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Infectious gastroenteritis is the major cause for diarrhea in piglets. The protection of spray-dried plasma (SDP) on viral gastroenteritis during the progression of rotavirus (RV) infection remain unclear. In this study, 64 weanling piglets were randomly assigned to control diets (n = 40) and SDP diets (n = 24) for 14 days, and then pigs were challenged with RV on day 15. Pigs were sacrificed on day 14 (normal condition), day 18 (manifestation stage), and day 21 (convalescent stage) of the trial. Prior to RV infection, SDP increased ADG, M1 macrophages and CD4+ T cells in different organs without increasing proinflammatory cytokines, indicating a more robust immunity with less inflammation. During the manifestation of infection, SDP enhanced mucosal immunity by increasing M1 macrophages, M1/M2 ratio and cytokines in mucosa and increasing intraepithelial CD8+ T cells for RV clearance. During the convalescence, SDP promoted M2 macrophage polarization and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines to facilitate intestinal repair and prevent prolonged inflammation. Collectively, SDP enhanced mucosal immunity to promote viral clearance and maintained immune homeostasis to prevent long-lasting inflammation as a therapeutically approach for infectious gastroenteritis.

Abstract Meningeal lymphatic vessels (mLVs) play a pivotal role in regulating metabolic waste from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, the current limitations in field of view and resolution of existing imaging techniques impede understanding the stereoscopic morphology and dynamic behavior of mLVs in vivo. Here, we utilized dual-contrast functional photoacoustic microscopy to achieve wide-field intravital imaging of the lymphatic system, including mLVs and glymphatic pathways. The stereoscopic photoacoustic microscopy based on opto-acoustic confocal features has a depth imaging capability of 3.75 mm, facilitating differentiation between mLVs on the meninges and glymphatic pathways within the brain parenchyma. Subsequently, using this imaging technique, we were able to visualize the dynamic drainage of mLVs and identify a peak drainage period occurring around 20–40 min after injection, along with determining the flow direction from CSF to lymph nodes. Inspiringly, in the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mouse model, we observed that AD mice exhibit a ~ 70% reduction in drainage volume of mLVs compared to wild-type mice. With the development of AD, there is be continued decline in mLVs drainage volume. This finding clearly demonstrates that the AD mouse model has impaired CSF drainage. Our study opens up a horizon for understanding the brain’s drainage mechanism and dissecting mLVs-associated neurological disorders.

Displacement cascade behaviors of Ti-6Al-4V alloys are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The embedded atom method (EAM) potential including Ti, Al and V elements is modified by adding Ziegler-Biersack-Littmark (ZBL) potential to describe the short-range interaction among different atoms. The time evolution of displacement cascades at the atomic scale is quantitatively evaluated with the energy of primary knock-on atom (PKA) ranging from 0.5 keV to 15 keV, and that for pure Ti is also computed as a comparison. The effects of temperature and incident direction of PKA are studied in detail. The results show that the temperature reduces the number of surviving Frenkel pairs (FPs), and the incident direction of PKA shows little correlation with them. Furthermore, the increasing temperature promotes the point defects to form clusters but reduces the number of defects due to the accelerated recombination of vacancies and interstitial atoms at relatively high temperature. The cluster fractions of interstitials and vacancies both increase with the PKA energy, whereas the increase of interstitial cluster is slightly larger due to their higher mobility. Compared to pure Ti, the presence of Al and V is beneficial to the formation of interstitial clusters and indirectly hinders the production of vacancy clusters.

Abstract Activatable type I photosensitizers are an effective way to overcome the insufficiency and imprecision of photodynamic therapy in the treatment of hypoxic tumors, however, the incompletely inhibited photoactivity of pro‐photosensitizer and the limited oxidative phototoxicity of post‐photosensitizer are major limitations. It is still a great challenge to address these issues using a single and facile design. Herein, a series of totally caged type I pro‐photosensitizers (Pro‐I‐PSs) are rationally developed that are only activated in tumor hypoxic environment and combine two oxygen‐independent therapeutic mechanisms under single‐pulse laser irradiation to enhance the phototherapeutic efficacy. Specifically, five benzophenothiazine‐based dyes modified with different nitroaromatic groups, BPN 1−5, are designed and explored as latent hypoxia‐activatable Pro‐I‐PSs. By comparing their optical responses to nitroreductase (NTR), it is identified that the 2‐methoxy‐4‐nitrophenyl decorated dye (BPN 2) is the optimal Pro‐I‐PSs, which can achieve NTR‐activated background‐free fluorescence/photoacoustic dual‐modality tumor imaging. Furthermore, upon activation, BPN 2 can simultaneously produce an oxygen‐independent photoacoustic cavitation effect and a photodynamic type I process at single‐pulse laser irradiation. Detailed studies in vitro and in vivo indicated that BPN 2 can effectively induce cancer cell apoptosis through synergistic effects. This study provides promising potential for overcoming the pitfalls of hypoxic‐tumor photodynamic therapy.

