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We provide an assessment of the impact of government closure and containment measures on deaths from COVID-19 across sequential waves of the COVID-19 pandemic globally. Daily data was collected on a range of containment and closure policies for 186 countries from January 1, 2020 until March 11th, 2021. These data were combined into an aggregate stringency index (SI) score for each country on each day (range: 0–100). Countries were divided into successive waves via a mathematical algorithm to identify peaks and troughs of disease. Within our period of analysis, 63 countries experienced at least one wave, 40 countries experienced two waves, and 10 countries saw three waves, as defined by our approach. Within each wave, regression was used to assess the relationship between the strength of government stringency and subsequent deaths related to COVID-19 with a number of controls for time and country-specific demographic, health system, and economic characteristics. Across the full period of our analysis and 113 countries, an increase of 10 points on the SI was linked to 6 percentage points (P < 0.001, 95% CI = [5%, 7%]) lower average daily deaths. In the first wave, in countries that ultimately experiences 3 waves of the pandemic to date, ten additional points on the SI resulted in lower average daily deaths by 21 percentage points (P < .001, 95% CI = [8%, 16%]). This effect was sustained in the third wave with reductions in deaths of 28 percentage points (P < .001, 95% CI = [13%, 21%]). Moreover, interaction effects show that government policies were effective in reducing deaths in all waves in all groups of countries. These findings highlight the enduring importance of non-pharmaceutical responses to COVID-19 over time.

The radiative and non-radiative decay processes of five compounds are investigated through a comprehensive computational approach, for the aim of investigating the effect of different halogen substituents to the phosphorescent emission. Their optimal configurations at the ground (S0) and lowest triplet excited (T1) states are obtained and the calculated phosphorescent emission spectra are comparable with the experimental values. For 1,4-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)benzene (PDCz), the electronic transition is between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), while for the four halides, the electronic transitions are attributed to several molecular orbitals. According to calculations, 9,9′-(2,5-diiodo-1,4-phenylene)bis(9H-carbazole) (PDICz) possesses the largest radiative decay rate constant (kr) and non-radiative decay rate constant (knr), which can be attributed to the strong spin-orbital coupling from the heavy iodine atom. However, the phosphorescent quantum efficiency (Φ) of PDICz is lower than that of 9,9′-(2,5-dibromo-1,4-phenylene)bis(9H-carbazole) (PDBCz), implying that a comprehensive consideration is necessary. Furthermore, by analyzing the vibrational mode, we have confirmed that the reorganization energies are also influenced by the different halogen atoms. While the dominated factor that determines the kr and knr comes from the spin-orbital coupling. We expect that our research findings will be beneficial to the newly designed organic phosphorescent materials in the future.

Bio-inks with living cells encapsulation are core materials for 3D printing of biomimetic cell culture models in vitro. In this study, a highly biocompatible bio-ink containing a hydrophilic benzylidene cyclopentanone photoinitiator (Y4) and a glycidyl methacrylate modified gelatin (Gel-GM) was prepared, and 3D hydrogel scaffolds with normal mouse fibroblast cells (L929) encapsulation were accurately fabricated by two-photon polymerization on a multiphoton confocal scanning laser microscopy. No apparent damage to L929 cells was observed within the laser-exposed region during the fabrication process. After four Days’ incubation, the embedded L929 cells showed a vigorous proliferation and occupied most of the available space within the 3D hydrogel scaffolds, which indicated that the bio-ink would have great potential for 3D bioprinting.

The luxS gene is required for autoinducer-2 (AI-2) synthesis in many bacterial species. AI-2 is taken up by a specific receptor to regulate multiple bacterial activities. However, the lack of methods to identify AI-2 receptors has impeded investigations into the roles of AI-2. Here, a luxS mutant of Escherichia coli strain BL21 (DE3) was constructed (named BL21∆luxS), and the recombinant LsrB protein of Salmonella enterica was expressed in BL21∆luxS and BL21 cells, which were named LsrB (BL21∆luxS) and LsrB (BL21), respectively. The results of the activity of recombinant LsrB binding showed that LsrB (BL21) bound to endogenous AI-2 (produced from BL21 strain), while LsrB (BL21∆luxS) did not (as BL21∆luxS cannot produce AI-2). However, the results of recombinant LsrB binding showed that LsrB (BL21∆luxS) can bind exogenous AI-2, which was released from LsrB (BL21∆luxS) at 55 °C for 10 min, while LsrB (BL21) could not bind exogenous AI-2 (due to binding of endogenous AI-2 before). Furthermore, analysis of the thermal stability of AI-2 showed that that AI-2 activity was relatively high at incubation temperatures below 65 °C. These findings will be beneficial for screening of new AI-2 receptors in different bacterial species.

In this paper, 2D single action die compaction of Fe and Al composite powders was simulated by multi-particle finite element method (MPFEM) from particulate scale. The initial packing structure generated by discrete element method (DEM) was input into FEM model where the mesh division of each particle was discretized. The effects of Al powder content on relative density and distribution, stress and distribution, particle deformation, void filling behavior, and force transmission in the compact during compaction, pressure holding and pressure releasing were systematically studied and analyzed. The results indicate that with the increase of Al content, high relative density can be obtained under the same compaction pressure, and the force chain structure becomes loose. When the Al content is fixed, the force is mainly concentrated on the Fe particles forming the contact force network which impedes the compaction densification. During compaction, void is mainly filled by the deformation of adjacent Al particles. It is difficult to deform those Al particles underneath the bridge or arching structure of Fe particles. Therefore, some small enclosed pores still left in the final compact. The internal stress in a particle is mainly concentrated near the surface region, and decreases rapidly after pressure releasing, while some residual stresses still exist inside Fe particles, leading to the possibility of cracking in the compact after unloading. Normally, the larger the compaction pressure is, the higher is the average residual stresses in Fe particles after releasing, and the largest local residual stresses occur in Fe particles close to the upper punch and die wall.

