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This work reports an anomalous and remarkable Sudden Drop of Modulus (SDM) associated with a precipitous surge of internal friction induced by the solid-state phase transformation (SSPT) in a severely cold-rolled duplex stainless steel (DSS). It is further shown that such a sudden drop does not appear if the DSS is not plastically deformed or if the severely rolled single-phase stainless steel is examined, indicating respectively that the phase growth or the recrystallization is not the cause. This anomaly occurs at the temperature between 930 and 950 °C, which is much lower than the solidus temperature of the DSS. And the results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) do not render any strong endothermic behavior at the temperature of SDM, excluding the possibility of pre-melting of some last solidified region. Based on these experimental results, we speculate that the SSPT in the severely deformed DSS may undergo a crystal-amorphous-crystal (CAC) two-step process, in which the intermediate amorphous phase with a low viscosity accounts for the sudden drop of the Young's modulus and the sudden surge of the internal friction. This amorphous phase is metastable, which gradually transforms to crystalline phase associated with a heat release and the slow recovery of stiffness. Keywords: Metallic material, Solid state phase transformation, Metastable phases, Nondestructive testing

Abstract Background Postoperative femoral head cartilage injury (FHCI) is a rare condition that can be observed in a certain proportion of patients undergoing hip arthroscopy. However, the prevalence and associated factors of FHCI, and the effect of this condition on clinical outcomes still remain unknown. Patients and methods Consecutive patients who were diagnosed with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) and labral tear and underwent hip arthroscopic treatment in our institute between July 2020 and July 2021 were retrospectively evaluated. Supine anteroposterior hip radiographs, cross-table lateral radiographs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and computed tomography (CT) were obtained preoperatively. Postoperative MRI, at least 6 months after arthroscopy, was performed. Postoperative FHCI was evaluated by two surgeons through MRI. Preoperative patient-reported outcomes (PROs) including visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, and modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS) before surgery and at final followup were obtained. Results A total of 196 patients were included. Postoperative FHCI was identified in 21 (10.7%) patients. The intraobserver reliability of the observer A and B for detecting postoperative FHCI using 3.0-T MRI was high (k = 0.929, and k = 0.947, respectively). The interobserver reliability between the two observers for detecting FHCI using 3.0-T MRI was high (k = 0.919). There was no significant difference in preoperative and postoperative mHHS, VAS, and percentage of patients who surpassed minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and achieved patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) between patients with and without postoperative FHCI (P > 0.05). Conclusion Although postoperative FHCI was observed in 10.7% of patients, which was associated with larger labrum, this condition did not result in inferior clinical outcomes. Level of evidence IV, retrospective case series. Trial registration The Chinese Clinical Trial Registry approved the registration (ChiCTR2200061166). The date of registration is 2022-06-15.

Abstract Purpose (1) To determine the clinical outcomes following revision arthroscopy for patients with hip synovial chondromatosis (SC), and (2) to compare the clinical outcomes between patients undergoing revision hip arthroscopy and primary hip arthroscopy. Methods Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy between December 2014 and January 2021 was reviewed. Patients treated for SC and confirmed by postoperative pathology were included. Exclusion criteria were age less than 18 years old, hip osteoarthritis (Tönnis grade > 1), history of autoimmune disease, avascular necrosis, and Legg–Calve–Perthes disease. Patients undergoing revision surgery were included in the revision group, while those undergoing primary surgery were matched in a 1:4 ratio and included in the primary group. Preoperative and postoperative patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores including Visual Analog pain Scale (VAS), modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Nonarthritic Hip Score (NAHS), and international Hip Outcome Tool, 12-component form (iHOT-12) were collected and compared. The PROs and percentage of achieving minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS) of mHHS, iHOT-12, and NAHS were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 12 patients were included in the revision group, while 48 patients were included in the primary group. No significant difference was found in baseline characteristics (all with P > .05). No significant difference was found in the arthroscopic findings and procedures (all with P > .05). Both groups presented significant improvement of postoperative PROs compared to the preoperative PROs (all with P .05). Postoperatively, the revision group presented inferior VAS (P = .007), mHHS (P = .007), iHOT-12 (P = .004), and NAHS (P = .028), as well as lower rate of achieving MCID of NAHS (P = .038), and PASS of mHHS (P = .003) compared to the primary group. Conclusion Patients undergoing revision arthroscopy for hip SC presented favorable clinical outcomes at minimum of 2-year follow-up, although the postoperative PROs, rate of achieving MCID, and PASS were lower compared to patients undergoing primary arthroscopy. Level of Evidence: III.

Background: In the recent decade, there has been substantial progress in the technologies and philosophies associated with diagnosing and treating anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in China. The therapeutic efficacy of ACL reconstruction in re-establishing the stability of the knee joint has garnered widespread acknowledgment. However, the path toward standardizing diagnostic and treatment protocols remains to be further developed and refined. Objective: In this context, the Chinese Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (CAOS) and the Chinese Society of Sports Medicine (CSSM) collaboratively developed an expert consensus on diagnosing and treating ACL injury, aiming to enhance medical quality through refining professional standards. Methods: The consensus drafting team invited experts across the Greater China region, including the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, to formulate and review the consensus using a modified Delphi method as a standardization approach. As members of the CSSM Lower Limb Study Group and the CAOS Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine Study Group, invited experts concentrated on two pivotal issues: “Graft Selection” and “Clinical Outcome Evaluation” during the second part of the consensus development. Results: This focused discussion ultimately led to a strong consensus on nine specific consensus terms. Conclusion: The consensus clearly states that ACL reconstruction has no definitive “gold standard” graft choice. Autografts have advantages in healing capability but are limited in availability and have potential donor site morbidities; allografts reduce surgical trauma but incur additional costs, and there are concerns about slow healing, quality control issues, and a higher failure rate in young athletes; synthetic ligaments allow for early rehabilitation and fast return to sport, but the surgery is technically demanding and incurs additional costs. When choosing a graft, one should comprehensively consider the graft's characteristics, the doctor's technical ability, and the patient's needs. When evaluating clinical outcomes, it is essential to ensure an adequate sample size and follow-up rate, and the research should include patient subjective scoring, joint function and stability, complications, surgical failure, and the return to sport results. Medium and long-term follow-ups should not overlook the assessment of knee osteoarthritis.