Cytokine storms are associated with severe pathological damage and death in some diseases. Excessive activation of M1 macrophages and the subsequent secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines are a major cause of cytokine storms. Therefore, promoting the polarization of M2 macrophages to restore immune balance is a promising therapeutic strategy for treating cytokine storm syndrome (CSS). This study was aimed at investigating the potential protective effects of leucine on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced CSS in mice and exploring the underlying mechanisms. CSS was induced by LPS administration in mice, which were concurrently administered leucine orally. In vitro, bone marrow derived macrophages (BMDMs) were polarized to M1 and M2 phenotypes with LPS and interleukin-4 (IL-4), respectively, and treated with leucine. Leucine decreased mortality in mice treated with lethal doses of LPS. Specifically, leucine decreased M1 polarization and promoted M2 polarization, thus diminishing pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and ameliorating CSS in mice. Further studies revealed that leucine-induced macrophage polarization through the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)/liver X receptor α (LXRα) pathway, which synergistically enhanced the expression of the IL-4-induced M2 marker Arg1 and subsequent M2 polarization. In summary, this study revealed that leucine ameliorates CSS in LPS mice by promoting M2 polarization through the mTORC1/LXRα/Arg1 signaling pathway. Our findings indicate that a fundamental link between metabolism and immunity contributes to the resolution of inflammation and the repair of damaged tissues.

IntroductionPrediction of post-stroke functional outcome is important for personalized rehabilitation treatment, we aimed to develop an effective nomogram for predicting long-term unfavorable functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients after acute phase.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data, rehabilitation data, and longitudinal follow-up data from ischemic stroke patients who underwent early rehabilitation at multiple centers in China. An unfavorable functional outcome was defined as a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score of 3–6 at 90 days after onset. Patients were randomly allocated to either a training or test cohort in a ratio of 4:1. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the predictors for the development of a predictive nomogram. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was used to evaluate predictive ability in both the training and test cohorts.ResultsA total of 856 patients (training cohort: n = 684; test cohort: n = 172) were included in this study. Among them, 518 patients experienced unfavorable outcomes 90 days after ischemic stroke. Trial of ORG 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment classification (p = 0.024), antihypertensive agents use [odds ratio (OR) = 1.86; p = 0.041], 15-day Barthel Index score (OR = 0.930; p < 0.001) and 15-day mRS score (OR = 13.494; p < 0.001) were selected as predictors for the unfavorable outcome nomogram. The nomogram model showed good predictive performance in both the training (AUC = 0.950) and test cohorts (AUC = 0.942).ConclusionThe constructed nomogram model could be a practical tool for predicting unfavorable functional outcomes in ischemic stroke patients underwent early rehabilitation after acute phase.

Upconversion nanoparticles can be used to both image and treat tumors. Here, the authors describe an upconversion nanoparticle that can switch from imaging to phototherapy by altering the NIR emission.

The urban spatial structure in this study refers to the combination of different categories of land use, and the purpose of the study is to reveal the intrinsic correlation characteristics between urban land use structural combination forms and urban functions. Through the integration of land and population maps and other multi-source data, with the help of exploratory spatial data analysis and other models, this research deals with the land use spatial structure characteristics of Changchun city and its coordination relationship with urban functions. Main conclusions of the study are as follows. The overall density of the land use in the central urban area of Changchun shows patterns of the core being higher than the periphery, the large-scale agglomeration being significant and the small-scale relatively scattered, and the pattern of the mixed land use function index has obvious differentiation characteristics. The study shows that, in the context of the spatial pattern, the overall coupling coordination degree of the land use structure index and the urban function index shows a trend of a gradual decrease, from the core to the periphery. In the context of category differences, the coupling coordination of the land use structure with the population distribution and the Baidu thermal distribution is relatively high, and the coupling coordination with various service facilities is relatively low. Finally, in the context of scale differences, all types of coupling coordination degrees have significant sensitivity to the spatial scales. A large scale significantly reflects the overall decrease in the coupling coordination degrees from the core to the periphery, while a small scale shows the polycentric pattern characteristics of the urban spatial structure.

