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Escherichia coli (E. coli) has become a particular concern due to the increasing incidence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) observed worldwide. Using machine learning (ML) to predict E. coli AMR is a more efficient method than traditional laboratory testing. However, further improvement in the predictive performance of existing models remains challenging. In this study, we collected 1937 high-quality whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from public databases with an antimicrobial resistance phenotype and modified the existing workflow by adding an attention mechanism to enable the modified workflow to focus more on core single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that may significantly lead to the development of AMR in E. coli. While comparing the model performance before and after adding the attention mechanism, we also performed a cross-comparison among the published models using random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), logistic regression (LR), and convolutional neural network (CNN). Our study demonstrates that the discriminative positional colors of Chaos Game Representation (CGR) images can selectively influence and highlight genome regions without prior knowledge, enhancing prediction accuracy. Furthermore, we developed an online tool (https://github.com/tjiaa/E.coli-ML/tree/main) for assisting clinicians in the rapid prediction of the AMR phenotype of E. coli and accelerating clinical decision-making.

Abstract Event cameras produce asynchronous discrete outputs due to the independent response of camera pixels to changes in brightness. The asynchronous and discrete nature of event data facilitate the tracking of prolonged feature trajectories. Nonetheless, this necessitates the adaptation of feature tracking techniques to efficiently process this type of data. In addressing this challenge, we proposed a hybrid data-driven feature tracking method that utilizes data from both event cameras and frame-based cameras to track features asynchronously. It mainly includes patch initialization, patch optimization, and patch association modules. In the patch initialization module, FAST corners are detected in frame images, providing points responsive to local brightness changes. The patch association module introduces a nearest-neighbor (NN) algorithm to filter new feature points effectively. The patch optimization module assesses optimization quality for tracking quality monitoring. We evaluate the tracking accuracy and robustness of our method using public and self-collected datasets, focusing on average tracking error and feature age. In contrast to the event-based Kanade–Lucas–Tomasi tracker method, our method decreases the average tracking error ranging from 1.3 to 29.2% and boosts the feature age ranging from 9.6 to 32.1%, while ensuring the computational efficiency improvement of 1.2–7.6%. Thus, our proposed feature tracking method utilizes the unique characteristics of event cameras and traditional cameras to deliver a robust and efficient tracking system.

Coal mine gas with methane concentration lower than 30 % is regarded as low-concentration gas. Currently, both domestically and internationally, coal mine gas with methane concentration ranging from 10 % to 30 % is mainly used for power generation. However, it is not easy to safely combust and treat coal mine gas with methane concentration below 10 %, which is typically directly emitted into the atmosphere, leading to energy wastage and environmental pollution. Metal fiber burners are a type of porous medium burner, suitable for fully premixed combustion, enabling the safe utilization of low-concentration gas within the explosive range. In this study, a direct combustion experimental system was designed to investigate the combustion characteristics of low-concentration coal mine gas with metal fiber burners. The results show that with an increase in the porosity and thickness of the metal fiber woven fabric, the range of area heat release rate expands, and the load adjustment ratio increases, enlarging the range of stable combustion. Single-layer woven fabric burner ignite more easily, followed by double-layer woven fabric burner, while non-woven fabric burner are the least prone to ignition. The results also indicate that when using metal fiber burners to combust low-concentration gas, the emissions of NOx and CO in the flue gas remain at lower levels.

ObjectiveTo systematically review the literature on radiomics for predicting intracranial aneurysm rupture and conduct a meta-analysis to obtain evidence confirming the value of radiomics in this prediction.MethodsA systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and The Cochrane Library databases up to March 2024. The QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess study quality. Stata 15.0 and Review Manager 5.4.1 were used for statistical analysis. Outcomes included combined sensitivity (Sen), specificity (Spe), positive likelihood ratio (+LR), negative likelihood ratio (−LR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and their 95% confidence intervals (CI), as well as pre-test and post-test probabilities. The SROC curve was plotted, and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. Publication bias and small-study effects were assessed using the Deeks’ funnel plot.ResultsThe 9 included studies reported 4,284 patients, with 1,411 patients with intracranial aneurysm rupture (prevalence 32.9%). The overall performance of radiomics for predicting intracranial aneurysm rupture showed a combined Sen of 0.78 (95% CI: 0.74–0.82), Spe of 0.74 (95% CI: 0.70–0.78), +LR of 3.0 (95% CI: 2.7–3.4), −LR of 0.29 (95% CI: 0.25–0.35), DOR of 10 (95% CI: 9–12), and AUC of 0.83 (95% CI: 0.79–0.86). Significant heterogeneity was observed in both Sen (I2 = 90.93, 95% CI: 89.00–92.87%) and Spe (I2 = 94.28, 95% CI: 93.21–95.34%).ConclusionRadiomics can improve the diagnostic efficacy of intracranial aneurysm rupture. More large-sample, prospective, multicenter clinical studies are needed to further evaluate its predictive value.Systematic review registrationhttps://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/.

