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Abstract Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the main reason that causes preventable blindness. Hard exudate is one of the earliest signs of diabetic retinopathy. Precise detection of hard exudate is helpful for the early diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. Fully convolutional network (FCN) shows great performance on hard exudate segmentation task. However, there are limitations for fully convolutional network to build long‐range dependencies in different regions of the image. Convolution operator extract features in local area, segmentation results based on local features are likely to be wrong in some cases. Another channel attention method was proposed, and two different attention modules are used in the segmentation model. In this way, long‐range dependencies across different image regions are built efficiently in different stages of feature extraction. In addition, a new loss function is designed to deal with the data imbalance problem in hard exudate segmentation task. The proposed method was evaluated by two public datasets, and the comparative experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Chlorella vulgaris is one of the most commonly used microalgae in aquaculture feeds. It contains high concentrations of various kinds of nutritional elements that are involved in the physiological regulation of aquaculture animals. However, few studies have been conducted to illustrate their influence on the gut microbiota in fish. In this work, the gut microbiota of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) (average weight is 6.64 g) was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene after feeding with 0.5% and 2% C. vulgaris additives in diets for 15 and 30 days (average water temperature was 26 °C). We found that the impact of C. vulgaris on the gut microbiota of Nile tilapia was feeding-time dependent. Only by feeding for 30 days (not 15 days) did the addition of 2% C. vulgaris to diets significantly elevate the alpha diversity (Chao1, Faith pd, Shannon, Simpson, and the number of observed species) of the gut microbiota. Similarly, C. vulgaris exerted a significant effect on the beta diversity (Bray–Curtis similarity) of the gut microbiota after feeding for 30 days (not 15 days). During the 15-day feeding trial, LEfSe analysis showed that Paracoccus, Thiobacillus, Dechloromonas, and Desulfococcus were enriched under 2% C. vulgaris treatment. During the 30-day feeding trial, Afipia, Ochrobactrum, Polymorphum, Albidovulum, Pseudacidovorax, and Thiolamprovum were more abundant in 2% C. vulgaris-treated fish. C. vulgaris promoted the interaction of gut microbiota in juvenile Nile tilapia by increasing the abundance of Reyranella. Moreover, during the feeding time of 15 days, the gut microbes interacted more closely than those during the feeding time of 30 days. This work will be valuable for understanding how C. vulgaris in diets impacts the gut microbiota in fish.

Lattice defect engineering has attracted attention due to its ability to develop thermoelectric materials with low thermal conductivity. For Mg2Si single crystals (SCs), Si vacancy (VSi) defects can be introduced and consequently result in the formation of dislocation cores. These lattice defects confer Mg2Si SCs with a lower thermal conductivity compared to Mg2Si polycrystals. To reveal a mechanism for the stabilisation of VSi in the Mg2Si SCs, we investigated the effects of oxygen (O) on lattice defects by performing electronic structure calculations, secondary ion mass spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and photoelectron holography. On the basis of these calculations, we predicted that O stabilised the formation of VSi when it was located at the Si site or at an interstitial site. All experiments confirmed the presence of O inside the Mg2Si SCs. However, O was suggested to be located not at the specific site in the crystal lattice of Mg2Si but at dislocation cores. The interaction between O and the dislocation cores in the Mg2Si SC is expected to immobilise dislocation cores, leading to the stabilisation of VSi formation.

An enhanced lightness and thinness is the inevitable trend of modern industrial production, which will also lead to prominent low-frequency vibration problems in the associated structure. To solve the vibration problem of thin plate structures in various engineering fields, the active constrained layer damping (ACLD) thin plate structure is taken as the research object to study vibration control. Based on the FEM method, energy method, and Hamilton principle, the dynamic model of an ACLD thin plate structure is derived, in which the Golla–Hughes–McTavish (GHM) model is used to characterize the damping characteristics of the viscoelastic layer, and the equivalent Rayleigh damping is used to characterize the damping characteristics of the base layer. The order of the model is reduced based on the high-precision physical condensation method and balance reduction method, and the model has good controllability and observability. An LQR controller is designed to actively control the ACLD sheet, and the controller parameters and piezoelectric sheet parameters are optimized. The results show that the finite element model established in this paper is accurate under different boundary conditions, and the model can still accurately and reliably describe the dynamic characteristics of the original system in the time and frequency domain after using the joint reduction method. Under different excitation and boundary conditions, LQR control can effectively suppress structural vibration. Considering the performance and cost balance, the most suitable control parameter for the system is: Q-matrix coefficient is between 1 × 104 and 1 × 105, the R-matrix coefficient is between 1 and 10, and the thickness of the piezoelectric plate is 0.5 mm.

