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Antarctic meltwater discharge has been largely emphasized for its potential role in climate change mitigation, not only by reducing global warming, but also by stabilizing the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). Despite the tremendous impact of the AMOC on the climate system, its temporal evolution in response to the meltwater remains poorly understood. Here, we investigate the meltwater impacts on the AMOC based on the GFDL CM2.1 experiments and discover its fast weakening and slow strengthening to the Antarctic meltwater discharge. Cold ocean surface caused by meltwater spread throughout the globe and eventually strengthened the AMOC. However, in the early stages, the tropical temperature response could stimulate the Rossby wave teleconnection, modulating atmospheric circulation in the North Atlantic, and weakening convection and even the AMOC. This counterintuitive evolution implies a potential destabilizing effect of Antarctic meltwater, underscoring the importance of the atmospheric dynamics in the interaction between the two poles. Plain Language Summary: The climate system is made up of interactions between different subsystems, so that regional climate changes can have global effects. The freshwater discharge from Antarctica would increase in the future and result in regional cooling. Atmospheric and oceanic dynamics extend this local effect to the globe, reducing global surface temperature and strengthening the large‐scale ocean circulation in the Atlantic. These mitigating effects naturally put the spotlight on Antarctic meltwater. Our study however suggests that the mitigation effect depends on the time scale. Although the global mean temperature is always reduced, the ocean circulation in the Atlantic surprisingly slows down as an early response to Antarctic meltwater; fast atmospheric teleconnection enables it. This non‐monotonic evolution emphasizes the importance of the atmospheric teleconnection between the two poles, which should be carefully considered to understand the polar climate. Key Points: The response of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation to perennial meltwater‐induced cooling is investigated by GFDL CM2.1 experimentsBefore the cooling spreads out the Atlantic, tropical atmospheric teleconnection could weaken the Greenland ocean convectionThe fast and slow responses imply the importance of the atmospheric teleconnection to regulate polar climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Aim Method Results Conclusion Relevance to Clinical Practice Pneumonia has a high incidence in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients and lacks effective treatments. Early mobilization (EM) may be a potentially effective treatment.To explore the impact of EM on TBI‐related pneumonia in the neurosurgical intensive care unit (NICU).This study was a historical control study. 100 TBI patients who received EM intervention were prospectively included as the experimental group (EM cohort), and 250 TBI patients were retrospectively included as the control group. The propensity score matching (PSM) method was employed to balance baseline and minimize potential bias. The relationship between EM and TBI‐related pneumonia was investigated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression, then further determined by subgroup analysis. The influence of other variables was excluded by interaction analyses. Finally, the effect of EM on the prognosis of TBI patients was analysed by comparing the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the hospital stay.After screening, 86 patients were included in the EM cohort and 199 patients were included in the control cohort. There were obvious differences between the two cohorts at baseline, and these differences were eliminated after PSM, when the incidence of pneumonia was significantly lower in the EM cohort than in the control cohort (35.0% vs. 61.9%, p < .001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that EM was an independent risk factor for TBI‐related pneumonia and was significantly associated with a decreased incidence of pneumonia. This correlation was present in most subgroups and was not affected by other variables (p for interaction >.05). Patients in the EM cohort had shorter length of ICU stay (6 vs. 7 days, p = .017) and higher GCS at discharge (12 vs. 11, p = .010).EM is a safe and effective treatment for TBI patients in NICU, which can reduce the incidence of pneumonia, help to improve prognosis and shorten the length of ICU stay.Although the utilization rate of EM is low in TBI patients for various reasons, EM is still an effective method to prevent complications. Our study confirms that a scientific and detailed EM strategy can effectively reduce the incidence of pneumonia while ensuring the safety of TBI patients, which is worthy of further research and clinical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical application of aqueous rechargeable batteries faces several challenges due to the limited stability window of electrolytes and parasitic side reactions, such as corrosion, passivation, gas evolution, and co‐intercalations. The solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) formed at the electrode/electrolyte interface plays a critical role in determining interfacial properties and battery performance. Efforts are being made to develop effective SEIs, functionalize interphase layers, and explore various aqueous hybrid electrolytes that facilitate SEI formation. This review highlights the role of interphasial structures in aqueous batteries. First, common issues encountered by aqueous batteries and specific characteristics of aqueous lithium‐ion, sodium‐ion, zinc‐ion, and aluminum‐ion batteries are outlined. Then the tactics used to improve cycle stability of aqueous batteries are introduced and compared and the working principles and key parameters from the context of interphasial modification are discussed. Finally, constructive insights and suggestions for developing high‐performance batteries are offered, with a focus on SEI formation and interphase layer design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the current difficulties in fire detection algorithms, including inadequate feature extraction, excessive computational complexity, limited deployment on devices with limited resources, missed detections, inaccurate detections, and low accuracy, we developed a highly accurate algorithm named YOLOFM. We utilized LabelImg software to manually label a dataset containing 18644 images, named FM-VOC Dataset18644. In addition, we constructed a FocalNext network, which utilized the FocalNextBlock module from the CFnet network. This improves the integration of multi-scale information and reduces model parameters. We also proposed QAHARep-FPN, an FPN network that integrates the structure of quantization awareness and hardware awareness. This design effectively reduces redundant calculations of the model. A brand-new compression decoupled head, named NADH, was also created to enhance the correlation between the decoupling head structure and the calculation logic of the loss function. Instead of using the CIoU loss for bounding box regression, we proposed a Focal-SIoU loss. This promotes the swift convergence of the network and enhances the precision of the regression. The experimental results showed that YOLOFM improved the baseline network's accuracy, recall, F1, mAP50, and mAP50-95 by 3.1%, 3.9%, 3.0%, 2.2%, and 7.9%, respectively. It achieves an equilibrium that combines performance and speed, resulting in a more dependable and accurate solution for detection jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African swine fever (ASF) is an infectious disease caused by ASF virus (ASFV), which is characterized by high infectivity, rapid onset of disease, and a high mortality rate. Outbreaks of ASFV have caused great economic losses to the global pig industry, and there is a need to develop safe and effective vaccines. In this study, two recombinant pseudorabies virus (PRV) strains, rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-EP364R and rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-B119L, expressing the EP364R and B119L protein, respectively, of ASFV, were constructed by homologous recombination technology. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis showed that these foreign proteins were expressed in cells infected with the recombinant strains. The strains showed good genetic stability and proliferative characteristics for 20 passages in BHK-21 cells. Both of these strains were immunogenic in mice, inducing the production of specific antibodies against the expressed ASFV proteins while providing protection against lethal challenge with PRV. Thus, the recombinant strains rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-EP364R and rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-B119L could be used as candidate vaccines for both ASFV and PRV. In addition, our study identifies two potential target genes for the development of safe and efficient ASFV vaccines, provides a reference for the construction of bivalent ASFV and PRV vaccines, and demonstrates the feasibility of developing a live ASFV vector vaccine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incidence of pneumonia in ICU patients with TBI is very high, seriously affecting the prognosis. This study aims to construct a predictive model for pneumonia in ICU patients with TBI and provide help for the prevention of TBI-related pneumonia. Clinical data of ICU patients with TBI were collected from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-IV database and hospital data. Variables were screened by lasso and multivariate logistic regression to construct a predictive nomogram model, verified in internal validation cohort and external validation cohort by receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve, calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA). A total of 1850 ICU patients with TBI were enrolled in the study from the MIMIC-IV database, including 1298 in the training cohort and 552 in internal validation cohort. The external validation cohort included 240 ICU patients with TBI from hospital data. Nine variables were selected from the training cohort by lasso regression and multivariate logistic regression, and a pneumonia prediction nomogram was constructed. This nomogram has a high discrimination in training, internal validation and external validation cohorts (AUC = 0.857, 0.877, 0.836). The calibration curve and DCA showed that this nomogram had a high calibration and better clinical decision-making efficiency. The nomogram showed excellent discrimination and clinical utility to predict pneumonia, and could identify pneumonia high-risk patients early, thus providing personalised treatment strategies for ICU patients with TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the far-field aerodynamic noise of the leading-edge slat of a high-lift airfoil configuration, an experimental investigation of the BANC-II/30P30N airfoil model was carried out in the D5 areo-acoustic wind tunnel at Beihang University. A novel Kevlar-walled closed test section design was applied, as a way of upgrading the capabilities of a conventional aerodynamic wind tunnel to include far-field acoustic measurements for larger models at real Reynolds numbers. After the flap was retracted and the slat was deployed to isolate slat noise from other possible sources, the surface pressure distribution and the far-field sound pressure signals under different operating conditions were obtained by varying flow speed and angle of attack. The slat noise spectrum characteristics and the dependence of far-field noise on free stream velocity and airfoil incidence angle were acquired by the fast Fourier transform. The joint time-frequency analysis methods (short-time Fourier transform and continuous Morlet wavelet transform) were employed to process the far-field unsteady acoustic signal to identify the inherent physical mechanisms involved in the generation of multiple low-frequency tonal peaks emerging from the broadband component of the slat noise spectra. Results of the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and wavelet analysis clearly showed that the dominant acoustic energy of these tonal noise was shared between the primary modes through rapid switching in time. Furthermore, the analysis results also indicated that an amplitude-modulation phenomenon exists in the dominant modes. The joint probability density function method was introduced to quantify the mode-switching phenomenon, and the results provided strong evidence that mode-switching occurs between the dominant modes of these low-frequency tones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important component of the Asian summer monsoon, the South Asian High (SAH) exhibits striking interannual variability closely related to tropical sea surface temperature (SST) forcing. For example, during post-El Niño summers, the SAH is demonstrated to be strengthened as the delayed Indian Ocean basin-wide SST mode (IOBM) having a robust capacitor enhancement effect on it. In this study, we find that the springtime SST anomalies in the tropical North Atlantic (TNA) can also exert a robust impact on the following summertime SAH intensity, with the SST warming generally accompanied by a stronger SAH and vice versa. We suggest that this influence generally involves two pathways. On the one hand, the positive TNA SST anomaly, which persists into the subsequent summer, can warm the local tropospheric column via moisture adjustment. This tropospheric warming extends eastward along with the climatological subtropical jet, leading to an elevation of the South Asian upper-level geopotential height and thus a stronger SAH. On the other hand, the TNA SST warming triggers tropical trans-basin walker circulation anomalies, causing an anomalous low-level anticyclone over the Indo-western Pacific. The Indian Ocean is featured by an evident ascending flow with intensified precipitation, which in turn generates a strengthened SAH by the resultant condensation heating. This Atlantic SST impact highlighted in this study offers a new avenue for improving the predictability of summertime atmospheric and climate anomalies over South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the integrated development of culture and tourism in China has shown a promising trend, but there are still some shortcomings in the development of tourism resources. Jinan is prosperous and famous for its springs. As a landmark of Jinan, spring has played an indispensable role in Jinan's tourism. The unique spring culture is an important component of Chinese water culture and has significant development value. At present, there is still shortcoming of spring tourism resources development in Jinan. In this paper, combining market demand and utilizing RMCP analysis, Jinan spring water resources are further analyzed and integrated, and targeted development strategies and suggestions for Jinan's characteristic spring resources are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Live-action performances are a new form of performances that combine culture and tourism. The rise of live-action performance products has brought new vitality to the development of tourism, has strong development potential, can better meet the needs of tourists for immersive experience, and maintain long-term development of tourism in a region. In this paper, a live-action tourism performance product "Chinese Taishan · Fengshan Grand Ceremony" was studied to discuss the development of experiential live-action tourism performance products in Tai'an City. Through the investigation and data statistics of tourists, by using the experience economy theory, tourist experience theory, statistical analysis and other means, some strategies for the development of live-action tourism performance products in Tai'an City were proposed to promote the development of tourism performance products in Tai'an City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the gradual death of dopaminergic neurons. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptors are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system, which can promote the survival and growth of neurons and protect neurons. This study revealed that BDNF promotes STAT3 phosphorylation and regulates autophagy in neurons. The PD mouse model was established by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP). Moreover, SH-SY5Y cells were treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-pyridinium (MPP+) to establish a PD cell model. The level of BDNF was low in PD model mice and SH-SY5Y cells treated with MPP+. BDNF enhanced the levels of p-TrkB, P-STAT3, PINK1, and DJ-1. BDNF promoted autophagy, inhibited the level of p-α-syn (Ser129) and enhanced cell proliferation. The autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyladenine (3-methyladenine, 3-MA) reversed the protective effects of BDNF on neurons. BiFC assay results showed that there was a direct physical interaction between BDNF and STAT3, and coimmunoprecipitation experiments indicated an interaction between STAT3 and PI3K. The PI3K agonist Recilisib activated the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, promoted autophagy, and alleviated neuronal cell damage. BDNF alleviates PD pathology by promoting STAT3 phosphorylation and regulating neuronal autophagy in SH-SY5Y cells and cultured primary neurons. Finally, BDNF has neuroprotective effects on PD model mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formation of (Nb, Ta)C 1- y solid solution powders via annealing NbC, TaC, and Co mixed powders at 1300 °C, 1500 °C, and 1900 °C in inert atmospheres was governed by the dissolution-precipitation mechanism, which was verified by the thermodynamic calculation. Only when the annealing temperature above 1500 °C can lead to the formation of homogeneous (Nb, Ta)C 1- y powders and further modify not only the morphology from microcuboids with distinct edges and corners to a rounded shape at 1900 °C but also the carbon vacancy concentration from 0.08 to 0.02. Thermally stable (Nb, Ta)C 1- y solid solution particles could achieve good comprehensive performance with the balance between mechanical properties and oxidation resistance by tuning the Nb/Ta ratio. In specific, TaC helped to enhance the oxidation resistance of (Nb, Ta)C 1- y even compared with monocarbides, whereas the addition of NbC improved hardness and Young's modulus. Apparently, the presence of carbon vacancy could further increase the hardness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a very common neurodegenerative disease that adversely affects the physical and mental health of many patients, but there is currently no effective treatment. Objective. To this end, this study focused on investigating the potential mechanisms leading to dopaminergic neuronal apoptosis in PD. Methods. Rotenone induces damage in dopaminergic neuronal MN9D cells. Apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression of apoptosis-related proteins was detected by western blot. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of MALAT1 and miR-23b-3p. The expression of α-synuclein was detected by ELISA. A dual luciferase gene reporter assay was used to determine the targeted regulatory relationship between MALAT1 and miR-23b-3p and miR-23b-3p and α-synuclein. MN9D supernatant was cocultured with BV-2 cells, or BV-2 cells were treated with exogenous α-synuclein and then treated with an autophagy inhibitor (3-MA) and autophagy activator (RAPA). The expression of α-synuclein in BV-2 cells was detected by immunofluorescence. The expression of MIP-1α, a marker of microglial activation, was detected by ELISA. The nuclear translocation of NF-κB p65 was detected by immunofluorescence. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines was detected by ELISA. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of autophagy-related proteins. Apoptosis of MN9D cells was detected after coculture of BV-2 supernatant with MN9D. Results. The expression of MALAT1 and α-synuclein was upregulated, while the expression of miR-23b-3p was downregulated in damaged MN9D cells, resulting in cell apoptosis. MALAT1 can negatively regulate the expression of miR-23b-3p, while miR-23b-3p negatively regulates the expression of α-synuclein. α-synuclein can enter BV-2 cells through cell phagocytosis. Coculture of BV-2 cells with α-synuclein or with MN9D supernatant overexpressing MALAT1 resulted in a decrease in the autophagy level of BV-2 cells and an inflammatory reaction. However, miR-23b-3p mimics and knockdown of α-synuclein reversed the effect of MALAT1 on autophagy and the inflammatory response of BV-2 cells. In addition, after coculture of BV-2 cells with α-synuclein, the level of autophagy further decreased when 3-MA was added, while the opposite result occurred when RAPA was added. After coculture of α-synuclein-treated BV-2 cell supernatant with MN9D cells, autophagy-impaired BV-2 promoted the apoptosis of MN9D cells, and 3-MA aggravated the autophagy disorder of BV-2 and further promoted the apoptosis of MN9D cells, while RAPA reversed the autophagy disorder of BV-2 and alleviated the apoptosis of MN9D cells. Conclusion. MALAT1 can promote α-synuclein expression by regulating miR-23b-3p, thereby inducing microglial autophagy disorder and an inflammatory response leading to apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons. This newly discovered molecular mechanism may provide a potential target for the treatment of PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Lymphatic vessels collect interstitial fluid, immune cells, and digested lipids and return these bodily fluids to blood through two pairs of lymphovenous valves (LVVs). Like other cardiovascular valves LVVs prevent the backflow of blood into the lymphatic vessels. In addition to LVVs, platelets are necessary to prevent the entry of blood into the lymphatic vessels. Platelet thrombi are observed at LVVs suggesting that LVVs and platelets function in synergy to regulate blood/lymphatic separation. Objectives: The primary objective of this work is to determine whether platelets can regulate blood/lymph separation independently of LVVs. Methods: The transcription factor GATA2 is necessary for the development of both LVVs and hematopoietic stem cells. Using various endothelial‐ and hematopoietic cell expressed Cre‐lines, we conditionally deleted Gata2. We hypothesized that this strategy would identify the tissue‐ and time‐specific roles of GATA2 and reveal whether platelets and LVVs can independently regulate blood/lymph separation. Results: Lymphatic vasculature‐specific deletion of Gata2 results in the absence of LVVs without compromising blood/lymph separation. In contrast, deletion of GATA2 from both lymphatic vasculature and hematopoietic cells results in the absence of LVVs, reduced number of platelets and blood‐filled lymphatic vasculature. Conclusion: GATA2 promotes blood/lymph separation through platelets. Furthermore, LVVs are the only known sites of interaction between blood and lymphatic vessels. The fact that blood is able to enter the lymphatic vessels of mice lacking LVVs and platelets indicates that under these circumstances the lymphatic and blood vessels are connected at yet to be identified sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The calculation model based on the surface tension of CaO–SiO2–Al2O3‐based mold flux containing Ce2O3 is studied using the modified Butler equation, and the surface tension of mold flux is measured by the sessile drop method. The experimental results show that the calculated surface tension based on the model agrees well with the experimental values, and the absolute value of the error is less than 3.23%. With the content of Ce2O3 in the mold flux increasing from 0% to 20%, the surface tension of the mold flux increases from 0.380 to 0.405 N m−1. The O2− dissociated from Ce2O3 makes the radius of the silicon–oxygen tetrahedral anion decrease, and the ion‐to‐ion interaction force in the melt increase. Therefore, the surface tension of the melt increases with the increase of Ce2O3 content in the mold flux. However, the amount of dissociated O2− is limited, so the effect of Ce2O3 on the surface tension of the mold flux is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Segmentation of retinal vessel images is critical to the diagnosis of retinopathy. Recently, convolutional neural networks have shown significant ability to extract the blood vessel structure. However, it remains challenging to refined segmentation for the capillaries and the edges of retinal vessels due to thickness inconsistencies and blurry boundaries. In this paper, we propose a novel deep neural network for retinal vessel segmentation based on shared decoder and pyramid-like loss (SPNet) to address the above problems. Specifically, we introduce a decoder-sharing mechanism to capture multi-scale semantic information, where feature maps at diverse scales are decoded through a sequence of weight-sharing decoder modules. Also, to strengthen characterization on the capillaries and the edges of blood vessels, we define a residual pyramid architecture which decomposes the spatial information in the decoding phase. A pyramid-like loss function is designed to compensate possible segmentation errors progressively. Experimental results on public benchmarks show that the proposed method outperforms the backbone network and most state-of-the-art methods, especially in the regions of the capillaries and the vessel contours. In addition, performances on cross-datasets verify that SPNet shows stronger generalization ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentration scaling on linear viscoelastic properties of cellular suspensions has been studied by rheometric characterisation of Phormidium suspensions and human blood in a wide range of volume fraction under small amplitude oscillatory shear experiments. The rheometric characterisation results are analysed by the time-concentration superposition (TCS) principle and show a power law scaling of characteristic relaxation time, plateau modulus and the zero-shear viscosity over the concentration ranges studied. The results show that the concentration effect of Phormidium suspensions on their elasticity is much stronger than that of human blood due to its strong cellular interactions and a high aspect ratio. For human blood, no obvious phase transition could be observed over the range of hematocrits studied here and with respect to a high-frequency dynamic regime, only one concentration scaling exponent could be identified. For Phormidium suspensions with respect to a low-frequency dynamic regime, three concentration scaling exponents in the volume fraction Region I ( 0.36 ≤ ϕ / ϕ r e f ≤ 0.46 ), Region II ( 0.59 ≤ ϕ / ϕ r e f ≤ 2.89 ) and Region III ( 3.11 ≤ ϕ / ϕ r e f ≤ 3.44 ) are identified. The image observation shows that the network formation of Phormidium suspensions occurs as the volume fraction is increased from Region I to Region II; the sol-gel transition takes place from Region II to Region III. In combination with analysis of other nanoscale suspensions and liquid crystalline polymer solutions reported in the literature, it is revealed that such a power law concentration scaling exponent depends on colloidal or molecular interactions mediated with solvent and is sensitive to the equilibrium phase behaviour of complex fluids. The TCS principle is an unambiguous tool to give a quantitative estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon (Si) has crucial effects on plant development and stress resistance. Silicon transporters regulate Si absorption, transport, and distribution in plants. In this study, we identified and characterized the Si transporter gene family of moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) and cloned seven putative Si transporter genes. Moso bamboo Si transporters contain conserved functional domains that mediate the accumulation of considerable amounts of Si. The analysis of gene duplication patterns and divergence times suggested that the expansion of the moso bamboo Si transporter family was mainly due to segmental duplications. The expression of moso bamboo Si transporter genes, which varied among organs, was significantly modulated by Si treatments. The subcellular localization analysis showed that Si transporters are plasma membrane proteins. The Si content increased in transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing PeLsi1-1 or PeLsi1-2 , which affected vegetative and reproductive growth. Our single-particle tracking analysis revealed the four diffusion modes of PeLsi1-1 on the plasma membrane. Moreover, the particle velocity, dwell time, and motion range of PeLsi1-1 decreased in response to Si treatments. The results of this study will further clarify the molecular mechanisms underlying Si absorption and accumulation in bamboo plants. • Moso bamboo has the molecular basis of high silicon accumulation. • The excessive accumulation of silicon affected the growth of transgenic Arabidopsis. • The distribution and dynamic changes of PeLsi1-1 were affected by silicon. • A hypothetical model for silicon transport in moso bamboo seedlings was established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospital Acquired Pneumonia (HAP) is one of the most common complications and late causes of death in TBI patients. Targeted prevention and treatment of HAP are of great significance for improving the prognosis of TBI patients. In the previous clinical observation, we found that folic acid treatment for TBI patients has a good effect on preventing and treating HAP. We conducted this retrospective cohort study to demonstrate what we observed by selecting 293 TBI patients from two medical centers and analyzing their hospitalization data. The result showed that the incidence of HAP was significantly lower in TBI patients who received folic acid treatment (44.1% vs. 63.0%, p = 0.012). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that folic acid treatment was an independent protective factor for the occurrence of HAP in TBI patients (OR = 0.418, p = 0.031), especially in high-risk groups of HAP, such as the old (OR: 1.356 vs. 2.889), ICU (OR: 1.775 vs. 5.996) and severe TBI (OR: 0.975 vs. 5.424) patients. At the same time, cohort studies of HAP patients showed that folic acid also had a good effect on delaying the progression of HAP, such as reducing the chance of tracheotomy (26.1% vs. 50.8%, p = 0.041), and reduced the length of hospital stay (15 d vs. 19 d, p = 0.029) and ICU stay (5 d vs. 8 d, p = 0.046). Therefore, we believe that folic acid treatment in TBI patients has the potential for preventing and treating HAP, and it is worthy of further clinical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Five PeAOX genes from Moso bamboo genome were identified. PeAOX1b_2-OE improved tolerance to drought and salinity stress in Arabidopsis, indicating it is involved in positive regulation of abiotic stress response. Mitochondrial alternative oxidase (AOX), the important respiratory terminal oxidase in organisms, catalyzes the energy wasteful cyanide (CN)-resistant respiration, which can improve abiotic stresses tolerance and is considered as one of the functional markers for plant resistance breeding. Here, a total of five putative AOX genes (PeAOXs) were identified and characterized in a monocotyledonous woody grass Moso bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that PeAOXs belonged to AOX1 subfamily, and were named PeAOX1a_1, PeAOX1a_2, PeAOX1b_1, PeAOX1b_2 and PeAOX1c, respectively. Evolutionary and divergence patterns analysis revealed that the PeAOX, OsAOX, and BdAOX families experienced positive purifying selection and may have undergone a large-scale duplication event roughly 1.35–155.90 million years ago. Additionally, the organ-specific expression analysis showed that 80% of PeAOX members were mainly expressed in leaf. Promoter sequence analysis of PeAOXs revealed cis-acting regulatory elements (CAREs) responding to abiotic stress. Most PeAOX genes were significantly upregulated after methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Moreover, under salinity and drought stresses, the ectopic overexpression of PeAOX1b_2 in Arabidopsis enhanced seed germination and seedling establishment, increased the total respiratory rate and the proportion of AOX respiratory pathway in leaf, and enhanced antioxidant ability, suggesting that PeAOX1b_2 is crucial for abiotic stress resistance in Moso bamboo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

α-fucosidases that catalyze the hydrolysis of L -fucosyl residue have attracted attention. Here, an α-L-fucosidase from the glycoside hydrolase (GH) 29 family, named PsaFuc, was identified and biochemically characterized. PsaFuc exhibited both α- L -fucosidase and β- D -galactosidase activities. However, the substrate specificity of PsaFuc was different from other reported α-L-fucosidases. Enzymatic analysis indicated that the activity of PsaFuc decreased rapidly in treatments at 25 °C or 30 °C. Interestingly, the half-life of PsaFuc activity was significantly prolonged by adding 1 mM Ca2+. Compared with activated PsaFuc, inactivated PsaFuc exhibited the same melting temperature (T m) but different secondary structure components. In the presence of Ca2+, the T m of PsaFuc increased slightly, resulting in an improvement in overall structural stability. More importantly, the secondary structures of PsaFuc changed upon the binding of Ca2+ forming a new active conformation, which was relatively more stable at 25 °C. This study provided a better understanding of GH29 α- L -fucosidases. [Display omitted] • A bifunctional α-L-fucosidase, PsaFuc, was characterized. • The half-life of PsaFuc was prolonged by the addition of Ca2+. • The conformational change that played important role in enzymatic activity was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread use of broad‐spectrum antimicrobials has accelerated their entry into aquatic environment, which in turn can adversely affect aquatic organisms and humans, especially in the COVID‐19 outbreak and the post‐pandemic era. For early detection and intervention of adverse effects, this study develops a new carbon nanoprobe (CNP) that can reveal the adverse effects of trace amount triclosan (TCS), a commonly used broad‐spectrum antimicrobial (BSA), through a direct visualization method. CNP has excellent fluorescent properties and strong positive charges, which can be applied as fluorescent indicator and trapped in mitochondria by electrostatic attraction. The highly sensitive responsiveness of CNP to mitochondrial membrane potential ensures the visualization method can be used for monitoring the adverse effects of TCS. The trace amount TCS monitoring is achieved according to the decrease of fluorescence signal in mitochondria and the change of mitochondrial morphological structure from lines to dots. Moreover, monitoring TCS level in aquatic organisms of zebrafish is further realized. Compared with the morphological toxicity test, this visualizing strategy reveals the adverse effects in organisms under low‐dose TCS exposure more sensitively. This developed highly sensitive nanoprobe is cruical for direct BSA monitoring and thus prevents the harm of BSA to aquatic organisms and humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies a partially linear seemingly unrelated regressions (SUR) model to estimate a translog cost system that consists of a partially linear translog cost function and input share equations. The parametric component is estimated via a simple two-step feasible SUR estimation procedure. We show that the resulting estimator achieves root-n convergence and is asymptotically normal. The nonparametric component is estimated with a nonparametric SUR estimator based on the Cholesky decomposition. We show that this estimator is consistent, asymptotically normal, and more efficient relative to the ones that ignore cross-equation correlation. We emphasize the importance and implication of the choice of square root of the covariance matrix by comparing the Cholesky and Spectral decompositions. A model specification test for parametric functional form is proposed. An Italian banking data set is used to estimate the translog cost system. Results show that marginal effects of risks on cost of production are heterogeneous but increase with risk levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Label ambiguity has attracted quite some attention among the machine learning community. The latterly proposed Label Distribution Learning (LDL) can handle label ambiguity and has found wide applications in real classification problems. In the training phase, an LDL model is learned first. In the test phase, the top label(s) in the label distribution predicted by the learned LDL model is (are) then regarded as the predicted label(s). That is, LDL considers the whole label distribution in the training phase, but only the top label(s) in the test phase, which likely leads to objective inconsistency. To avoid such inconsistency, we propose a new LDL method Re-Weighting Large Margin Label Distribution Learning (RWLM-LDL). First, we prove that the expected $ L_1$ L 1 -norm loss of LDL bounds the classification error probability, and thus apply $ L_1$ L 1 -norm loss as the learning metric. Second, re-weighting schemes are put forward to alleviate the inconsistency. Third, large margin is introduced to further solve the inconsistency. The theoretical results are presented to showcase the generalization and discrimination of RWLM-LDL. Finally, experimental results show the statistically superior performance of RWLM-LDL against other comparing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most existing multilabel ranking methods assume the availability of a single objective label ranking for each instance in the training set, this paper deals with a more common case where only subjective inconsistent rankings from multiple rankers are associated with each instance. Two ranking methods are proposed from the perspective of instances and rankers, respectively. The first method, Instance-oriented Preference Distribution Learning (IPDL), is to learn a latent preference distribution for each instance. IPDL generates a common preference distribution that is most compatible to all the personal rankings, and then learns a mapping from the instances to the preference distributions. The second method, Ranker-oriented Preference Distribution Learning (RPDL), is proposed