Multi-particle finite element method (MPFEM) is utilized to numerically study the 2D compaction of binary Al/SiC composite powders. Different initial packing structures with various Al/SiC particle size ratios and compositions are constructed and imported into FEM model for compaction. In the whole process, the macro and micro properties of the compacts are monitored and characterized, and the densification mechanism is identified. The results show that the densification process and the properties of the compacts are determined by initial powder packing structures. In the compaction of ordered initial packings, the force chains in the compacts are ordered with uniform distributions and the deformation of Al particles is regular. While in the compaction of random initial packings, the force chains in the compacts are disordered and the deformation of Al particles is irregular; in this case, the force chain structure is mainly determined by the contacted SiC particles. The compaction densification of the composite powder and corresponding properties of the compacts are influenced by the packing state, size and number of SiC particles in the initial packing structure.

Summary Secreted factors are a key component of stem cell niche and their dysregulation compromises stem cell function. Legumain is a secreted cysteine protease involved in diverse biological processes. Here, we demonstrate that legumain regulates lineage commitment of human bone marrow stromal cells and that its expression level and cellular localization are altered in postmenopausal osteoporotic patients. As shown by genetic and pharmacological manipulation, legumain inhibited osteoblast (OB) differentiation and in vivo bone formation through degradation of the bone matrix protein fibronectin. In addition, genetic ablation or pharmacological inhibition of legumain activity led to precocious OB differentiation and increased vertebral mineralization in zebrafish. Finally, we show that localized increased expression of legumain in bone marrow adipocytes was inversely correlated with adjacent trabecular bone mass in a cohort of patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. Our data suggest that altered proteolytic activity of legumain in the bone microenvironment contributes to decreased bone mass in postmenopausal osteoporosis., Highlights • Legumain determines differentiation fate of BMSCs in vitro and in vivo • Legumain regulates BMSC proliferation independent of its enzymatic activity • Inhibition of legumain leads to precocious bone formation in zebrafish • Legumain is overexpressed in bone marrow adipocytes of osteoporotic patients, Kassem and colleagues have investigated the role of legumain in cell fate decision of human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). Using multidisciplinary in vitro and in vivo approaches, they show that legumain functions as a novel “molecular switch” inhibiting osteoblast and enhancing adipocyte differentiation of BMSCs, through modulation of the ECM protein fibronectin, and that legumain expression is altered in the bone microenvironment of postmenopausal osteoporotic patients.

Histogram probabilistic multi-hypothesis tracker (H-PMHT), based on probabilistic multi-hypothesis tracker, is a track-before-detect processing approach to detect dim targets. For the problem that H-PMHT cannot initiate new tracks and terminate tracks of disappeared targets, the authors propose a new dynamic programming (DP)-based H-PMHT algorithm, which can locate new targets by dealing with a few frames of sensor images and confirm disappeared targets according to their energy accumulation values along the existing tracks. With this sort of track initiation and termination mechanism, H-PMHT can be directly applied to realistic environments. Simulation results show that the DP-based H-PMHT algorithm can rapidly locate new targets and initiate tracks with a low false alarm rate, and quickly terminate tracks of disappeared targets with a low false termination probability.

Cryptosporidium is an important protozoan parasite that can cause gastrointestinal diseases in humans and that also causes respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases in birds. In this study, we investigated the occurrence of Cryptosporidium species in migratory whooper swans in China. Fecal samples (n = 467) from whooper swans were collected from Sanmenxia Swan Lake National Urban Wetland Park, China. The samples were analyzed for Cryptosporidium species and genotypes with PCR along a sequence analysis of the small subunit rRNA. Cryptosporidium was detected in eight of the 467 (1.7%) samples. The analysis of the small subunit rRNA sequence data revealed two zoonotic species (Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium andersoni) and one genotype (Cryptosporidium goose genotype II). These are the first data on the positive rate of Cryptosporidium spp. in whooper swans in China, and they suggest that whooper swans can harbor the zoonotic species C. parvum and C. andersoni in China.

Regenerative capacity varies greatly between species. Mammals are limited in their ability to regenerate damaged cells, tissues and organs compared to organisms with robust regenerative responses, such as zebrafish. The regeneration of zebrafish tissues including the heart, spinal cord and retina requires foxp3a+ zebrafish regulatory T cells (zTregs). However, it remains unclear whether the muted regenerative responses in mammals are due to impaired recruitment and/or function of homologous mammalian regulatory T cell (Treg) populations. Here, we explore the possibility of enhancing zTreg recruitment with pharmacological interventions using the well-characterized zebrafish tail amputation model to establish a high-throughput screening platform. Injury-infiltrating zTregs were transgenically labelled to enable rapid quantification in live animals. We screened the NIH Clinical Collection (727 small molecules) for modulators of zTreg recruitment to the regenerating tissue at three days post-injury. We discovered that the dopamine agonist pramipexole, a drug currently approved for treating Parkinson&rsquo, s Disease, specifically enhanced zTreg recruitment after injury. The dopamine antagonist SCH-23390 blocked pramipexole activity, suggesting that peripheral dopaminergic signaling may regulate zTreg recruitment. Similar pharmacological approaches for enhancing mammalian Treg recruitment may be an important step in developing novel strategies for tissue regeneration in humans.

Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common disease that often occurs among older men and a frequent cause of malignancy associated death in this group. microRNA (miR)-129-5p has been identified as an essential regulator with a significant role in the prognosis of PC. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate roles of miR-129-5p in PCa. Methods Microarray analysis was conducted to identify PCa-related genes. The expression of miR-129-5p and ZIC2 in PCa tissues was investigated. To understand the role of miR-129-5p and ZIC2 in PCa, DU145 cells were transfected with mimic or inhibitor of miR-129-5p, or si-ZIC2 and the expression of Wnt, β-catenin, E-cadherin, vimentin, N-cadherin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and CD31, as well as the extent of β-catenin phosphorylation was determined. In addition, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, apoptosis and tumorigenesis were detected. Results miR-129-5p was poorly expressed and ZIC2 was highly expressed in PCa tissues. Down-regulation of ZIC2 or overexpression of miR-129-5p reduced the expression of ZIC2, Wnt, β-catenin, N-cadherin, vimentin, and β-catenin phosphorylation but increased the expression of E-cadherin. Importantly, miR-129-5p overexpression significantly reduced cell migration, invasion, angiogenesis and tumorigenesis while increasing cell apoptosis. Conclusions The findings of the present study indicated that overexpression of miR-129-5p or silencing of ZIC2 could inhibit epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and angiogenesis in PCa through blockage of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.

