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We aim to quantify whole-brain tissue-property changes in patients with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-negative pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy by three-dimensional (3D) magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF).We included 30 patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy and negative MRI by official radiology report, as well as 40 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (HCs). MRF scans were obtained with 1 mmCompared to HCs, patients exhibited significant group-level T1 increase ipsilateral to the epileptic origin, in the mesial temporal gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM), temporal pole GM, orbitofrontal GM, hippocampus, and amygdala, with scattered clusters in the neocortical temporal and insular GM. No significant T2 changes were detected. The ETLE subgroup showed a T1-increase pattern similar to the overall cohort, with additional involvement of the ipsilateral anterior cingulate GM. The subgroup of MAP+ patients also showed a T1-increase pattern similar to the overall cohort, with additional cluster in the ipsilateral lateral orbitofrontal GM. Higher T1 was associated with younger seizure-onset age, longer epilepsy duration, and higher seizure frequency.MRF revealed group-level T1 increase in limbic/paralimbic structures ipsilateral to the epileptic origin, in patients with pharmacoresistant focal epilepsy and no apparent lesions on MRI, suggesting that these regions may be commonly affected by seizures in the epileptic brain. The significant association between T1 increase and higher seizure burden may reflect progressive tissue damage.

With the rapid development of nanotechnology, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have been produced and widely used in various fields, especially in environmental protection. ENMs would be released into the environmental media, particularly natural water, and then they exert great risks to ecosystem safety and human health. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) commonly exists in water environments. As a result, the interactions between DOM and ENMs are bound to occur. Herein, the multiple roles of DOM on ENMs are summarized. DOM can often interact with ENMs to positively or negatively influence nanomaterials-mediated pollutant removal through adsorption and catalytic degradation processes. On the other hand, DOM also regulates the potential ecotoxic effects of ENMs on organisms, either mitigation or enhancement. ENMs in turn would alter the physicochemical properties of DOM along with their environmental behaviors and risks. The present review aims to provide insight into DOM's influence on environmental behaviors, environmental applications, and potential risks of ENMs. Graphical Abstract

Purpose\ud Although both relaxation and diffusion imaging are sensitive to tissue microstructure, studies have reported limited sensitivity and robustness of using relaxation or conventional diffusion alone to characterize tissue microstructure. Recently, it has been shown that tensor-valued diffusion encoding and joint relaxation-diffusion quantification enable more reliable quantification of compartment-specific microstructural properties. However, scan times to acquire such data can be prohibitive. Here, we aim to simultaneously quantify relaxation and diffusion using MR fingerprinting (MRF) and b-tensor encoding in a clinically feasible time.\ud \ud Methods\ud We developed multidimensional MRF scans (mdMRF) with linear and spherical b-tensor encoding (LTE and STE) to simultaneously quantify T1, T2, and ADC maps from a single scan. The image quality, accuracy, and scan efficiency were compared between the mdMRF using LTE and STE. Moreover, we investigated the robustness of different sequence designs to signal errors and their impact on the maps.\ud \ud Results\ud T1 and T2 maps derived from the mdMRF scans have consistently high image quality, while ADC maps are sensitive to different sequence designs. Notably, the fast imaging steady state precession (FISP)-based mdMRF scan with peripheral pulse gating provides the best ADC maps that are free of image distortion and shading artifacts.\ud \ud Conclusion\ud We demonstrated the feasibility of quantifying T1, T2, and ADC maps simultaneously from a single mdMRF scan in around 24 s/slice. The map quality and quantitative values are consistent with the reference scans.

Wild Microcystis have highly diverse colonial structures and sizes, including variable colony geometry, cell arrangement, and diameter. These structural and dimensional variations may play an important role in continual, frequent Microcystis blooms during summer and autumn, the cause of which still remains unclear. Here, laboratory cultures and field investigations were applied to assess mechanisms that drive variation in structure and size, as well as factors that influence diversity. The results demonstrated that colonies grew to large sizes at the expense of their structure being loose and inhomogeneous. Furthermore, colonies may spontaneously change structure to relieve the constraints of size in return. Influencing factors (nutrient limits and turbulent shear) tended to promote these variations. Our work highlights that the diversity of Microcystis colonies may be a result of structural variations as survival strategies for gaining a higher upper size limit. Therefore, during seasonal successions, large colonies commonly have porous or loosely arranged structures, such as in M. aeruginosa. Additionally, this study hypothesized three possible transition routes for better understanding structural diversity and variations in Microcystis.