The metric matrix theory is an important research object of metric measure geometry and it can be used to characterize the geometric structure of a set. For intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS), we defined metric information matrices (MIM) of IFS by using the metric matrix theory. We introduced the Gromov–Hausdorff metric to measure the distance between any two MIMs. We then constructed a kind of metric information matrix distance knowledge measure for IFS. The proposed distance measures have the ability to measure the distance between two incomplete intuitionistic fuzzy sets. In order to reduce the information confusion caused by the disorder of MIM, we defined a homogenous metric information matrix distance by rearranging MIM. Some theorems are given to show the properties of the constructed distance measures. At the end of the paper, some numerical experiments are given to show that the proposed distances can recognize different patterns represented by IFS.

With the progress of signal processing technology and the emergence of new system radars, the space electromagnetic environment becomes more and more complex, which puts forward higher requirements for the deinterleaving method of radar signals. Traditional signal deinterleaving algorithms rely heavily on manual experience threshold and have poor robustness. To address this problem, we designed an intelligent radar signal deinterleaving algorithm that was completed by encoding the frequency characteristic matrix and semantic segmentation network, named Sep-RefineNet. The frequency characteristic matrix can well construct the semantic features of different pulse streams of radar signals. The Sep-RefineNet semantic segmentation network can complete pixel-level segmentation of the frequency characteristic matrix and finally uses position decoding and verification to obtain the position in the original pulse stream to complete radar signals deinterleaving. The proposed method avoids the processing of threshold judgment and pulse sequence search in traditional methods. The results of the experiment show that this algorithm improves the deinterleaving accuracy and has a good against-noise ability of aliasing pulses and missing pulses.

Objectives: Patients with anterior circulation large vessel occlusion are at high risk of acute ischemic stroke, which could be disabling or fatal. In this study, we applied machine learning to develop and validate two prediction models for acute ischemic stroke (Model 1) and severity of neurological impairment (Model 2), both caused by anterior circulation large vessel occlusion (AC-LVO), based on medical history and neuroimaging data of patients on admission.Methods: A total of 1,100 patients with AC- LVO from the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University in North China were enrolled, of which 713 patients presented with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) related to AC- LVO and 387 presented with the non-acute ischemic cerebrovascular event. Among patients with the non-acute ischemic cerebrovascular events, 173 with prior stroke or TIA were excluded. Finally, 927 patients with AC-LVO were entered into the derivation cohort. In the external validation cohort, 150 patients with AC-LVO from the Hebei Province People's Hospital, including 99 patients with AIS related to AC- LVO and 51 asymptomatic AC-LVO patients, were retrospectively reviewed. We developed four machine learning models [logistic regression (LR), regularized LR (RLR), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF)], whose performance was internally validated using 5-fold cross-validation. The performance of each machine learning model for the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) was compared and the variables of each algorithm were ranked.Results: In model 1, among the included patients with AC-LVO, 713 (76.9%) and 99 (66%) suffered an acute ischemic stroke in the derivation and external validation cohorts, respectively. The ROC-AUC of LR, RLR and SVM were significantly higher than that of the RF in the external validation cohorts [0.66 (95% CI 0.57–0.74) for LR, 0.66 (95% CI 0.57–0.74) for RLR, 0.55 (95% CI 0.45–0.64) for RF and 0.67 (95% CI 0.58–0.76) for SVM]. In model 2, 254 (53.9%) and 31 (37.8%) patients suffered disabling ischemic stroke in the derivation and external validation cohorts, respectively. There was no difference in AUC among the four machine learning algorithms in the external validation cohorts.Conclusions: Machine learning methods with multiple clinical variables have the ability to predict acute ischemic stroke and the severity of neurological impairment in patients with AC-LVO.