An air-coupled ultrasonic technology is introduced as a new tool for evaluating the interfacial quality of bonded structures in this paper. Thus, a mathematical model including the stiffness coefficient, the transmission coefficient and the frequency, etc. is proposed. Two type resonant frequencies, namely, the first type resonance frequency (RFI) and the second type resonance frequency (RFII), have been obtained by numerical solving the model. The interval of the RFI is related to the thickness of a polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) layer. Similarly, the interval of the RFII depends on the thickness of an aluminum (Al) layer. In addition, the stiffness coefficient is associated with the RFI but not with the RFII. The RFI drifts to high-frequency with different speed from the low stiffness coefficient to the high stiffness coefficient, which no longer changes when the stiffness coefficient tends to infinity. The before-RFII moves faster than after-RFI in a “Period” of the RFII. With the increase of the stiffness coefficient, the transmission coefficient gradually increases, and then increases slowly when the stiffness coefficient approaches to a critical value. Several double-layer bonded samples with the different thicknesses were made to carry out air-coupled ultrasonic experiment. The change of stiffness coefficients was simulated by different bonding time. Transmission signals from ultrasonic testing were recorded for further processing. Comparing the experimental and simulation results, the stiffness coefficient of the bonded structure can be judged by the RFI and the transmission coefficient.

For the manufacturing project of large and complex equipment, due to the large number of activities, and the complex structure of the project, there are often cases where multiple projects are going on at the same time, which might make the project’s network planning extremely difficult. Based on the analysis of the BOM and classification characteristics of complex manufacturing equipment, this paper proposed an innovative method, which can decompose and transform the component units based on the BOM, so that the BOM of the complex project can be hierarchically optimized and simplified. Then it can be transformed into project network plan by Petri net unit transformation method, so as to realize the decomposition and arrangement of multiple project plans. On this basis, aiming at the problem of resource leveling in multi-project planning management, this paper proposes a genetic algorithm, which provides a transformation method for resource optimization. In addition, this paper presents a new genetic coding method and improves the crossover operation. Case study shows that the algorithm can solve the resource balance problem of multi-project planning successfully. Finally, in order to verify the effectiveness of the algorithm, the proposed algorithm is compared with the other two algorithms intuitively and quantitatively.

With the rapid development of polymer solar cells (PSCs), the manufacture of high-performance large area PSC modules is becoming a critical issue in commercial applications. However, most of the reported light absorption materials and interfacial materials are quite thickness sensitive, with optimal thicknesses of around 100 and 5 nm, respectively. The thickness need to be precisely controlled, otherwise, a small variation in thickness can often lead to a sharp decrease in device performance, especially for interfacial materials. This increases the difficulty of apply these materials in the production of large area PSCs. To avoid the shortcomings of thickness-sensitive materials and achieve high-performance large area PSC modules, we designed and synthesized a series of high mobility donor materials and cathode interfacial materials. These materials exhibited excellent device performance at their optimal thicknesses and maintained high performance even with large thickness variations, thus providing a solution to the bottleneck problem in manufacturing PSC modules and enhancing the device reproducibility. We also developed a simple and efficient approach for achieving a large area cathode interlayer with controlled film composition, uniformity, and thickness at the nanometer-scale using an electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly (eLbL) process. The eLbL films exhibited excellent cathode modification ability and can be integrated into the current large area device processing techniques. Thus, our approaches from both material design to device engineering provide new solutions for preparing high-performance large area PSC modules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, we report a case of a 36‐year‐old female patient with metastatic non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring EGFR‐ANXA2 and EGFR‐RAD51 double fusion mutations with BRCA2 (nonsense mutation of exon 11) and ATR mutations (Exon 44 variable shear mutation) identified by next generation sequencing (NGS). The efficacy was significantly improved after lobaplatin combined with pemetrexed, temozolomide and bevacizumab. This is the first report of a novel mutation type EGFR‐ANXA2, as well as double EGFR fusion mutations in advanced lung adenocarcinoma. Furthermore, platinum‐based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab rather than targeted therapy showed favorable effects in this patient, providing a novel therapeutic conception for patients, even with multidriver mutations.