With the gradual coal mining of deep rock burst mine, the impact accompanying roadway excavation becomes more and more intense. Aiming at the problem of effective prevention and control of rock burst in roadway excavation, taking the steep seam mine in the Wudong Coal Mine as an example, the temporal and spatial precursor characteristics of rock burst in roadway excavation were analyzed by microseismic monitoring. Combined with the numerical simulation analysis of stress and energy changes in roadway excavation, the mechanism of rock burst in roadway excavation was revealed, and the prevention and control strategy of rock burst in steeply inclined extra-thick coal seam roadway was put forward, which was verified by field engineering practice. The results show that the total energy of microseisms is extremely low for 2−5 days or there is an energy latency of at least 4 days before the rock burst occurs due to roadway excavation in steeply inclined extra-thick coal seam. Within 5 days before rock burst occurs, there is a high-frequency fluctuation period of maximum energy ratio for more than 3 days. There is an obvious lack of earthquake before the rock burst occurs, and the occurrence position is concentrated in the range of minimum value of microseismic energy near the heading face, or in the range of minimum value of microseismic frequency near the extreme value of microseismic energy, and the rock burst event is located in the area with high impact deformation energy index. The hard overburden structure of horizontal sublevel fully mechanized caving mining in steeply inclined extra-thick coal seam is not easy to break, which makes the stress concentration on both sides of upper horizontal goaf exist in roadway excavation. The stress between the front of the heading face and the bottom of the roadway squeezed by the roof and floor strata is concentrated and the energy accumulation is remarkable. With the increase of the heading depth of the roadway, the stress concentration and energy accumulation are further enhanced, which is easy to induce dynamic disasters such as rock burst. The prevention and control strategies of rock burst was established through comprehensive analysis, which consist of face blasting pressure relief, roadway drilling pressure relief and reinforcement support, and scaffolding in complex areas. Combined with the temporal and spatial precursory anomalies of rock burst, it provides an opportunity to strengthen the unloading pressure in time. Through the pressure relief of working face and roadway, the accumulated microseismic energy of more than 1×105 J per day did not occur during the excavation. After the support was optimized and the complex area was protected, the daily average microseismic energy of roadway excavation decreased to 2.2 kJ, and the proportion of microseismic events above 1 kJ decreased, and the overall section of roadway was flat.

Abstract Hollow multi-shell mesoporous metal–organic framework (MOF) particles with accessible compartmentalization environments, plentiful heterogeneous interfaces, and abundant framework diversity are expected to hold great potential for catalysis, energy conversion, and biotechnology. However, their synthetic methodology has not yet been established. In this work, a facile dual-template-directed successive assembly approach has been developed for the preparation of monodisperse hollow multi-shell mesoporous MOF (UiO-66-NH2) particles through one-step selective etching of successively grown multi-layer MOFs with alternating two types of mesostructured layers. This strategy enables the preparation of hollow multi-shell mesoporous UiO-66-NH2 nanostructures with controllable shell numbers, accessible mesochannels, large pore volume, tunable shell thickness and chamber sizes. The methodology relies on creating multiple alternating layers of two different mesostructured MOFs via dual-template-directed successive assembly and their difference in framework stability upon chemical etching. Benefiting from the highly accessible Lewis acidic sites and the accumulation of reactants within the multi-compartment architecture, the resultant hollow multi-shell mesoporous UiO-66-NH2 particles exhibit enhanced catalytic activity for CO2 cycloaddition reaction. The dual-template-directed successive assembly strategy paves the way toward the rational construction of elaborate hierarchical MOF nanoarchitectures with specific physical and chemical features for different applications.

Demand-side response (DR) and energy storage system (ESS) are both important means of providing operational flexibility to the power system. Thus, DR has a certain substitution role for ESS, but unlike DR, ESS planning has a coupling relationship between years, which makes it difficult to guarantee the reasonableness of the ESS planning results by considering only a single year. To achieve the optimal construction timing of ESS, this paper develops a consecutive year-by-year framework integrating DR and ESS to analyse and quantify the substitution effect of DR on energy storage while realizing year-by-year ESS planning. Our methods are as follows: (1) A consecutive year-by-year DR model and an ESS model are proposed; (2) These two models are combined together to achieve the purpose of considering DR in the ESS planning stage. Here, system reserve, renewable energy consumption, and preservation of power supply are given consideration to optimise the reliability and economy of the system; (3) The method is validated using a provincial real-world power grid in the eastern part of China. The optimal results of five consecutive years of planning show that DR substitutes 19.7% of the ESS capacity.

