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Place memory and emotions are popular topics in human geography. The rapid development of information technology has promoted new social media platforms, built virtual spaces that differ from physical spaces, and provided new carriers for place memory and emotional sustenance. In this study, subtitle, bullet-screen, and comment data were quantified on the basis of disembedding theory and media geography combined with the natural language processing method to explore the process of local memory awakening under the background of "digital-reality fusion," taking the documentary "A Bite of China" as the study case. The following results were obtained: 1) The theme words of the subtitles included hometown, food, taste, and life. In the bullet-screen and comment data, the words "food" and "hometown" were the core nodes that built the semantic network together with other theme words. Food has become a representative of local culture, not only as a focus of local economic development but also as a window to regional culture, and is capable of awakening people's deepest memories of their hometowns. Food reflects the good wishes and life expectations of people, with the memory of the taste of their hometown having become a symbol of this attachment and the nostalgia touching the hearts of travelers. 2) The documentary awakens social memories, shapes places in modern society, and constructs a sociocultural space that carries food culture and daily practices. From the data visualization results, it could be seen that the audience as a whole showed positive emotions, the immediacy of bullet-screen was more likely to stimulate positive emotions than comments, the semantic network of bullet-screen was denser, and the audience was more inclined to comprehensively evaluate the overall level of the video in comments. Modern media technology breaks through the limitations of physical space, bringing the experience of virtual space to the audience and allowing them to instantly express their emotions and feelings while watching the video, thereby realizing the generation of emotional ties and social relations across time and space. Mediated communication has become a habitual practice in modern society, providing channels through which audience members can exchange information and ideas and express their emotions daily, thereby shortening the mental cognitive distance of people and having the same authenticity as unmediated communication and interactions. 3) Digital media provides a new interactive platform for the audience, dissolves the geographical limitations of traditional communication, and realizes dialogue between virtual and physical spaces. It also reconstructs the relationship between people and places and shortens the emotional distance between people and hometowns while providing information for daily life practices. Digital media has reconfigured the relationship between people and places in society through new media technology, creating a new type of physical space connection; namely, virtual space. In addition to local activities, the virtual space provides a new place for people to communicate and interact with one another. Although it is also a place that carries people's emotions, it enriches the audience's experience, thus contributing to the construction of the media's sense of place. This study expands the content of dietary geography and provides theoretical and empirical references for the reconstruction of human-land relations in the digital information age.

Heat stress has received growing concerns regarding the impact on seafood quality. However, the effects of heat stress on the sensory properties of seafood remain unknown. In this study, the sensory properties of fresh oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis) treated with chronic heat stress (30 °C) for 8 weeks were characterized using electronic nose, electronic tongue, sensory evaluation, HS–SPME–GC–MS, LC–MS and transcriptomics. Overall, chronic heat stress reduced the overall sensory properties of oysters. The metabolic network constructed. based on enrichment results of 423 differential metabolites and 166 differentially expressed genes, showed that the negative effects of chronic heat stress on the sensory properties of oysters were related to oxidative stress, protein degradation, lipid oxidation, and nucleotide metabolism. The results of the study provide valuable insights into the effects of heat stress on the sensory properties of oysters, which are important for ensuring a sustainable supply of high-quality seafood and maintaining food safety.

Abstract Mechanisms of sex-dependent orofacial pain are widely understudied. A significant gap in knowledge exists about comprehensive regulation of tissue-specific trigeminal sensory neurons in diseased state of both sexes. Using RNA sequencing of FACS sorted retro-labeled sensory neurons innervating tongue tissue, we determined changes in transcriptomic profiles in males and female mice under naïve as well as tongue-tumor bearing conditions Our data revealed the following interesting findings: (1) FACS sorting obtained higher number of neurons from female trigeminal ganglia (TG) compared to males; (2) Naïve female neurons innervating the tongue expressed immune cell markers such as Csf1R, C1qa and others, that weren’t expressed in males. This was validated by Immunohistochemistry. (3) Accordingly, immune cell markers such as Csf1 exclusively sensitized TRPV1 responses in female TG neurons. (4) Male neurons were more tightly regulated than female neurons upon tumor growth and very few differentially expressed genes (DEGs) overlapped between the sexes, (5) Male DEGs contained higher number of transcription factors whereas female DEGs contained higher number of enzymes, cytokines and chemokines. Collectively, this is the first study to characterize the effect of sex as well as of tongue-tumor on global gene expression, pathways and molecular function of tongue-innervating sensory neurons.