Background Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a parasite that infects humans and a wide range of other animals. The large migratory waterfowl, the whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), travels through many cities during its migration and can spread parasites. Despite receiving increasing attention worldwide, there have been no reports of E. bieneusi infection occurring in C. cygnus. Therefore, this study aims to assess the prevalence and genetic characteristics of E. bieneusi in C. cygnus in Sanmenxia, China. Methods Altogether, 467 fresh fecal samples were collected in the Swan Wetland Park in Sanmenxia, China. Genomic DNA was extracted from fresh fecal samples (n = 467) and E. bieneusi was identified by nested PCR amplification of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. ITS-positive sequences were aligned and phylogenetically analyzed to determine the genotypes of E. bieneusi. Results The overall prevalence of E. bieneusi in C. cygnus was 7.49% (35/467). Sequencing of the 35 positive samples revealed eight known genotypes (EbpA, EbpC, Henan-III, Henan-IV, BEB6, CD9, Peru6 and PtEb IX) and three novel genotypes (CSW1, CSW2 and CSW3). The phylogenetic tree constructed from the ITS sequences showed that seven genotypes (Peru6, EbpA, EbpC, Henan-III, CSW3, Henan-IV and CSW1) clustered within the zoonotic Group 1 while the remaining novel genotype CSW2 clustered within Group 5. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first report of E. bieneusi in C. cygnus. Of public health significance, our results suggest that migratory C. cygnus might play an important role in the water-borne transmission of E. bieneusi. Effective strategies will be necessary to control E. bieneusi infection in C. cygnus, other animals and humans.

Next best action (NBA) is a technique that is widely considered as the best practice in modern personalized marketing. It takes users' unique characteristics into consideration and recommends next actions that help users progress towards business goals as quickly and smoothly as possible. Many NBA engines are built with rules handcrafted by marketers based on experience or gut feelings. It is not effective. In this proposal, we show our machine learning based approach for such a real-time recommendation engine, detail our design choices, and discuss evaluation techniques. In practice, there are several key challenges to consider. (a) It needs to be able to deal with historical feedback that is typically incomplete and skewed towards a small set of actions; (b) Actions are typically dynamic. They can be added or removed anytime due to seasonal changes or shifts in business strategies; (c) The optimization objective is typically complex. It usually consists of reaching a set of target events or moving users to more preferred stages. The engine needs to account for all these aspects. Standard classification or regression models are not suitable to use, because only bandit feedback is available and sampling bias presented in historical data can not be handled properly. Conventional multi-armed bandit model can address some of the challenges. But it lacks the ability to model multiple objectives. We present a propensity variant hybrid contextual multi-armed bandit model (PV-MAB) that can address all three challenges. PV-MAB consists of two components: an intent propensity model (I-Prop) and a hybrid contextual MAB (H-Bandit). H-Bandit can be considered as a multi-policy contextual MAB, where we model different aspects of user engagement separately and cater the policies to each unique characteristic. I-Prop leverages user intent signals to target different users toward specific goals that are most relevant to them. It acts as a policy selector, to inform H-Bandit to choose the best strategy for different users at different points in the journey. I-Prop is trained separately with features extracted from user profile affinities and past behaviors. To illustrate this design, we will focus our discussion on how to incorporate two common distinct objectives in H-bandit. The first one is to target and drive users to reach a small set of high-value goals (e.g. purchase, become superfan), called goal-oriented policy. The second is to promote progression into more advanced stages in a consumer journey (e.g. from login to complete profile). We call it stage-advancement policy. In the goal-oriented policy, we reward reaching the goals accordingly, and use classification predictor as kernel function to predict the probabilities for achieving those goals. In the stage-advancement policy, we use the progression of stages as reward. Customers can move forward in their journey, skip a few stages or go back to previous stages doing more research or re-evaluation. The reward strategy is designed in the way that we reward higher for bigger positive stage progression and not reward zero or negative stage progression. Both policies incorporate Thompson Sampling with Gaussian kernel for better exploration. One big difference between our hybrid model and regular contextual bandit model, is that besides context information, we also mix user profile affinities in the model. It tells us the user intent and interest, and how their typical journey path looks like. With these special features, our model is able to recommend different actions for users that shows different interests (i.e. football ticket purchase v.s. jersey purchase). Similarly, for fast shoppers who usually skip a few stages, our model recommends actions that quickly triggers goal achievement; while for research type of users, the model offers actions that move them gradually towards next stages. This hybrid strategy provides us with better understanding of user intent and behaviors, so as to make more personalized recommendations. We designed a time-sensitive rolling evaluation mechanism for offline evaluation of the system with various hyperparameters that simulate behaviors in practice. Despite the lack of online evaluation, our strategy allows researchers and prospects to gain confidence through bounded expected performance. Evaluated on real-world data, we observed about 120% of reward gain, with an overall confidence of around 0.95. A big portion of the improvement is contributed by the goal-oriented policy. It well demonstrated the discovery functionality of the intent propensity model.

Release of bud dormancy is a prerequisite for the growth resumption and production in perennial plants such as tree peony. DNA methylation plays a pivotal role in regulating gene expression. In this study, combination of morphologic observation and DNA methylation analysis indicated that 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) application for 7 d declined 5 mC quantities and promoted dormancy release. After 5-azaC treatment, total 174,341 unigenes and 1818 differentially expression genes (DEGs) were obtained by RNA-seq, of which there were 1194 DEGs after 1 d 5-azaC treatment (AD1 vs CD1), and 624 DEGs after 7 d (AD7 vs CD7), respectively. The KEGG pathway analysis identified that totally 10 DEGs annotated in DNA replication pathway were enriched when AD7 compared with CD7. Furthermore, the expression patterns of several DEGs by real-time quantitative RT-PCR were consistent with that of RNA-seq data. 5-azaC application significantly decreased the expression levels of DNA methyltransferase genes, PsCMT3, PsMET1 and PsDRM2, and increased the transcript of demethylase gene PsROS1. Simultaneously, total methyltransferases activity decreased, and demethylase activity was induced by 5-azaC. In summary, application of 5-azaC inhibited the expression of the genes related to growth and development in short-term, indicating a possible toxic effect to plant, and its long-term effect was to induce hypomethylation by increasing demethylase genes transcripts and decreasing the expressions of methyltransferase genes, and then activate cell cycle, DNA replication and glycol-metabolism processes, which subsequently accelerated dormancy release. All these would provide a new strategy to further understand the molecular mechanism of dormancy release in tree peony.