Abstract In recent years, various computational models have been proposed in neuroscience, but only a few have been utilized in robot visual navigation through engineering approaches. Besides, these engineering methods lack environmental adaptability, especially in the aspect of visual place recognition in weak or uncontrollable light fluctuations. To address this issue and enhance the performance of visual template matching and map loop closure detection in challenging lighting environments, this paper proposed a bionic visual navigation model that combines two neural network architectures, the Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) and Continuous Attractor Neural Network (CANN). In our navigation model, the visual features of the environments are encoded as temporal information by the spiking model and input into the local view cells for visual template matching. Additionally, we utilize the pose cells network, which incorporates the similarity between current and previous templates, along with odometry data, to encode spatial information and store it as an experience map. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed model, we conducted evaluations on datasets collected within our library, campus, and an open-source office dataset. The experimental results reveal that our algorithm increases the F1-score of template matching by approximately 10.5 $$ \% $$ % , 35.8 $$ \% $$ % , 61.7 $$ \% $$ % , and 1.9 $$ \% $$ % in each dataset, compared to the conventional RatSLAM method. Furthermore, our algorithm generates a more accurate map that closely correlates with the real-world trajectory without compromising on computation time. The results suggest that our bionic visual navigation model is reliable for both standard and extreme lighting conditions.

Hydrogen is a carbon-free energy source that can be obtained from various sources. The blending of hydrogen represents a transitional phase in the shift from natural gas systems to hydrogen-based systems. However, concerns about the safety implications of introducing hydrogen have led to extensive discussions. This paper utilizes Fluent 17.0 numerical simulation software to simulate the leakage of hydrogen-blended natural gas in a closed domestic kitchen and analyze the concentration distribution and its variation pattern after a leakage. An experimental platform is set up, and a mixture of nitrogen and helium gas is used as a substitute for hydrogen-blended natural gas for the simulations and experiments. The simulation results demonstrate that the leaked gas spreads and accumulates towards the top of the space, gradually filling the entire area as the leak persists. As the hydrogen content in the leaked gas increases, the dispersion capacity of the gas in the confined space also increases. Furthermore, as the flow rate of the leaked gas increases, the average concentration of the leaked gas rises, and the gas stratification in the confined kitchen diminishes. The concentration distribution observed in the experiments aligns with the simulation results. After establishing the feasibility conditions of the model, the dispersion of the hydrogen-blended natural gas in the kitchen is further simulated. The results suggest that blending hydrogen into the gas enhances the dispersion of the gas after a leak, leading to a wider distribution within the kitchen and an increased risk in the event of a leak. Additionally, this paper employs the CASD module of FLACS 11.0 software to construct a three-dimensional geometric model of the domestic kitchen for simulation studies on the explosion of hydrogen-blended natural gas in a confined space. By adjusting the hydrogen ratio in the combustible gases present in the space and examining the variations in hydrogen concentration and external conditions, such as opening or closing the door, the influence on parameters including the peak explosion pressure, explosion overpressure, explosion flame temperature, and explosion response time are examined. Furthermore, the extent of the explosion area is determined, and the effect of hydrogen on the blast is clarified.

The mechanical analysis of thin-plate structures is a major challenge in the field of structural engineering, especially when they have nonclassical boundary conditions, such as those encountered in cement concrete road slabs connected by transfer bars. Conventional analytical solutions are usually limited to classical boundary conditions—clamped support, simple support, and free edges—and cannot adequately describe many engineering scenarios. In this study, an analytical solution to the bending problem of an anisotropic thin plate subjected to a pair of edges with free opposing elastic rotational constraints is found using a two-dimensional augmented Fourier series solution method. In the derivation process, the thin-plate problem can be transformed into a problem of solving a system of linear algebraic equations by applying Stoke’s transform method, which greatly reduces the mathematical difficulty of solving the problem. Complex boundary conditions can be optimally handled without the need for large computational resources. The paper addresses the exact analytical solutions for bending problems with multiple combinations of boundary conditions, such as contralateral free–contralateral simple support (SFSF), contralateral free–contralateral solid support–simple support (CFSF), and contralateral free–contralateral clamped support (CFCF). These solutions are realized by employing the Stoke transformation and adjusting the spring parameters in the analyzed solutions. The results of this method are also compared with the finite element method and analytical solutions from the literature, and good agreement is obtained, demonstrating the effectiveness of the method. The significance of the study findings lies in the simplification of complex nonclassical boundary condition problems using a simple and reliable analytical method applicable to a wide range of engineering thin-plate structures.