Abstract The meniscus is a semilunar wedge‐shaped fibrocartilage tissue within the knee joint that is important for withstanding mechanical shock during joint motion. The intrinsic healing capacity of meniscus tissue is very limited, which makes meniscectomy the primary treatment method in the clinic. An effective translational strategy for regenerating the meniscus after total or subtotal meniscectomy, particularly for extensive meniscal lesions or degeneration, is yet to be developed. The present study demonstrates that the endothelial mesenchymal transition (EndMT) contributes to meniscal regeneration. The mechanical stimulus facilitated EndMT by activating TGF‐β2 signaling. A handheld bioprinter system to intraoperatively fabricate a porous meniscus scaffold according to the resected meniscus tissue is developed; this can simplify the scaffold fabrication procedure and period. The transplantation of a porous meniscus scaffold combined with a postoperative regular exercise stimulus facilitated the regeneration of anisotropic meniscal fibrocartilaginous tissue and protected the joint cartilage from degeneration in an ovine subtotal meniscectomy model. Single‐cell RNA sequencing and immunofluorescence co‐staining analyses further confirmed the occurrence of EndMT during meniscal regeneration. EndMT‐transformed cells gave rise to fibrochondrocytes, subsequently contributing to meniscal fibrocartilage regeneration. Thus, an efficient translational strategy to facilitate meniscal regeneration is developed.

Degenerative joint diseases, as a global public health issue, impose significant burdens on patients’ lives and substantial economic costs on society. Currently, the primary modalities include physical therapy, pharmaceutical intervention, and surgical procedures. None of these approaches can alter the course of this degenerative process. Due to their commendable biocompatibility, biodegradability, and heightened efficacy in drug delivery, hydrogels present themselves as a novel noninvasive remedy for degenerative joint ailments. However, the clinical application of hydrogels still faces some challenges, including the uncontrolled discharge of encapsulated medications, the absence of adequate mechanical reinforcement for destabilized joints, and adaptability to fluctuating microenvironments. Recently, nanocomposite hydrogels, formed by introducing nanomaterials into hydrogels by physical or chemical means, can improve the limitations of hydrogels and extend their potential for biological applications in degenerative joint diseases. In this study, the pathologic features of degenerative joint diseases and the multiple applications of different types of nanocomposite hydrogels in targeting these different pathologic features are briefly described. It also concludes with an outlook on the use of nanocomposite hydrogels in clinical settings and discusses their challenges and limitations.

The inertial navigation system (INS), which is frequently used in emergency rescue operations and other situations, has the benefits of not relying on infrastructure, high positioning frequency, and strong real-time performance. However, the intricate and unpredictable pedestrian motion patterns lead the INS localization error to significantly diverge with time. This paper aims to enhance the accuracy of zero-velocity interval (ZVI) detection and reduce the heading and altitude drift of foot-mounted INS via deep learning and equation constraint of dual feet. Aiming at the observational noise problem of low-cost inertial sensors, we utilize a denoising autoencoder to automatically eliminate the inherent noise. Aiming at the problem that inaccurate detection of the ZVI detection results in obvious displacement error, we propose a sample-level ZVI detection algorithm based on the U-Net neural network, which effectively solves the problem of mislabeling caused by sliding windows. Aiming at the problem that Zero-Velocity Update (ZUPT) cannot suppress heading and altitude error, we propose a bipedal INS method based on the equation constraint and ellipsoid constraint, which uses foot-to-foot distance as a new observation to correct heading and altitude error. We conduct extensive and well-designed experiments to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The experimental results indicate that the position error of our proposed method did not exceed 0.83% of the total traveled distance.

The exploitation of high-performance third-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials that have a favorable optical limit (OL) threshold is essential due to a rise in the application of ultra-intense lasers. In this study, a Cu-based MOF (denoted as Cu-bpy) was synthesized, and its third-order NLO and OL properties were investigated using the Z-scan technique with the nanosecond laser pulse excitation set at 532 nm. The Cu-bpy exhibits a typical rate of reverse saturable absorption (RSA) with a third-order nonlinear absorption coefficient of 100 cm GW−1 and a favorable OL threshold of 0.75 J cm−2 (at a concentration of 1.6 mg mL−1), which is lower than that of most NLO materials that have been reported on so far. In addition, a DFT calculation was performed and was in agreement with our experimental results. Furthermore, the mechanism of the third-order NLO properties was illustrated as one-photon absorption (1PA). These results investigate the relationship between the structure and the nonlinear optical properties of Cu-bpy, and provide an experimental and theoretical basis for its use in optical limiting applications.

The regeneration of osteochondral tissue necessitates the re-establishment of a gradient owing to the unique characteristics and healing potential of the chondral and osseous phases. As the self-healing capacity of hyaline cartilage is limited, timely mechanical support during neo-cartilage formation is crucial to achieving optimal repair efficacy. In this study, we devised a biodegradable bilayered scaffold, comprising chondroitin sulfate (CS) hydrogel to regenerate chondral tissue and a porous pure zinc (Zn) scaffold for regeneration of the underlying bone as mechanical support for the cartilage layer. The photocured CS hydrogel possessed a compressive strength of 82 kPa, while the porous pure Zn scaffold exhibited a yield strength of 11 MPa and a stiffness of 0.8 GPa. Such mechanical properties are similar to values reported for cancellous bone. In vitro biological experiments demonstrated that the bilayered scaffold displayed favorable cytocompatibility and promoted chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stem cells. Upon implantation, the scaffold facilitated the simultaneous regeneration of bone and cartilage tissue in a porcine model, resulting in (i) a smoother cartilage surface, (ii) more hyaline-like cartilage, and (iii) a superior integration into the adjacent host tissue. Our bilayered scaffold exhibits significant potential for clinical application in osteochondral regeneration.

Abstract Background The hip joint capsule is an essential component of hip joint function and stability, and its thickness is closely associated with certain medical conditions, surgical outcomes, and rehabilitation treatments. Currently, in clinical practice, hip joint capsule thickness is predominantly measured using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with limited utilization of ultrasound examinations for this purpose. Methods We retrospectively evaluated patients who visited our Sports Medicine Department between February 2017 and March 2023 and underwent both hip joint MRI and ultrasound imaging on the same side. All patients had undergone preoperative hip joint MRI and ultrasound examinations, with the time gap between the two examinations not exceeding three months. Measurements of hip joint capsule thickness were taken on both MRI and ultrasound images for the same patients to analyze their consistency. Additionally, we measured the alpha angle, lateral center-edge angle, acetabular anteversion angle, and femoral anteversion angle of the patients’ hip joints and analyzed their correlation with hip joint capsule thickness measure by ultrasound. Results A total of 307 patients were included in this study, with hip joint capsule thickness measured by MRI and ultrasound being 5.0 ± 1.2 mm and 5.0 ± 1.5 mm, respectively. The Bland-Altman analysis demonstrates good agreement or consistency. The paired t-test resulted in a p-value of 0.708, indicating no significant statistical difference between the two methods. The correlation analysis between acetabular anteversion angle and ultrasound-measured capsule thickness yielded a p-value of 0.043, indicating acetabular anteversion angle and capsular thickness may have negative correlation. Conclusions The measurements of joint capsule thickness obtained through ultrasound and MRI showed good consistency, suggesting that ultrasound can be used in clinical practice as a replacement for MRI in measuring hip joint capsule thickness. There was a significant correlation between acetabular anteversion angle and hip joint capsule thickness, indicating potential for further research in this area.