Previous studies found that the egocentric and allocentric reference frames are distinct in their functions, developmental trajectory, and neural basis. However, these two spatial reference frames exist in parallel, and people switch between them frequently in their daily lives. Using an allocentric and egocentric switching task, this study explored the cognitive processes involved in the switch between egocentric and allocentric reference frames and the possible asymmetry of switch costs. Sixty-two participants were tested in congruent (i.e., the target was on the same side in two reference frames) and incongruent conditions (i.e., the target was on a different side in two reference frames). The results indicated that the interaction between allocentric and egocentric reference frames was bidirectional and that the congruency effect was higher in the egocentric task than in the allocentric task. More important, the switch costs between allocentric and egocentric reference frames were found in both conditions, and the switch cost was higher for allocentric task. To our knowledge, this was the first study to focus on how switch costs and asymmetrical switch costs occur in allocentric and egocentric task switching.

Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) is a novel, quantitative, and noninvasive technique to measure brain tissue properties. We aim to use MRF for characterizing normal-appearing thalamic and basal ganglia nuclei in the epileptic brain.A three-dimensional (3D) MRF protocol (1 mmMRF revealed increased T1 mean value in the ipsilateral thalamus and nucleus accumbens; increased T1 CV in the bilateral thalamus, bilateral pallidum, and ipsilateral caudate; and increased T2 CV in the ipsilateral thalamus in patients compared to HCs (p .05, false discovery rate [FDR] corrected). The SVM classifier produced 78.2% average accuracy to separate individual patients from HCs, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.83. The logistic regression classifier produced 67.4% average accuracy to separate patients with left-sided and right-sided epilepsy, with an AUC of 0.72.MRF revealed bilateral tissue-property changes in the normal-appearing thalamus and basal ganglia, with ipsilateral predominance and thalamic preference, suggesting subcortical involvement/impairment in patients with medically intractable focal epilepsy. The individual-level performance of the MRF-based machine-learning models suggests potential opportunities for predicting lateralization.

To test the feasibility of using 3D MRF maps with radiomics analysis and machine learning in the characterization of adult brain intra-axial neoplasms.3D MRF acquisition was performed on 78 patients with newly diagnosed brain tumors including 33 glioblastomas (grade IV), 6 grade III gliomas, 12 grade II gliomas, and 27 patients with brain metastases. Regions of enhancing tumor, non-enhancing tumor, and peritumoral edema were segmented and radiomics analysis with gray-level co-occurrence matrices and gray-level run-length matrices was performed. Statistical analysis was performed to identify features capable of differentiating tumors based on type, grade, and isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH1) status. Receiver operating curve analysis was performed and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated for tumor classification and grading. For gliomas, Kaplan-Meier analysis for overall survival was performed using MRF T1 features from enhancing tumor region.Multiple MRF T1 and T2 features from enhancing tumor region were capable of differentiating glioblastomas from brain metastases. Although no differences were identified between grade 2 and grade 3 gliomas, differentiation between grade 2 and grade 4 gliomas as well as between grade 3 and grade 4 gliomas was achieved. MRF radiomics features were also able to differentiate IDH1 mutant from the wild-type gliomas. Radiomics T1 features for enhancing tumor region in gliomas correlated to overall survival (p0.05).Radiomics analysis of 3D MRF maps allows differentiating glioblastomas from metastases and is capable of differentiating glioblastomas from metastases and characterizing gliomas based on grade, IDH1 status, and survival.• 3D MRF data analysis using radiomics offers novel tissue characterization of brain tumors. • 3D MRF with radiomics offers glioma characterization based on grade, IDH1 status, and overall patient survival.