A finite element dynamic model of the sandwich composite plate was developed based on classical laminate theory and Hamilton’s principle. A 4-node, 7-degree-of-freedom three-layer plate cell is constructed to simulate the interaction between the substrate, the viscoelastic damping layer, and the piezoelectric material layer. Among them, the viscoelastic layer is referred to as the complex constant shear modulus model, and the equivalent Rayleigh damping is introduced to represent the damping of the substrate. The established dynamics model has too many degrees of freedom, and the obtained dynamics model has good controllability and observability after adopting the joint reduced-order method of dynamic condensation in physical space and equilibrium in state space. The optimal quadratic (LQR) controller is designed for the active control of the sandwich panel, and the parameters of the controller parameters, the thickness of the viscoelastic layer, and the optimal covering position of the sandwich panel are optimized through simulation analysis. The results show that the finite element model established in this paper is still valid under different boundary conditions and different covering methods, and the model can still accurately and reliably represent the dynamic characteristics of the original system after using the joint step-down method. Under different excitation signals and different boundary conditions, the LQR control can effectively suppress the vibration of the sandwich plate. The optimal cover position of the sandwich plate is near the solid support end and far from the free-degree end. The parameters of controller parameters and viscoelastic layer thickness are optimized from several angles, respectively, and a reasonable optimization scheme can be selected according to the actual requirements.

At present, there is a limited understanding of nitrogen (N) accumulation, translocation, and utilization in different types of rice grown using different planting methods in a rice–wheat rotation system. Systematic experiments were conducted with six rice cultivars, including two japonica-indica hybrids (JIHR), two japonica conventional rice (JCR) cultivars, and two indica hybrid rice (IHR) cultivars, to study the effects on N use of plants in three transplanting modes: (1) the pothole seedling machine transplanting mode (PM), (2) the carpet seedling machine transplanting mode (CM), and (3) the mechanical direct seeding mode (DM). Results showed that at stem elongation stage, for N content and uptake, the planting methods were ranked in the order PM < CM < DM, and at heading and maturity the order was PM > CM > DM. After stem elongation the rankings for N accumulation, ratio of N accumulation to total N, and N uptake rate were PM > CM >DM. Thus, on the basis of a certain amount of N accumulation in the early growth phase, increasing the N uptake rate and N accumulation in the middle and late growth phases are ways to increase total N uptake for the PM and CM modes compared to DM. In addition, the PM/JIHR treatment had the highest N uptake at maturity. The N contents of leaves, stem-sheaths, and panicles at heading and maturity for the three planting modes were ranked PM > CM > DM. Moreover, the N translocation amount, apparent N translocation rate, and translocation conversion rate of leaves under PM were significantly higher than for CM and DM, which would increase N accumulation in the grain. The N uptake per 100 kg grain and the partial factor productivity of applied N under PM were larger than for CM and DM, but the N use efficiency of grain yield and biomass were smaller for PM than for CM and DM. In conclusion, rice grown using PM, especially JIHR, had higher total N uptake and N utilization compared to the CM and DM modes, and cultivation measures to improve the N use efficiency of grain yield and biomass could be appropriately applied to further improve N use in a rice–wheat rotation system.