Maize yield is limited by water deficit in the arid and semiarid regions of China. Conserving water and enhancing crop water productivity are inevitable requirements for the sustainable development of water efficient agriculture. Plant growth regulators (PGRs) play important roles in maize water stress tolerance. In this study, we investigated the effect of plant growth regulator-brazide, a functional analog of brassinolide (BR), on maize water stress resistance through a two-year (2020–2021) field experiment. The experiment included four water treatments (I100: 4012 m3 ha−1; I80: 3210 m3 ha−1; I60: 2407 m3 ha−1; I40: 1605 m3 ha−1), four PGR concentrations (CK: water; Bra: 0.1 μmol L−1 14-hydroxylated brassinosteroid; B1: 0.1 μmol L−1 brazide; B2: 1 μmol L−1 brazide; B3: 10 μmol L−1 brazide). The results showed that deficit irrigation (I60 and I40) decreased soil water content (SWC), photosynthetic rate (Pn), leaf area index (LAI), aboveground biomass (AB) and yield, but improved crop water productivity (WPc). Under deficit irrigation conditions, 1 μmol L−1 brazide application also increased dry matter accumulation and grain yield, a result attributed to improvement of the photosynthetic rate and increases in the root bleeding saps, water productivity. 1 μmol L−1 Brazide application reduced bare tip length, increasing kernel number per ear, thereby increased the yield of I60 and I40 by 15.1% and 11.4% (p ≤ 0.05; 2020), 16.4% and 20.4% (p ≤ 0.001; 2021), respectively. Path analysis showed brazide improved final yields by increasing thousand grain weight (TGW), photosynthetic rate (Pn) and WPc under deficit irrigation. The increase in TGW with brazide treatment was primarily attributed to the increase of Pn. Overall, Brazide increased maize drought resistance mainly by increasing Pn and WPc, with 1 μmol L−1 brazide as an optimal concentration.

The research motivation of this paper is to utilize the large amount of energy wasted during the LNG (liquefied natural gas) gasification process, and proposes a synergistic liquefied hydrogen (LH2) production and storage process scheme for LNG receiving station and methane reforming hydrogen production process - SMR-LNG combined liquefied hydrogen production system, which uses the cold energy from LNG to pre-cool the hydrogen and subsequently uses an expander to complete the liquefaction of hydrogen. The proposed process is modeled and simulated by Aspen HYSYS software, and its efficiency is evaluated and sensitivity analysis is carried out. The simulation results show that the system can produce liquefied hydrogen with a flow rate of 5.89 t/h with 99.99% purity when the LNG supply rate is 50 t/h. The power consumption of liquefied hydrogen is 46.6 kWh/kg LH2; meanwhile, the energy consumption of the HL subsystem is 15.9 kWh/kg LH2, lower than traditional value of 17∼19 kWh/kg LH2. The efficiency of the hydrogen production subsystem was 16.9%; the efficiency of the hydrogen liquefaction (HL) subsystem was 29.61%, which was significantly higher than the conventional industrial value of 21%; the overall energy efficiency (EE1) of the system was 56.52% with the exergy efficiency (EE2) of 22.2%, reflecting a relatively good thermodynamic perfection. The energy consumption of liquefied hydrogen per unit product is 98.71 GJ/kg LH2.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a tickborne bandavirus mainly transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks in East Asia, mostly in rural areas. As of April 2022, the amplifying host involved in the natural transmission of SFTSV remained unidentified. Our epidemiologic field survey conducted in endemic areas in China showed that hedgehogs were widely distributed, had heavy tick infestations, and had high SFTSV seroprevalence and RNA prevalence. After experimental infection of Erinaceus amurensis and Atelerix albiventris hedgehogs with SFTSV, we detected robust but transitory viremias that lasted for 9–11 days. We completed the SFTSV transmission cycle between hedgehogs and nymph and adult H. longicornis ticks under laboratory conditions with 100% efficiency. Furthermore, naive H. longicornis ticks could be infected by SFTSV-positive ticks co-feeding on naive hedgehogs; we confirmed transstadial transmission of SFTSV. Our study suggests that the hedgehogs are a notable wildlife amplifying host of SFTSV in China.