The blotched snakehead Channa maculata is an important economical freshwater species in East Asia. However, there has been relatively little research conducted on the correlation between gender and gut microbes. In this study, 36 of 1000 blotched snakeheads were randomly selected for growth performance measurement and gut microbiota high-throughput sequencing. Results showed that microbial diversity, composition, and metabolic functions were altered by gender and growth performance except the microbial network. In our study, Proteobacteria were the most abundant phylum, with Fusobacteria showing enrichment in males and Bacteroidetes in females. Notably, phylum Deinococcus-Thermus was identified as a significant biomarker. The Cetobacterium was the most abundant genus-level taxon. Furthermore, gut microbes specializing in the production of gut-healthy substances, such as coenzymes and vitamins, were identified as biomarkers in the fast-growing group. Our investigation highlighted the impact of gender on the composition and abundance of gut microbial biomarkers in both males and females, thereby influencing differential growth performance through the modulation of specific metabolic functions.

In situ combustion (ISC), an efficient and economical method for enhancing heavy oil recovery in high-pressure, high-viscosity, and thermally challenged reservoirs, relies on the kinetics of crude oil oxidation. Despite an increased focus on kinetic models, there is a gap in understanding how oxidation kinetic parameters impact ISC effectiveness in heavy oil reservoirs. This study addresses this by selecting heavy oil samples from the G Block in the Liaohe oilfield and the M Block in the Huabei oilfield and conducting ramped temperature oxidation (RTO), pressure differential scanning calorimetry (PDSC), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) experiments. RTO detailed the thermal conversion process, categorizing oxidation into low-temperature oxidation (LTO), fuel deposition (FD), and high-temperature oxidation (HTO) stages. PDSC and TGA provided thermal characteristics and kinetic parameters. The feasibility of fire flooding was evaluated. Using CMG-STARS, an ISC model was established to analyze the impact of kinetic parameter changes. Activation energy significantly affected coke combustion, while the pre-exponential factor had a notable impact on cracking reactions. The recommended values for activation energy and the pre-exponential factor are provided. This study not only guides fire flooding experiments but also supports field engineering practices, particularly for in situ combustion in heavy oil reservoirs.

Abstract Purpose Mucormycosis is a type of fatal infectious disease, rarely involved in the oromaxillofacial region. This study aimed to describe a series of 7 cases with oromaxillofacial mucormycosis and to discuss the epidemiology, clinical features, and treatment algorithm thereof. Methodology Seven patients in the author’s affiliation have been treated. They were assessed and presented as per their diagnostic criteria, surgical approach, and mortality rates. Reported cases of mucormycosis originally happened in craniomaxillofacial region were synthesized through a systematic review so as to better discuss its pathogenesis, epidemiology, and management. Results Six patients had a primary metabolic disorder, and one immunocompromised patient had a history of aplastic anemia. The criteria for a positive diagnosis of invasive mucormycosis were based on clinical presentation of signs and symptoms, and a biopsy for microbiological culture and histopathologic analysis. Each patient used antifungal drugs and five of them also underwent surgical resection at the same time. Four patients died due to the unregulated spread of mucormycosis, and one patient died owing to her main disease. Conclusions Although uncommon in clinical practice setting, mucormycosis should be of great concern in oral and maxillofacial surgery, due to the life-threatening possibility of this disease. The knowledge of early diagnosis and prompt treatment is of utmost importance for saving lives.

Anthropogenic environments take an active part in shaping the human microbiome. Herein, we studied skin and nasal microbiota dynamics in response to the exposure in confined and controlled swine farms to decipher the impact of occupational exposure on microbiome formation. The microbiota of volunteers was longitudinally profiled in a 9-months survey, in which the volunteers underwent occupational exposure during 3-month internships in swine farms. By high-throughput sequencing, we showed that occupational exposure compositionally and functionally reshaped the volunteers’ skin and nasal microbiota. The exposure in farm A reduced the microbial diversity of skin and nasal microbiota, whereas the microbiota of skin and nose increased after exposure in farm B. The exposure in different farms resulted in compositionally different microbial patterns, as the abundance of Actinobacteria sharply increased at expense of Firmicutes after exposure in farm A, yet Proteobacteria became the most predominant in the volunteers in farm B. The remodeled microbiota composition due to exposure in farm A appeared to stall and persist, whereas the microbiota of volunteers in farm B showed better resilience to revert to the pre-exposure state within 9 months after the exposure. Several metabolic pathways, for example, the styrene, aminobenzoate, and N-glycan biosynthesis, were significantly altered through our PICRUSt analysis, and notably, the function of beta-lactam resistance was predicted to enrich after exposure in farm A yet decrease in farm B. We proposed that the differently modified microbiota patterns might be coordinated by microbial and non-microbial factors in different swine farms, which were always environment-specific. This study highlights the active role of occupational exposure in defining the skin and nasal microbiota and sheds light on the dynamics of microbial patterns in response to environmental conversion.

