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The galloyl group in catechins was confirmed to be crucial for their health benefits. However, whether the catechins’ galloyl group had a contribution to their anti-inflammation remains unclear. This study investigated the anti-inflammation properties and mechanisms of catechins in RAW264.7 cells by using ELISA, fluorometry, flow cytometer, Western blot, and molecular docking. Results showed that the galloyl group enhanced the inhibitory abilities of catechins on inflammatory cytokines (NO, PGE2, IL-1β, and TNF-α) and ROS release in LPS-induced cells. This suppression was likely mediated by delaying cells from the G0/G1 to the S phase, blocking COX-2 and iNOS via the TLR4/MAPK/NF-κB pathway with PU.1 as an upstream target. The research proved that the existence of galloyl groups in catechins was indispensable for their anti-inflammatory capacities and offered a theoretical basis for the anti-inflammatory mechanism of galloylated catechins. Future research is needed to verify the anti-inflammatory effects of catechins in various sources of macrophages or the Caco-2/RAW264.7 cell co-culture system.

We investigated a stable single-cavity polarization-multiplexed ring fiber laser with weak birefringence. The feasibility of the weak intrinsic residual birefringence to induce polarization-multiplexed pulses with low repetition rate difference under dual/triple-comb modes is experimentally verified. The significant evolution of the relative stability and polarization extinction ratio, and its physical mechanism are revealed when adjusting the linear intracavity loss. These results provide further understanding of the influence of birefringence amount, loss, dispersion, and multiple pulse interaction on the polarization-multiplexed pulses. Meanwhile, the intriguing pulse characteristics such as low repetition rate difference, qualified relative stability and unique wavelength/polarization multiplexing are experimentally obtained, showing the high potential to promote the wide applicability and performance improvement of multiple-comb metrology such as dual/triple-comb frequency measurement.

Abstract Background Xinjiang is an economically underdeveloped area in China, but the obesity rate of children and adolescents is increasing year by year. Physical fitness and body mass index (BMI) are very important factors for healthy development, whereas few studies focus on the relationship between them in this region. This study aimed to explore the relationship between physical fitness and BMI of children and adolescents aged 7 to 18 in Xinjiang. Method A total of 17,356 children and adolescents aged 7–18 years were involved. BMI was divided into five levels by percentiles, from very low to very high. Physical fitness was evaluated by five indicators: grip strength, standing long jump, sit-and-reach, 50 m dash, and endurance running. Single-factor analysis of variance was used to compare the Z-scores of the five physical fitness indicators among different BMI levels for the four age groups by gender. A nonlinear quadratic regression model was used to evaluate the relationship between BMI and each indicator in the four age groups. Result There is a significant correlation between the five health-related indicators (grip strength, standing long jump, sit and reach, 50 m dash, endurance run) at two age groups (13-15 yrs., 16-18 yrs) of children and adolescents in Xinjiang, China. The range of the Pearson coefficient is 0.048 ~ 0.744. For the other two age groups (7-9 yrs., 10-12 yrs.,) significant correlations are found only in some indicators, and the Pearson coefficient ranges from 0.002 to 0.589. The relationship between BMI and physical fitness presents an U-shaped or inverted U-shaped curve in most age groups(R2 ranges from − 0.001 to 0.182. Children and adolescents with normal BMI score higher on physical fitness tests, and boys (R2 ranges from − 0.001 to 0.182) are more pronounced than girls (R2 ranges from 0.001 to 0.031). Conclusion Children and adolescents with a BMI above or below the normal ranges have lower physical fitness than those with normal BMI. BMI and physical fitness have an U-shaped or inverted U-shaped curve relationship, and the impact is more evident in boys than girls. Targeted actions such as improving the quality of physical education classes, advocating students to keep a balanced diet and physical exercise should be taken designedly.

Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata (Lamb.) Hook.) stands as one of the pivotal afforestation tree species and timber resources in southern China. Nevertheless, the occurrence of seed abortion and a notably high proportion of astringent seeds significantly curtail the yield and quality of elite seeds, resulting in substantial economic losses. The development of astringent seeds is accompanied by significant physiological and biochemical alterations. Here, the first combined lipidomic and metabolomic analysis was performed to gain a comprehensive understanding of astringent seed traits. A total of 744 metabolites and 616 lipids were detected, of which 489 differential metabolites and 101 differential lipids were identified. In astringent seeds, most flavonoids and tannins, as well as proline and γ-aminobutyric acid, were more accumulated, along with a notable decrease in lipid unsaturation, indicating oxidative stress in the cells of astringent seeds. Conversely, numerous elemental metabolites were less accumulated, including amino acids and their derivatives, saccharides and alcohols, organic acids and nucleotides and their derivatives. Meanwhile, most lipid subclasses, mainly associated with energy storage (triglyceride and diglyceride) and cell membrane composition (phosphatidic acid, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine), also exhibited significant reductions. These results reflected a disruption in the cellular system or the occurrence of cell death, causing a reduction in viable cells within astringent seeds. Furthermore, only one lipid subclass, sphingosine phosphate (SoP), was more accumulated in astringent seeds. Additionally, lower accumulation of indole-3-acetic acid and more accumulation of salicylic acid (SA) were also identified in astringent seeds. Both SA and SoP were closely associated with the promotion of programmed cell death in astringent seeds. Collectively, our study revealed significant abnormal changes in phytohormones, lipids and various metabolites in astringent seeds, allowing us to propose a model for the development of astringent seeds in Chinese fir based on existing research and our findings. This work enriches our comprehension of astringent seeds and presents valuable bioindicators for the identification of astringent seeds.

With the development of urban underground space and increased infrastructure functions, both the scale of engineering construction and engineering difficulties have increased globally. In the construction of structures in soft strata, especially in coastal areas, the limited bearing capacity of the foundations poses a significant challenge. The composite pile technologies employing an organic combination of the rigid pile andthe flexible column can enable efficient soft ground treatment. In light of prominent global environmental issues, low-carbon energy-saving curing technologies have been rapidly developed for application in geotechnical engineering. This paper discusses progress in research on the mechanical properties of the efficient and low-carbon pile technologies, including the stiffened deep mixing (SDM) column, squeezed branch pile, pre-bored grouting plated nodular (PGPN) pile, precast cement pile reinforced by cemented soil with a variable section (PCCV), and carbonized composite pile (CCP). In addition, it reviews the technical characteristics and recent progress of feasible low-carbon energy-efficient curing technologies. The paper also proposes future directions for theoretical research and technological development of low-carbon pile technologies. The key contribution of this review is to provide insights into efficient and low-carbon pile technologies. In addition, the findings from the study of the pile technologies used in extra-thick soft strata also provide industry practitioners with a comprehensive guide regarding the specific applications and mechanical performance of the pile technologies, which can serve as a stepping stone to facilitate the technological development of the underground space industry.

Coastal saltmarshes are key ecosystems with important ecological functions. Yet, they have experienced a widespread decline. Due to their importance, the conservation and restoration of saltmarshes are globally shared objectives, including China. Despite multiple local studies, nationwide information about saltmarshes in China is scarce. Thus, we used remote sensing to delineate the spatial distribution and areal extent of saltmarshes along coastal China and resolve their species composition. By interpreting 10 m spatial resolution Sentinel-2 images on Google Earth Engine, assisted with field survey and literature search, a total of 118 010 ha of saltmarshes were delineated in coastal China in 2019. Seven typical saltmarsh species were identified, with Phragmites australis, Spartina alterniflora, and Scirpus mariquater as dominant species, accounting for 95.5% of total saltmarsh extent, while Suaeda salsa, Tamarix chinensis, Cyperus malaccensis, and Sesuvium portulacastrum were present in limited abundance. The P. australis and exotic species S. alterniflora grow along almost all coastal provinces, but P. australis dominates in the north while S. alterniflora dominates in the middle part of coastal China. Suaeda salsa occurs mainly in the north and has suffered large losses. Tamarix chinensis is abundant in Shandong province, S. mariquater in the Yangtze River delta, C. malaccensis in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, and S. portulacastrum in Taiwan. The exotic species S. alterniflora expanded extensively along the coast and its expansion rate continues to increase. The results provided conform a much-needed baseline for future monitoring efforts and the assessment of progress in the conservation and restoration projects toward recovering saltmarshes in China.

