, an AlexNet branch is attached after the third convolutional layer of VGG16. Thus the response maps from both branches are merged to form a preliminary strong feature representation with deep features and shallow appearance features. Thirdly, a new mean Peak-to-side ratio(mPSR) loss is designed to help network learn target features adaptively. A channel attention block and the Average-Peak-to-Correlation Energy(APCE) are designed to help select contributed features and suppress distractors. SiamPF only takes ILSVRC2015-VID as training dataset, but it achieves excellent performance on OTB-2013 / OTB-2015 / VOT2015 / VOT2016 / VOT2017 while maintaining the real-time performance of 41FPS on the GTX 1080Ti. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let (M, g) be a smooth compact Riemiannian manifold without boundary and g k be a metric conformal to g. Suppose vol (M , g k) + ‖ R k ‖ L p (M , g k) < C , where R k is the scalar curvature and p > n 2 . We will use the 3-circles theorem to study the bubble tree convergence of g k . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate externally validated magnetic resonance (MR)-based and computed tomography (CT)-based machine learning (ML) models for grading clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).Materials and Methods: Patients with pathologically proven ccRCC in 2009-2018 were retrospectively included for model development and internal validation; patients from another independent institution and The Cancer Imaging Archive dataset were included for external validation. Features were extracted from T1-weighted, T2-weighted, corticomedullary-phase (CMP), and nephrographic-phase (NP) MR as well as precontrast-phase (PCP), CMP, and NP CT. CatBoost was used for ML-model investigation. The reproducibility of texture features was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Accuracy (ACC) was used for ML-model performance evaluation.Results: Twenty external and 440 internal cases were included. Among 368 and 276 texture features from MR and CT, 322 and 250 features with good to excellent reproducibility (ICC ≥ 0.75) were included for ML-model development. The best MR- and CT-based ML models satisfactorily distinguished high- from low-grade ccRCCs in internal (MR-ACC = 73% and CT-ACC = 79%) and external (MR-ACC = 74% and CT-ACC = 69%) validation. Compared to single-sequence or single-phase images, the classifiers based on all-sequence MR (71% to 73% in internal and 64% to 74% in external validation) and all-phase CT (77% to 79% in internal and 61% to 69% in external validation) images had significant increases in ACC.Conclusions: MR- and CT-based ML models are valuable noninvasive techniques for discriminating high- from low-grade ccRCCs, and multiparameter MR- and multiphase CT-based classifiers are potentially superior to those based on single-sequence or single-phase imaging.Key Points: • Both the MR- and CT-based machine learning models are reliable predictors for differentiating high- from low-grade ccRCCs. • ML models based on multiparameter MR sequences and multiphase CT images potentially outperform those based on single-sequence or single-phase images in ccRCC grading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on dynamic three-point bending tests, the dynamic notch toughness ( K Q d ) of Zr41.2Ti13.8Cu10Ni12.5Be22.5 (Vit 1) bulk metallic glass (BMG) was found to be sensitive to stress intensity factor rate ( K ˙ Q d ), which varied from 5.21 to 31.90 MPa m1/2. The number of shear bands (Ns) in the notch tip plastic zone was quantitatively analyzed. The phenomenon wherein Ns decreased with increasing loading rate was explained based on the theory of the shear transformation zone and the softening mechanism. Then, power law relationships were established among Ns, K Q d and K ˙ Q d . The results showed that shear bands can affect K Q d and K ˙ Q d and act as a bridge connecting K Q d and K ˙ Q d . The sensitivity of K Q d to K ˙ Q d in BMGs can be well explained by the variation of Ns with loading rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-pixel object detection is a kind of difficult program. Existing object detection benchmarks and methods mainly focus on standard detection task. However, these way cannot get good performance on low-pixel ratio object detection, which has a few pixel in high resolution images. In order to solve it, we propose a new deep learning framework. This framework improves Faster R-CNN by combining multiple level feature map and optimizing anchor size for bounding box recognition. In order to validate our approach, we collect and annotate a dataset for road garbage detection, which contains 801 images and 966 bounding boxes. Experiments demonstrate that our framework outperforms other state-of-the-art detection methods. What's more, our method can apply on road garbage target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three composite modes of CoFe O /BaTiO (CFO/BTO) were created with appropriate stoichiometric proportion. They are nitrate solution of CFO mixed with BTO (SCB), self-propagating precursor of CFO mixed with BTO (PCB), and the made-up CFO