Infecting a wide range of hosts, members of Reovirales (formerly Reoviridae) consist of a genome with different numbers of segmented double stranded RNAs (dsRNA) encapsulated by a proteinaceous shell and carry out genome replication and transcription inside the virion. Several cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of reoviruses with 9, 10 or 11 segmented dsRNA genomes have revealed insights into genome arrangement and transcription. However, the structure and genome arrangement of 12-segmented Reovirales members remain poorly understood. Using cryo-EM, we determined the structure of mud crab reovirus (MCRV), a 12-segmented dsRNA virus that is a putative member of Reovirales in the non-turreted Sedoreoviridae family, to near-atomic resolutions with icosahedral symmetry (3.1 Å) and without imposing icosahedral symmetry (3.4 Å). These structures revealed the organization of the major capsid proteins in two layers: an outer T = 13 layer consisting of VP12 trimers and unique VP11 clamps, and an inner T = 1 layer consisting of VP3 dimers. Additionally, ten RNA dependent RNA polymerases (RdRp) were well resolved just below the VP3 layer but were offset from the 5-fold axes and arranged with D5 symmetry, which has not previously been seen in other members of Reovirales. The N-termini of VP3 were shown to adopt four unique conformations; two of which anchor the RdRps, while the other two conformations are likely involved in genome organization and capsid stability. Taken together, these structures provide a new level of understanding for capsid stabilization and genome organization of segmented dsRNA viruses.

ABSTRACT: Transforming growth factor beta receptor Ⅱ (TGFBR2), a core member of the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway. To date, chicken TGFBR2 (cTGFBR2) genomic structure has not been fully explored. Here, the complete sequences of cTGFBR2 transcript isoforms were determined by 5′ and 3′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5′ & 3′ RACE) and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR); the tissue expression profiling of cTGFBR2 transcript isoforms was performed using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The results showed that cTGFBR2 gene produced 3 transcript isoforms though alternative transcription initiation, splicing, and polyadenylation, which were designated as cTGFBR2-1, cTGFBR2-2, and cTGFBR2-3, respectively. These 3 cTGFBR2 transcript isoforms encoded 3 protein isoforms: cTGFBR2-1, cTGFBR2-2, and cTGFBR2-3. Duplication analysis revealed that, unlike other animal species, cTGFBR2 gene harbored a 5.5-kb intragenic tandem duplication. Tissue expression profiling in the 4-wk-old Arbor Acres (AA) broiler chickens showed that cTGFBR2-1 was ubiquitously expressed, with high expression in abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, lung, gizzard, and muscle; cTGFBR2-2 was highly expressed in heart, kidney, gizzard, and muscle; cTGFBR2-3 was weakly expressed in all the tested chicken tissues. Tissue expression profiling in the 7-wk-old broiler chickens of the fat and lean lines of Northeast Agricultural University broiler lines divergently selected for abdominal fat content (NEAUHLF) showed that cTGFBR2-1 was significantly differentially expressed in all the tested tissues except heart, cTGFBR2-2 was significantly differentially expressed in all the tested tissues except subcutaneous fat and liver, and cTGFBR2-3 was significantly differentially expressed in all the tested tissues between the lean and fat lines. Intriguingly, in the fat line, the 3 cTGFBR2 transcript isoforms were expressed to varying degrees in all the 3 tested fat tissues, while in the lean line, only cTGFBR2-1 was expressed in all the 3 tested fat tissues. This is the first report of intragenic tandem duplication within TGFBR2 gene. Our findings pave the way for further studies on the functions and regulation of cTGFBR2 gene.

Exploring the relationship between finance and economic growth is a key direction of financial economics. However, most of the literature starts from the aggregate perspective and uses the GDP or per capita GDP as the explained variable to study the role of finance. Such a perspective ignores the heterogeneity of financial activities with respect to geographical distribution and makes it difficult to distinguish the roles of factor input and efficiency improvement. Because of this, this article introduces a “density” perspective on new economic geography and the measurement of the efficiency of the transition of development economics into financial economics. This article uses the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) method to measure the technical efficiency (TE) of 272 cities in China from 2005 to 2018 and then, based on “forward-looking” and “backward-looking” methods, measures the impact of financial density on urban technical efficiency. This study found that overall, before the financial crisis in 2008, the contribution of financial density to technical efficiency showed a downward trend, and in the regional and provincial dimensions, the distribution of financial density’s contribution to technical efficiency was generally in line with that of backward regions, with less regularity in developed regions. In the urban dimension, the contribution rate of financial density to resource-based cities with slow technological progress or advanced cities with rich financial resources is not very prominent and may even play a negative role; however, cities that are at a medium level of development, rich in population resources, have convenient transportation, and have a certain industrial foundation can greatly promote the improvement of technical efficiency. Therefore, it may be possible to optimize the marginal contribution of urban financial density to the technical efficiency of Chinese cities by encouraging the flow of financial resources and activities from cities with small marginal effects to those with large marginal effects.