ABSTRACT IFN-γ (Interferon-gamma), Mx and IRF-1 (Interferon regulatory factor-1) are main immune-related genes and they play important roles in the innate immune system of vertebrates. In this study, the expression level of the three immune-related genes in twelve tissues of normal adult Japanese flounder was detected using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Thirteen time points (3h, 6h, 9h, 12h, 24h, 36h, 48h, 60h, 72h, 84h, 96h, 108h, 120h) were selected to analyze the expression of IFN-γ, Mx and IRF-1 in spleen, head kidney, liver of Japanese flounder infected with Lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The Japanese flounder IFN-γ, Mx and IRF-1 genes were differently expressed in these tissues and had high expression levels in classical fish immune organs like spleen and head kidney. It was found that the highest expression levels of the Japanese flounder IFN-γ were detected at 24h in spleen, 36h in head kidney and 48h in liver after challenge with LPS. Interestingly, the highest expression levels of Mx in spleen and head kidney were both at 36h and IRF-1 in spleen and liver were both at 24h. The highest expression level of Mx in liver was at 48h and IRF-1 in head kidney was at 12h. The study provides a basis for further research on immune mechanism of IFN-γ, Mx, IRF-1 and the production of recombinant IFN-γ, Mx or IRF-1 used in Japanese flounder cultivation in future.

AimElevated plasma trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is related to atherosclerosis. Whether the relationship of TMAO and coronary heart disease (CHD) is influenced by sex or age is uncertain. We aim to explore the sex and age differences in the relationship between plasma TMAO and CHD risk and severity.MethodsA case–control study was conducted in patients undergoing elective coronary angiography. Matched by sex, age (±2 years), and operation date (±180 days), a total of 429 CHD case–control pairs were included. Plasma TMAO was quantified using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the association between plasma TMAO and CHD risk and severity.ResultsThe overall median (interquartile range) plasma TMAO level was 0.11 (0.06–0.18) μg/ml. After stratification by sex and age, and adjustment for common CHD risk factors, the association between TMAO and CHD risk was significant in the older (≥65 years) male subgroup [odds ratios (OR) = 1.57, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.09–2.28, P = 0.016], but not in other sex–age subgroups (all P > 0.05). The relationship of plasma TMAO and CHD risk was modified by age (adjusted Pinteraction = 0.001) in male individuals. Plasma TMAO was also associated with a higher risk of multi-vessel disease in male patients with CHD (OR = 1.65, 95% CI: 1.18–2.32, P = 0.004), but not in females.ConclusionsPlasma TMAO is significantly positively associated with the risk and severity of CHD in Chinese men. Age has an interactive effect on the relationship between plasma TMAO and CHD risk in men. Our findings warrant further investigation.

Abstract Background Community-driven invasion, also known as community coalescence, occurs widely in natural ecosystems. Despite that, our knowledge about the process and mechanisms controlling community-driven invasion in soil ecosystems is lacking. Here, we performed a set of coalescence experiments in soil microcosms and assessed impacts up to 60 days after coalescence by quantifying multiple traits (compositional, functional, and metabolic) of the invasive and coalescent communities. Results Our results showed that coalescences significantly triggered changes in the resident community's succession trajectory and functionality (carbohydrate metabolism), even when the size of the invasive community is small (~ 5% of the resident density) and 99% of the invaders failed to survive. The invasion impact was mainly due to the high suppression of constant residents (65% on average), leading to a lose-lose situation where both invaders and residents suffered with coalescence. Our results showed that surviving residents could benefit from the coalescence, which supports the theory of “competition-driven niche segregation” at the microbial community level. Furthermore, the result showed that both short- and long-term coalescence effects were predicted by similarity and unevenness indexes of compositional, functional, and metabolic traits of invasive communities. This indicates the power of multi-level traits in monitoring microbial community succession. In contrast, the varied importance of different levels of traits suggests that competitive processes depend on the composition of the invasive community. Conclusions Our results shed light on the process and consequence of community coalescences and highlight that resource competition between invaders and residents plays a critical role in soil microbial community coalescences. These findings provide valuable insights for understanding and predicting soil microbial community succession in frequently disturbed natural and agroecosystems. Video Abstract Graphical Abstract

Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) are a potent and adaptable tool for effectively processing and analyzing continuous spatial data. Despite the substantial potential of GCN in various domains, most existing spatial data prediction models are confined to defining weights solely based on distance. To overcome this limitation, this study proposes a novel approach to obtain the second-level embedding of Points of Interests (POIs) by employing Delaunay Triangulation (DT), Random Walk, and Skip-Gram model training. Subsequently, enhanced features are obtained through various aggregation strategies for regional embedding. The integrated grid data, including longitude and latitude coordinates, enhanced features, and target values, are then integrated. Finally, the GCN is utilized for training and fitting to achieve the final prediction target value. By considering the influence of weights on data prediction, this approach can more accurately reflect the distribution and relationships of data in the actual environment. Furthermore, we have experimentally validated the effectiveness of this approach, demonstrating that it significantly enhances the accuracy of spatial data prediction when compared to the original GCN model’s approach.