This study mapped the areal extent, identified the species composition, and analyzed the changes of salt marshes in the intertidal zone of China during the period 1985–2019. With the aid of the cloud platform of the Google Earth Engine, we selected Landsat 5/8 and Sentinel-2 images and used the support vector machine classification method to extract salt marsh information for the years of 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019. Seven major species of salt marshes: Phragmites australis, Suaeda spp., Spartina alterniflora, Scirpus mariqueter, Tamarix chinensis, Cyperus malaccensis, and Sesuvium portulacastrum were identified. Our results showed that salt marshes are mainly distributed in Liaoning, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, with varying patterns of shrinking, expansion, or wavering in different places. The distribution of salt marshes has declined considerably from 151,324 ha in 1985 to 115,397 ha in 2019, a drop of 23.7%. During the same period, the area of native species has dropped 95.4% from 77,741 ha to 3,563 ha for Suaeda spp. and 45.1% from 60,511 ha to 33,193 ha for P. australis; on the contrary, the area of exotic species, S. alterniflora, has exhibited a sharp rise from just 99 ha to 67,527 ha. For the past 35 years, the driving factors causing salt marsh changes are mainly land reclamation, variations in water and sand fluxes, and interspecific competition and succession of salt marsh vegetation. These results provide fundamental reference information and could form the scientific basis for formulating policies for the conservation and utilization of salt marsh resources in China.

Urban forest parks play a crucial role in contributing to the urban environment, residential well-being, and social welfare. Visitors’ perception of multi-sensory interactive experiences in urban forest parks is an important source of information for landscape planning. Whilst data elicited from visitors via questionnaires are temporally and spatially restricted, online media provide a public platform for the direct and comprehensive expression of park experiences beyond such restrictions. To look into visitors’ multi-sensory interactive experiences in an urban forest park in China, a total of 7447 reviews of such were collected from four authoritative online platforms using Python, and the ROSTCM tool was used to generate semantic and social networks out of the data set. The results showed that urban forest park visitors’ sensory experiences are dominated by visual and olfactory perceptions, followed by audio-visual and visual-tactile interactions. Among them, visual perception displays the highest degree of specificity and diversity, while tactile and gustatory perceptions are relatively infrequent and singular. The landscapes that affect visitors’ perceptual preferences mainly include floriculture, green vegetation, soundscapes, and sanitation utilities. Moreover, both the fresh air and the agreeable environment have a significant positive impact on visitors’ perceptions. The above findings not only have practical implications for the landscape planning and design of urban forest parks, but also provide theoretical insights into the evaluation of natural landscapes in urban forest parks from the perspective of tourists’ multi-sensory experiences.

The past decade has witnessed tremendous achievements of ultrafast fiber laser technologies due to rapid developments of saturable absorbers (SAs) based on, in particular, nanomaterials such as 0D quantum dot, 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D layered materials, and 3D nanostructures. However, most of those nanomaterials-based SAs are inevitably absence of the high damage threshold and all-fiber integration, therefore challenging their applications on highly integrated and high-energy pulse generations. Recently, the real all-fiber SAs based on the nonlinear multimodal interference (NLMMI) technique using multimode fibers are demonstrated to overcome the above limitations. In this review, a detailed summary of the recent advances in NLMMI-based all-fiber SAs is provided, including the fundamental theory, implementation scenarios, and ultrafast fiber lasers of the all-fiber SAs, covering wide wavelength range of 1, 1.55, and 2 μm. In addition to the state-of-the-art overview, optical rogue waves in the all-fiber SA-based ultrafast fiber laser are extensively analyzed, which reveals the laser physics behind the dynamics from low-energy to high-energy pulses and directs the design of high-energy ultrafast fiber lasers. The conclusions and perspectives of the all-fiber SAs are also discussed at the end.

Differential evolution of apoptosis, programmed necrosis, and autophagy, parthanatos is a form of cell death mediated by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1), which is caused by DNA damage. PARP1 hyper-activation stimulates apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) nucleus translocation, and accelerates nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) depletion, leading to DNA fragmentation. The mechanisms of parthanatos mainly include DNA damage, PARP1 hyper-activation, PAR accumulation, NAD+ and ATP depletion, and AIF nucleus translocation. Now, it is reported that parthanatos widely exists in different diseases (tumors, retinal diseases, neurological diseases, diabetes, renal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, ischemia-reperfusion injury...). Excessive or defective parthanatos contributes to pathological cell damage; therefore, parthanatos is critical in the therapy and prevention of many diseases. In this work, the hallmarks and molecular mechanisms of parthanatos and its related disorders are summarized. The questions raised by the recent findings are also presented. Further understanding of parthanatos will provide a new treatment option for associated conditions.