Background:\ud Although the number of measles cases declined globally in response to anti-measles immunisation campaigns, measles has re-emerged. A review of current vaccination policies is required to improve measles elimination strategies.\ud \ud Methods:\ud A pseudotype-based virus neutralisation assay (PVNA) was used to measure neutralising antibody titres in serum samples collected from Thai infants at six timepoints before and after two-doses of MMR (1 & 2) vaccination (ClinicalTrials.gov no. NCT02408926). Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) luciferase pseudotypes bearing the haemaglutinin (H) and fusion (F) glycoproteins of measles virus (MeV) were prepared. Serial dilutions of serum samples were incubated with VSV (MeV) pseudotypes and plated onto HEK293-human SLAM1 cells; the neutralising antibody titre was defined as the dilution resulting in 90% reduction in luciferase activity.\ud \ud Results:\ud Neutralising antibody titres in infants born with high levels of maternal immunity (H group) persisted at the time of the first MMR vaccination, and those infants did not respond effectively by developing protective titres. In contrast, infants with lower maternal immunity (L group) developed protective titres of antibody following vaccination. Responses to the second MMR vaccination were significantly higher (P = 0.0171, Wilcoxon signed-rank test) in the H group. The observed correlation between anti-MeV IgG level and neutralising antibody titre in Thai infants indicates the possibility of using rapid IgG testing as a surrogate measure for neutralising activity to define clinical protection levels within populations.\ud \ud Conclusion:\ud These results demonstrate that varying the timing of the first MMR immunisation according to the level of acquired maternal immunity could increase vaccination immunogenicity and hence accelerate measles eradication.

With the rapid development of renewable energy, a large number of renewable energy stations are connected to the power system, which leads to a decrease in the inertia of the power system and an increase in safety risks suffered. Thus, online static security assessment (SSA) is increasingly necessary. However, because of the uncertainty of renewable energy, it is not feasible to check all possible scenarios in online SSA. To reduce the number of calculations and achieve SSA in a short time, a new online SSA method based on scenario clustering for future ultra-short-term security assessment is proposed in this paper. In the offline stage, a key scenario set is constructed by Markov Chain Monte Carlo and K-means with historical data. In the online application, the initial probability distribution of renewable energy outputs is calculated by joint distribution with the output of the previous interval and corrected by weather data. Then load flow calculation with N-1 criteria is executed, and the probability for the safe operation of the system is calculated. The effectiveness of the proposed online SSA scheme has been verified in the IEEE-300 system, where one of the generators is replaced by a renewable energy station.

Cardiac fibrosis is a key pathological link of various cardiovascular diseases to heart failure. It is of great significance to deeply understand the development process of cardiac fibrosis and the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved. Macrophages play a special role in promoting heart development, maintaining myocardial cell homeostasis and heart function. They are involved in the whole process from inflammatory to cardiac fibrosis. This article summarizes the relationship between inflammation and fibrosis, discusses the bidirectional regulation of cardiac fibrosis by macrophages and analyses the functional heterogeneity of macrophages from different sources. It is believed that CCR2– cardiac resident macrophages can promote cardiac function, but the recruitment and infiltration of CCR2+ cardiac non-resident macrophages aggravate cardiac dysfunction and heart remodeling. After heart injury, damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are released in large quantities, and the inflammatory signal mediated by macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) promotes the infiltration of CCR2+ monocytes and transforms into macrophages in the heart. These CCR2+ non-resident macrophages not only replace part of the CCR2– resident macrophage subpopulation in the heart, but also cause cardiac homeostasis and hypofunction, and release a large number of mediators that promote fibroblast activation to cause cardiac fibrosis. This article reveals the cell biology mechanism of resident and non-resident macrophages in regulating cardiac fibrosis. It is believed that inhibiting the infiltration of cardiac non-resident macrophages and promoting the proliferation and activation of cardiac resident macrophages are the key to improving cardiac fibrosis and improving cardiac function.