In this paper, YSZ-based mixed potential SO

Due to inspiration from the Nepenthes pitcher plant, a frontier of devices has emerged with unmatched capabilities. Liquid-infused surfaces (LISs), particularly known for their liquid-repelling behavior under low tilting angles (

Aiming at the problem of radar sensor registration on a mobile platform, this study uses multiple radars to estimate the biases of the radar under the earth-centred earth-fixed coordinate system, which provides more accurate information for data fusion. Compared to the maximum likelihood registration (MLR) algorithm, which can only estimate radar offset biases, a novel extended MLR (EMLR) algorithm is proposed. The algorithm could estimate radar-offset biases, attitude biases, and the target real location simultaneously. The simulation results verified that the EMLR algorithm can effectively improve the precision of registration.

The effects of exposure to some environmental chemicals on blood pressure have been determined, but the association between non-occupational exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and blood pressure in adolescents remains unknown. The association between blood pressure and PFAS concentrations was studied by analysing data from 2251 participants filtered from the population enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003 to 2012. After adjusting for age, sex, race, BMI, cotinine level, dietary intake of calcium, caloric intake, sodium consumption, potassium consumption and sampling year, we estimated the coefficients (betas) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the relationship between PFAS concentrations and blood pressure with multiple linear regression models. Potential non-linear relationships were assessed with restricted cubic spline models. Blood levels of perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) had a strong positive association with diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in adolescents in the linear model, while the result was not significant in the non-linear model. No significant association was observed between the concentration of any other PFASs and blood pressure. According to the fully adjusted linear regression model (P = 0.041), the mean DBP values in boys in the higher PFOS quintile were 2.70% greater than the mean DBP values of boys in the lowest PFOS quintile. Furthermore, serum PFOS concentrations predominantly affected blood pressure in male adolescents compared with female adolescents. These results provide epidemiological evidence of PFOS-related increases in DBP. Further research is needed to address related issues.

With the continuous development of traffic construction in China, Bridges, as an important part of the traffic network, are of great significance to the economy to ensure their safety during operation. Among the many parameters that reflect the safety of bridge structure, the deflection deformation of bridge is the most intuitive one. This paper first introduces the current method of bridge deflection deformation measurement, then analyzes the principle and error of deflection deformation measurement by tilt sensor, and finally introduces the application of tilt sensor in the deflection deformation detection of arch rib of steel arch bridge combined with a bridge in Guangzhou.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been demonstrated to participate in the progression of many malignancies, including prostate cancer by serving as sponges of microRNAs (miRNAs). Initial microarray-based analysis screened out the poorly expressed lncRNA RBMS3-AS3 in prostate cancer, followed by the identification of putative binding sites with miR-4534 and its target VASH1. Therefore, the present study set out to investigate the potential role of RBMS3-AS3/miR-4534/VASH1 axis in the development of prostate cancer. The biological functions of RBMS3-AS3, miR-4534, and VASH1 on cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis of prostate cancer were evaluated via gain- and loss-of-function experiments. Furthermore, tumor xenograft in nude mice was performed to examine tumorigenesis in vivo. The obtained results indicated that RBMS3-AS3 was poorly expressed in prostate cancer tissues and cells. Of note, overexpression of RBMS3-AS3 was found to suppress cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis as well as the tumorigenic ability of prostate cancer. VASH1 was verified as a target gene of miR-4534. VASH1 expression was found to be downregulated in prostate cancer tissues and cells. Interestingly, RBMS3-AS3 was observed to competitively bind to miR-4534 to upregulate VASH1 expression, resulting in a suppressive role in prostate cancer development. Also, in vitro findings were reproduced in vivo on tumor xenograft in nude mice. Taken together, the present study provides evidence suggesting that RBMS3-AS3 acts as a miR-4534 sponge to inhibit the development of prostate cancer by upregulating VASH1, highlighting a theoretical target for prostate cancer treatment.

While bariatric surgery is well established as a means of inducing sustained weight loss, the rate of weight loss typically declines after a year, and weight regain has been observed. Preoperative taste preferences have been suspected to play a role in weight regain, possibly by influencing post-operative dietary practices. We sought to investigate the association between preoperative taste preferences and weight regain following bariatric surgery.Patients who underwent bariatric surgery with at least 2 years of follow-up were included. Demographics and weight were collected in follow-up visits; while patient recall of preoperative taste preference was assessed, using a multiple-choice question in the study survey administered at least 6 months post-surgery. Weight regain was calculated as weight at 2 years minus weight at 1 year post-surgery, with weight regain denoted by positive values and weight loss by negative. Linear regression models were utilized to study associations between weight regain and preoperative taste preferences with and without adjusting for demographic factors and surgery type.Patients undergoing RYGB had less weight regain (- 4.5 kg, p = 0.033) compared to patients undergoing VSG. Compared to patients with no preferences, patients with sweet food or salty food preferences had 5.5 kg (p = 0.038) and 6.1 kg (p = 0.048) weight regain, respectively, at 2 years post-surgery. After adjustment, patients with salty food preference had 6.8 kg (p = 0.027) weight regain compared to patients with no preferences.Preoperative salty taste preference was associated with weight regain at 2 years post-surgery in patients undergoing bariatric surgery. Findings of this project might have implications for predicting long-term weight loss maintenance for patients with known preoperative taste preferences. Our study suggests that patients with preoperative salty taste preference may need further post-operative psychosocial support and resources to prevent weight regain and to ensure healthy and sufficient weight loss.