Engineered cementitious composite (ECC) is a unique material, which can significantly contribute to self-healing based on ongoing hydration. However, it is difficult to model and predict the self-healing performance of ECC. Although different machine learning (ML) algorithms have been utilized to predict several properties of concrete, the application of ML on self-healing prediction is considerably rare. This paper aims to provide a comparative analysis on the performance of various machine learning models in predicting the self-healing capability of ECC. These models include four individual methods, linear regression (LR), back-propagation neural network (BPNN), classification and regression tree (CART), and support vector regression (SVR). To improve prediction accuracy, three ensemble methods, namely bagging, AdaBoost, and stacking, were also studied. A series of experimental works on the self-healing performance of ECC samples was conducted, and the results were used to develop and compare the accuracy among the ML models. The comparison results showed that the Stack_LR model had the best predictive performance, showing the highest coefficient of determination (R2), the lowest root-mean-squared error (RMSE), and the smallest prediction error (MAE). Among all individual models studies, the BPNN model performed the best in terms of the RMSE and R2, while SVR performed the best in terms of the MAE. Furthermore, SVR had the smallest prediction error (MAE) for crack widths less than 60 μm or greater than 100 μm, while CART had the smallest prediction error (MAE) for crack widths between 60 μm and 100 μm. The study concluded that the individual and ensemble methods can be used to predict the self-healing of ECC. Ensemble models were able to improve the accuracy of prediction compared to the individual model used as their base learner, i.e., a 2.3% to 4.9% reduction in MAE. However, selecting an appropriate individual and ensemble method is critical. To improve the performance accuracy, researchers should employ different ensemble methods to compare their effectiveness with different ML models.

Optimal fast charging is an important factor in battery management systems (BMS). Traditional charging strategies for lithium-ion batteries, such as the constant current–constant voltage (CC–CV) pattern, do not take capacity aging mechanisms into account, which are not only disadvantageous in the life-time usage of the batteries, but also unsafe. In this paper, we employ the dynamic optimization (DP) method to achieve the optimal charging current curve for a lithium-ion battery by introducing limits on the intercalation-induced stresses and the solid–liquid interface film growth based on an electrochemical–thermal model. Furthermore, the backstepping technique is utilized to control the temperature to avoid overheating. This paper concentrates on solving the issue of minimizing charging time in a given target State of Charge (SoC), while limiting the capacity loss caused by intercalation-induced stresses and film formation. The results indicate that the proposed optimal charging method in this paper offers a good compromise between the charging time and battery aging.

Fiber thermomechanical refining is a critical step for the manufacturing of medium density fiberboard (MDF). To increase productivity and improve fiber quality with a reduction in energy consumption during refining, it is essential to determine appropriate refining conditions, such as the chips retention time (accumulated chip height, CH) in the pre-heater, feeding screw revolution speed (SR) in the chip feeding pipe, and the opening ratio of the discharge valve (OV) in the discharge pipe. Using multiple regression analysis, relationships between the response variables (the total fibers, the specific energy consumption obtained by the motor power consumption/the total amount of dry fibers, and the percentage of qualified fibers) and the predictor variables (OV, CH, and SR) were modeled. Specific energy consumption decreased with an increase in CH. When more chips were stored in the pre-heater, the chips were softened by the extended steam-treatment time, reducing the energy consumption. There were negative relationships between the percentage of qualified fibers and the predictor variables (OV and SR). It was reasoned that a greater proportion of coarse fibre was produced when the discharge valve opening ratio or the feeding screw speed increased. This resulted in a reduction in the percentage of qualified fibers. Due to the large sample size (1667 measurements for each variable) in this study, the resulting regression equations can be applied to estimate the productivity, energy consumption, and fiber quality during refining in an MDF mill.

In recent years, offshore wind farms have frequently encountered engineering geological disasters such as seabed liquefaction and scouring. Consequently, in situ monitoring has become essential for the safe siting, construction, and operation of these installations. Current technologies are hampered by limitations in single-parameter monitoring and insufficient probe-penetration depth, hindering comprehensive multi-parameter dynamic monitoring of seabed sediments. To address these challenges, we propose a foldable multi-sensor probe and establish an underwater adaptive continuous penetration system capable of concurrently measuring seabed elevation changes and sediment pore water pressure profiles. The reliability of the equipment design is confirmed through static analysis of the frame structure and sealed cabin. Furthermore, laboratory tests validate the stability and accuracy of the electrical and mechanical sensor measurements. Preliminary tests conducted in a harbor environment demonstrate the system’s effectiveness.