Intellectualization and unmanned manufacturing have been an inevitable trend in industrial development. The landing of intelligent applications is one of the current challenges in the industry. Due to the hierarchical architecture of the industrial automation pyramid, traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that are usually employed in the field cannot cooperate with artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that require massive data and computing resources. Therefore, it is necessary to research the virtualization of traditional PLCs as dockers, which can be deployed in the cloud, edge, or field. Cloud PLCs can be easily integrated with AI, big data, and cloud computing to achieve intelligent decision-making and control and break down data islands. The visual sorting system has attracted increasing attention for its ability to accurately detect the position of objects. Many deep learning–based methods have achieved remarkable performance in computer vision. Additionally, the requirement of a network is fundamental for guaranteeing data transmission with low latency and high reliability. The combination of 5G and time-sensitive networking (TSN) can achieve the deterministic transmission of several industrial applications. According to the above challenges, joint control between cloud PLCs of low-level devices and visual sorting systems in a reliable network is critical and has industry potential. In this study, we propose a deep learning–based material recognition and location system with a cloud PLC, which is demonstrated in a 5G-TSN network. First, traditional PLC is virtualized to realize flexible PLC function deployment in the field and cloud. Second, we establish a cloud-based AI platform and design a You only look once v5 (YOLOv5)-based object detection algorithm to locate the position and recognize the types of materials to obtain pixel coordinates. Third, the camera calibration method is used to transform pixel and world coordinates, and the material information consists of the world coordinates, types, and timestamps that are sent to cloud PLC. Finally, the commands are transmitted by the 5G-TSN environment from cloud PLC to the low-level devices for real-time control of the multi-crane cooperative. We establish an experimental system to demonstrate the significance and effectiveness of the proposed scheme, which synergistically controls multi-crane operation. The mean average precision (mAP) of material location is up to 99.65%, sorting accuracy reaches 96.67%, and the average consuming time is 25.99 s, which meets the requirements of low latency and high precision in industrial applications.

Objective Hip arthroscopy has recently appeared as a successful therapy in treating borderline developmental dysplasia of the hip (BDDH). This study aimed to describe the minimal 2‐year follow‐up after hip arthroscopy for patients with BDDH in the Asian population and use the combination of lateral center edge angle (LCEA) and alpha angles to detect the appearance of impingement in the BDDH population. Methods This retrospective investigation was conducted utilizing information from arthroscopically treated BDDH patients in 2018 and 2019. The following patient‐reported outcomes were reported: modified Harris Hip Score, Hip Outcome Score‐Activities of Daily Living, International Hip Outcome Tool 12‐component form, and Visual Analog Scale. We also considered the clinical data regarding radiological measurements, intraoperative findings, interventions, complications, and subsequent surgical revisions, in the analysis of combination angles in detecting the occurrence of impingement. Patients with asymptomatic contralateral hips from traumatic hip injury (pelvic fracture) served as the control group. A 2:1 propensity score matching was based on age, sex, and BMI. A receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to identify the thresholds of combination angles and their accuracies. Results A total of 77 hips met the inclusion and exclusion requirements. After the follow‐up period, most patients showed a considerable improvement in patient‐reported outcomes compared to their preoperative values (P 80.5° could be a reliable predictive factor of impingement in BDDH populations.

Objective When considering surgical treatment options, many patients who undergo hip arthroscopy value continuing active lifestyles. To address these concerns, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of preoperative activity level on postoperative patient‐reported outcomes (PROs) in femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) patients following hip arthroscopy. Methods Data was retrospectively reviewed for FAIS patients who received hip arthroscopy between 2016 and 2018. Patients were divided into active group and inactive group based on preoperative HOS‐SSS scores. Preoperative active patients were 1:1 propensity‐score matched to inactive patients based on age, sex, BMI, and follow‐up period. PROs (HOS‐ADL, HOS‐ADL, iHOT‐12, mHHS), VAS scores, radiographic measures, performed procedures, complications, and revision surgery were compared and analyzed for both groups by Student's t test. Results A total of 71 patients in the active group and 71 patients in the inactive group were found using propensity‐score matching. Active patients had superior preoperative HOS‐ADL, HOS‐SSS, iHOT‐12, mHHS (p

Introduction: This study aimed to explore the effect and molecular mechanism of Tetrandrine (Tet) onlipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induceduveitis andoptic nerve injury in vivo and in vitro. Methods: Uveitis was induced by LPS injected into the hindlimb foot pad of Wistar rats and was intervened by retroeyeball injection of Tet (100 nM, 1 μM or 10 μM).The anterior segment inflammation was observed by slit lamp. Tunelassay was used to detect the survival state of ganglion cells and nuclear layers of inner and outer. The detection of characteristic markers in different activation states of glial cells were performed by qualitative and quantitative test of immunofluorescence and western blotting. Also, western blotting was used to detect the expression of inflammatory factors in retina and the activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signal pathway. Meanwhile, routine blood test and function of liver and renal were performed. Results: The ciliary hyperemia was obvious, and the iris vessels were dilated and tortuous in rats with LPS-induced uveitis. Tet-pretreated obviously elieved these symptoms. In addition, the dilation and hyperemia in Tet group were alleviated compared with LPS group, and the inflammatory scores in Tetgroup were significantly lower than those of LPS group. TUNEL Staining showed that the number ofretinal ganglion cell (RGCs) in Tetgroup was slightly less than that in normal group, but significantly more than that in LPS group, and the cells arranged orderly. Besides, the number of apoptotic cells was significantly less than that in LPS group. Tet reduced LPS-activated gliocyte in a dose-dependent manner. Tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, interferon gamma (γ-IFN) and IL-2 in retina were increased by LPS but decreased significantly viaTet-pretreatment. Moreover, LPS activate NF-κB signal pathway, while Tet efficiently inhibited this effect.Furthermore, injection of Tet did not damage theroutineblood, liver and kidney. Conclusions: Retrobulbar injection of Tet significantly alleviatedLPS-induced uveitisand optic nerve injuryof rats by activating gliocyte and NF-κB signaling pathway.