Cellulophaga algicola DSM 14237, isolated from the Eastern Antarctic coastal zone, was found to be able to hydrolyze several types of polysaccharide materials. In this study, a predicted &beta, agarase (CaAga1) from C. algicola was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified recombinant CaAga1 showed specific activities of 29.39, 20.20, 14.12, and 8.99 U/mg toward agarose, pure agar, and crude agars from Gracilaria lemaneiformis and Porphyra haitanensis, respectively. CaAga1 exhibited an optimal temperature and pH of 40 oC and 7, respectively. CaAga1 was stable over a wide pH range from 4 to 11. The recombinant enzyme showed an unusual thermostability, that is, it was stable at temperature below or equal to 40oC and around 70 oC, but was thermolabile at about 50 oC. With the agarose as the substrate, the Km and Vmax values for CaAga1 were 1.19 mg/mL and 36.21 U/mg, respectively. The reducing reagent (dithiothreitol) enhanced the activity of CaAga1 by more than one fold. In addition, CaAga1 was salt-tolerant given that it retained approximately 70% of the maximum activity in the presence of 2 M NaCl. The thin layer chromatography results indicated that CaAga1 is an endo-type &beta, agarase and efficiently hydrolyzed agarose into neoagarotetraose (NA4) and neoagarohexaose (NA6). A structural model of CaAga1 in complex with neoagarooctaose (NA8) was built by homology modeling and explained the hydrolysis pattern of CaAga1.

The rapid, accurate and convenient detection of heavy metal is very important to public health. Here, we developed a DNAzyme-based electrochemical sensor for Pb2+. A DNAzyme-including and Pb2+ active probe was anchored to the biosensing interface, based on the well-defined self-assembled, three-dimensional DNA nanostructure. The results indicate that the detection performance depends on the change of distances between the methylene blue and the electrode surface. The limit of detection (LOD) could reach the concentration of 0.01 μM Pb2+, and the signal change shows semi-logarithmic relationship with the concentration of Pb2+ from 0.01 μM to 100 μM. The biosensor also presents good stability and specificity to detect Pb2+ in tap or river water. This method not only provides promising approach for improving the performance of tetrahedra in detecting Pb2+, but helps deepen the understanding of tetrahedral structure design and how the position of electroactive groups affects the performance of electrochemical sensing.

The effects of two new natural substances (celery and Lycium chinense fruits) on the stability of polypropylene (PP) were investigated. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and oxidation induction time (OIT) were conducted to investigate the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability. Melt flow rate (MFR) was tested for the processing stability. Results showed that the addition of natural substances did not change the thermal degradation behavior of PP, but greatly enhanced the thermal and thermo-oxidative stability. The temperature at 5 wt% loss (T5%) of PP-L1.2 sample was 13 °C higher than pure PP. The OIT value of PP-L1.2 sample was about 1.8 times as many as that of pure PP after the first extrusion. Moreover, the change of MFR for PP-L1.2 sample between first and fifth extrusions was smaller than PP. As for PP-C1.2 sample, the T5% and OIT were both increased compared with PP. The change of MFR was also smaller than PP. All results confirm that celery and Lycium chinense fruits can be used as antioxidants and colorants for PP.

Piping is an essential component in buildings, and its as-built information is critical to facility management tasks. Manually extracting piping information from legacy drawings that are in paper, PDF, or image format is mentally exerting, time-consuming, and error-prone. Symbol recognition and detection are core problems in the computer-based interpretation of piping drawings, and the main technical challenge is to determine robust features that are invariant to scaling, rotation, and translation. This thesis aims to use convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to automatically extract features from raw images, and consequently, to locate and recognize symbols in piping drawings. In this thesis, the Spatial Transformer Network (STN) is applied to improve the performance of a standard CNN model for recognizing piping symbols, and the Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster RCNN) is adopted to exploit its capacity in symbol detection. For experimentation, the synthetic data are generated as follows. Two datasets are generated for symbol recognition and detection, respectively. For recognition, eight types of symbols are synthesized based on the geometric constraints between the primitives. The drawing samples for detection are manually sketched using AutoCAD MEP software and its piping component library, and seven types of symbols are selected from the piping component library. Both sets of samples are augmented with various scales, rotations, and random noises. The experiment for symbol recognition is conducted and the accuracies of the recognition accuracy of the CNN + STN model and the standard CNN model are compared. It is observed that the spatial transformer layer improves the accuracy in classifying piping symbols from 95.39% to 98.26%. For the symbol detection task, the experiment is conducted using a public implementation of Faster RCNN. The mean Average Precision (mAP) is 82.8% when Intersection over Union (IoU) threshold equals to 0.5. Imbalanced data (i.e., imbalanced samples in each class) led to a decrease in the Average Precision in the minority class. Also, the symbol library, the small dataset, and the complex backbone network limit the generality of the model. Future work will focus on the collection of larger set of drawings and the improvement of the network’s geometric invariance.

The effects of Cu substitution and annealing on the martensitic transformation behavior and magnetocaloric properties in all- d -metal Mn50Ni32– x Cu x Co8Ti10 ( x =1, 2) alloy ribbons have been mainly investigated. After the substitution, it is observed that the martensitic transformation temperature of the alloys, which was extremely sensitive to the Cu content, was reduced. Moreover, the ferromagnetism of austenite increased, increasing the magnetization difference across the martensitic transformation. The magnetic-field-induced metamagnetic martensitic transformation also occurred. The magnetic entropy change gradually increased, and the effective refrigeration capacity increased by more than twice than that of the Cu-free substitution. Moreover, the sample with x =1 was utilized as the research object to study the effect of annealing on the martensitic transformation. After annealing, the martensitic transformation became slow and the austenite ferromagnetism decreased. The change in the magnetization across the phase transition was also reduced. The magnetic-field-induced metamagnetic martensitic transformation was also weakened. Consequently, the magnetic entropy change was greatly reduced. However, the effective refrigeration capacity did not reduce significantly because the refrigeration temperature interval increased largely. In this paper, the physical mechanisms of the effects of Cu substitution and annealing on the martensitic transformation were discussed from the change in the d - d interaction and the precipitation in the γ -phase, respectively.