Mixed forests are usually associated with higher resource utilization compared to the corresponding monocultures; however, the tree mixing effects of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) ecological stoichiometry in coastal forest ecosystems remains largely unknown. We compared the C, N, P stoichiometry in different ecosystem components (i.e., canopy layer, herb layer, litter layer, 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm soils) among two monocultures (Casuarina equisetifolia and Eucalyptus saligna) and their mixture in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China. We also assessed the effects of the main microhabitat factors (wind speed, soil salinity, soil moisture and pH) on C, N, P stoichiometry. Two monocultures and their mixture showed the same elemental pattern of “low C and high P” for both the canopy and herb layers, and soil, indicating evident N limitations; however, the mixture intensified the N deficiency more. The mixture showed stronger correlations among the C, N, P stoichiometry than the monocultures. Redundancy and hierarchical partitioning analysis showed the overall and independent effects of the microhabitat factors on the C, N, P stoichiometry separately, in which soil moisture presented more effects on shallow soil (20–40 cm) C, N, and P, while soil salinity mainly affected the herb and litter layers; wind speed had greater effects on canopy layer C, N, P stoichiometry. These results are expected to provide a management reference for the regeneration of degraded plantations in the southern Zhejiang province of China.

AbstractIn recent years, the rockburst induced by steeply inclined coal seam mining in the Urumqi mining area has become serious. In this paper, the evolution law of multiplex microseismic information before and after the rockburst is obtained through in-depth mining of the field microseismic data. In addition, the evolution characteristics of microseismic activities before and after the rockburst of steeply inclined coal-rock mass in the meizoseismal area are revealed from three important scales: time, space, and strength. The results show the following: (1) The microseismic activity of the Wudong Coal Mine is mainly of stress migration type. The sandwiched rock pillar is the primary inducement of rockburst, and the b value decreases greatly with the mining progresses (by 23.9%). It indicates that the risk of rockburst induced by the local failure of rock mass in this area is increasing. (2) From the time scale and strength index, the precursory indexes of rockburst are put forward, respectively: ① the daily total energy and the frequency of microseisms suddenly rise and fall rapidly at the same time in the shock start-up period (5 days before rockburst), and the daily total energy of microseisms decreases to the abnormal valley value within 30 days. ② The abnormal growth rate of microseismic events exceeded 60% in a certain stage, and “induced shock events” appeared. (3) The shock risk is positively correlated with the decline rate of energy index, the growth rate of cumulative apparent volume, and Schmidt. It is determined that the rockburst will occur within 19 days after entering the shock early warning period. The results of prediction examples show that this method has a good prediction effect on rockburst in strong meizoseismal areas, which can provide a reference for rockburst prevention in the mining process in strong meizoseismal areas.

Abstract Background Lysosomes digest extracellular material from the endocytic pathway and intracellular material from the autophagic pathway. This process is performed by the resident hydrolytic enzymes activated by the highly acidic pH within the lysosomal lumen. Lysosome pH gradients are mainly maintained by the vacuolar (H+) ATPase (or V-ATPase), which pumps protons into lysosomal lumen by consuming ATP. Dysfunction of V-ATPase affects lysosomal acidification, which disrupts the clearance of substrates and leads to many disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. Main body As a large multi-subunit complex, the V-ATPase is composed of an integral membrane V0 domain involved in proton translocation and a peripheral V1 domain catalyzing ATP hydrolysis. The canonical functions of V-ATPase rely on its H+-pumping ability in multiple vesicle organelles to regulate endocytic traffic, protein processing and degradation, synaptic vesicle loading, and coupled transport. The other non-canonical effects of the V-ATPase that are not readily attributable to its proton-pumping activity include membrane fusion, pH sensing, amino-acid-induced activation of mTORC1, and scaffolding for protein-protein interaction. In response to various stimuli, V-ATPase complex can reversibly dissociate into V1 and V0 domains and thus close ATP-dependent proton transport. Dysregulation of pH and lysosomal dysfunction have been linked to many human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease, Parkinson’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as well as neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders. Conclusion V-ATPase complex is a universal proton pump and plays an important role in lysosome acidification in all types of cells. Since V-ATPase dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of multiple neurodegenerative diseases, further understanding the mechanisms that regulate the canonical and non-canonical functions of V-ATPase will reveal molecular details of disease process and help assess V-ATPase or molecules related to its regulation as therapeutic targets.