Urbanization carries essential influences to ecosystem of soil bacteria in coastal cities. Comprehending the patterns and drivers of bacterial diversity are essential to understanding how soil ecosystems respond to environmental change. This study aimed to explore how soil bacterial community (SBC) response to distinct urbanization of coastal cities on composition, assembly process and potential function in Guangdong province, south China. 72 samples from 24 sample sites within 3 cities were included in the study. Soil chemical properties were analyzed, and the bacterial community were investigated by high-throughout sequencing. Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria were the main phyla. Assembly processes remained in stochastic processes and co-occurrence network of SBC kept stable, while urbanization altered SBC by influencing the dominant phyla. The indicators of communities in coastal city soils were the genera gamma_proteobacterium and beta_proteobacterium. Urbanized extent was the non-negligible factor which affected soil bacterial community, despite the total carbon was still the most vital. The impact of urbanization on bacterial communities might follow a non-linear pattern. Faprotax function prediction showed different urbanized coastal city soils share similar metabolic potential. Our study improved our understanding of the response of soil bacterial communities to urbanization in subtropical coastal cities and offered a useful strategy to monitor the ecology risk toward the soil under urbanization.

Objective: Quantifying the spatial and socioeconomic variation of mortality burden attributable to particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm (PM2.5) has important implications for pollution control policy. This study aims to examine the regional and socioeconomic disparities in the mortality burden attributable to long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 in China. Methods: Using data of 296 cities across China from 2015 to 2019, we estimated all-cause mortality (people aged ≥ 16 years) attributable to the long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5 above the new WHO air quality guideline (5 µg/m3). Attributed fraction (AF), attributed deaths (AD), attributed mortality rate (AMR) and total value of statistical life lost (VSL) by regional and socioeconomic levels were reported. Results: Over the period of 2015–2019, 17.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 7.4–25.2] of all-cause mortality were attributable to long-term exposure to ambient PM2.5, corresponding to 1,425.2 thousand deaths (95% CI: 622.4–2,099.6), 103.5/105 (95% CI: 44.9–153.3) AMR, and 1006.9 billion USD (95% CI: 439.8–1483.4) total VSL per year. The AMR decreased from 120.5/105 (95% CI: 52.9–176.6) to 92.7/105 (95% CI:39.9–138.5) from 2015 to 2019. The highest mortality burden was observed in the north region (annual average AF = 24.2%, 95% CI: 10.8–35.1; annual average AMR = 137.0/105, 95% CI: 60.9–198.5). The highest AD and economic loss were observed in the east region (annual average AD = 390.0 thousand persons, 95% CI: 170.3–574.6; annual total VSL = 275.6 billion USD, 95% CI: 120.3–406.0). Highest AMR was in the cities with middle level of GDP per capita (PGDP)/urbanization. The majority of the top ten cities of AF, AMR and VSL were in high and middle PGDP/urbanization regions. Conclusion: There were significant regional and socioeconomic disparities in PM2.5 attributed mortality burden among Chinese cities, suggesting differential mitigation policies are required for different regions in China.

This study aims to explore the impact of consumers’ perception of green and sustainable development goals (SDGs) image in fashion brands on their value perception and the attractiveness of product design. Fashion brands do not only strive for fashion, innovation, avant-garde, comfort, quality, and reasonable prices, but also placing increasing emphasis on sustainability, environmental friendliness, and social responsibility. As SDGs have become a shared vision and value perception among consumers, clothing with SDGs attributes is becoming fundamental for blue ocean strategies and competitive differentiation. Using the example of fashion brand SDGs image design, this study applies the “two-way questionnaire” method of the Kano quality model to investigate the correlation between quality evaluation of product cultural and ecological attributes and consumer satisfaction. Through the two-dimensional quality of the Kano model, consumers’ attitudes towards clothing with SDGs attributes are clarified more accurately. This study provides specific improvement plans to enhance the quality of green and sustainable fashion with SDGs attributes and emphasizes the incorporation of SDGs into the decision-making of fashion brands, which will have a significant impact on brand image.