The effective and translational strategy to regenerate knee meniscal fibrocartilage remained challenging. Herein, we first identified vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) transdifferentiated into fibrochondrocytes and participated in spontaneous meniscal regeneration using smooth muscle cell lineage tracing transgenic mice meniscal defect model. Then, we identified low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) acoustic stimulus enhanced fibrochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, LIPUS stimulus could up-regulate mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 expression and then activate the transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) signal, following repression of the Notch signal, consequently enhancing fibrochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs. Finally, we demonstrated that the regular LIPUS stimulus enhanced anisotropic native-like meniscal fibrocartilage tissue regeneration in a beagle canine subtotal meniscectomy model at 6 months postoperatively. The single-cell RNA sequencing analysis confirmed the role of VSMC fibrochondrogenic transdifferentiation in meniscal regeneration.

Discoid lateral meniscus (DLM) is the most common congenital variant of the lateral meniscus, which is prone to degeneration and lesions, and often leads to knee osteoarthritis. At present, there is no consensus on the clinical practice of DLM, and this expert consensus and practice guidelines on DLM was developed and approved by Chinese Society of Sports Medicine according to the Delphi method. Among 32 statements drafted, 14 statements were excluded for redundant information, and 18 statements achieved consensus. This expert consensus focused on the definition, epidemiology, etiology, classification, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and rehabilitation of DLM. Restoring the normal shape, retaining appropriate width and thickness, and ensuring the stability of the remnant meniscus is critical to sustaining the physiological function of the meniscus and preserving the knee. The partial meniscectomy with or without repair should be the first‐line treatment when possible, given that the clinical and radiological long‐term outcomes of total or subtotal meniscectomy are worse.

Objective Hip preservation surgery has expanded to include treatment of hip pathology in elderly patients. Most data on efficacy of arthroscopy treatment in patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) has been generated from Western populations, while studies in the older Asian FAIS population are lacking. Here, we report efficacy of hip arthroscopy for treatment of Asian patients aged 50 years and above. Methods We retrospectively reviewed data from 775 hips that were treated arthroscopically for FAIS between 2016 and 2019. Patients with a history of hip surgery, contralateral surgery during the follow‐up period, lateral center‐edge angle (LCEA)

Abstract A large number of epidemics, including COVID-19 and SARS, quickly swept the world and claimed the precious lives of large numbers of people. Due to the concealment and rapid spread of the virus, it is difficult to track down individuals with mild or asymptomatic symptoms with limited human resources. Building a low-cost and real-time epidemic early warning system to identify individuals who have been in contact with infected individuals and determine whether they need to be quarantined is an effective means to mitigate the spread of the epidemic. In this paper, we propose a smartphone-based zero-effort epidemic warning method for mitigating epidemic propagation. Firstly, we recognize epidemic-related voice activity relevant to epidemics spread by hierarchical attention mechanism and temporal convolutional network. Subsequently, we estimate the social distance between users through sensors built-in smartphone. Furthermore, we combine Wi-Fi network logs and social distance to comprehensively judge whether there is spatiotemporal contact between users and determine the duration of contact. Finally, we estimate infection risk based on epidemic-related vocal activity, social distance, and contact time. We conduct a large number of well-designed experiments in typical scenarios to fully verify the proposed method. The proposed method does not rely on any additional infrastructure and historical training data, which is conducive to integration with epidemic prevention and control systems and large-scale applications.

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), it is foreseeable that the accuracy and efficiency of dynamic analysis for future power system will be greatly improved by the integration of dynamic simulators and AI. To explore the interaction mechanism of power system dynamic simulations and AI, a general design for AI-oriented power system dynamic simulators is proposed, which consists of a high-performance simulator with neural network supportability and flexible external and internal application programming interfaces (APIs). With the support of APIs, simulation-assisted AI and AI-assisted simulation form a comprehensive interaction mechanism between power system dynamic simulations and AI. A prototype of this design is implemented and made public based on a highly efficient electromechanical simulator. Tests of this prototype are carried out in four scenarios including sample generation, AI-based stability prediction, data-driven dynamic component modeling, and AI-aided stability control, which prove the validity, flexibility, and efficiency of the design and implementation for AI-oriented power system dynamic simulators.

Abstract Background Identifying factors associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is critical for its prevention, but this topic is scarcely investigated in Kashgar prefecture, Xinjiang, northwestern China. We thus explored the CVD epidemiology and identified prominent factors associated with CVD in this region. Methods A total of 1,887,710 adults at baseline (in 2017) of the Kashgar Prospective Cohort Study were included in the analysis. Sixteen candidate factors, including seven demographic factors, 4 lifestyle factors, and 5 clinical factors, were collected from a questionnaire and health examination records. CVD was defined according to International Clinical Diagnosis (ICD-10) codes. We first used logistic regression models to investigate the association between each of the candidate factors and CVD. Then, we employed 3 machine learning methods—Random Forest, Random Ferns, and Extreme Gradient Boosting—to rank and identify prominent factors associated with CVD. Stratification analyses by sex, ethnicity, education level, economic status, and residential setting were also performed to test the consistency of the ranking. Results The prevalence of CVD in Kashgar prefecture was 8.1%. All the 16 candidate factors were confirmed to be significantly associated with CVD (odds ratios ranged from 1.03 to 2.99, all p values

Two-phase cavitating flow in the diesel nozzle has been widely concerned by researchers for a long time. Most of the attention has been paid to irregular geometry-induced cavitation, while the research on string cavitation induced by vortex is relatively less. The two cavitating patterns often occur simultaneously in the nozzle, which are still not understandable for their interaction characteristics. In this paper, it is analyzed that the characteristics of string cavitation and geometry-induced cavitation in the transparent nozzle based on the visual scale-up test bench. In the study of hole-to-hole string cavitation, it is found that when needle lifts elevate, geometry-induced cavitation and hole-to-hole string cavitation are observed all together under the same working condition. The development and stability of hole-to-hole string cavitation are further improved with the increase of fuel temperature. The geometry-induced cavitation and string cavitation interact with each other, that is, geometry-induced cavitation at the nozzle inlet interrupts the hole-to-hole string cavitation inception. The tail of hole-to-hole string cavitation is disturbed by cloud cavitation shedding after its developing into the nozzle hole, leading to fracture in serious cases. At high temperatures, there is a periodic transformation between the needle-originated string cavitation and hole-to-hole string cavitation.

In the presence of bone loss, the Bristow or Latarjet procedure is used to alleviate anterior glenohumeral instability. The techniques have gradually improved under arthroscopy. However, such an arthroscopic procedure has a steep learning curve, lengthy operation time, and considerable risk of complications, inhibiting its rapid development. The current method of modified arthroscopic Bristow procedure with screw fixation without subscapularis split reduces surgical time, reduces the risk of nerve damage consequences, and is simple to apply.