To optimize a laser ignition scheme, absorption rate measurements and Schlieren visualizations are performed on dual-pulse laser-induced breakdowns (LIBs) at incident energies from 50 mJ to 200 mJ and pulse intervals that range from 20 ns to 250 µs in quiescent air at atmospheric pressure. For comparison, experiments on single-pulse LIBs are also conducted. The shock loss is determined using a semi-empirical model (Jones' model), and quantitative information on the spatial distribution of the hot plume is extracted from Schlieren images using in-house code. The results reveal that multi-location laser ignition can be achieved without reducing the energy absorption or strengthening the shock loss only when the energy of each laser pulse exceeds 200 mJ. This requirement is because the absorption rate of single-pulse LIB decreases significantly when the laser energy is lower than 200 mJ, and the shock loss of single-pulse LIB invariably accounts for approximately 80% of the absorbed laser energy at various incident energies. Compared with single-pulse LIB, dual-pulse LIB with a pulse interval of less than 200 ns is slightly inferior in terms of energy absorption and shock loss; however, the advantages of a larger initial plasma volume and lower energy dissipation can compensate for this deficiency. Therefore, dual-pulse laser ignition is a promising alternative to single-pulse laser ignition. Moreover, ignition reliability can be enhanced by initially releasing the laser pulse with higher energy when the energies of the successive pulses are not the same because of higher energy absorption and lower shock loss. In addition, the spatial distribution of the resulting hot plume is relatively centralized, which helps to reduce energy and radical dissipation. However, a pulse interval longer than 200 ns should be avoided for dual-pulse LIB because the laser energy cannot be utilized efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a vital factor in technological innovation, patentee plays a significant role in the process of scientific and technological innovation, researching patentee has attracted the attention of experts and scholars. Previously, scholars have mainly quantified patent indicators or constructed homogeneous information networks to analyze patentees, but these methods cannot objectively measure the impact of patentees. Therefore, this study proposes a novel approach to assessing patentee impact based on a heterogeneous information network. The proposed method distinguishes the weight of different types of nodes using a weighted mechanism and extracts three types of fine-grained characteristics of network nodes. This approach results in the construction of a heterogeneous patent innovation network and the development of a new patentee impact assessment algorithm called CWAPN. Using Chinese green patents in the field of energy conservation and environmental protection as an example, experimental results show that the CWAPN algorithm can effectively assess the impact of patentees. Thereby identifying patentees who have made outstanding contributions to sustainable development in China.

Abstract Background Interleg systolic blood pressure difference (ILSBPD) is associated with peripheral artery disease, but the relationship between ILSBPD and apparent peripheral neuropathy in diabetic patients remains unclear. We explored the relationship between ILSBPD and apparent peripheral neuropathy and examined the possible effect modifiers in US adults with diabetes. Methods One thousand and fifty-one diabetic participants were included in the study with complete data on systolic blood pressure of the lower extremities and Semmes–Weinstein 10-g monofilament testing from the 1999–2004 National Health and Nutritional Examination Surveys. Systolic blood pressure in the lower extremities was measured using an oscillometric blood pressure device with the patient in the supine position. Apparent peripheral neuropathy was defined as the presence of monofilament insensitivity. Results Every 5-mmHg increment in ILSBPD is associated with an about 14% increased risk of apparent peripheral neuropathy in crude model, but after adjustment for covariates, the correlation became nonsignificant (P = 0.160). When participants were divided into groups based on ILSBPD cutoffs of 5, 10 and 15 mmHg in different analyses, there was a significantly increased risk of apparent peripheral neuropathy in the ILSBPD ≥ 15 mmHg group (OR 1.79, 95% CI 1.11–2.91, P = 0.018), even after adjusting for confounders. In subgroup analysis, no interaction effect was found (all P for interaction > 0.05). Conclusions In US adults with diabetes, an increase in the ILSBPD (≥ 15 mmHg) was associated with a higher risk of apparent peripheral neuropathy.