The dynamics of Leaf Area Index (LAI) from space is key to identify crop types and their phenology over large areas, and to characterize spatial variations within growers’ fields. However, for years remote-sensing applications have been constrained by a trade-off between the spatial and temporal resolutions. This study resolves this limitation. Over the past decade, the number of companies and organizations developing CubeSat constellations has increased. These new satellites make it possible to acquire large image collections at high spatial and temporal resolutions at a relatively low cost. However, the images obtained from CubeSat constellations frequently suffer from inconsistency in the data calibration between the different satellites within the constellation. To overcome these inconsistencies, a new method to fuse a time series of images sourced from two different satellite constellations is proposed, combining the advantages of both (i.e., the temporal, spatial and spectral resolution). This new technique was applied to fuse PlanetScope images with Sentinel-2 images, to create spectrally-consistent daily images of wheat LAI at a 3 m resolution. The daily 3 m LAI estimations were compared with 57 in-situ wheat LAI measurements taken in Australia and Israel. This approach was demonstrated to successfully estimate Green LAI (LAI before the major on-set of leaf senescence) with an R 2 of 0.94 and 86% relative accuracy (RMSE of 1.37) throughout the growing season without using any ground calibration. However, both the Sentinel-2 based estimates and the fused Green LAI were underestimated at high LAI values (LAI > 3). To account for this, regression models were developed, improving the relative accuracy of the Green LAI estimations by up to a further 47% (RMSE of 0.35–0.63) in comparison with field measured LAI. The new time series fusion method is an effective tool for continuous daily monitoring of crops at high-resolution over large scales, which opens up a range of new precision agriculture applications. These high spatio-temporal resolution time-series are valuable for monitoring crop growth and health, and can improve the effectiveness of farming practices and enhance yield forecasts at the field and sub-field scales.

Construction inspection plays a critical role to ensure the quality and long-term performance of infrastructure. The current construction inspection practice at state transportation agencies (STAs) in the United States, which requires inspectors to manually gather and personally interpret the construction requirements from standard specifications, is subjective, error-prone, and time-consuming. This paper presents an intelligent database approach to automatically generate customized checklists of construction requirements at the pay item level. The proposed approach consists of three components: (1) identification of the functional requirements by consulting with the end users, (2) development of a construction inspection knowledge model via ontology to guide the database design, and (3) devising mechanisms to automate the generation of customized construction checklists for the work under inspection with all the necessary details in relation to what, when, and how to check, as well as the risks and actions when noncompliance is encountered. Specifically, the following functions now can be performed within the new system: (1) automatic generation of a customized checklist at the pay item level; (2) access to a checklist display that aligns with the repetitive/cyclical nature of construction workflows; (3) navigation between cross-referenced check items; (4) subgroupings based on responsibility, risk level, and inspection frequency; and (5) real-time links to training materials such as photos, videos, textual documents, and websites. This newly developed tool is currently being implemented and is expected to greatly reduce the workload for inspectors and enhance the effectiveness of the construction inspection process.

Combining the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, the growth mechanism of graphene based on self-assembly of 1,3,5-Benzenetribenzoic acid (BTB) on Ru(0001) has been investigated. Upon deposition, the BTB molecule deprotonates at the carboxylic acid ends (-COOH), and two adsorption configurations without ordered packing structure for the adsorbates are observed in STM images. The calculated adsorption energies of the two adsorption configurations for the intact (deprotonated) BTB molecules are about 8.77 eV (16.39 eV) and 9.09 eV (17.69 eV), denoting strong interaction between the adsorbates and substrate. After the annealing of sample to 450 °C, the coexistence of the deprotonated BTB molecules and graphene flakes converted from the molecules is observed, implying the onset of graphene growth. Meanwhile, an H-bonding stabilized structure between the deprotonated BTB molecules and the truncated deprotonated benzoic acid groups (− C6H4COO) could be observed at this stage. Corresponding potential barrier analysis based on the nudged elastic band (NEB) calculation provides a plausible growth mechanism.

In recent years, the safe and stable operation of electrified railways has attracted more and more attention. In particular, the stability of vehicle-grid coupling, which focuses on the phenomenon of vehicle-grid high frequency resonance (HFR), has become a hot research topic. Based on the instability mechanism of vehicle-grid coupling, and from the perspective of grid-side converter modulation strategy, measures to suppress HFR are further proposed. Based on the improvement of commonly used modulation strategies, Periodic Control Carrier Phase-Shift Pulse Width Modulation (PCCPS-PWM) is proposed, this solves the HFR problem caused by the switching characteristic frequency harmonics caused by the inaccurate phase shift angle between the grid-side converters. And it is verified by Matlab simulation and hybrid electric train sets.

Thermal management on lithium-ion batteries is a crucial method to improve performance and safety. This work describes L-shaped fins sandwiched between the battery cells. And they are cooled by the cold plate at the battery module level. The investigation is done about cooling performance and efficacy on the mitigation of thermal runaway. A 1D/3D model is developed to study the comparison between the aluminum alloy fin and graphite sheet fin. The results show that the graphite sheet fin has better performance than the aluminum alloy fin on battery cooling. Based on the graphite sheet fin in 0.2 mm, the linear cooling strategy is studied to improve the cooling effect. The influence factors include the cooling slope, initial temperature, and stable temperature. The results show that the cooling slope can improve the cooling efficiency in the cooling process and the temperature uniformity. Especially in a high discharge rate, a high cooling slope can ensure the temperature does not exceed the actual stable temperature and reduce the peak value of temperature difference. The large difference between the initial temperature and the stable temperature leads to a worse cooling effect.

Backgroud: Protein kinases play an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, mobility and cell cycle arrest etc. These enzymes act as important targets in developing anticancer agents. Over the years, a large number of protein kinase inhibitors have been discovered and developed as anticancer agents for the treatment of cancers clinically. However, the drug-resiatance and off-targeting limit their effeciancy for the treatment of human cancer. Materials and methods: Alkaloids are an important class of natural products with broad spectrum biological activities. In the past decades, numerus alkaloids with significant anticancer activity by inhibiting protein kinases were identified. In the present mini-review, we will present the key enzymes including mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin (PI3K/AKT/mTOR) and janus-activated kinases/signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK/STAT) targeted by alkaloids and highlight the special sites targeted by alkaloids on protein kinases and/or reversing drug resistance. Additionally, the challenge and prospect of developing alkaloids as new anticancer agents are also discussed. Conclusion: Alkaloids suppressed tumor growth through targeting different signaling pathways mediated by protein kinases of cancer cells. It is conceivable that novel alkaloids anticancer agents with promising clinical value will be developed in the future.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a leading contributor to preventable mortality and impoverishment in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To support countries in developing holistic and integrated NCD plans, the World Health Organization (WHO) has produced get rid of this a NCD Multisectoral Action Plan (MSAP) guidance. To date, over 160 countries have produced MSAPs and uploaded them to the WHO's NCD document repository. We examined the content and comprehensiveness of the MSAPs uploaded by all 110 LMICs, with reference to the WHO guidance. Overall, the MSAPs included 71% of the elements recommended by the WHO, however, there was a tendency to present situational analyses and recommended actions without providing costings or an overall funding plan. We found no correlation between MSAP comprehensiveness (alignment with the WHO guidance) and policy implementation. There were no significant differences in MSAP alignment by region or income group. Countries with higher universal health coverage indices had lower MSAP alignment score. We concluded that the existence of a comprehensive MSAP is not enough to guarantee policy implementation, and that the WHO should focus its support on helping countries to translate plans and policies into concrete actions to address NCDs.