Communication and sensing integrated networks (CSINs) refer to the ability of physical digital space perception and ubiquitous intelligent communication at the same time. These networks realize the perception and cooperative communication of multidimensional resources through the cooperative work of communication and sensing resources and have the ability of intelligent interaction and processing of new information flow. First, this study proposes the technical architecture of an enhanced CSIN (E-HFWN), studies its key technologies and performance indicators, and explains the air interface technology, including frame structure design, carrier aggregation, channel detection, physical skyline mapping, beamforming and management, resource allocation and scheduling. In the resource allocation scheme, an actor-critic reinforcement learning (RL) framework is used to divide the wireless resources. The goal is to maximize the amount of mutual information (MI) and minimize the end-to-end delay of the sensing terminal. Then, the performance of the E-HFWN is tested, including numerical simulation of wireless resource management, system peak rate, capacity, end-to-end delay and communication perception waveform sidelobe ratio. Finally, from the results of the E-HFWN index test, the E-HFWN is further enhanced on the basis of 5G mmWave. The enhanced sensing function can provide a priori information for the optimal and rapid scheduling of distributed computing power and provide richer data sources for artificial intelligence (AI) services and applications to enhance the robustness of the training model. The E-HFWN can contribute to the development of technologies related to 6G synaesthesia computing integrated networks, promote the consensus between academia and industry.

The multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family plays pivotal roles in the detoxification process in plants, while no information has been provided for this gene family in melon (Cucumis melo L.) thus far, limiting our understanding of its functions in melon acclimation to stressful environments. In this study, a total of 39 MATEs (CmMATE1–CmMATE39) were observed in the melon genome; these were unevenly distributed in all chromosomes, with the most on Chromosome 1. Based on their orthologous relationship with those from Arabidopsis, rice, and sorghum, melon MATEs were clustered into three subfamilies of Clades I, II, and III, wherein 23, 9, and 7 members were included, respectively. Variable exon number was observed in CmMATEs, and the most were harbored by CmMATE8. Gene ontology (GO) term and cis-regulatory element (CRE) analyses pointed to the potential roles of CmMATEs in both the regulation of melon development and acclimation to various abiotic and biotic stressors. The RNA-seq and qRT-PCR (quantitative real-time PCR) results demonstrated that under normal growth conditions, CmMATEs were expressed in a tissue- and development-specific manner, while their abundance apparently varied in a stress-dependent manner when melon plants were exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions. Altogether, these observations could expand our knowledge about the plant MATE family and benefit functional genomics analysis for CmMATEs in the future.

Abstract Background Different from arthroscopy in other joints, more perfusion is required for a better access to perform surgical procedures in hip arthroscopic operations. The significant fluid perfused may lead to complications of partial tissue injury and electrolyte imbalance. However, there were few studies on the change of serum electrolyte after hip arthroscopy and the influential factors were still unknown. Methods We evaluated consecutive patients who underwent hip arthroscopy in our hospital between October 2021 and February 2022. Age, sex, and BMI matched patients who underwent arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction at the same time were also included as the control group. Preoperative and postoperative serum electrolyte of sodium (Na +), potassium (K +), chloride (Cl-), magnesium (Mg2 +), and carbon dioxide capacity (CO2CP) were analyzed. The correlations between influential factors like perfusion volume, operating time, BMI and hip circumference, and changes in serum electrolyte were also analyzed. Results A total of 79 patients were involved in this study, including 49 patients who underwent hip arthroscopy and 30 patients who underwent knee arthroscopy. For hip arthroscopy, decrease of potassium levels was observed in 40.8% of the patients, and postoperative hypokalemia was found in 10.2% patients. There were significant variations in postoperative sodium, magnesium, chloride and carbon dioxide capacity in hip arthroscopy (p

Abstract Next‐generation 6G networks will fully drive the development of the industrial Internet of Things. Steel surface defect detection as an important application in industrial Internet of Things has recently received increasing attention from the military industry, the aviation industry and other fields, which is closely related to the quality of industrial production products. However, many typical convolutional neural networks‐based methods are insensitive to the problem of unclear boundaries. In this article, the authors develop a region‐based fully convolutional networks with deformable convolution and attention fusion to adaptively learn salient features for steel surface defect detection. Specifically, deformable convolution is applied into selectively replace the standard convolution in the backbone of the region‐based fully convolutional networks, which performs significantly in scenarios with unclear defect boundaries. Moreover, convolutional block attention module is utilised in region proposal network to further enhance detection accuracy. The proposed architecture is demonstrated on two popular steel defect detection benchmarks, including NEU‐DET and GC10‐DET, which can effectively present the performance of steel surface defect detection by abundant experiments. The mean average precision on two datasets reaches 80.9% and 66.2%. The average precision of defect crazing, inclusion, patches, pitted‐surface, rolled‐in scale and scratches on NEU‐DET is 58.2%, 82.3%, 95.7%, 85.6%, 75.9%, and 87.9% respectively.

Abstract Background Few studies mentioned acetabular rim osteophytes (ARO) after arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) in follow-up after primary hip arthroscopy. We found that many patients had postoperative ARO, which may lead to recurrent or secondary pincer-type deformity after primary hip arthroscopy for FAI and postoperative ARO sometimes even led to revision surgery. It is necessary to carry out related research on ARO. Methods We respectively evaluated consecutive cases who underwent hip arthroscopy in our hospital between January 2008 and January 2020. Radiographic examination was obtained for all patients preoperatively and postoperatively. Another CT scan was performed at least 6 months after surgery at final follow-up. Preoperative patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and PROs at final follow-up were obtained, including visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS). The volume of ARO was calculated using mimics 21.0 software. According to the material of anchors and whether the anchors were used, patients were divided into absorbable group, non-absorbable group and no anchor group. Results A total of 71 patients were finally included in this study. Patients with postoperative ARO had higher VAS at final follow-up (P

To solve the deterministic transmission problem of periodic and time-triggered industrial traffics in wireless environment， a joint optimization mechanism of 5G and time sensitive networking based on radio channel information was considered.Based on improved traffic process architecture in time sensitive network， the traffics bearing on radio channel with worse quality could be processed in priority.In 5G networks， the relationship among radio channel quality， resource numbers and the maximum transmission times over radio was modeled， and the maximum transmission times satisfied data transmission reliable probability could be computed from the model，then the transmission time budget in 5G system for multiple industrial traffics bearing on diverse radio resources could be adjusted dynamically by retransmission factors.Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed joint scheduling mechanism achieves less TSN transmission delay of industrial traffics bearing on worse quality radio resources and can eliminate jitter caused by retransmission due to variation of 5G radio channel， which can guarantee end-to-end deterministic delay for industrial traffics.