This paper deals with the active vibration control of composite cantilever beam. Based on the finite element method and Golla–Hughes–McTavish (GHM) model, the system dynamics equation is established. Models are simplified in physical and modal space because of unobservable and uncontrollable. Based on the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm, the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) feedback gain was optimized. The effect of system vibration damping under different controller parameters, piezoelectric-constrained layer position and excitation signal was studied. The study show that the optimal feedback gain of the controller can effectively balance the control effect and the control cost. The closer the piezoelectric layer and viscoelastic layer are to the fixed end, the better the system control effect and the smaller the control cost. The reduced-order model has a good control effect on different excitation signals.

Position and orientation deviations (PODs), being affected by surface deviations, occur after parts are assembled, which directly affects the performance of mechanical products. Moreover, mechanical parts are generally assembled with multiple constraint planes, and the generated PODs are influenced by the type of positioning. Therefore, the PODs of multiple planes should be computed in the design stage according to the predicted surface deviations, to control the product performance. However, even though the POD computation of multiple planes has been researched, the effects of surface deviations and multiple types of positioning cannot be considered simultaneously. To address this problem, this study proposes a point-by-point-contact-based approach. The six-point positioning principle is employed to determine the possible number of contact points on each mating plane. The surface deviations are modeled from the perspective of manufacturing errors. Furthermore, the contact points on each mating plane are determined successively using both the strategies of progressively approaching position and of the orientation and recursion of contact points. As a result, the PODs are acquired. The feasibility and usefulness of the proposed approach are verified through a case study. Herein, effects of surface deviations and multiple types of positioning on PODs are unified as contact point variations. Consequently, this approach is expected to assist with accurately controlling the POD influence on the performance of mechanical products in the design stage.

Magnaporthe oryzae is the causal agent of rice blast, leading to significant reductions in rice and wheat productivity. Nap1 is a conserved protein in eukaryotes involved in diverse physiological processes, such as nucleosome assembly, histone shuttling between the nucleus and cytoplasm, transcriptional regulation, and the cell cycle. Here, we identified Nap1 and characterized its roles in fungal development and virulence in M. oryzae. MoNap1 is involved in aerial hyphal and conidiophore differentiation, sporulation, appressorium formation, plant penetration, and virulence. ΔMonap1 generated a small, elongated, and malformed appressorium with an abnormally organized septin ring on hydrophobic surfaces. ΔMonap1 was more sensitive to cell wall integrity stresses but more resistant to microtubule stresses. MoNap1 interacted with histones H2A and H2B and the B-type cyclin (Cyc1). Moreover, a nuclear export signal (NES) domain is necessary for Nap1’s roles in the regulation of the growth and pathogenicity of M. oryzae. In summary, NAP1 is essential for the growth, appressorium formation, and pathogenicity of M. oryzae.

This paper deals with the active vibration control of piezoelectric sandwich plate. The structure consists of a substrate plate layer sandwiched between two layers of piezoelectric sensor and actuator. Based on laminate theory and constitutive equation of piezoelectric material, the vibration active control dynamic equation of the sandwich structure is established by using hypothetical mode method and Hamilton principle. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is used to solve it. The form of hypothetical solution is used for approximate solution, which is simple and accurate. The method of this paper is verified by several examples. The parametric studies of the sandwich plate structures are carried out. The results show that applying different boundary conditions and piezoelectric patch positions to the structures have a great influence on the natural frequency. When the driving voltage increases, the deflection of the plate structures increase approximately linearly. The active vibration control studies are investigated as well. The results show that within a certain range, the larger the value of the speed feedback coefficient, the better the active control effect. The positions of the piezoelectric patches affect the effectiveness and cost of active control. When the piezoelectric plate is located at the fixed end, the effect and cost of active control are better than that at the midpoint and free end of the plate.

Polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on aliphatic-amino-functionalized materials presented low performance with negligibly small efficiency, the prime mechanism of which is found to be hole trapping induced by the amine end groups. We propose that such hole trapping behavior depends on the relative energetic position of the hole transport states and the trapping states. Herein, we comparatively study the photovoltaic properties of PSCs based on amino-functionalized fullerene derivative blended with poly [N-9'-heptadecanyl-2, 7-carbazole-alt-5, 5-(4', 7'-di-2-thienyl-2', 1', 3'-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT) or poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). The former polymer has a lower-positioning highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level, whereas the latter has a comparable HOMO level relative to the ionization state of tertiary aliphatic amine in energy. Our investigation confirms our proposition, revealing an ultrafast trapping process in PCDTBT:amino-group-functionalized fullerene derivative film, which seriously crippled hole transport, consequently results in very poor device performance. In contrast, trapping process is almost negligible in P3HT systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effectively capturing and sensitively detecting cancer cells are critical to clinical diagnosis and cancer therapy. In this work, we prepared gold nanostar-decorated graphene oxide (GO-AuNSs) nanocomposites using a ultraviolet (UV)-induced strategy, and then modified them with a layer of bio-complex rBSA-FA (coupled reduced bovine serum albumin with folic acid) to generate GO-AuNSs@rBSA-FA nanocomposites. Herein, the application of GO and AuNSs not only strengthened the conductivity of the sensing platform but also guaranteed nanocomposites with biocompatible performance. Moreover, the adopted rBSA-FA layer could effectively enhance the stability and specificity towards gastric cancer cells (MGC-803). According to a systemic construction procedure, a novel electrochemical cytosensor based on GO-AuNSs@rBSA-FA was fabricated for MGC-803 cell detection. With the assistance of cyclic voltammetry (CV) and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), the cytosensor reached a detection limit of 100 cell/mL in a wide linear range of 3 × 102~7 × 106 cell/mL towards MGC-803 cells. The good electrochemical characteristics for the cancer cell analysis indicate a promising prospect of this electrochemical cytosensor in clinical cancer diagnosis.

The appressorium is a specialized structure that is differentiated from Magnaporthe oryzae spores that can infect host cells. In the process of cellular transformation from spore to appressorium, the contents inside the spores are transferred into appressoria, accompanied by major differences in the gene expression model. In this study, we reported a transcription factor (TF), Pcf1, which was depressed at the transcription level and degraded at the protein level in nuclei of incipient appressoria at four hpi (hours post inoculation). To investigate its degradation mechanism, the interacting proteins of Pcf1 were identified using an immunoprecipitation-mass spectrometry (IP-MS) assay. Yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) and co-IP (co-immunoprecipitation) assays confirmed that Pcf1 interacted with the casein kinase 2 (CK2) holoenzyme through direct combination with the CKb2 subunit. Moreover, Pcf1 was ubiquitinated in the hyphae. These changes in Pcf1 protein levels in nuclei provide a new clue of how TFs are degraded during appressorium formation: temporarily unnecessary TFs in spores are phosphorylated through interacting with CK2 enzyme and are then ubiquitinated and digested by the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS).

In the present work, the nonlinear vibration behavior of elastic-viscoelastic-elastic sandwich (EVES) beams is studied. A finite element (FE) equation taking intoaccount the transverse compression deformation of the viscoelastic core for the EVES beams is derived. In order toaccurately characterize the frequency-dependent feature of the viscoelastic materials layer, athird-order seven-parameter Biot model isused. A 2-node 8-DOF element is established to discretize the EVES beams. The experimental testing onEVES beams validates the numerical predication of the FE model. Numerical and analytical investigations are carried on a series of EVES beams with different thicknesses. The results indicate that the presented FE model has better accuracy in predicting the natural frequency of the sandwich beams, and in predicting damping, the accuracy is related to the thickness of each layer. The results of this paper have important reference values for the design and optimization of the viscoelastic sandwich structure.

For the scheduling problem of complex products in multi-workshop production, this paper studied the BOM (Bill of Materials) structure of complex products and the characteristics of the process route and developed the construction method of a multi-level process network diagram. Based on this, a comprehensive mathematical model for scheduling on multi-workshop production was proposed. An improved particle swarm algorithm (PSO) was proposed to solve the problem. By constructing the network subgraph, the invalid search path of the algorithm was avoided, and the efficiency of the algorithm was improved. In addition, for the scheduling problem with product time constraints, this paper presented a path search rescheduling strategy to ensure that the algorithm could obtain an effective search path. Finally, the model and algorithm were verified through a case study. This paper optimized the parameters of the algorithm by different tests and obtained the optimal range of the parameters. At the same time, through the analysis of the scheduling of complex products in a multi-workshop environment, the effectiveness and practicability of the above methods were verified.