Recurrent respiratory tract infection (RRTI) is common in children. Inappropriate RRTI treatment will lead to asthma and other diseases, thereby seriously affecting the growth and physical health of children. Immune function modulation can prevent and alleviate childhood RRTI. Yupingfeng (YPF), a patented traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has immunomodulatory effects and is widely used in China to treat children with RRTI.To evaluate the safety and efficacy of YPF monotherapy in treating children with RRTI.This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-simulation, noninferiority clinical trial was conducted from January 2015 to August 2017, with an 8-week treatment period and 52-week follow-up after the drug withdrawal. Children aged 2-6 years with RRTI meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in 13 hospitals in China and divided randomly into three groups (2:2:1 ratio) to receive YPF, pidotimod, or placebo. The primary outcome was the proportion of RRTI returning to normal standard level during the follow-up. The secondary outcomes were reduction in the number of RRTI recurrences, effect on clinical symptoms (in accord with TCM practice), effect per symptom, and safety. The trial was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trials Registry (www.chictr.org.cn) under the unique identifier ChiCTR-IPR-15006847.Three hundred and fifty-one children were enrolled and randomly assigned to 3 groups; 124, 125, and 61 children in the YPF, pidotimod, and placebo groups, respectively, had completed the trial. During the follow-up, the proportion of RRTI returning to normal standard level was 73.13%, 67.15%, and 38.81% with YPF, pidotimod, and placebo, respectively (YPF granules were noninferior to the active control drug pidotimod oral solution for the treatment of RRTI in children, and were superior to placebo, with a high safety profile.

Background Tic disorders (TD) is a neuropsychiatric disease with twitch as the main manifestation in childhood. Jiu-Wei-Xi-Feng granules has been marketed in China for treating children with TD. As Long Gu (Os Draconis) in the composition of this Chinese patent medicine is a rare and expensive medicinal material protected by the Chinese government, therefore, we consider replacing it with Mu Li (Concha Ostreae) that has the same effect and is cheaper. This study is designed to evaluate the clinical equivalence between Jiu-Wei-Xi-Feng granules (Os Draconis replaced by Concha Ostreae) (JWXFD) and Jiu-Wei-Xi-Feng granules (original formula) (JWXFO) in children with TD (consumption of renal yin and liver wind stirring up internally syndrome). Methods/design This is a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, equivalence trial comparing the efficacy and safety of JWXFD and JWXFO in treating Children with tic disorders (consumption of renal yin and liver wind stirring up internally syndrome). A total of 288 patients will be recruited and randomly assigned to two groups in a 1:1 ratio. The treatment course is 6 weeks, with a 2 weeks follow-up. The primary outcome is the mean change value from baseline to 6th week by the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale total tic score (YGTSS-TTS). Secondary outcomes include total effective rate of tic, Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS) scores and its factor scores (the degree of motor tics, phonic tics and social function damage), Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale, and TCM syndrome efficacy. Discussion The design of this study refers to a large number of similar research design points, and asked for opinions of peer experts, and finally reached a consensus. This trial will provide high-quality evidence on the clinical equivalence between JWXFD and JWXFO and provide a basis for the marketing of JWXFD. Trial registration ChiCTR2000032312 Registered on 25 April 2020, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=52630

Background In recent years, gene expression-based analysis has been used for disease biomarker discovery, providing ways for better diagnosis, leading to improvement of clinical treatment efficacy. This study aimed to explore the role of miR-16-5p and ANLN in breast cancer (BC). Methods Cohort datasets of BC were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and analyzed by bioinformatics tools. qRT-PCR and western blotting were applied to validate ANLN and its protein expression. A dual-luciferase reporter assay was used to prove the regulatory relationship of miR-16-5p and ANLN. Finally, MTT, wound healing, Transwell invasion and flow cytometry analyses of the cell cycle and apoptosis were performed to assess cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle and apoptosis, respectively. Results A total of 195 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 50 overlapping microRNAs (miRNAs) were identified. Among these DEGs and miRNAs, ANLN, associated with poor overall survival in BC, overlapped in the GSE29431, GSE42568, TCGA and GEPIA2 databases. Moreover, ANLN was highly expressed, while miR-16-5p was lower in BC cells than in breast epithelial cells. Then, we confirmed that ANLN was directly targeted by miR-16-5p in BC cells. Over-expression of miR-16-5p and knock-down of ANLN remarkably inhibited cell proliferation and migration as well as cell invasion, arrested the cells in G2/M phase and induced apoptosis in BC cells. Conclusions These findings suggest that miR-16-5p restrains proliferation, migration and invasion while affecting cell cycle and promotes apoptosis by regulating ANLN, thereby providing novel candidate biomarkers for the diagnosis and treatment of BC.