This paper takes the specific environment covered by vegetation as the research object, carries out modeling and analysis, takes the large-scale fading model of wireless channel as the basis of data processing, researches the transmission law of electromagnetic wave in a typical vegetation environment, which can be divided into four situations. The signal attenuation in each case is theoretically derived and numerically simulated. From the view point of supporting vegetation environment channel, the large-scale channel measurement system is built to meet the actual needs, such as bandwidth, frequency, vegetation coverage, etc. the final vegetation environment channel model under the large-scale fading model is obtained. The results show that the path gain of four scenarios respectively are 81.3 dB, 36.5 dB, 1.6 dB, 1.5 dB, the value of path gain index is within the range of 2~3.5, four scenarios shadow fading standard deviation values are 7.1, 4.8, 10.1, 9.2, reflects the change of received power at the point caused by random factors such as reflection, absorption and scattering. In addition, the proposed channel model improves the gain about 15% compared with the tradition SUI model within vegetation coverage scene. The design process of the proposed model is carried out in the order of "studied the existing foundation → analyzed the existing problems → proposed the optimization scheme → simulation and verification results → actual measurement system". The advantage of paper’s method is that, when the signal frequency, transceiver distance, antenna height and vegetation environment characteristic parameters are given, the statistical analysis results of wireless channel data are obtained. The purpose of the proposed work establishes a signal propagation prediction model under the vegetation environment, realizes a theoretical basis for channel simulation, and provides the basis of anti-fading technologies.

Hand Gesture Recognition (HGR) using Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radars is difficult because of the inherent variability and ambiguity caused by individual habits and environmental differences. This paper proposes a deformable dual-stream fusion network based on CNN-TCN (DDF-CT) to solve this problem. First, we extract range, Doppler, and angle information from radar signals with the Fast Fourier Transform to produce range-time (RT) and range-angle (RA) maps. Then, we reduce the noise of the feature map. Subsequently, the RAM sequence (RAMS) is generated by temporally organizing the RAMs, which captures a target’s range and velocity characteristics at each time point while preserving the temporal feature information. To improve the accuracy and consistency of gesture recognition, DDF-CT incorporates deformable convolution and inter-frame attention mechanisms, which enhance the extraction of spatial features and the learning of temporal relationships. The experimental results show that our method achieves an accuracy of 98.61%, and even when tested in a novel environment, it still achieves an accuracy of 97.22%. Due to its robust performance, our method is significantly superior to other existing HGR approaches.

Insufficient oxygen supply at the tumor site and hypoxia caused during tumor treatment lead to a poor therapeutic effect and poor prognosis. Therefore, effectively overcoming the problem of hypoxia in tumors and avoiding hypoxia that compromises the efficacy of the treatment could improve the anti-tumor therapeutic effect. Thus, this study reports the ability of W18O49@EP nanoparticles to release reactive oxygen species (ROS) during the combined tumor radiotherapy (RT) and photodynamic therapy (PDT). The release of ROS by the nanoparticles during near infrared light (NIR) irradiation was demonstrated by in vitro and in vivo experiments, realizing an effective PDT without inducing hypoxia. Indeed, the ROS did not derive from the oxygen in the tumor microenvironment but they were released by the nanoparticles. Thus, ROS could improve the therapeutic effect of RT avoiding the problem of hypoxia after RT. Hence, W18O49@EP nanoparticles greatly improved the anti-tumor effect due to their effectiveness despite the insufficient oxygen supply and hypoxia caused by traditional RT and PDT.

ObjectiveRotator cuff injury can be caused by local inflammation and fibrosis of musculotendinous cuff. Hypercholesterolemia can lead to physiological changes of rotator cuff that resemble rotator cuff injury. However, the relationship between lipid metabolism and rotator cuff injury and its potential pathological mechanism remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to investigate the correlation between the plasma lipidome, rotator cuff injury, and successive fatty infiltration pathology, and hoped to identify biomarkers for predicting higher risk or higher severity rotator cuff injury by assessing metabolic perturbations and dyslipidemia using lipidomics.MethodsWe quantitatively analyzed 60 lipids species of seven lipids classes and subclasses from 66 subjects using lipidomics. Subjects were divided into four groups: (1) normal rotator cuff with normal clinical routine serum lipid test results (NN group = 13); (2) normal rotator cuff with abnormal clinical routine serum lipid test results (NA group = 10); (3) rotator cuff tear with normal routine serum lipid test results (RN group = 30); (4) rotator cuff tear with abnormal routine serum lipid test results (RA group = 13). Independent-sample t-tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare lipid metabolite levels in serum between different groups in patients with rotator cuff tears. The orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model was used to verify the ability of five lysophosphatidylcholines (LPCs) to distinguish rotator cuff injuries. In the rotator cuff tear group, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to classify fatty infiltration according to Goutallier's classification. Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to analyze molecular differences between high-grade (grade 3–4) and low-grade (grade 0–2) fatty infiltration groups. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were drawn for each diagnostic method via different metabolites. The area under the curve (AUC), cutoff, specificity, sensitivity, and accuracy of each diagnostic criterion were calculated.ResultsOur results showed that some rotator cuff injury patients yielded unique lipidomic profiles. Based on Kruskal-Wallis tests, our results showed significant differences in three lipid molecules, 17:1 Lyso PI, 18:0–22:6 PE, and 18:3 (Cis) PC, among all four groups independent of clinical blood lipid levels. Also, independent of clinical blood lipid levels, two lipid molecules, 22:0 Lyso PC and 24:0 Lyso PC, were significantly different between the two groups based on Independent sample t-tests. Kruskal-Wallis test results showed that in the rotator cuff tear group, two metabolites (24:0 SM and 16:0 ceramide) differed between high-grade and low-grade fatty infiltration. The AUC values for 22:0 Lyso PC, 24:0 Lyso PC, 18:0–22:6 PE, 24:0 SM, and 16:0 ceramide were 0.6036, 0.6757, 0.6712, 0.8333, and 0.8981, respectively.ConclusionThe results provide insight into how the metabolic mechanisms associated with dyslipidemia impact rotator cuff diseases. Five lipid molecules, 17:1 Lyso PI, 18:0–22:6 PE, 18:3 (Cis) PC, 22:0 Lyso PC, and 24:0 Lyso PC, were closely related to rotator cuff tear based on two statistical analysis methods, independent of clinical routine serum lipid test results, which indicates that lipidomics assays are more sensitive than conventional lipid tests, and more suitable for studying rotator cuff lipid metabolism. In addition, two lipid metabolites, 24:0 SM and 16:0 ceramide, are potentially useful for predicting fatty infiltration severity. Further research with a larger number of samples is needed to verify whether these two metabolites can serve as potential markers of severe fatty infiltration. The findings illuminate how metabolic mechanisms associated with dyslipidemia affect rotator cuff disease.