Abstract Optical absorption and photocatalytic activity can be enhanced by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect, but the charge transfer (CT) mechanism between the dispersed noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) and the semiconductor matrix has been ignored. Herein, we adduce a direct and strong evidence in Ag-nanoparticle-dispersed BaTiO3 (Ag/BTO) composite films through X-ray photoelectron and photoluminescence spectra which reveals the CT from BTO trapped by Ag NPs under UV light and from Ag NPs to BTO under visible light. Owing to the broadened optical absorption and efficient CT from Ag NPs to BTO, the Ag25/BTO film manifests the optimal photocatalytic activity under the irradiation of visible light rather than UV–Vis light. Our work provides a helpful insight to design highly efficient plasmonic photocatalyst through considering the synergetic effect of the CT between metal and semiconductor on the enhanced photocatalytic activity.

Athree-layer composite plate element is developed for finite element modeling and vibration analysis of sandwich plate with frequency-dependent viscoelastic material core. The plate element is quadrilateral element bounded by four-node with 7-degree-of-freedom per node. The frequency-dependent characteristics of viscoelastic material parameters are described using the Biot model. The method of identifying the parameters of the Biot model is given. By introducing auxiliary coordinates, the Biot model is combined with the finite element equation of the viscoelastic sandwich plate. Through a series of mathematical transformations, the equation is transformed into a standard second-order steady linear system equation form to simplify the solution process. Finally, the vibration characteristics of the viscoelastic sandwich plate are analyzed and experimentally studied. The results show that the method in this paper is correct and reliable, and it has certain reference and application value for solving similar engineering vibration problems.

Endogenous formaldehyde is generated as a normal metabolite via bio-catalysis of γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and L-cysteine sulfoxide lyase (C-S lyase) during the growth and development of Lentinula edodes. In this study, we investigated the mRNA and protein expression levels, the activities of GGT and C-S lyase, and the endogenous formaldehyde content in L. edodes at different growth stages. With the growth of L. edodes, a decrease was found in the mRNA and protein expression levels of GGT, while an increase was observed in the mRNA and protein expression levels of C-S lyase as well as the activities of GGT and C-S lyase. Our results revealed for the first time a positive relationship of formaldehyde content with the expression levels of Csl (encoding Lecsl) and Lecsl (C-S lyase protein of Lentinula edodes) as well as the enzyme activities of C-S lyase and GGT during the growth of L. edodes. This research provided a molecular basis for understanding and controlling the endogenous formaldehyde formation in Lentinula edodes in the process of growth.

The pine aphid Cinara pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang is the main pine pest in China, it causes pine needles to produce dense dew (honeydew) which can lead to sooty mold (black filamentous saprophytic ascomycetes). Although common chemical and physical strategies are used to prevent the disease caused by C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang, new strategies based on biological and/or genetic approaches are promising to control and eradicate the disease. However, there is no information about genomics, proteomics or transcriptomics to allow the design of new control strategies for this pine aphid. We used next generation sequencing technology to sequence the transcriptome of C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang and built a transcriptome database. We identified 80,259 unigenes assigned for Gene Ontology (GO) terms and information for a total of 11,609 classified unigenes was obtained in the Clusters of Orthologous Groups (COGs). A total of 10,806 annotated unigenes were analyzed to identify the represented biological pathways, among them 8,845 unigenes matched with 228 KEGG pathways. In addition, our data describe propagative viruses, nutrition-related genes, detoxification related molecules, olfactory related receptors, stressed-related protein, putative insecticide resistance genes and possible insecticide targets. Moreover, this study provides valuable information about putative insecticide resistance related genes and for the design of new genetic/biological based strategies to manage and control C. pinitabulaeformis Zhang et Zhang populations.