Background: Cough is the most bothersome symptom, while more than two-thirds of children with common cold have to endure it for weeks. Susu xiao`er zhike granules (Susu) which used to be a clinical experienced herb formula for treating cough caused by common cold, is reproduced into a patent medicine for meeting market demands as a new drug. This protocol is designed with the aim of exploring the efficacy of Susu on shortening duration and reducing severity of cough, and observe the safety used in children. Methods/design: This is a protocol for a randomized, double-blind, dose exploration, multicenter clinical trial. A total of 240 children aged 6-14 years old (Discussion: The study is a phase II clinical trial that will evaluate the efficacy of a Chinese patent medicine in the treatment of cough in children.Trial registration: Chinese clinical trial registry, ChiCTR1900028377. Registered 20 December 2019, http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=46643

It is currently unclear whether the human brain processes navigation tasks at different scales in the same way. According to the classical view, humans process navigation information using a hierarchical representation system in a unified way. Other theories, such as the dual and multiple systems theories, suggest that the processing of navigation tasks differs between spatial scales. In addition, previous human navigation studies have mainly focused on scales ranging from rooms to small neighborhoods. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of large-scale spatial navigation tasks in the human brain, and the ways in which neural activation changes with scale, have not been examined in detail. In this study, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based multi-scale mental navigation experiment across six spatial scales. On the basis of cortical activity patterns, we discovered a scale-dependent neural system that included the parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, parietal gyrus and temporal gyrus, revealing neural-based divisions based on spatial scale: small scale (room), medium scale (building), large scale (block), and huge scale (city, country and continent). In contrast, scale-free characteristics were observed in middle occipital gyrus. The current findings provide new insight into the neural mechanisms of scale-driven spatial navigation in humans.

The three-phase flow in a aeration tank driven by an inverted umbrella aerator is relatively complex, including the processes of the hydraulic jump, air entrainment, and sludge particle sedimentation. A three-phase flow test bench for an inverted umbrella aerator is established for studying its influence on aeration performance. The experiment mainly studies the changed law of aeration performance under different immersion depths or sludge concentrations and measures the flow rate and sludge concentrations in the aeration tank in different working conditions. The results are as follows. (1) The total oxygen transfer coefficient, standard oxygenation capacity, and standard power efficiency increase with the increase in rotational speed. The total oxygen transfer coefficient and standard-charge oxygen capacity first increase and then decrease with the decrease in immersion depth, reaching a maximum at −20 mm immersion depth. The standard dynamic efficiency has a similar trend and reaches a maximum at −8 mm immersion depth. (2) In the aeration tank, the flow velocity near the impeller is faster and has greater turbulence. The shallow water is more profoundly affected by the impeller compared with the deeper water. (3) The shallow-water sludge varies greatly, and the deep-water sludge is distributed uniformly when the inverted umbrella aerator works stably.

MR Fingerprinting is a novel quantitative MR technique that could simultaneously provide multiple tissue property maps. When optimizing MRF scans, modeling undersampling errors and field imperfections in cost functions will make the optimization results more practical and robust. However, this process is computationally expensive and impractical for sequence optimization algorithms when MRF signal evolutions need to be generated for each optimization iteration. Here, we introduce a fast MRF simulator to simulate aliased images from actual scan scenarios including undersampling and system imperfections, which substantially reduces computational time and allows for direct error estimation and efficient sequence optimization. By constraining the total number of tissues present in a brain phantom, MRF signals from highly undersampled scans can be simulated as the product of the spatial response functions based on sampling patterns and sequence-dependent temporal functions. During optimization, the spatial response function is independent of sequence design and does not need to be recalculated. We evaluate the performance and computational speed of the proposed approach by simulations and in vivo experiments. We also demonstrate the power of applying the simulator in MRF sequence optimization. The simulation results from the proposed method closely approximate the signals and MRF maps from in vivo scans, with 158 times shorter processing time than the conventional simulation method using Non-uniform Fourier transform. Incorporating the proposed simulator in the MRF optimization framework makes direct estimation of undersampling errors during the optimization process feasible, and provide optimized MRF sequences that are robust against undersampling factors and system inhomogeneity., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) is a method to extract quantitative tissue properties such as T1 and T2 relaxation rates from arbitrary pulse sequences using conventional magnetic resonance imaging hardware. MRF pulse sequences have thousands of tunable parameters which can be chosen to maximize precision and minimize scan time. Here we perform de novo automated design of MRF pulse sequences by applying physics-inspired optimization heuristics. Our experimental data suggests systematic errors dominate over random errors in MRF scans under clinically-relevant conditions of high undersampling. Thus, in contrast to prior optimization efforts, which focused on statistical error models, we use a cost function based on explicit first-principles simulation of systematic errors arising from Fourier undersampling and phase variation. The resulting pulse sequences display features qualitatively different from previously used MRF pulse sequences and achieve fourfold shorter scan time than prior human-designed sequences of equivalent precision in T1 and T2. Furthermore, the optimization algorithm has discovered the existence of MRF pulse sequences with intrinsic robustness against shading artifacts due to phase variation., Comment: Journal version. 15 pages plus 30 pages for appendices and references