Abstract Background Osteoid osteoma (OO) of the acetabulum is a relatively rare disease. However, the the clinical outcomes of hip arthroscopy for treatment of OO of the acetabulum are still uncertain. Methods We evaluated consecutive patients who were diagnosed with OO of the acetabulum and who underwent hip arthroscopy at our hospital between January 2013 and March 2020. All patients underwent a preoperative physical examination. Preoperative supine anteroposterior hip radiography, cross-table lateral radiographs, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging were performed in all patients. The alpha angle and lateral center-edge angle were measured before surgery. Supine anteroposterior hip radiography and CT were performed in all patients postoperatively. Preoperative patient-reported outcomes (PROs), including Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the International Hip Outcome Tool-12 (iHOT-12) and modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), and PROs at final follow-up were evaluated. Results A total of 6 patients (mean age, 18.7 years; age range, 6–31 years; 5 males and 1 females) were included in this study. The average follow-up period after surgery was 28.3 months (range, 6–90 months). Before surgery, the mean mHHS was 45.2 ± 10.5 (range, 33–56), the mean iHOT-12 was 33.3 ± 14.5 (range, 13–49), and mean VAS was 8.2 ± 1.0 (range, 7–9). At one month after surgery, mean mHHS was 78.7 ± 1.9 (range, 77–81), iHOT-12 was 71.0 ± 4.5 (range, 68–80), and mean VAS was 0. At the final post-operative follow-up, mean mHHS was 89.2 ± 2.1 (range, 86–91), iHOT-12 was 93.5 ± 5.0 (range, 88–98), and mean VAS was 0. All results, except VAS between one month after surgery and at final follow-up, demonstrated statistically significant improvement (P

Abstract Background Recent studies have shown high expression levels of certain inflammatory, anabolic, and catabolic genes in the articular cartilage from the impingement zone of the hips with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), representing an increased metabolic state. Nevertheless, little is known about the molecular properties of bone tissue from the impingement zone of hips with FAI. Methods Bone tissue samples from patients with early-stage cam-type FAI were collected during hip arthroscopy for treatment of cam-type FAI. Control bone tissue samples were collected from six patients who underwent total hip replacement because of a femoral neck fracture. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to determine the gene expression associated with inflammation and bone remodeling. The differences in the gene expression in bone tissues from the patients with early-stage cam-type FAI were also evaluated based on clinical parameters. Results In all, 12 patients with early-stage cam-type FAI and six patients in the control group were included in this study. Compared to the control samples, the bone tissue samples from patients with FAI showed higher expression levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), receptor activator of nuclear factor-kB ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG) (P < 0.05). IL-1 expression was detected only in the control group. On the other hand, there was no significant difference in IL-8 expression between the patients with FAI and the control group. The patients with FAI having a body mass index (BMI) of >24 kg/m2 showed higher ALP expression (P < 0.05). Further, the expression of IL-6 and ALP was higher in the patients with FAI in whom the lateral center-edge angle was >30° (P < 0.05). Conclusions Our results indicated the metabolic condition of bone tissues in patients with early-stage cam-type FAI differed from that of normal bone in the femoral head-neck junction. The expression levels of the genes associated with inflammation and bone remodeling were higher in the bone tissue of patients with early-stage cam-type FAI than in the patients with normal bone tissue.

Abstract Background Local recurrence is the main cause of death among patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study assessed near-infrared fluorescence (NIF) imaging and spectroscopy to monitor surgical margins intraoperatively for OSCC. Methods Cytological and animal experiments were first performed to confirm the feasibility of monitoring surgical margins with NIF imaging and spectroscopy. Then, 20 patients with OSCC were included in the clinical trials. At 6–8 h after 0.75 mg/kg indocyanine green (ICG) injection, all patients underwent surgery with NIF imaging. During the surgery, both NIF images and quantified fluorescence intensity were acquired to monitor the surgical margins. Results In cytological and animal experiments, the results showed it was feasible to monitor surgical margins with NIF imaging and spectroscopy. Fluorescence was detected in primary tumors in all patients. The fluorescence intensities of the tumor, peritumoral, and normal tissues were 398.863 ± 151.47, 278.52 ± 84.89, and 274.5 ± 100.93 arbitrary units (AUs), respectively (P < 0.05). The SBR of tumor to peritumoral tissue and normal tissues was computed to be 1.45 ± 0.36 and 1.56 ± 0.41, respectively. After primary tumor excision, the wounds showed abnormal fluorescence in four patients (4/20), and residual cancer cells were confirmed by pathological examination in two patients (2/20). Conclusion These findings confirmed the complementary value of NIF imaging during radical tumor resection of OSCC. Before tumor resection, we could utilize the fluorescence margin produced by ICG NIF imaging to determine the surgical margin. Moreover, after tumor blocks were removed, the status of surgical margin could also be evaluated rapidly by ICG NIF imaging of tumor bed and in vitro specimens.

Intelligent manufacturing is a challenging and compelling topic in Industry 4.0. Many computer vision (CV)-based applications have attracted widespread interest from researchers and industries around the world. However, it is difficult to integrate visual recognition algorithms with industrial control systems. The low-level devices are controlled by traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) that cannot realize data communication due to different industrial control protocols. In this article, we develop a multi-crane visual sorting system with cloud PLCs in a 5G environment, in which deep convolutional neural network (CNN)-based character recognition and dynamic scheduling are designed for materials in intelligent manufacturing. First, an YOLOv5-based algorithm is applied to locate the position of objects on the conveyor belt. Then, we propose a Chinese character recognition network (CCRNet) to significantly recognize each object from the original image. The position, type, and timestamp of each object are sent to cloud PLCs that are virtualized in the cloud to replace the function of traditional PLCs in the terminal. After that, we propose a dynamic scheduling method to sort the materials in minimum time. Finally, we establish a real experimental platform of a multi-crane visual sorting system to verify the performance of the proposed methods.