It is difficult for optical correlator to recognize the target with large rotation distortion by using existing filters. To solve this problem, a new neural network model is constructed based on the physical recognition process of planar integrated 2F optical correlator. The new optical filter is optimized by training the neural network. The planar integrated 2F optical correlator can output sharp correlation peaks by using the new filter to recognize targets with arbitrary rotation distortion. Compared with the traditional OTSDF filter, the average increase of correlation peak index is up to 1402.4%, while the recognition performance of distortion invariant is also better than the new NNCRF filter. The simulation and experimental results show that the optical filter designed in this paper can effectively solve the problem of weak recognition ability of optical correlator for rotating distortion targets, especially for large angle rotating distortion targets.

To further refine the rationality of pressure relief measures, the pressure relief measures are transformed from engineering scale to laboratory scale. In this paper, the static load is applied by uniaxial compression, and the difference in the energy evolution process of loaded coal samples is compared using pressure relief at an indoor scale. The test results show that the pressure relief state of water injection can meet the conditions well and reduce the impact tendency of the whole coal samples. In addition, try to analyze the reasons why it is difficult to accurately predict the formation of rockburst in coal roadway by analytical means. Due to the special structure of coal, it can be found that both natural and saturated conditions can meet the conditions in the state of water injection and pressure relief, while in the dry state, the conditions cannot be met; that is, the precursor signals of disaster cannot be accurately picked up, and finally, the failure of coal samples cannot be accurately predicted. However, on the laboratory scale, the natural coal samples are in the state of adsorption in the air after sampling, and the coal bodies near the deep underground working face tend to have low water content due to the development of pores and fissures and the influence of self-weight of mining disturbance. The research in this paper provides theoretical support for the subsequent determination of pressure relief parameters, and the related research conclusions are of great significance.

Inspired by rodents’ ability to navigate freely in a given space, bionavigation systems provide alternatives to traditional probabilistic solutions. This paper proposed a bionic path planning method based on RatSLAM to provide a novel viewpoint for robots to make a more flexible and intelligent navigation scheme. A neural network fusing historic episodic memory was proposed to improve the connectivity of the episodic cognitive map. It is biomimetically important to generate an episodic cognitive map and establish a one-to-one correspondence between the events generated by episodic memory and the visual template of RatSLAM. The episodic cognitive map can be improved by imitating the rodents’ behavior of memory fusion to produce better path planning results. The experimental results of different scenarios illustrate that the proposed method identified the connectivity between way points, optimized the result of path planning, and improved the flexibility of the system.

Conductive hydrogels with high electrical conductivity, ductility, and anti-dryness have promising applications in flexible wearable electronics. However, its potential applications in such a developing field are severely hampered by its extremely poor adaptability to cold or hot environmental conditions. In this research, an “organic solvent/water” composite conductive hydrogel is developed by introducing a binary organic solvent of EG/H2O into the system using a simple one-pot free radical polymerization method to create Ti3C2TX MXene nanosheet-reinforced polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylamide covalently networked nanocomposite hydrogels (PAEM) with excellent flexibility and mechanical properties. The optimized PAEM contains 0.3 wt% MXene has excellent mechanical performance (tensile elongation of ~1033%) and an improved modulus of elasticity (0.14 MPa), a stable temperature tolerance from −50 to 40 °C, and a high gauge factor of 10.95 with a long storage period and response time of 110 ms. Additionally, it is worth noting that the elongation at break at −40 °C was maintained at around 50% of room temperature. This research will contribute to the development of flexible sensors for human-computer interaction, electronic skin, and human health monitoring.

A high-quality protein substitute, Hermetia illucens (black soldier fly) larvae powder, is rich in protein and often used in animal feed. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and optimal ratio of replacing fish meal with H. illucens larvae in weaned piglets and to demonstrate the effects on piglets' growth performance, intestinal microflora and immune performance. Forty-eight female weaned piglets were randomly classified into three groups. Each group consisted of eight pens (replicates), with two piglets per pen. Three groups containing different proportions of H. illucens larvae (0, 4, and 8%) were referred to as C, HI4, and HI8. We first designed a 28-day feeding experiment to detect growth performance; after that, the piglets were induced with oral gavage of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88 (ETEC K88) and recording diarrhea on day 29 of the experiment. Samples were taken on the 32nd day to detect the effect of H. illucens larvae on the immune performance of the weaned piglets. H. illucens larvae replacement did not cause any obvious change in the growth performance nether in HI4 nor in HI8 of weaned piglets with 28 d feeding stage. H. illucens larvae could improve the intestinal health of weaned piglets by increasing the content of Lactobacillus and reducing the content of Streptococcus. Compared with C+K88 group, the diarrhea rate was attenuated for the H. illucens supplemented group. The integrity of ileum villi in HI4+K88 and HI8+K88 groups was better than that in C+K88 group, and the villi in C+K88 group were severely damaged. The expression of IL-10, Occludin and Claudin-3 in the intestinal mucosa of the HI4+K88 group and HI8+K88 group were significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the expression of TNF-α was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) compared with the C+K88 group. The results of immunoblotting also validated that the same ETEC K88 treatment of weaned piglets enhanced the expression of tight junction protein in the intestinal mucosa of the H. illucens addition group. ETEC-induced diarrhea will be reduced by the diet of weaned piglets containing H. illucens larvae, ameliorating the immune performance of piglets. Our results indicates that the optimal dosage of H. illucens replacement in weaned piglets is 4%.