Abstract Viruses are ubiquitous in the oceans, exhibiting high abundance and diversity. Here, we systematically analyze existing genomic sequences of marine prokaryotes to compile a Marine Prokaryotic Genome Dataset (MPGD, consisting of over 12,000 bacterial and archaeal genomes) and a Marine Temperate Viral Genome Dataset (MTVGD). At least 40% of the MPGD genomes contain one or more proviral sequences, indicating that they are lysogens. The MTVGD includes over 12,900 viral contigs or putative proviruses, clustered into 10,897 viral genera. We show that lysogens and proviruses are abundant in marine ecosystems, particularly in the deep sea, and marine lysogens differ from non-lysogens in multiple genomic features and growth properties. We reveal several virus-host interaction networks of potential ecological relevance, and identify proviruses that appear to be able to infect (or to be transferred between) different bacterial classes and phyla. Auxiliary metabolic genes in the MTVGD are enriched in functions related to carbohydrate metabolism. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the impact of a prophage on the transcriptome of a representative marine Shewanella bacterium. Our work contributes to a better understanding of the ecology of marine prokaryotes and their viruses.

As the market environment becomes increasingly competitive, enterprises that rely solely on internal research and development innovation are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of competition. Consequently, enterprises have broken down organizational boundaries and shifted from closed innovation to open collaborative innovation. The flow of knowledge across organizations facilitates the acquisition of heterogeneous resources from partners, promotes the integration and configuration of internal and external knowledge, thereby enhances the competitiveness of enterprises. However, some scholars argued that collaborative innovation does not always achieve win-win outcomes, and the existence of substitution effects between enterprises and their partners may hinder the innovation level of the focal enterprise. Therefore, based on the resource-based theory and the network embeddedness theory, this study constructs a theoretical model to investigate the effects of network embeddedness, network experience and partner diversity on enterprise green innovation performance in the Chinese green collaborative innovation network. The impact of network embeddedness on innovation performance is examined from two dimensions: structural embeddedness and relational embeddedness. The moderating effects of network experience and partner diversity are analyzed to further explain this phenomenon. Using Chinese green patent data from 2000 to 2015 as the research object, the collaborative innovation network of enterprises is constructed, and the network characteristic variables are calculated using social network analysis methods. Finally, negative binomial regression and robustness tests are conducted using STATA software. The research findings provide managerial implications for Chinese enterprises to achieve competitiveness and sustainable development.

Air pollution is an important public health problem that endangers human health. However, the casual association and pathogenesis between particles < 2.5 μm (PM2.5) and hyperlipidemia remains incompletely unknown. Mendelian randomization (MR) and transcriptomic data analysis were performed, and an air pollution model using mice was constructed to investigate the association between PM2.5 and hyperlipidemia. MR analysis demonstrated that PM2.5 is associated with hyperlipidemia and the triglyceride (TG) level in the European population (IVW method of hyperlipidemia: OR: 1.0063, 95%CI: 1.0010–1.0118, p = 0.0210; IVW method of TG level: OR: 1.1004, 95%CI: 1.0067–1.2028, p = 0.0350). Mest, Adipoq, Ccl2, and Pcsk9 emerged in the differentially expressed genes of the liver and plasma of PM2.5 model mice, which might mediate atherosclerosis accelerated by PM2.5. The studied animal model shows that the Paigen Diet (PD)-fed male LDLR−/− mice had higher total cholesterol (TC), TG, and CM/VLDL cholesterol levels than the control group did after 10 times 5 mg/kg PM2.5 intranasal instillation once every three days. Our study revealed that PM2.5 had causality with hyperlipidemia, and PM2.5 might affect liver secretion, which could further regulate atherosclerosis. The lipid profile of PD-fed Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) model mice is more likely to be jeopardized by PM2.5 exposure.

Image matting is a fundamental technique used to extract a fine foreground image from a given image by estimating the opacity values of each pixel. It is one of the key techniques in image processing and has a wide range of applications in practical scenarios, such as in image and video editing. Deep learning has demonstrated outstanding performance in various image processing tasks, making it a popular research topic. In recent years, image matting methods based on deep learning have gained significant attention due to their superior performance. Therefore, this article presents a comprehensive overview of the deep learning-based image matting algorithms that have been proposed in recent years. This paper initially introduces frequently used datasets and their production methods, along with the basic principles of traditional image matting techniques. We then analyze deep learning-based matting algorithms in detail and introduce commonly used image matting evaluation metrics. Additionally, this paper discusses the application scenarios of image matting, conducts experiments to illustrate the limitations of current image matting methods, and outlines potential future research directions in this field. Overall, this paper can serve as a valuable reference for researchers that are interested in image matting.