Abstract Energy-saving water pump and efficient semipermeable membranes are the cores of reverse osmosis technology. Applying nanotechnology to improve the performance is a fashion in recent years. Based on the competitive effect of water’s spontaneous infiltration of two sides of a carbon nanotube, we design a water pump that makes use of the natural permeability by weakening one side’s competitiveness based on a small graphite sheet laying on the membrane. According to molecular dynamic simulations, continues net flux is observed. The motion mode of the sheet is the key for the performance. For the pure Brownian motion without any dynamical load, we find two water molecules per nanosecond flux, while the flux induced by the unidirectional motion can be several times enhanced, depending on the external force. The Brownian motion is similar to the physical mechanism of osmotic pressure, and the unidirectional motion shows great performance that has huge applications for reverse osmosis. Our work creatively proposes a new strategy to pump water molecules crossing though a nanochannel, inspiring for nanofluidic device designers.

Fucoxanthin is a natural carotenoid derived mostly from many species of marine brown algae. It is characterized by small molecular weight, is chemically active, can be easily oxidized, and has diverse biological activities, thus protecting cell components from ROS. Fucoxanthin inhibits the proliferation of a variety of cancer cells, promotes weight loss, acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, interacts with the intestinal flora to protect intestinal health, prevents organ fibrosis, and exerts a multitude of other beneficial effects. Thus, fucoxanthin has a wide range of applications and broad prospects. This review focuses primarily on the latest progress in research on its pharmacological activity and underlying mechanisms.

Multiple attribute decision analysis (MADA) problems often include both qualitative and quantitative attributes which may be either precise or inaccurate. The evidential reasoning (ER) approach is one of reliable and rational methods for dealing with MADA problems and can generate aggregated assessments from a variety of attributes. In many real world decision situations, accurate assessments are difficult to provide such as in group decision situations. Extensive research in dealing with imprecise or uncertain belief structures has been conducted on the basis of the ER approach, such as interval belief degrees, interval weights and interval uncertainty. In this paper, the weights of attributes and utilities of evaluation grades are considered to be fuzzy numbers for the ER approach. Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is used for generating triangular fuzzy weights for attributes from a triangular fuzzy judgment matrix provided by an expert. The weighted arithmetic mean method is proposed to aggregate the triangular fuzzy weights of attributes from a group of experts. -cut is then used to transform the combined triangular fuzzy weights to interval weights for the purpose of dealing with the fuzzy type of weight and utility in a consistent way. Several pairs of group evidential reasoning based nonlinear programming models are then designed to calculate the global fuzzy belief degrees and the overall expected interval utilities of each alternative with interval weights and interval utilities as constraints. A case study is conducted to show the validity and effectiveness of the proposed approach and sensitivity analysis is also conducted on interval weights generated by different -cuts.

Abstract Background Existing methods for predicting protein solubility on overexpression in Escherichia coli advance performance by using ensemble classifiers such as two-stage support vector machine (SVM) based classifiers and a number of feature types such as physicochemical properties, amino acid and dipeptide composition, accompanied with feature selection. It is desirable to develop a simple and easily interpretable method for predicting protein solubility, compared to existing complex SVM-based methods. Results This study proposes a novel scoring card method (SCM) by using dipeptide composition only to estimate solubility scores of sequences for predicting protein solubility. SCM calculates the propensities of 400 individual dipeptides to be soluble using statistic discrimination between soluble and insoluble proteins of a training data set. Consequently, the propensity scores of all dipeptides are further optimized using an intelligent genetic algorithm. The solubility score of a sequence is determined by the weighted sum of all propensity scores and dipeptide composition. To evaluate SCM by performance comparisons, four data sets with different sizes and variation degrees of experimental conditions were used. The results show that the simple method SCM with interpretable propensities of dipeptides has promising performance, compared with existing SVM-based ensemble methods with a number of feature types. Furthermore, the propensities of dipeptides and solubility scores of sequences can provide insights to protein solubility. For example, the analysis of dipeptide scores shows high propensity of α-helix structure and thermophilic proteins to be soluble. Conclusions The propensities of individual dipeptides to be soluble are varied for proteins under altered experimental conditions. For accurately predicting protein solubility using SCM, it is better to customize the score card of dipeptide propensities by using a training data set under the same specified experimental conditions. The proposed method SCM with solubility scores and dipeptide propensities can be easily applied to the protein function prediction problems that dipeptide composition features play an important role. Availability The used datasets, source codes of SCM, and supplementary files are available at http://iclab.life.nctu.edu.tw/SCM/.