The increasingly popular application of AI runs the risks of amplifying social bias, such as classifying non-white faces to animals. Recent research has attributed the bias largely to data for training. However, the underlying mechanism is little known, and therefore strategies to rectify the bias are unresolved. Here we examined a typical deep convolutional neural network (DCNN), VGG-Face, which was trained with a face dataset consisting of more white faces than black and Asian faces. The transfer learning result showed significantly better performance in identifying white faces, just like the well-known social bias in human, the other-race effect (ORE). To test whether the effect resulted from the imbalance of face images, we retrained the VGG-Face with a dataset containing more Asian faces, and found a reverse ORE that the newly-trained VGG-Face preferred Asian faces over white faces in identification accuracy. In addition, when the number of Asian faces and white faces were matched in the dataset, the DCNN did not show any bias. To further examine how imbalanced image input led to the ORE, we performed the representational similarity analysis on VGG-Face’s activation. We found that when the dataset contained more white faces, the representation of white faces was more distinct, indexed by smaller ingroup similarity and larger representational Euclidean distance. That is, white faces were scattered more sparsely in the representational face space of the VGG-Face than the other faces. Importantly, the distinctiveness of faces was positively correlated with the identification accuracy, which explained the ORE observed in the VGG-Face. In sum, our study revealed the mechanism underlying the ORE in DCNNs, which provides a novel approach of study AI ethics. In addition, the face multidimensional representation theory discovered in human was found also applicable to DCNNs, advocating future studies to apply more cognitive theories to understand DCNN’s behavior.

Based on the leg-mode kinematics of multi-locomotion mobile robot, this paper designs a control system with high real-time performance based on EtherCAT bus, and studies the problem of foot trajectory planning. The hardware of the system consists of PC + soft controller, EtherCAT network, driver, servo motor and multi-locomotion mobile robot. The software uses LabWindows to develop master computer in PC and CODESYS to develop slave computer control program in soft controller. The timing interpolation method and sinusoidal acceleration and deceleration control algorithm are used to study the half-sinusoidal trajectory of the foot. From the experimental results, this trajectory planning method is effective on multi-locomotion mobile robot based on EtherCAT bus, which provides the basis for the gait planning research of multi-locomotion mobile robot.

Our vision systems utilize attention to process dynamic visual information everyday. Multiple object tracking (MOT) is widely used for studying sustained attention in dynamic environments. Previous research reported inter-target grouping based on feature similarity (e.g., targets sharing the same color, size, or shape) can facilitate tracking. A recent study also found that symmetric relation among targets in MOT tasks can automatically improve tracking performance, and a greater grouping effect based on symmetry and feature was observed. However, grouping based on multiple feature cues didn't produce a greater grouping effect than grouping based on one feature cue. Why were groupings based on symmetry and feature additive, but two feature-based groupings were not? How stimulus-driven inter-target groupings based on color or symmetry improve the goal-directed target tracking process remains unknown. We hypothesized that symmetry-based and feature-based groupings would involve different cortical and subcortical areas, and color-based and color-shape-based groupings would be manifested in significant activity in the same regions. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify cortical and subcortical areas involved in feature-based and symmetry-based groupings respectively during tracking. The results of our experiment showed that lateral occipital (LO) cortex is involved in symmetry-based grouping during tracking. Bilateral putamen, temporal parietal junction (TPJ), and frontal eye field (FEF) are involved in the feature-based grouping. Our findings likely indicate that stimulus-driven inter-target symmetry-based grouping and feature-based grouping improve goal-directed target tracking in different ways.