mixed with BTO (MCB) separately. The microstructural, ferroelectric, and ferromagnetic properties of SCB, PCB, and MCB bulk composites were investigated. SCB, PCB, and MCB bulk composites with a molar ratio of 2:8 were calcined at 1020, 1120, and 1160 C, respectively. And X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis showed that they all correspond to the CFO with cubic spinel structure and the BTO with tetragonal perovskite structure. The formation temperature of BTO with hexagonal structure is related to the distance of inter-diffusion and Co concentration in the CFO/BTO bulk composite. The wet chemical routing is of benefit to inhibit the agglomeration of the BTO in the CFO/BTO bulk composite. The maximum polarization of 5.24 μC/cm was received in the MCB bulk composite sintered at 1160 C with a molar ratio of 1:9. The maximum saturation magnetization of 31.609 emu/g and the remnant magnetization of 10.336 emu/g were obtained in the MCB bulk composite sintered at 1160 C with a molar ratio of 4:6. The threshold ferromagnetic phase content of percolation which has an effect on the MCB bulk composite is less than 40 mol %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this study, we investigated the regulation of linc-ROR on autophagy and gemcitabine resistance of pancreatic cancer cells and further studied the underlying involvement of the miR-124/PTBP1/PKM2 axis in this regulation.Methods: Pancreatic cancer cell lines PANC-1 and MIAPaCa-2 cells were used as in vitro model. Autophagy was assessed by western blot of LC3 I/II and observation GFP-LC3 puncta. Cell viability was examined using CCK-8 assay. Cell apoptosis was examined by flow cytometric analysis of Annexin V/PI staining. QRT-PCR, RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization and dual luciferase assay were used to study the expression and the binding between linc-ROR and miR-124.Results: Linc-ROR siRNA significantly sensitized PANC-1 and MIAPaCa-2 cells to gemcitabine, while linc-ROR overexpression significantly reduced the sensitivity. Linc-ROR knockdown reduced basal autophagy, while linc-ROR overexpression markedly increased basal autophagy in the cells. Linc-ROR siRNA showed similar effect as 3-MA on enhancing gemcitabine-induced cell apoptosis and also reduced PKM2 expression. MiR-124 overexpression restored PKM1 and reduced PKM2 levels in the cells. In addition, miR-124 mimics also alleviated autophagy in pancreatic cancer cells. Both miR-124 mimics and PKM2 siRNA enhanced gemcitabine-induced cell apoptosis. In both pancreatic cell lines and PADC tissues, linc-ROR is negatively correlated with miR-124 expression. In addition, dual luciferase assay verified two 8mer binding sites between miR-124 and linc-ROR.Conclusion: Linc-ROR confers gemcitabine resistance to pancreatic cancer cells at least partly via inducing autophagy. There is a linc-ROR/miR-124/PTBP1/PKM2 axis involved in regulation of gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sucrose has been known as pivotal carbon source for plant nutrient metabolism including ammonium (NH ) assimilation. However, the correlation between rice root NH assimilation and gene expression responsible for sucrose allocation has not been investigated. Here, we reported the transcriptional regulation of OsSUTs and OsSPSs by exogenously supplied sucrose and the response of NH assimilation in rice roots. Spraying sucrose to mature leaves of rice ( Oryza sativa L. cv. indica 9311) up-regulated transcript abundances of leaf OsSUT1, OsSUT2, OsSUT3, OsSUT4, OsSPS6, and OsSPS11, down-regulated mRNA expression of leaf OsSUT5, OsSPS1, OsSPS2, and OsSPS8, increased soluble sugar contents in leaves and roots, and promoted root NH assimilation. The similar responses, except for leaf OsSPS1 mRNA expression, were observed when sucrose was fed to hydroponic media. Rice (indica 9311) treated by 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea (DCMU) exhibited altered transcript abundances of leaf OsSUTs and OsSPSs, lower contents of soluble sugars in leaves and roots, and reduced capacity of root NH assimilation, which was partially reversed by sucrose supply. The results indicated that the exogenously supplied sucrose coordinately regulated leaf OsSUTs and OsSPSs mRNA expression and root NH assimilation in rice seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrLaFeO ( x = 0, 0.15, 0.25, 0.5) hexaferrites were prepared by microwave-assisted sol-gel method. The thermal decomposition process, structural, and magnetic properties of the products were studied by thermal differential scanning calorimeter (DSC), thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The phase of α-FeO appeared at x = 0.25 and x = 0.5. The coercivity of La-substituted strontium hexaferrites is improved to 5960.2 Oe at x = 0.25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pyruvate kinase isoenzyme M2 (PKM2) is an essential enzyme involved in the regulation of aerobic glycolysis in cancer cells and promotes the translation between glycolytic flux and biosynthesis of cellular building blocks.Aim: Our present study aims to explore the expression pattern and underlying cellular functions of PKM2 in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) under metabolic stress.Methods: Oncomine database and a tissue microarray (n = 90) were used to investigate the expression pattern of PKM2 and its clinicopathological findings. In vitro proliferation, apoptosis and invasion assays were used to determine the role and related mechanism of PKM2 in PDAC.Results: Data from Oncomine database and our tissue microarray show that PKM2 is significantly elevated in PDAC specimens compared with the corresponding normal tissues. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis shows that higher expression of PKM2 is closely correlated with a poor prognosis of patients with PDAC. Under metabolic stress, suppression of PKM2 expression in PANC-1 and AsPC-1 cells results in decreased cell survival, increased caspase-3/7 activity, and reduced invasive potential, and these effects can be reversed by reintroduction of PKM2. Furthermore, sh-PKM2 cells show a significant decreased Warburg effect compared with sh-Ctrl cells as demonstrated by reduced glucose consumption and lactate production. Treatment with 2-deoxy-D-glucose, a glycolysis inhibitor, completely blocks the influences of PKM2 on cell survival and invasion.Conclusions: Our study reveals that silencing of PKM2 exhibits a tumor-suppressive role through altered Warburg effect and suggests that targeting PKM2 might serve as a potential therapeutic target for PDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

M-strontium hexaferrites (SrNdFeCo O) with the substitution of Co and Nd were prepared by the microwave-assisted solid-phase reaction process. M-strontium hexaferrite with magnetoplumbite structure can be formed at 950 °C for 90 min by applying microwave-assisted calcination. For Co-substituted M-strontium ferrites, the saturation magnetization ( σ) and remanent magnetization ( σ) tend to decrease with the increasing calcination temperature, accompanying by the improvement of coercivity for the enhancement of morphology anisotropy. For Nd-Co-co-substituted strontium ferrites, the appearance of α-FeO phase and the conversion of Fe(5 μB) into Fe (4 μB) decrease the net magnetic moment, resulting in the dilution of the σ and σ. The coercivity of Nd-Co-co-substituted strontium ferrite increases slightly for the improvement of magnetocrystalline anisotropy, which could be attributed to the enhancement of anisotropy field for the substitution of Fe ions by Co ions and the formation of grains with plate-like shape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely malignant tumor in humans. Thus, understanding the tumorigenesis of PDAC appears to help develop efficient therapy. Here, we show that activated TGFβ receptor signaling induces apoptosis of pancreatic carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that activation of TGFβ receptor signaling may prevent development of PDAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclin D1, encoded by the gene CCND1, is a regulatory protein in the cell cycle transition from G1 phase to S phase. A common polymorphism (G870A) in the exon 4 of CCND1 gene affects splicing of the CCND1 transcript and may cause uncontrollable cellular growth. Therefore, the CCND1 G870A polymorphism may influence an individual's susceptibility to the development of certain tumors. The present study was performed to test the association between G870A polymorphism in the CCND1 gene and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in a Chinese population. We extracted the peripheral blood samples from 220 patients with HCC and 220 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and direct DNA sequencing were performed to detect the polymorphism. The CCND1 genotype distribution among HCC patients was not significantly different from that among healthy controls ( P = 0.08). Compared with the wild-type GG genotype, neither the variant AA genotype nor the variant genotypes containing the A allele were associated with risk of HCC. However, stratification analysis by HBV carrier status revealed that the variant genotypes containing the A allele were associated with a significantly increased risk of HCC among HBsAg-positive individuals (adjusted OR = 3.87; 95 % CI = 1.12, 13.30). These results suggest that the CCND1 G870A polymorphism may increase the risk of HBV-related HCC in the Chinese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strontium ferrite with Nd, Al and Ca substitution of Fe and Sr ions were prepared by the conventional solid phase reaction process. The Nd substitution shows 10 %-20 % improvement in coercivity for the substitution content less than 10 %. The Ca substitution is favorable to the enhancement of saturation magnetization due to the accelerated reaction of FeO and SrCO. The samples with Al substitution of Fe show the lowest saturation magnetization, although the highest coercivity was achieved for a homogeneous grain size less than 1 μm. The combinatory substitution Nd, Ca and Al leads to the optimum magnetic properties with σ=52 A m/kg and H=412 kA/m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of fishery stocks in the