To provide an eco-friendly disposal way of increasingly accumulated waste tyres and reduce the environmental impact caused by the production of industrial fibres, this study explores the feasibility of using recycled tyre materials as substitutes for natural fine aggregates and manufactured fibres in cementitious mortar. The effects of crumb rubber (CR) replacement ratio (5%–15% by volume of fine aggregates), recycled tyre steel (RTS) fibre content (0.5–1.5 vol%) and recycled tyre polymer (RTP) fibre content (0.5–1.0 vol%) on the engineering properties of fibre reinforced cementitious composite (FRRC) were experimentally investigated. Results indicate that the pre-treated CR using NaOH solution is feasible to combine with a high dosage of recycled fibres without considerably weakening the workability, bulk density, ultrasonic pulse velocity and compressive strength of FRRC. The incorporation of CR, RTS fibre and RTP fibre together can reduce the drying shrinkage by up to 41.6% and enhance the flexural strength by at most 174% as compared to the plain mortar. The production cost, embodied carbon and embodied energy of FRRC are decreased by 13.3%–68.2% when replacing the manufactured fibres with recycled tyre fibres. The optimal content of CR and RTS fibre and RTP fibre is 5%–10%, 1.0 vol% and 0.5 vol%, respectively, considering the engineering properties, cost and environmental impact.

At present, there are still some urgent problems to be solved, such as repeated reserve projects, unreasonable timing arrangement of investment in project execution, poor effect of capital use and poor process connection. In this paper, through the related cluster demonstration of the comprehensive plan projects, we strengthen the pre-management and control of the reserve projects from the source, and improve the quality and efficiency of the comprehensive plan management. Firstly, this paper classifies the projects based on the perspective of business association, establishes the association cluster, and then constructs the priority evaluation model of the project association cluster with the help of the portfolio management theory, so as to maximize the project benefit.

Three novel coumarin Schiff base derivatives and corresponding Eu(III) complexes were designed and synthesized. The aggregation-induced emission (AIE) property of ligands was studied. The fluorescence properties and electrochemical properties of Eu(III) complexes were investigated by comparing different substituent groups. The ion selectivity and ion detection limits of the [EuL2(NO3)3] •H2O were also studied. The result indicates that all ligands exhibit the AIE property in CH3CN/H2O solution and emit green fluorescence with the maximum emission wavelength of 552 nm. All complexes show characteristic red fluorescence of Eu(III) and the influence of different substituents on the fluorescence intensity of Eu(III) complexes is ordered: -OCH3 > -H > -NO2, and [EuL2(NO3)3] •H2O exhibits the strongest fluorescence intensity. The density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the ligands indicate that the introduction of electron-donating groups increases the HOMO energy level and the electron cloud density, which enhance the ability to coordinate with Eu(III) and the fluorescence intensity of the corresponding complex. Besides, the electrochemical properties of Eu(III) complexes indicate that the introduction of electron-donating groups increases the energy gaps (Eg) and the conjugation of the complex, which enhances the fluorescence intensity of the complexes. Ion selectivity experiments show that [EuL2(NO3)3] •H2O has a specific recognition function for F−, and its response limit is between 1.0 × 10−5 mol·L−1 and 2.2 × 10−5 mol·L−1. Based on the above results, all the ligands and Eu(III) complexes have a promising application in optical materials due to the excellent fluorescence properties. In addition, All Eu(III) complexes also have a potential application prospects in the field of fluoride ion detection.

Fast and reliable DC line protection is an essential challenge for the modular multilevel converter (MMC) based multi-terminal direct current (MTDC) grid. This paper proposed a novel single-ended protection scheme for DC lines in MMC-MTDC grids. Firstly, the values of the initial voltage traveling wave (IVTW) generated by internal and external faults are calculated by using the equivalent model of the MTDC grid, respectively. Then a criterion for identifying internal and external faults is constructed based on the amplitude ratio of the low-frequency component of the IVTW to its high-frequency component. The amplitude of the IVTW in both frequency bands is concisely expressed by the modulus maximums of stationary wavelet transform (SWT). Additionally, the criteria for discriminating the fault direction and the faulted pole are also proposed, which are both based on the integral values of the fault component currents on positive- and negative-pole lines. Lastly, simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed protection scheme.

The conventional objective of rudder roll stabilization is to control the ship course and roll motion simultaneously. Nevertheless, the ship course control is not competent for advanced requirement nowadays on controlling the position, which motivates the present study. This paper proposes an efficient model predictive control (MPC) for path following and roll stabilization of marine vessels by rudder in waves. It is a typical underactuated problem with multi-objectives; in addition, the control input is constrained in both amplitude and rate. MPC is one of the most favorable solutions for this problem, given its capability of solving optimization problem with constraints; however, there are two major challenges existed in the implementation of MPC, i.e., the computational intensity and closed-loop stability. In this paper, a neurodynamic system based on the projection neural network (PNN), which is well known for the parallel computational capability, is established to optimize the objective function formulated by MPC method, thereby improving the computational efficiency. The closed-loop stability is guaranteed by including a quadratic terminal cost, derived from the solution of a Lyapunov equation. Various simulations are conducted to illustrate the advantages of control design proposed herein, in which the model uncertainty and wave disturbances are taken into account.