In this work, a finite element model was developed for vibration analysis of sandwich beam with a viscoelastic material core sandwiched between two elastic layers. The frequency-dependent viscoelastic dynamics of the sandwich beam were investigated by using finite element analysis and experimental validation. The stiffness and damping of the viscoelastic material core is frequency-dependent, which results in complex vibration modes of the sandwich beam system. A third order seven parameter Biot model was used to describe the frequency-dependent viscoelastic behavior, which was then incorporated with the finite elements of the sandwich beam. Considering the parameters identification, a strategy to determine the parameters of the Biot model has been outlined, and the curve fitting results closely follow the experiment. With identified model parameters, numerical simulations were carried out to predict the vibration and damping behavior in the first three vibration modes, and the results showed that the finite model presented here had good accuracy and efficiency in the specific frequency range of interest. The experimental testing on the viscoelastic sandwich beam validated the numerical predication. The experimental results also showed that the finite element modeling method of sandwich beams that was proposed was correct, simple and effective.

Volatile organosulfur compounds are the main components that contribute to the unique aroma of dried Lentinula edodes. They are mainly generated during the hot-air drying process, and cysteine desulfurase is the key enzyme in this process. Temperature may be an essential factor of volatile organosulfur compound production by influencing the expression of the cysteine desulfurase gene. In this study, the promoter sequence of the cysteine desulfurase gene (pCS) was cloned and analyzed using bioinformatics tools. A series of 5′deletion fragments and site-directed mutations of pCS were constructed to identify the element that responds to heat stress. Six heat shock transcription factor (HSTF) binding sites were predicted by SCPD (The Promoter Database of Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and three of the binding sites were predicted by Yeastract (Yeast Search for Transcriptional Regulators and Consensus Tracking) in pCS. The results indicated that pCS was able to drive the expression of the EGFP (Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein) gene in L. edodes. Moreover, the fluorescence intensity increased after heat stress. The changes in fluorescence intensity of different 5′deletion fragments showed that the heat response region was located between −500 bp and −400 bp in pCS. The site-directed mutation analysis further showed that the heat-inducible element was between −490 bp and −500 bp (TTTCTAGAAT) in pCS. Our results provide molecular insight for studying the formation of volatile organosulfur compounds in dried L. edodes.

Organic carbon (C) and oxygen (O) contained in sewage sludge strongly impact its thermal behavior during pyrolysis treatment. This study was aimed at getting an insight into the decomposition mechanism of organic compounds containing C and O during sludge pyrolysis using thermo-gravimetric Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (TG-FTIR) and pyrolysis-gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and helpfully improving energy conversion of sewage sludge. The temperature domains of transformation were determined and indications of the main compounds produced during each stage were obtained. Results showed that the volatile compounds that evolved after sludge pyrolysis were mainly distributed into six groups: alkenes, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes, phenols and carboxylic acids. Comparison in thermal behavior and composition of the evolved volatile compounds were observed. In the low temperature stage (

Objective The clinical distribution and drug resistance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae in a hospital of Nanjing from 2020 to 2022 were analyzed in order to provide the basis for clinical rational use of antibiotics. Methods The distribution and drug resistance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae specimens in Zhongda Hospital Southeast University from 2020 to 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. Results A total of 3 507, 4 323 and 4 806 pathogenic bacteria were detected from 2020 to 2022. There were 616, 748 and 840 strains of Escherichia coli , and 456, 631 and 757 strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae , with the total 3-year detection rate of 17.4% and 14.6%. There was a statistically significant difference in the constituent ratio of pathogenic bacteria between 2020 and 2022 (P＜0.01). From 2020 to 2022, the top three samples of pathogenic bacteria were sputum, blood and urine. From 2020 to 2022, the drug resistance rates of Escherichia coli to cefepime, ceftriaxone, cefazolin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin and compound trimethoprim were significantly different (P＜0.01). The drug resistance rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae to imipenem, ertapenem, cefepime, ceftriaxone, cefoperazone sulbactam, cefazolin, cefoxitin, piperacillin tazobactam, ampicillin, amikacin, gentamicin, levofloxacin, nitrofurantoin and compound trimethoprim were significantly different (P＜0.01). Conclusion The average detection rate of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae was more than 30% in 2020—2022. The resistance of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae to various antibacterial drugs is statistically different. The clinically targeted drugs need to be selected in strict accordance with the drug sensitivity results.