A closed loop two-phase thermosiphon is supposed as an effective heat transfer unit for improving the heat transfer in the latent heat storage devices, which has a simple structure and natural circulation. An experimental study and theoretical analysis were conducted to evaluate the heat transfer performance. The effects of height difference, filling ratio, and condenser temperature were investigated relative to changes in pressure and evaporator temperature. The results indicate that heat transfer performance is improved with an increase in height difference and a decrease in condenser temperature. Meanwhile, a closed loop thermosiphon with medium filling ratios of 44.5% and 49.9% shows the best heat transfer performance. Furthermore, the subcooling phenomenon occurs at large filling ratios of 68.1% and 67.1% and the superheating phenomenon occurs at small filling ratios of 27.3% and 31.1%.

Glioblastoma (GBM), which occasionally occurs in pediatric patients, is the most common tumor of the central nervous system in adults. Clinically, GBM is classified as low-grade to high-grade (from 1 to 4) and is characterized by late discovery, limited effective treatment methods, and poor efficacy. With the development of immunotherapy technology, effective GBM treatment strategies are of great significance. The main immune cells found in the GBM tumor microenvironment are macrophages and microglia (MG). Both these monocytes play important roles in the occurrence and development of GBM. Macrophages are recruited during tumorigenesis, whereas MG is present in the brain during embryonic development. Interestingly, the accumulation of these monocytes is inversely proportional to the survival of adult GBM patients but not the pediatric GBM patients. This study used single-cell RNA-seq data to reveal the heterogeneity of MG in tumor lesions and to explore the role of different MG subtypes in the occurrence and development of GBM. The results may help find new targets for immunotherapy of GBM.

Summary: Microbial inoculations contribute to reducing agricultural systems' environmental footprint by supporting sustainable production and regulating climate change. However, the indirect and cascading effects of microbial inoculants through the reshaping of soil microbiome are largely overlooked. By discussing the underlying mechanisms of plant- and soil-based microbial inoculants, we suggest that a key challenge in microbial inoculation is to understand their legacy on indigenous microbial communities and the corresponding impacts on agroecosystem functions and services relevant to climate change. We explain how these legacy effects on the soil microbiome can be understood by building on the mechanisms driving microbial invasions and placing inoculation into the context of ecological succession and community assembly. Overall, we advocate that generalizing field trials to systematically test inoculants' effectiveness and developing knowledge anchored in the scientific field of biological/microbial invasion are two essential requirements for applying microbial inoculants in agricultural ecosystems to tackle climate change challenges.

Ocean cold seeps are poorly understood relative to related systems like hydrothermal vents. Here the authors use high pressure bioreactors and microbial communities from a cold seep mud volcano and find a previously missing step of methane conversion to acetate that likely fuels heterotrophic communities.

Feature pyramid mechanism has improved the performance of object detectors by a large margin, especially for the objects with small scale. As one of the first attempts to use pyramidal feature hierarchy, Single Shot MultiBox Detector (SSD) has largely accelerated the pipeline of detection with the competitive performance. Even if the feature pyramid mechanism is used for better detecting objects with small scale, the complex background information still misleads the network to focus on invalid areas. Image areas where small objects exist are more easily to be misjudged which influences the performance of lower-level layer in feature pyramid. In addition, a great deal of false positives may also be introduced into each pyramid layer because of the complex background. In this paper, we propose a novel method named scale pyramid attention hierarchy to better assist the SSD. The general feature pyramid detector can be guided to focus on the valid image areas as well as neglect the influence of complex background with the assist of this proposed module. Furthermore, the end-to-end training can highlight the foreground information which reduces the pressure of detectors, especially for detecting small objects. Flexible implementation makes it easily embedded in the feature pyramid mechanism. Experimental results on PASCAL VOC 2007, VOC 2012 and MS COCO confirm the effectiveness of the proposed module.