A short blossom period is a major obstacle for the tree peony industry. In order to preferentially isolate genes associated with flower senescence in the tree peony variety ‘Lu He Hong’, forward and reverse suppression subtractive hybridization cDNA libraries were constructed using senescent and blooming petals as testers, respectively. A total of 712 high-quality expressed sequence tags, representing 211 unigenes, were obtained, and 181 unigenes were annotated on the basis of sequence similarity with data in the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s non-redundant database. In addition, 168 unigenes were functionally annotated using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases, and 44 unigenes were classified into 14 functional categories using the Clusters of Orthologous Groups. Most of the unigenes appear to be involved in cellular components, biological processes, and molecular functions, according to Gene Ontology analysis. Analysis of 23 chosen genes using quantitative reverse ...

The expansion of lipid droplets (LDs) and the differentiation of preadipocytes are two important aspects of mammalian lipid storage. In this study, we examined the role of CDP-diacylglycerol (DAG) synthases (CDSs), encoded by CDS1 and CDS2 genes in mammals, in lipid storage. CDS enzymes catalyze the formation of CDP-DAG from phosphatidic acid (PA). Knocking down either CDS1 or CDS2 resulted in the formation of giant or supersized LDs in cultured cells. Moreover, depleting CDS1 almost completely blocked the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes, whereas depleting CDS2 had a moderate inhibitory effect on adipocyte differentiation. The levels of many PA species were significantly increased upon knocking down CDS1. In contrast, only a small number of PA species were increased upon depleting CDS2. Importantly, the amount of PA in the endoplasmic reticulum was dramatically increased upon knocking down CDS1 or CDS2. Our results suggest that the changes in PA level and localization may underlie the formation of giant LDs as well as the block in adipogenesis in CDS-deficient cells. We have therefore identified CDS1 and CDS2 as important novel regulators of lipid storage, and these results highlight the crucial role of phospholipids in mammalian lipid storage.

Testicular Leydig cells are the primary source of testosterone in males. Adult Leydig cells have been shown to arise from stem cells present in the neonatal testis. Once established, adult Leydig cells turn over only slowly during adult life, but when these cells are eliminated experimentally from the adult testis, new Leydig cells rapidly reappear. As in the neonatal testis, stem cells in the adult testis are presumed to be the source of the new Leydig cells. As yet, the mechanisms involved in regulating the proliferation and differentiation of these stem cells remain unknown. We developed a unique in vitro system of cultured seminiferous tubules to assess the ability of factors from the seminiferous tubules to regulate the proliferation of the tubule-associated stem cells, and their subsequent entry into the Leydig cell lineage. The proliferation of the stem Leydig cells was stimulated by paracrine factors including Desert hedgehog (DHH), basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), and activin. Suppression of proliferation occurred with transforming growth factor β (TGF-β). The differentiation of the stem cells was regulated positively by DHH, lithium- induced signaling, and activin, and negatively by TGF-β, PDGFBB, and FGF2. DHH functioned as a commitment factor, inducing the transition of stem cells to the progenitor stage and thus into the Leydig cell lineage. Additionally, CD90 (Thy1) was found to be a unique stem cell surface marker that was used to obtain purified stem cells by flow cytometry.

In this study, AB-type carbonated hydroxyapatite (CHAp) nanosheet-assembled hollow microstructures were rapidly synthesized via a hydrothermal process without sintering. Urea was employed as both a pH adjusting agent and a CO32− source during hydrothermal reaction. The influence of hydrothermal time on the final morphologies of the products was systematically investigated. The as-prepared CHAp hollow microstructures with a diameter of about 3–4 μm consist of numerous radially oriented CHAp nanosheets as building units with an average thickness of about 10 nm. The morphology of the product can vary from a hollow microstructure to a solid dandelion-like structure with increasing hydrothermal time. Possible mechanisms for the formation of a nanosheet-assembled CHAp hollow microstructure and a solid dandelion-like microstructure in the presence of both urea and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) are illustrated. Moreover, the as-prepared CHAp hollow microstructures exhibit a high drug loading capacity and sustained drug release properties.

Chlorpyrifos (CPF), one of organophosphorus pesticides (OPs), is associated with developmental neurotoxicity. Inflammatory response is closely related with CPF-induced neurotoxicity. The present study aimed at exploring whether sub-toxic CPF exposure on neonatal rats results in neuroinflammation that mediated by HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway in the amygdala. The neonatal rats were subcutaneously injected with 5mg/kg CPF for 4 consecutive days (postnatal day 11-14) with or without HMGB1 inhibitor, glycyrrhizin. We assessed the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines at 12, 24, and 72 h after CPF exposure. The role of HMGB1 on neuroinflammation in sub-toxic exposure during brain development was studied. CPF-treated neonatal rats exhibited a significant increase in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6, TNF-α and HMGB1, and a significant increase in the activation of NF-κB in the amygdala after CPF exposure. Inhibited HMGB1 reduced the release of IL-6 and TNF-α, and inhibited activation of NF-κB. Our findings indicate that CPF exposure on developmental brain might induce the activation of neuroinflammation mediated by HMGB1/TLR4/NF-κB pathway in the amygdala.

Predicting workers’ trajectories on unstructured and dynamic construction sites is critical to workplace safety yet remains challenging. Existing prediction methods mainly rely on entity movement information but have not fully exploited the contextual information. This study proposes a context-augmented Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) method, which integrates both individual movement and workplace contextual information (i.e., movements of neighboring entities, working group information, and potential destination information) into an LSTM network with an encoder-decoder architecture, to predict a sequence of target positions from a sequence of observations. The proposed context-augmented method is validated using construction videos and the prediction accuracy achieved is 8.51 pixels in terms of final displacement error (FDE), with an observation time of 3 s and prediction time of 5 s—5.4% smaller than using the position-based method. Compared to conventional one-step-ahead predictions, the proposed sequence-to-sequence method predicts trajectories over multiple steps to avoid error accumulation and effectively reduces the FDE by 70%. In addition, qualitative analysis is conducted to provide insights to select appropriate prediction methods given different construction scenarios. It was found that the context-aware model leads to better performance comparing to the position-based method when workers are conducting collaborative activities.