coastal waters of China is far from ideal, mainly due to climate change and the impacts of human activities (e.g., pollution and overfishing). Thus, the restoration and protection of fishery resources have become critical and complex. The stability and balanced structure of the fish community is a basic foundation for the protection of fishery resources. Based on data collected from bottom trawls by the R/V Beidou in continental shelf of the East China Sea in November 2006 and February 2007, changes in the composition and diversity of fish species and functional groups were analyzed. The research area was divided into offshore waters and inshore waters by the two-way indicator species analysis (TWIA). The results showed that the dominant species were different between offshore waters and inshore waters and also varied with the survey time. The most abundant family was Sciaenidae and Teraponidae in November 2006, Sciaenidae, Engraulidae and Triglidae were most abundant in February 2007. The species belonged mainly to mobile piscivores (G6), benthivores/piscivores (G4), benthivores (G3) and planktivores (G1), and the dominant species in November 2006 were commercial species (e.g. Larimichthys polyactis and Trichiurus japonicus), but small-sized species were dominant in February 2007 (e.g., Harpadon nehereus, Benthosema pterotum, Champsodon capensis, and Acropoma japonicum). The species diversity showed a similar trend as the functional group diversity. Stations with higher diversity were mainly distributed in inshore waters in February 2007, whereas higher diversity was found in offshore waters in November 2006. The highest biomass and species number were found in G6 group, followed by the G4, G5 and G1 groups. The distribution of the number of individuals of each functional group showed the opposite trend as that of the biomass distribution. In addition, the size spectra were mainly concentrated around 3-29 cm, and the individual number of fish species gradually decreased with the increase in body size, but the relative biomass showed a moderate fluctuation in each size class. These changes showed that species with faster growth rate and earlier maturity age became dominant in continental shelf of the East China Sea. So the variations in biological characteristics of fish should be fully considered in maintaining sustainable utilization of fishery resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the design of a three-layer linear polarization converter based on substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) technology is demonstrated. The transmission-type polarization converter with dual frequency polarization conversion characteristics is realized by a square-slot sandwiched by two layers of off-center dipole-slot resonator, and its asymmetric transmission (AT) property can be obtained by rotating the upper and the lower dipole-slot resonator to form an interlaced layout. An excellent polarization conversion ratio (PCR) can be realized by integrating the traditional transmission-type polarization converter with an SIW, and its physical mechanism can be explicated by guided wave field theory. Experimental results are presented and compared with the simulation results, and they demonstrated that ultra-high PCRs of the presented polarization converter are 0.87 and 0.99 for the measurement at the working frequency of 7.34 GHz and the simulation at the working frequency of 7.6 GHz, respectively. The designed polarization converter has greatly expanded the application field of SIW technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being widely produced for misleading and convincing public community with biased information, various fake news has a significantly negative influence on the society as a whole. In order for effective detection of fine-grained fake news, this study developed a multimodal approach integrating RoBERTa with DenseNet through fusion mechanism of co-attention (MRDCA). RoBERTa was employed for extracting text features, and DenseNet was employed for extracting image features. The co-attention mechanism had the advantage of dynamically learning and capturing information interaction between text and image modal features. Based upon the multimodal fine-grained fake news dataset, the model of MRDCA had a higher value for all the indicators of accuracy (88.14%), macro average precision (87.16%), macro average recall (87.94%), and macro average F1 score (87.51%), comparing to unimodal approaches and other multimodal approaches through feature fusion of concatenation. More specifically, there was the unbalanced performance for MRDCA in detecting different classes of fake news. Experimental results demonstrated that the MRDCA performed better in identifying manipulated content, false connection and true than in identifying imposter content, misleading content and satire/parody. Therefore, the task of classifying samples into misleading content, imposter content and satire/parody was extremely challenging. There ought to be much room for performance promotion in detecting the three classes of fake news in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]