by leveraging interpersonal inconsistency among rankers, to learn a unified model from personal preference distribution models of all rankers. These two methods are applied to natural scene images dataset and 3D facial expression dataset BU_3DFE. Experimental results show that IPDL and RPDL can effectively incorporate the information given by the inconsistent rankers, and perform remarkably better than the compared state-of-the-art multilabel ranking algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amount of winter precipitation over southeast China (SCWP) is significantly affected by the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), with generally an enhanced SCWP response to El Niño events. In this paper, we find that this relationship shows remarkable nonstationarities on the multidecadal timescale. Running ENSO–SCWP correlation maintains statistically significant before the mid‐1960s and after the mid‐1990s but not during the interim period, which exhibits an approximate synchronized temporal evolution with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). A statistical method for interpreting nonstationary relationships is then applied to quantitatively verify and measure this possible AMO modulation. It is demonstrated that the nonstationary ENSO–SCWP correlation can be expressed to a large extent by the influence of the AMO–ENSO nonlinear effect (AMO*Niño3.4) on the SCWP. This influence intensifies the ENSO–SCWP relationship during the positive AMO phase but weakens it during the negative AMO phase. Therefore, the nonstationarity in the ENSO–SCWP relationship comes predominantly from an AMO modulation via this key nonlinear effect. We further suggest that a positive AMO favours a westward shift of ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly pattern in the tropical Pacific. Correspondingly, the anomalous western North Pacific (WNP) anticyclone also migrates westward, which gives rise to pronounced moisture transports and vertical motions over the adjacent southeast China, thereby resulting in a significant ENSO–SCWP relationship. In contrast, during the negative AMO phase, the eastward‐shifted ENSO SST and WNP anticyclonic anomalies produce significant atmospheric anomalies primarily to the east of the Chinese mainland, thus having less effect on the SCWP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here, a comprehensive study on the synthesis, characterization, and reactivity of grain‐boundary (GB)‐rich noble metal nanoparticle (NP) assemblies is presented. A facile and scalable synthesis of Pt, Pd, Au, Ag, and Rh NP assemblies is developed, in which NPs are predominantly connected via Σ3 (111) twin GBs, forming a network. Driven by water electrolysis, the random collisions and oriented attachment of colloidal NPs in solution lead to the formation of Σ3 (111) twin boundaries and some highly mismatched GBs. This synthetic method also provides convenient control over the GB density without altering the crystallite size or GB type by varying the NP collision frequency. The structural characterization reveals the presence of localized tensile strain at the GB sites. The ultrahigh activity of GB‐rich Pt NP assembly toward catalytic hydrogen oxidation in air is demonstrated, enabling room‐temperature catalytic hydrogen sensing for the first time. Finally, density functional theory calculations reveal that the strained Σ3(111) twin boundary facilitates oxygen dissociation, drastically enhancing the hydrogen oxidation rate via the dissociative pathway. This reported large‐scale synthesis of the Σ3 (111) twin GB‐rich structures enables the development of a broad range of high‐performance GB‐rich catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) harms human health and hinders normal human life. Considering the serious complexity and obvious regional characteristics of PM 2.5 pollution, it is urgent to fill in the comprehensive overview of regional characteristics and interannual evolution of PM 2.5. This review studied the PM 2.5 pollution in six typical areas between 2014 and 2022 based on the data published by the Chinese government and nearly 120 relevant literature. We analyzed and compared the characteristics of interannual and quarterly changes of PM 2.5 concentration. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH), Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and Pearl River Delta (PRD) made remarkable progress in improving PM 2.5 pollution, while Fenwei Plain (FWP), Sichuan Basin (SCB) and Northeast Plain (NEP) were slightly inferior mainly due to the relatively lower level of economic development. It was found that the annual average PM 2.5 concentration change versus year curves in the three areas with better pollution control conditions can be merged into a smooth curve. Importantly, this can be fitted for the accurate evaluation of each area and provide reliable prediction of its future evolution. In addition, we analyzed the factors affecting the PM 2.5 in each area and summarize the causes of air pollution in China. They included primary emission, secondary generation, regional transmission, as well as unfavorable air dispersion conditions. We also suggested that the PM 2.5 pollution control should target specific industries and periods, and further research need to be carried out on the process of secondary production. The results provided useful assistance such as effect prediction and strategy guidance for PM 2.5 pollution control in Chinese backward areas. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plasmalemma Na+/H+ antiporter Salt Overly Sensitive 1 (SOS1) is responsible for the efflux of Na+ from the cytoplasm, an important determinant of salt resistance in plants. In this study, an ortholog of SOS1 , referred to as NsSOS1 , was cloned from Nitraria sibirica , a typical halophyte that grows in deserts and saline-alkaline land, and its expression and function in regulating the salt tolerance of forest trees were evaluated. The expression level of NsSOS1 was higher in leaves than in roots and stems of N. sibirica , and its expression was upregulated under salt stress. Histochemical staining showed that β-glucuronidase (GUS) driven by the NsSOS1 promoter was strongly induced by abiotic stresses and phytohormones including salt, drought, low temperature, gibberellin, and methyl jasmonate, suggesting that NsSOS1 is involved in the regulation of multiple signaling pathways. Transgenic 84 K poplar (Populus alba × P. glandulosa) overexpressing NsSOS1 showed improvements in survival rate, root biomass, plant height, relative water levels, chlorophyll and proline levels, and antioxidant enzyme activities versus non-transgenic poplar (NT) under salt stress. Transgenic poplars accumulated less Na+ and more K+ in roots, stems, and leaves, which had a lower Na+/K+ ratio compared to NT under salt stress. These results indicate that NsSOS1-mediated Na+ efflux confers salt tolerance to transgenic poplars, which show more efficient photosynthesis, better scavenging of reactive oxygen species, and improved osmotic adjustment under salt stress. Transcriptome analysis of transgenic poplars confirmed that NsSOS1 not only mediates Na+ efflux but is also involved in the regulation of multiple metabolic pathways. The results provide insight into the regulatory mechanisms of NsSOS1 and suggest that it could be used to improve the salt tolerance of forest trees. • A plasmalemma Na+/H+ antiporter was identified from the halophyte Nitraria sibirica. • Expression of NsSOS1 was strongly induced by abiotic stresses and phytohormones. • NsSOS1-mediated Na+ efflux confers salt tolerance to transgenic poplars. • NsSOS1 is involved in regulation of multiple metabolic pathways in transgenic plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ti-based oxide hierarchical nanocomposites assembled into a two-dimensional structure were synthesized via a facile, flash oxidation of MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x) at 200–900 °C for 1 or 3 min. The oxidation temperature primarily controlled the phase composition. Particularly, TiOF 2 nanoparticles decorated MXene sheets formed at low oxidation temperatures (200 and 400 °C) and exhibited preferable activity in methylene blue (MB) photodegradation, reaching a ∼90 % and ∼56 % removal under ultraviolet and visible light illumination for 3 h, respectively. Due to the excellent electronic conductivity of MXene, the decreasing bandgap energy extended absorption in the visible range of the solar spectrum, suggesting a promising candidate for wide-range responsive photocatalytic applications. In contrast, TiO 2 nanoparticles assembled into 2D morphology formed at high temperatures (500–900 °C), possessing good microwave transparent performance because of low imaginary permittivity and dielectric loss tangent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of intelligent technology, the construction of smart cities with the goal of creating a harmonious human life has become a new hot spot in the world. A new round of information technology revolution, represented by the Internet, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and fifth-generation mobile communications (5G), is driving profound changes in the automotive industry. Smart vehicles (also known as intelligent connected vehicles) that integrate many high-tech technologies to provide safer, more convenient, and low-carbon comprehensive travel solutions have become an inevitable form of future vehicles. This paper constructs a three-level supply chain consisting of high-performance chip suppliers, smart car manufacturers, and retailers. On the basis of considering the level of product innovation and