Volatile sulfur compounds gradually develop in Lentinula edodes after hot-air drying, and many genes are involved in the generation of these sulfur compounds. The expression stability of reference genes may vary in a particular experimental treatment when analyzing their expressions by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). In this study, the expression profile of 17 candidate genes was assessed in L. edodes under treatment at 50 °C for 0, 1, 2, and 3 h, and the expression stability of each reference gene was analyzed by three statistical algorithms, including geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper. Results indicated that the two optimal reference genes for mycelium and fruiting body were CAC and DAHP as well as CAC and NUP, respectively. Additionally, CAC and DAHP were found to be the two most stable reference genes across the mycelium and fruiting body set. Our results will provide a genetic foundation for further research on the metabolism genes of sulfur compounds in L. edodes.

Compared to unhealthy UV or γ-ray and high-energy-consumption thermal external stimuli, the promising light emitting diode (LED) external stimulus has some outstanding technological merits such as narrow wavelength distribution, low heat generation and energy consumption, and safety for human beings. In this work, a novel reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization system for acrylonitrile (AN) was developed under the irradiation of blue LED light at room temperature, using 1,2,3,5-tetrakis(carbazol-9-yl)-4,6-dicyanobenzene (4CzIPN) as a novel radical initiator and 2-cyanoprop-2-yl-1-dithionaphthalate (CPDN) as the typical chain transfer agent. Well-defined polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with a controlled molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution was successfully synthesized. This strategy may provide another effective method for scientific researchers or the industrial community to synthesize a PAN-based precursor of carbon fibers.

It is well known that well-defined polyacrylonitrile (PAN) with high molecular weight (Mw > 106 g·mol−1) is an excellent precursor for high performance carbon fiber. In this work, a strategy for initiators for a continuous activator regeneration atom transfer radical polymerization (ICAR ATRP) system for acrylonitrile (AN) was firstly established by using CuCl2·2H2O as the catalyst and 2,2′-azobis(2-methylpropionitrile) (AIBN) as the thermal initiator in the presence of ppm level catalyst under ambient and high pressure (5 kbar). The effect of catalyst concentration and polymerization temperature on the polymerization behaviors was investigated. It is important that PAN with ultrahigh viscosity and average molecular weight (Mη = 1,034,500 g·mol−1) could be synthesized within 2 h under high pressure.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship and to determine potential usefulness of serum albumin as a biomarker for predicting postoperative diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) healing., Design: A retrospective study., Subjects and Setting: The sample comprised 266 inpatients with type 2 diabetes receiving care in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Among them, 174 had DFUs and underwent surgery for foot DFUs including amputation, skin grafting, and flap procedures. A comparison group consisted of 92 inpatients without a DFU or surgery., Methods: The association between healing and preoperative albumin levels was analyzed via a logistic regression model and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve., Results: The albumin value of patients with DFU grade 3 or more (3.23 ± 0.58 g/dL) was lower than that of patients with DFU grade 1-2 (3.58 ± 0.5 g/dL), and both were lower than that of the comparison group (3.89 ± 0.3 g/dL). Patients with a DFU with hypoalbuminemia (<3.5 g/dL) had a 2.5-fold higher risk of nonhealing at postoperative 28 days than patients with normal levels (odds ratio = 3.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.75-7.06; P < .001). For patients with a DFU overall, the ROC curve showed a preoperative albumin cutoff of 3.44 g/dL for DFU wound healing., Conclusions: For patients with a DFU undergoing surgery, preoperative serum albumin may be used as a biomarker for predicting postoperative healing., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society.)