Laminar methane/air premixed Bunsen flames were studied using detailed numerical simulations and laser diagnostics. In the numerical simulations one-dimensional and two-dimensional configurations were considered with detailed transport properties and chemical kinetic mechanism. In the measurements OH PLIF was employed. The flame structures vary with varying equivalence ratio and pressure. For stoichiometric mixture at atmospheric pressure the flame exhibits a single reaction zone structure, while at high-pressures the flame exhibits a two-reaction zone structure: an inner premixed flame and an outer diffusion flame. The predicted two-zone structure is confirmed in the OH PLIF measurements. Using the numerical and the experimental data the methods of flame-cone-angle and flame-area have been used to extract the laminar flame speed for different equivalence ratios and pressures. It is found that although the flame cone angle method is widely used, it yields a lower accuracy than that of the flame surface area method. The inlet velocity of the burner is shown to affect the accuracy of extracted laminar flame speed. It is suggested that the most suitable inlet velocity of methane-air mixture is about 6 times the laminar flame speed.

Numerical simulations are performed to study the combustion processes of n-heptane and methanol/air/EGR under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions relevant to a dual-fuel compression-ignition engine. Detailed chemical kinetic mechanism and transport properties are considered in the simulation. The simulations are carried out by performing three-dimensional (3D) direct numerical simulation (DNS) in a cuboid constant volume enclosure and two-dimensional (2D) DNS in a constant volume domain corresponding to the 3D domain. The results reveal three combustion modes involved in dual fuel engines, the ignition of the n-heptane jet, the propagation of thin reaction fronts in the methanol/air/EGR mixture, and finally the onset of ignition of the entire mixture. In dual-fuel combustion under high initial temperature conditions (1000K or higher) the three different combustion modes occur rather quickly with two distinct peaks of heat release corresponding to the two ignition modes. At low temperatures (800K or lower) the ignition delay time of the mixture is longer and more complete mixing is achieved before the onset of a single ignition of the n-heptane/methanol mixture.

Here, we show that the cellular DNA replication protein and ATR substrate SMARCAL1 is recruited to viral replication centers early during adenovirus infection and is then targeted in an E1B-55K/E4orf6- and cullin RING ligase-dependent manner for proteasomal degradation. In this regard, we have determined that SMARCAL1 is phosphorylated at S123, S129, and S173 early during infection in an ATR- and CDK-dependent manner, and that pharmacological inhibition of ATR and CDK activities attenuates SMARCAL1 degradation. SMARCAL1 recruitment to viral replication centers was shown to be largely dependent upon SMARCAL1 association with the RPA complex, while Ad-induced SMARCAL1 phosphorylation also contributed to SMARCAL1 recruitment to viral replication centers, albeit to a limited extent. SMARCAL1 was found associated with E1B-55K in adenovirus E1-transformed cells. Consistent with its ability to target SMARCAL1, we determined that E1B-55K modulates cellular DNA replication. As such, E1B-55K expression initially enhances cellular DNA replication fork speed but ultimately leads to increased replication fork stalling and the attenuation of cellular DNA replication. Therefore, we propose that adenovirus targets SMARCAL1 for degradation during infection to inhibit cellular DNA replication and promote viral replication. IMPORTANCE Viruses have evolved to inhibit cellular DNA damage response pathways that possess antiviral activities and utilize DNA damage response pathways that possess proviral activities. Adenovirus has evolved, primarily, to inhibit DNA damage response pathways by engaging with the ubiquitin-proteasome system and promoting the degradation of key cellular proteins. Adenovirus differentially regulates ATR DNA damage response signaling pathways during infection. The cellular adenovirus E1B-55K binding protein E1B-AP5 participates in ATR signaling pathways activated during infection, while adenovirus 12 E4orf6 negates Chk1 activation by promoting the proteasome-dependent degradation of the ATR activator TOPBP1. The studies detailed here indicate that adenovirus utilizes ATR kinase and CDKs during infection to promote the degradation of SMARCAL1 to attenuate normal cellular DNA replication. These studies further our understanding of the relationship between adenovirus and DNA damage and cell cycle signaling pathways during infection and establish new roles for E1B-55K in the modulation of cellular DNA replication.