sales effort, Stackelberg game method is used to study the influence of each player in the supply chain on each parameter and the profit of each player under three scenarios: centralized decision making, nonsharing of innovation cost, and sharing of innovation cost. The results show that: when the level of sales effort has nothing to do with the level of innovation, the level of product innovation and the total profit of the supply chain increase with the improvement of the retailer's sales ability; when the level of sales effort is related to the level of innovation, the level of product innovation under the cost-sharing decision model is greater than the case of no cost sharing, but the total profit of the supply chain is less than the case of no cost sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemical composition and antibacterial activities of five tea tree essential oils are analyzed. GC–MS analysis reveals that 1,8‐cineole, terpinen‐4‐ol, p‐cymene, α‐terpineol, and α‐pinene are the representative composition. By comparison of the diameter of inhibition zone, oil of Melaleuca leucadendron Linn. (TTO1) shows the best antimicroorganism effects on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Subsequently, the coacervation between gelatin (GE) and gum Arabic (GA) for microencapsulation as functions of pH, GE–GA ratio, emulsifiers, homogenization speed and time, and microfluidization are investigated. The optimum parameters for the coacervation effectiveness of TTO1 and emulsifier S20 are emulsification at 10,000 rpm for 1 min, the ratio of GE–GA as 1:2 with a concentration of 1%, and pH of 4.0. The microcapsules have a particle size of 52.601 μm, spherical multinuclear morphology, and strong physical stability which show potential for their application in the controlled release of reactive materials and anticorrosion of cosmetics and foods. Novelty impact statement: The tea tree essential oils showed different antimicrobial potential toward the bacterial species tested. After microfluidization, tea tree essential oil microcapsules prepared by a complex coacervation method generated smaller particles with greater encapsulation efficiency. The microcapsules synthesized in this study can be utilized as a novel preservative in the food industry or used for the encapsulation of other bioactive compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the dissolution‐precipitation mechanism, this article successfully synthesized binary and ternary transition metal carbide microcuboids with random combinations of Hf, Nb, and Ta by annealing monocarbides/cobalt powders. Accelerated mass transport rate through the flow of molten alloys (Co‐Hf‐Nb‐Ta) instead of slow solid diffusion made the low‐temperature pressureless sintering technique (1500°C) a reality. Furthermore, the equilibrium morphology was driven by the gradient Gibbs potential of carbides induced by the different local curvature of powders and anisotropic interfacial energy. (Hf0.5Ta0.5)C possessed the optimal oxidation resistance among all mentioned carbides, even competed with (Hf1/3Nb1/3Ta1/3)C. During the isothermal oxidation at 800∼1200°C, the doping of Nb and Ta in carbides assisted the monoclinic‐orthorhombic HfO2 transition at ambient pressure, besides, TaC can also restrain the orthorhombic‐monoclinic transition of Nb2O5. Moreover, oxidation kinetics parameters concluded that the addition of HfC and TaC contributed to the decreasing reaction order and the increasing activation energy, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have demonstrated that the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) could affect El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) through thermocline adjustment, with a stronger ENSO sea surface temperature (SST) amplitude during a negative AMO phase than during a positive phase. In this study, we find that the ENSO atmospheric anomaly amplitudes in the tropical Pacific during different AMO phases are not necessarily consistent with these ENSO SST changes. For El Niño episodes, the low-level wind and precipitation anomalies over the tropical Pacific in the boreal winter are more pronounced during the negative AMO phase than during the positive phase, corresponding well to the stronger SST anomalies. However, La Niña events during the negative AMO phase are accompanied by weaker atmospheric anomalies in the tropical Pacific, although their SST anomalies are stronger than those during the positive phase. We suggest that this mismatch between La Niña SST and atmospheric anomalies can be largely attributed to AMO decadal modulation. A positive AMO favors intensified trade winds and weakened precipitation in the central tropical Pacific by modifying Walker circulation. Therefore, when La Niña coincides with a positive AMO, the low-level easterly and negative precipitation anomalies are superimposed, which gives rise to stronger atmospheric perturbations. In contrast, under a negative AMO background, the atmospheric anomalies induced by La Niña anomalous SST are partly counteracted by the AMO remote decadal modulation, thereby resulting in weaker anomaly amplitudes. Here, we highlight that AMO decadal forcing needs to be considered when investigating ENSO atmospheric variabilities and related regional climate impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new test method for the measurement of shear interfacial delamination strength of Rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) coated conductor (CC) tapes was implemented in this study. A novel shear specimen was designed and constructed. The shear specimen of epoxy resin was cured by three-dimensional printing technology and embedded with a short REBCO CC tape. The tape plane is parallel to the longitudinal axis of the specimen to realize pure shear load to REBCO CC tape through the universal uniaxial tensile load. The torque effect, non-interface elastic-plastic mechanical deformation and overflowed solder appearing in the traditional testing method are omitted. The experimental results show that the valid shear delamination strength is from 10.30 MPa to 11.98 MPa with the average value of 11.27 MPa, indicating the serious scattering of the tested data in traditional testing methods is eliminated. Through the analysis of delaminated interfaces morphology and the energy dispersive spectroscopy, it is observed that the interface delamination mainly occurs within the REBCO superconducting film itself, and a small portion of buffer layers are also peeled due to the brittle nature. In addition, based on the analysis of invalid data and the corresponding morphology after delamination, it is shown that the initial defects and failures significantly affect the experimental data, resulting in a lower testing value than the real shear interfacial delamination strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When demonstrating the effectiveness of a new algorithm, researchers are traditionally encouraged to compare their algorithm's performance against existing algorithms on well-studied benchmark test suites. In the absence of more nuanced methodologies, algorithm performance is typically summarized on average across the test suite examples. This paper highlights the potential bias of conclusions drawn by analyzing “on average” performance, and the opportunities offered by a recent testing methodology known as instance space analysis. To illustrate, we revisit our 2007 comparative study of algorithms for facial age estimation, and rigorously stress-test to challenge the original conclusions. The case study demonstrates how powerful visualizations offered by instance space analysis enable greater insights into unique strengths and weaknesses, and which algorithm should be used when and why. Inspired by such insights, a new algorithm is proposed, and its unique advantage is demonstrated. The bias often hidden in well-studied datasets, and the ramifications for drawing biased conclusions, are also illustrated in this case study. While focused on facial age estimation, the methodology and lessons learned from the case study are broadly applicable to any study seeking to draw conclusions about algorithm performance based on empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate ground-truth pose is essential to the training of most existing head pose estimation methods. However, in many cases, the “ground truth” pose is obtained in rather subjective ways, such as asking the subjects to stare at different markers on the wall. Thus it is better to use soft labels rather than explicit hard labels to indicate the pose of a face image. This paper proposes to associate a multivariate label distribution (MLD) to each image. An MLD covers a neighborhood around the original pose. Labeling the images with MLD can not only alleviate the problem of inaccurate pose labels, but also boost the training examples associated to each pose without actually increasing the total amount of training examples. Four algorithms are proposed to learn from MLD. Furthermore, an extension of MLD with the hierarchical structure is proposed to deal with fine-grained head pose estimation, which is named hierarchical multivariate label distribution (HMLD). Experimental results show that the MLD-based methods perform significantly better than the compared state-of-the-art head pose estimation algorithms. Moreover, the MLD-based methods appear much more robust against the label noise in the training set than the compared baseline methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of the treatment of unilateral unstable sacral fractures by fixation with the posterior INFIX (posterior pelvic ring screw‐rod internal