Pyrolysis of peanut shell in a fluidized bed to produce bio-oil is investigated as a useful way to utilize the agriculture residues in China. The influence of reaction temperature and the flow rate of carrier gas (N) on the pyrolysis product distribution and some characteristics of these products generated in the bench-scale fluidized-bed system developed in this study are quantified. The main components of bio-oil are classified into six categories including aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters, phenols, and alcohols that were analyzed with GC-MS. Properties of products (bio-oil, char, noncondensible gas) such as elemental analysis, moisture, heat value, kinematic viscosity, flashing point, and density, were also characterized. It was found out that the maximum yield of bio-oil, around 60% by weight, was achieved at reaction temperature at 500C and the flow rate of N at 3.2 Nm h. N balance and total mass balance on this system were performed to demonstrate the result credibility of the experiments. Some other useful parameters based on the system were also obtained for future economic and design studies. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the major type of lung malignancy with increasing incidence worldwide. Despite progression in diagnosis and management of NSCLC, the patients’ survival rate is still unfavorable. Accumulating data have shown that circular RNAs (circRNAs) act as key roles in oncogenesis. In this project, circ_0026134 expression in NSCLC tissue specimens and cells was measured by RT-qPCR. The functional roles (cell growth, apoptosis, migration, and invasion) of circ_0026134 were investigated by gain and loss-of-function assays. In addition, luciferase reporter assay was used to uncover the mechanisms of circ_0026134. Circ_0026134 was frequently upregulated in NSCLC samples and cell lines. Furthermore, we observed that downregulation of circ_0026134 attenuated NSCLC cell proliferation and metastatic properties and induced cell apoptosis. The overexpression of circ_0026134 in NSCLC cells caused the opposite effect. For the part of mechanism exploration, miR-1256 and miR-1287 were proved to be sponged by circ_0026134. Rescue experiments further indicated that the oncogenic role of circ_0026134 was dependent on its regulation of miR-1256 and miR-1287. Taken together, this study may provide a new insight and treatment target for NSCLC.

A non-contact heartbeat/respiratory rate monitoring system was designed using narrow beam millimeter wave radar. Equipped with a special low sidelobe and small-sized antenna lens at the front end of the receiving and transmitting antennas in the 120 GHz band of frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) system, this sensor system realizes the narrow beam control of radar, reduces the interference caused by the reflection of other objects in the measurement background, improves the signal-to-clutter ratio (SCR) of the intermediate frequency signal (IF), and reduces the complexity of the subsequent signal processing. In order to solve the problem that the accuracy of heart rate is easy to be interfered with by respiratory harmonics, an adaptive notch filter was applied to filter respiratory harmonics. Meanwhile, the heart rate obtained by fast Fourier transform (FFT) was modified by using the ratio of adjacent elements, which helped to improve the accuracy of heart rate detection. The experimental results show that when the monitoring system is 1 m away from the human body, the probability of respiratory rate detection error within ±2 times for eight volunteers can reach 90.48%, and the detection accuracy of the heart rate can reach 90.54%. Finally, short-term heart rate measurement was realized by means of improved empirical mode decomposition and fast independent component analysis algorithm.

Protein carbonylation by reactive oxygen species (ROS) is an important factor in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI). Carbonyls are mainly produced by peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and hemin/hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)/sodium nitrite (NaNO2)-mediated reactions. As the main active watersoluble chalcone chemical ingredient derived from Carthamus tinctorius L, hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) has been increasingly applied in the treatment of cerebrovascular disease (CVD). In this study, rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the sham-surgery group (sham), the CIRI group (CIRI) and the CIRI treated with HSYA group (HSYA). We evaluated the protective properties of HSYA in a CIRI model in vivo, assessed its efficacy against ONOO- and hemin/H2O2 /NaNO2-induced oxidative damage to cerebral cortical tissues in vitro, and explored the probable molecular mechanisms underlying its neuroprotective effects. The results showed that HSYA protected rats against CIRI by improving their neurological function score (P < .05), reducing infarct volume (P < .01), decreasing the content of protein carbonyls (P < .01) and elevating the glutathione (GSH) levels (P < .01). Further in vitro investigations found that HSYA pretreatment could inhibit protein carbonylation induced by exogenous ONOO-application in cortical brain tissues in a dosedependent manner (P < .01). In terms of hemin/H2O2 / NaNO2-triggered oxidative damage, HSYA slightly promoted the formation of carbonyl groups (P < .05). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the neuroprotective capabilities of HSYA in CIRI are attributable, at least in part, to the enhancement in antioxidant capacity and the attenuation of protein oxidation, probably via the combined processes of ONOO- scavenging and the suppression of protein carbonyl formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]