Colony formation provides excellent advantages for the dominance of Microcystis. However, studies on microenvironments during the process of colony formation are rare, especially regarding intra–colony light usage. This study analyzed the attenuation of light intensity in Microcystis colonies, where most objects followed Lambert-Beer law ( I = I 0 10 - 1.256 × 10 - 3 bc ). Intra–colony light limited the maximum thickness of the colony ( B Max = 4.3 × 10 5 c − 1 ) and thus affected colony size. Field data showed that the colony size for M. ichthyoblabe was small and limited to approximately 300 μm, while larger colonies were mainly formed by M. aeruginosa and M. wesenbergii respectively. These results imply that the strategies used by morphospecies to allow colonies to tolerate intra–colony light limitation might be different; M. aeruginosa benefited from a reticular growth pattern, and M. wesenbergii colonies were large (500 μm), obtaining a large thickness by lowering cell concentration. The results obtained in this work suggest that M. aeruginosa and M. wesenbergii had more advantages regarding intra–colony light usage, colony size level and bloom formation ability in summer and autumn.

1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-one(DMMC), a chalcone derivative was synthesized by Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction method. The growth of DMMC in methanol was used the slow evaporation technique. Single crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that the space group of DMMC is P21. The intermolecular interaction of crystal was analyzed by Hirshfeld surface. The second harmonic generation efficiency of DMMC was measured by Kurtz-Perry powder method. When the particle size was between 250 and 300 μm, the SHG efficiency of DMMC was the largest, which was about 60 times that of the KDP with the same particle size. All functional groups of the crystal were identified by FT-IR and 1H NMR spectral. This crystal had a wide transmission range in the region of 350−2000 nm with the cut off wavelength is 400 nm. The thermal properties of the sample were tested, and the melting point was at 95.59 °C. The dielectric constant of the compounds was found to be 17 below 45 °C.

The organic nonlinear optical (NLO) material N, N-dimethyl-4-[2-(2-quinolyl) vinyl] aniline (DADMQ) has been synthesized and high-quality single crystal with the dimension of 8 × 1 × 0.5 mm3 was grown from methanol solvent by slow cooling method for the first time. Single crystal and powder XRD studies show that DADMQ crystal belongs to the orthorhombic space group Pna21. All the functional groups and structure of the synthetic material can be determined from FT-IR and 1H NMR spectral analyses. The thermal properties can be studied through TG/DTG and DSC analyses, and its melting point is confirmed at 184.9 ℃. Some critical optical characteristics like the optical transmittance, optical absorption coefficient (α), energy band gap (Eg), cut-off wavelength (λmax) and extinction coefficient (κ) can be carried out through UV–vis-NIR spectral analysis. The dielectric features of the title crystal have also been measured. Furthermore, there is a blue emission appeared at 493 nm through PL spectral analysis. The second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the title crystal has been measured, which indicates that DADMQ has 3.64 times greater than KDP crystal.

Stem cell-based repair strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI) are a highly studied area of research. Multiple gene-modified stem cells have been transplanted into SCI models, in the hope of generating more neurons to repair a damaged nervous system. However, the results are not always successful, as the grafted cells may be unable to survive in the injured spinal cord. E-cadherin, a transmembrane adhesion protein, has been identified as an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition marker and is vital for morphological structure maintenance and the functional integrity of epithelial cells. At present, few studies have examined the association between E-cadherin and neural stem cells (NSCs). The present study investigated the expression of E-cadherin in subcultured NSCs and differentiated NSCs. Furthermore, the effect of E-cadherin on NSC viability, migration, differentiation and neurosphere formation was assessed. An in vivo study was used to assess the long-term survival of grafted NSCs. Additionally, the protective effect of E-cadherin on SCI was assessed by analyzing tissue repair, Basso Mouse Scale scores and the expression of inflammatory cytokines. The results of the present study suggested that E-cadherin was able to promote NSC viability and neurosphere formation; however, it had no significant effect on NSC differentiation. To conclude, grafted NSCs with highly expressed E-cadherin facilitated motor function recovery following SCI by reducing the release of inflammatory cytokines.