Abstract Background Methanolic extracts of Gracilaria tenuistipitata (MEGT) were obtained from the edible red algae. Previously, we found that water extract of G. tenuistipitata was able to modulate oxidative stress-induced DNA damage and its related cellular responses. Methods In this study, the methanol extraction product MEGT was used to evaluate the cell growth inhibition in oral cancer cells and its possible mechanism was investigated. Results The cell viability of MEGT treated Ca9-22 oral cancer cell line was significantly decreased in a dose–response manner (p p p p p 2(3) intensity for mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) of MEGT-treated Ca9-22 cancer cells was significantly decreased in a dose–response manner (p Conclusions These results indicated that MEGT had apoptosis-based cytotoxicity against oral cancer cells through the DNA damage, ROS induction, and mitochondrial depolarization. Therefore, MEGT derived from the edible algae may have potential therapeutic effects against oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Abstract Background The crude extract of the fruit bearing plant, Physalis peruviana (golden berry), demonstrated anti-hepatoma and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the cellular mechanism involved in this process is still unknown. Methods Herein, we isolated the main pure compound, 4β-Hydroxywithanolide (4βHWE) derived from golden berries, and investigated its antiproliferative effect on a human lung cancer cell line (H1299) using survival, cell cycle, and apoptosis analyses. An alkaline comet-nuclear extract (NE) assay was used to evaluate the DNA damage due to the drug. Results It was shown that DNA damage was significantly induced by 1, 5, and 10 μg/mL 4βHWE for 2 h in a dose-dependent manner (p < 0.005). A trypan blue exclusion assay showed that the proliferation of cells was inhibited by 4βHWE in both dose- and time-dependent manners (p < 0.05 and 0.001 for 24 and 48 h, respectively). The half maximal inhibitory concentrations (IC50) of 4βHWE in H1299 cells for 24 and 48 h were 0.6 and 0.71 μg/mL, respectively, suggesting it could be a potential therapeutic agent against lung cancer. In a flow cytometric analysis, 4βHWE produced cell cycle perturbation in the form of sub-G1 accumulation and slight arrest at the G2/M phase with 1 μg/mL for 12 and 24 h, respectively. Using flow cytometric and annexin V/propidium iodide immunofluorescence double-staining techniques, these phenomena were proven to be apoptosis and complete G2/M arrest for H1299 cells treated with 5 μg/mL for 24 h. Conclusions In this study, we demonstrated that golden berry-derived 4βHWE is a potential DNA-damaging and chemotherapeutic agent against lung cancer.

Little attention has been paid to the role that low levels of cognitive development (or IQ) play among both left-behind children (LBCs) and children living with parents (CLPs) in the context of poor educational attainment in rural China. In this paper, we examine how general cognitive abilities contribute to the academic achievement gains of both LBCs and CLPs in poor areas of rural China. We measure the general cognitive ability of the 4,780 sample students using the Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices (Raven IQ) and assess academic achievement using a curriculum-based mathematics exam. We find that IQ and left-behind status predict achievement gains for the average student. Among low-IQ students, however, left-behind status does not correlate with a change in achievement, suggesting that the migration of parents does not immediately/automatically translate into a loss of academic achievement for students with delays in their general cognitive ability.

This article reports on research conducted to investigate student confidence in reading by collecting data from 135 primary schools in rural China. In the survey, we adopted the PIRLS scales of confidence in reading and reading skills test items. Our analysis shows that compared to the other countries and regions, rural China ranks last with regard to student confidence in reading and reading achievement. The correlation analysis reveals that in rural China there is a strong correlation between student confidence in reading and reading achievement. Additionally, school and teacher factors are associated with student confidence in reading. Specifically, having an accessible classroom library is associated with higher reading confidence, especially among the poor readers. Teacher instruction in reading correlates with higher confidence in readers for high achievers. Our findings indicate that the government should develop effective policies to improve student confidence in reading and reading skills in rural China.