Theoretically, with a high enough drug dosage, cancer cells could be eliminated. However, the dosages that can be administered are limited by the therapeutic efficacy and side effects of the given drug. Herein, a nanomedicine integrating chemotherapeutic sensitization and protection was developed to relieve the limitation of administration dosage and to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy. The nanomedicine was endowed with the function of synergistically controlled release of CO and drugs under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. CO photo-induced release system (COPIRS) was synthesized by constructing an electron excitation–electron transfer group–electron-induced CO release structure and was used as the hydrophobic part, and then hydrophilic polymer (polyethylene glycol; PEG) was introduced by a thermal-responsive groups (DA group), forming a near-infrared-induced burst-release nanocarrier. In vitro and in vivo experiments showed that the nanomedicine can distinguish between tumor and normal cells and regulates the resistance of these different cells through the controlled release of carbonic oxide (CO), simultaneously enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs on tumor cells and chemotherapeutic protection on normal cells. This strategy could solve the current limitations on dosages due to toxicity and provide a solution for tumor cure by chemotherapy.

The accumulation of nanotechnology-based drugs has been realized in various ways. However, the concentration of drugs encapsulated by nanomaterials is not equal to the concentration of effective drugs; often, the drugs become effective only when they are released from the nanomaterials as free drugs. This means only when the drugs are rapidly released after the accumulated drug-encapsulating nanomaterials can they truly achieve the purpose of increasing the concentration of drugs in the tumor. Therefore, we herein report a dual-response nano-carrier of glutathione and acid to achieve the rapid release of encapsulated drug and increase the effective drug concentration in the tumor. The nano-carrier was constructed using a dual-responsive amphiphilic copolymer, composed of polyethylene glycol and hydrophobic acetylated dextran and connected by a disulfide bond. In the tumor microenvironment, disulfide bonds could be biodegraded by glutathione that is overexpressed in the tumor, exposing the core of nano-carrier composed of acetylated dextran. Then the acidic environment would induce the deacetylation of acetylated dextran into water-soluble dextran. In this way, the nano-carrier will degrade quickly, realizing the purpose of rapid drug release. The results showed that the drug release rate of dual-responsive nano-carrier was much higher than that of glutathione or acid-responsive nano-carrier alone. Furthermore, both in vitro and in vivo experiments confirmed that dual-responsive nano-carrier possessed more efficient anti-tumor effects. Therefore, we believe that dual-responsive nano-carriers have better clinical application prospects.

Loss of cartilage tissue is a hallmark of osteoarthritis. Here the authors show that BNTA, a small molecule identified in a chemical screen, promotes ECM generation in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes and cartilage explants, and suppresses pathology in a rat model of osteoarthritis.

Gray mold is a disease that often occurs in postharvest tomato fruits, leading to a significant decline in the fruits’ quality. In production, pesticides are mostly used to control gray mold, which negatively affect both the environment and food safety. The purpose of this article is to study the effects of linalool fumigation on controlling gray mold in tomato fruits and to further investigate the mechanism of linalool function, so as to provide technical support and a theoretical basis for the application of linalool in the green control of tomato gray mold. The results of the in vitro experiments showed that linalool fumigation had a strong inhibitory effect on the mycelial growth of Botrytis cinerea and that the fumigation of linalool inhibited the expansion of pathogens on tomato fruits. The disease index of tomato fruits in the linalool treatment was always lower than that of the control within 72 h after inoculation with Botrytis cinerea; at the end of experiment, the disease index of the control reached 100.0, which was only 8.0 with the 30 μL/L linalool treatment. Linalool fumigation increased the antioxidant capacity of the tomato fruits under Botrytis cinerea infection through regulating activities of SOD, POD and CAT as well as the ascorbic acid (AsA) content, which could be responsible for the lower malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation. Linalool fumigation increased the activities of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) in tomato fruits, indicating that secondary metabolism was involved in the function of linalool in the regulation of tomato fruit resistance to pathogens. As the main enzymes related to cell structure, polygalacturonase (PG), cellulase (CL) and β-galactosidase (β-GAL) were inhibited by linalool, which could protect cell wall structures from damage, and strengthened the mechanical barrier against pathogen access to fruit flesh.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) promises to deliver secure keys, which can be applied for security demands in optical networks by using cost-efficient and scalable lightpaths. To achieve such secure communication, the QKD integrated with optical networks has become a promising scenario to provide key provisioning services in optical networks. As an inevitable problem, the occurrence of failures becomes a challenge for the resiliency of the network. In that context, this paper studies the resilient QKD-integrated optical networks against single link failure. By analyzing and quantifying the key provisioning services, we constructed the secret-key flow model (SKFM) for the failure-affected and failure-unaffected cases. Based on the SKFM, a secret-key recovery strategy (SKRS) including three algorithms (i.e., one-path recovery method (OPRM), multi-path recovery method (MPRM), and time window-based recovery method (TWRM)) is designed to recover failure-affected key provisioning services in the network. The simulation work has been conducted to evaluate the performance of OPRM, MPRM, and TWRM in terms of key-service recovery ratio, secret-key recovery ratio, wavelength consumption ratio, and secret-key consumption ratio. Numerical results show that the three algorithms can recover failure-affected key provisioning services effectively, i.e., the MPRM outperforms the OPRM and the TWRM outperforms the MPRM. Better recovery can be realized by sacrificing more wavelength and secret-key resources, which are also required for the delivery of the QKD in the network. Thus, a trade-off can be achieved between the recovery of key provisioning services and the delivery of the QKD on wavelength resources and secret-key resources.

We investigate the physical-layer security problems of two-way relay networks in this paper. The whole network consists of two legitimate users and one eavesdropper, where the legal users need the help of some intermediate nodes to exchange information. We propose joint jamming and relaying mechanism, where a jamming node is selected from all intermediate nodes, to create interference upon eavesdropper, while other nodes are used to relay data for two users. All intermediate nodes are subjected to per-node power constraints. Based on null-space beamforming, we propose two different transmission schemes when the number of relay nodes is large enough. One scheme is designed to maximize the secrecy sum rate (MSSR) of the network, and the other is designed to maximize the minimum secrecy rate (MMSR) between two users. In the MMSR scheme, a series of semi-definite programming problems with a rank-1 constraint needs to be solved. We prove that this rank-1 constraint does not affect the solutions of original problems. In addition, we propose two modified secure transmission schemes when the number of relay nodes is less abundant. In short, no matter how many intermediate nodes in the communication networks, one can find suitable transmission schemes to ensure communication security.

As the first practical representative technology in the new quantum revolution,quantum key distribution (QKD) brings a promising solution to achieve long-term security guarantee,which has made series of progress from research to practical deployment and applications in recent years.The architecture design of quantum secure communication network was firstly discussed,which extended point-to-point QKD link to multi-user QKD network.Furthermore,combining with the classical cryptography,an enhanced solution was proposed to apply the quantum key generated by QKD to the mobile terminals,which offered the possibility to apply QKD in general mobile applications.