fxation). Methods: Data of 60 patients with unilateral unstable sacral fractures who underwent surgery from March 2013 to March 2020 were retrospectively analyzed according to the selection criteria. All patients were associated with anterior pelvic ring injuries, and the operations were performed by the same team of surgeons. According to the different types of internal fixation, the patients were divided into two groups, which both included 30 patients: the posterior INFIX group and iliosacral screw fixation group. The demographic and clinical data of the two patient groups, such as age, sex, sacral fracture types based on the Denis classification, operation time, amount of intraoperative bleeding, intraoperative fluoros copy time, Majeed pelvic score at final follow‐up, and quality of fracture reduction based on Mears and Velyvis's imaging classification criteria were collected by the same researcher and compared statistically. Results: All patients were continuously followed up for 23.17 ± 3.34 months (range, 12 to 46 months). All sacral fractures healed with an average healing time of 9.3 ± 2.24 months (range, 6 to 18 months). None of the patients had re‐displacement of the fracture or fixation failure. Compared to the iliosacral screw group, the posterior INFIX group patients had more intraoperative bleeding (t = 3.59, P < 0.001), shorter operation time (t = 4.49, P < 0.001), and shorter intraoperative fluoroscopy time (t = 6.26, P < 0.001). There were no statistical differences between the two groups in terms of age, sex, fracture type, Majeed score, and quality of fracture reduction (P > 0.05). In the posterior INFIX group, one patient had a superficial wound infection and one patient complained of discomfort due to a prominent fixation. In the iliosacral screw fixation group, one patient had intraoperative iatrogenic S1 nerve injury and vessel injury. The posterior INFIX fixation was a simpler manipulation with higher safety, shorter time of operation and intraoperative fluoroscopy, and similar clinical outcomes compared to iliosacral screw fixation. Conclusion: For the treatment of unilateral unstable sacral fractures, the posterior INFIX fixation can be recommended in clinic application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • TaO 2 F nanoparticles were synthesized through annealing of (NH 4) 2 Ta 2 O 3 F 6 mesocrystals. • Atmospheric conditions in annealing process modified the F/O ratio within TaO 2 F. • Superior electrochemical performance is attributed to pseudocapacitance behaviors. Transition metal oxyfluorides have elicited considerable interest as potential anode materials for LIBs owing to their distinctive chemical properties and crystal structures. Herein, two unique types of crystalline tantalum oxyfluoride (TaO 2 F) nanoparticles were synthesized through the annealing of mesocrystalline (NH 4) 2 Ta 2 O 3 F 6 precursor in both air and argon atmospheres. Specifically, the heat-treatment process in oxygen-deficient (argon) atmosphere facilitated the substitution of O2– with smaller F- within anion sites of the TaO 2 F lattice, culminating in a decreased band-gap energy and thereby enhancing conductivity. Notably, nonstoichiometric TaO 2 F nanoparticles characterized by higher F/O ratio (denoted as TA), when utilized as anode materials in LIBs, showcased remarkable rate capability, achieving 166.5 mAh/g at high current density of 1250 mA g−1, and exemplary cyclic stability with average coulombic efficiency of approximately 99.8 % over 900 cycles. This enhanced electrochemical performance, surpassing that of sample TO, can be primarily ascribed to the rapid kinetics of surface capacitive process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a commonly used phase change material for thermal energy storage. It can store amounts of heat in the process of phase transition, whereas the solid-to-liquid transition requires it to be form-stabilized before application. In this study, a phase change composite with form-stability and processibility is prepared by simply blending PLA with PEG at 180 °C, reaching a maximum PEG loading of 90 wt%. The preparation is easy, cheap, environmental-benign, and scalable. Besides, the obtained PLA/PEG (PLEG) composites are feasible for regulating the thermal behaviors of batteries operated at high rates, providing a low-cost and simple approach to improving the cyclability of fast-charging batteries. [Display omitted] • The method of preparing PLEG by blending and heating PLA and PEG is simple and low-cost. • The prepared PLEG possesses considerable latent heat storage capacity, formability, shape-stability, and reusability. • PLEG is appliable for the thermal management of lithium-ion batteries operating at high rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant meristems contain pools of dividing stem cells that produce new organs for plant growth and development. Environmental factors, including biotic and abiotic stresses and nutrient availability, affect meristem activity and thus the architecture of roots and shoots; understanding how meristems react to changing environmental conditions will shed light on how plants optimize nutrient acquisition and acclimate to different environmental conditions. This review highlights recent exciting advances in this field, mainly in Arabidopsis. We discuss the signaling pathways, genetic regulators, and molecular mechanisms involved in the response of plant meristems to environmental and nutrient cues, and compare the similarities and differences of stress responses between the shoot and root apical meristems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prognosis prediction for nasopharyngeal carcinoma based on magnetic resonance (MR) images assists in the guidance of treatment intensity, thus reducing the risk of recurrence and death. To reduce repeated labor and sufficiently explore domain knowledge, aggregating labeled/annotated data from external sites enables us to train an intelligent model for a clinical site with unlabeled data. However, this task suffers from the challenges of incomplete multi-modal examination data fusion and image data heterogeneity among sites. This paper proposes a cross-site survival analysis method for prognosis prediction of nasopharyngeal carcinoma from domain adaptation viewpoint. Utilizing a Cox model as the basic framework, our method equips it with a cross-attention based multi-modal fusion regularization. This regularization model effectively fuses the multi-modal information from multi-parametric MR images and clinical features onto a domain-adaptive space, despite the absence of some modalities. To enhance the feature discrimination, we also extend the contrastive learning technique to censored data cases. Compared with the conventional approaches which directly deploy a trained survival model in a new site, our method achieves superior prognosis prediction performance in cross-site validation experiments. These results highlight the key role of cross-site adaptability of our method and support its value in clinical practice. [Display omitted] • We study the cross-site prognosis prediction problem for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. • We propose a cross-attention multi-modal fusion module to learn site-adaptive space. • We design cross-domain partial contrastive learning to improve discriminant ability. • Our method obtains superior performance in cross-site prognosis prediction experiment. • This research has a significant value in clinical practice for its site-adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuously increasing number of traffic accidents necessitates addressing distracted driving, which is responsible for numerous fatalities. Enhancing driver behavior recognition, particularly through developing a highly reliable Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), holds substantial potential for cultivating safer transportation systems. Inspired by the success of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), various networks have been proposed to enhance the detection accuracy of distracting behaviors. However, existing models have too many parameters and rely heavily on extensive labeled data, leading to time-consuming labeling and large models. To address these limitations, we propose a distracted behavior detection method based on a lightweight vision transformer trained using pseudo-label-based semi-supervised learning to learn discriminative representations from labeled and unlabeled data while ensuring a small model and speedy inference. Specifically, we create strong and weak augmented versions of the input minibatch and employ a hybrid lightweight transformer model in a teacher-student network. Pseudo-labels are generated from the teacher's predictions on weakly augmented data. The student model aligns with these labels on strongly augmented input, with teacher parameters evolving through exponential moving average. Our method presents a real-time, accurate solution for distracted driver detection, with the potential to significantly enhance road safety by reducing accidents. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a comparative evaluation against alternative fully-supervised and semi-supervised methods. Furthermore, our method is evaluated in naturalistic driving settings with varying lighting and complex backgrounds. Experiments conducted on two publicly available driver distraction detection datasets show that our method outperforms current state-of-the-art approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Zebrafish embryos exposed to Ag+ showed increased mortality at pH 5 compared to pH 7. • Ag+ suppressed inner ear development and impaired lateral line function. • Ag+ impaired the structure and function and epidermal ionocytes, leading to ion loss. • Acidic water did not significantly affect embryonic development but stimulated ionocyte differentiation. • Acidic water enhanced the toxicity of Ag+ toward lateral line function and ion regulation. Freshwater acidification is a global environmental challenge, yet the effects of acidic water on fish resistance to toxic Ag+ remain an unexplored area. To address this knowledge gap, zebrafish embryos were exposed to different concentrations (0 (control), 0.1, and 0.25 mg/L) of AgNO 3 under pH 5 or 7 for 7 days. Notably, AgNO 3 at 0.25 mg/L resulted in 100 % mortality in both pH conditions, while AgNO 3 at 0.1 mg/L resulted in higher mortality at pH 5 (85 %) compared to pH 7 (20 %), indicating that acidic water enhanced Ag+ toxicity. Several parameters, including body length, inner ear (otic vesicle and otolith) and yolk sac areas, lateral line hair cell number and morphology, the number of ionocytes (H +-ATP-rich cells and Na+/ K +-ATP-rich cells), and ion contents (Ag+, Na+, and Ca2+) were assessed at 96 h (day 4) to investigate individual and combined effects of Ag+ and acid on embryos. Acid alone did not significantly alter most parameters, but it decreased the yolk sac area and increased the ionocyte number. Conversely, Ag+ alone caused reductions in most parameters, including body length, the inner ear area, hair cell number, and ionocyte number. Combining acid and Ag+ resulted in greater suppression of the otolith area, hair cell number, and Na+/Ca2+ contents. In conclusion, acidification of freshwater poses a potential risk to fish embryo viability by increasing their susceptibility to silver toxicity, specifically affecting sensory function and ion regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pure and carbon-coated tantalum-based oxides photocatalysts were synthesized via the mesocrystalline precursor transformation method by annealing pure and polydopamine-coated (NH 4) 2 Ta 2 O 3 F 6 mesocrystals in Ar. The oxygen-poor atmosphere thermal annealing process assisted the formation of nonstoichiometric TaO 2 F mesocrystals with more F and Ta 2 O 5 nanorods with oxygen vacancies and the associated lower valence state Ta ions (Ta4+). Furthermore, the carbon coating, decomposed from coated polydopamine, helped to control their particle size within 100 nm by isolating the connection of (NH 4) 2 Ta 2 O 3 F 6 subunits. Hence, as-synthesized products, particularly carbon-coated Ta 2 O 5 nanosheets, owning large surface area (67.6 m2 g−1), fine particle size (<100 nm), excellent electronic conductivity, decreased bandgap energy, enhanced and extended absorption in the visible range, exhibited preferable photocatalytic activity in the photodegradation of methylene blue, reaching a 76.54 % and 41.71 % removal under ultraviolet and visible light illumination, suggesting a promising candidate for wide-range responsive photocatalytic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early and accurate severity assessment of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on computed tomography (CT) images offers a great help to the estimation of intensive care unit event and the clinical decision of treatment planning. To augment the labeled data and improve the generalization ability of the classification model, it is necessary to aggregate data from multiple sites. This task faces several challenges including class imbalance between mild and severe infections, domain distribution discrepancy between sites, and presence of heterogeneous features. In this paper, we propose a novel domain adaptation (DA) method with two components to address these problems. The first component is a stochastic class-balanced boosting sampling strategy that overcomes the imbalanced learning problem and improves the classification performance on poorly-predicted classes. The second component is a representation learning that guarantees three properties: 1) domain-transferability by prototype triplet loss, 2) discriminant by conditional maximum mean discrepancy loss, and 3) completeness by multi-view reconstruction loss. Particularly, we propose a domain translator and align the heterogeneous data to the estimated class prototypes (i.e., class centers) in a hyper-sphere manifold. Experiments on cross-site severity assessment of COVID-19 from CT images show that the proposed method can effectively tackle the imbalanced learning problem and outperform recent DA approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this study is the buckling analysis of functionally graded graphene platelets-reinforced composite (GPL-RC) rectangular plates with a circular hole using the finite-element (FE) method. The modified Halpin-Tsai micromechanical scheme is performed to obtain the effective properties. The buckling analysis of functionally graded GPL-RC plate is modeled by the use of the first-order shear deformation plate theory (FSDPT). Employing the minimum total potential energy principle and FE approach along with isoparametric formulation, the eigenvalue buckling equations are obtained. The in-house finite-element code via MATLAB environment is developed to model the problem. Various numerical results are reported to examine the effects of the geometry of plate, weight fractions and distribution patterns of GPLs on the buckling loads. It is found that the functional distribution of GPL improves the stability of the GPL-RC plate and increases the buckling load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexagonal monolayer AlN (h‐mAlN) is an indirect wide‐gap semiconductor and is attractive for use in optoelectronic devices. Herein, first‐principles calculations are performed to study the electronic, vibrational, elastic, and piezoelectric properties of H and F‐functionalized AlN sheets. The results indicate that the H‐/F‐functionalized (FAlNH) and fully H‐functionalized (HAlNH) sheets are thermodynamically and dynamically stable. FAlNH is a direct bandgap material while HAlNH is still an indirect one. The F(H) atoms in F(H)AlNH bonded with Al act as electron acceptors whereas the H atoms bonded with N are electron donors. Some vibrational modes of these two functionalized systems differ significantly although their structures are similar. Functionalization with the H and F atoms reduces the elastic constants considerably and alters the mechanical performances of both systems. The in‐plane piezoelectric constants of the FAlNH (HAlNH) sheet increase (decrease) surprisingly to about three times (one‐third) that of h‐mAlN. However, the work functions of both systems are enhanced notably. The study provides useful information for modulating the intrinsic properties of h‐mAlN for possible applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current thin film nanocomposite membranes incorporated with microporous particles are demanding for improving membrane performance. In this study, carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-modified poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI)/sodium lignosulfonate (SL) membranes were prepared through layer-by-layer assembly by dispersing CNTs into PEI and/or SL solutions, in order to investigate the effects of CNTs on membrane structure and forward osmosis performance. The characterization results indicated that the CNTs can be well-incorporated in the PEI/SL membranes, which contribute to a slightly lower hydrophilicity of membrane surface and different membrane morphology. The forward osmosis performance of the PEI/SL and CNTs-modified PEI/SL membranes were investigated for application in separating NaCl from water. Compare with the PEI/SL membrane, PEI/(SL–CNTs) membrane prepared by dispersing CNTs into the SL solution exhibited the best water flux and membrane selectivity. The increase in the CNTs content of the PEI/(SL–CNTs) membrane can enhance the water flux, but cannot significantly impact on the reverse salt flux, resulting in the improvement in membrane selectivity. The PEI/(SL–CNTs) membrane containing 0.075 g L−1 CNTs in SL showed a 66.3% higher water flux of 7.32 LMH, also exhibited better antifouling and foulant-release properties. This study offers a new method to design novel FO membranes for desalination and water purification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lymphatic vasculature is an integral part of the cardiovascular system where it maintains interstitial fluid balance. Additionally, lymphatic vasculature regulates lipid assimilation and inflammatory response. Lymphatic vasculature is composed of lymphatic capillaries, collecting lymphatic vessels and valves that function in synergy to absorb and transport fluid against gravitational and pressure gradients. Defects in lymphatic vessels or valves leads to fluid accumulation in tissues (lymphedema), chylous ascites, chylothorax, metabolic disorders and inflammation. The past three decades of research has identified numerous molecules that are necessary for the stepwise development of lymphatic vasculature. However, approaches to treat lymphatic disorders are still limited to massages and compression bandages. Hence, better understanding of the mechanisms that regulate lymphatic vascular development and function is urgently needed to develop efficient therapies. Recent research has linked mechanical signals such as shear stress and matrix stiffness with biochemical pathways that regulate lymphatic vessel growth, patterning and maturation and valve formation. The goal of this review article is to highlight these innovative developments and speculate on unanswered questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]