Newborn piglets are prone to diarrhea after weaning as a result of changes in their environment and feed. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) K88 strain is a typical pathogen that causes diarrhea in such stage of piglets. Hermetia illucens larvae are widely used in livestock and poultry production because of their high nutritional value and immunoregulatory effects. This study aimed to evaluate the protective effects of H. illucens feed in protecting against ETEC induced diarrhea in piglets and to unravel the mechanisms of immune modulation and intestinal barrier maintenance. The results showed that after ETEC infection, citric acid in the serum of the groups fed on H. illucens larvae increased significantly, which stimulated macrophages to secrete cytokines that promote B lymphocyte differentiation, ultimately increasing the production of IgA and IgG in serum. Concomitantly, citric acid also had a positive effect on the intestinal barrier damaged due to ETEC infection by inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokines, reducing the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, and promoting the expression of tight junction proteins. Correlation analysis showed that the increase of citric acid levels might be related to Massilia. Thus, citric acid derived from H. illucens larvae can improve the immune performance of weaned piglets and reduce ETEC-induced damage to the intestinal barrier in weaned piglets.

Uneven-aged silvicultural practices can maintain habitat continuity and enhance biodiversity. Soil microorganisms play critical roles in multiple ecosystem functions (i.e., multifunctionality). However, little is currently known regarding the role of the microbial community in driving soil nutrient cycling and multifunctionality (SMF) in uneven-aged mixed plantations. In this study, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal community compositions and diversities, single-function related carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) cycling, and SMF indices in monoculture plantation (as a control) and three uneven-aged mixed plantation stands (4, 7, and 11 years old). Our results demonstrated that the soil C, N, P cycling, and SMF indices in uneven-aged mixed plantations increased by 17.9–55.2%, 20.0–54.0%, 0.7–21.6%, and 16.3–30.1% compared to monoculture plantation. The soil fungal alpha diversity (richness and Shannon diversity), nutrient cycling, and SMF significantly improved with stand age, but bacterial alpha diversity showed less variation. The beta diversities of bacteria and fungi showed notable variation with stand age and were predominantly affected by stand age and soil properties (soil organic C, total P, and C/N ratio), respectively. Additionally, the temporal turnover within the fungal community was higher than the turnover rates of the bacterial community. Soil fungal diversity and biomass were more sensitive to the stand structure change over a short period (11 years) than bacterial diversity and biomass. Furthermore, the fungal beta diversity and fungi/bacteria (F/B) ratio were strongly and positively correlated with nutrient cycling and SMF. Most importantly, the abundant fungal taxa (e.g., Mucoromycota and Mortierellomycota) were the major drivers of SMF, followed by rare bacterial taxa (e.g., Nitrospirae and Elusimicrobia). These findings indicate soil fungal and bacterial communities have different responses and undertake important roles in maintaining nutrient cycling and SMF when a monoculture plantation is converted into an uneven-aged mixed plantation.

This study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and viral shedding of live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) in Chinese healthy juveniles and adults. A total of 80 Eligible volunteers were divided into two age groups (≥18 and 3–17 years old). Volunteers were randomly and equally assigned to the experimental group and placebo-controlled group by ratio of 3:1 in each age group. Vaccination was carried out in steps. Totally, 34 (56.67%) adverse events and 24 (40.00%) adverse reactions of the LAIV group were reported. Most adverse reactions were grade 1 and grade 2, and the incidence of adverse reactions that grade 3 was 5%. The most common local reaction was runny nose/nasal congestion (n = 4, 6.67%). And the most common general reaction was fever (n = 10, 16.67%). There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of total adverse reactions, different grades of adverse reactions, and symptoms between the experimental group and placebo-controlled group. No severe adverse events were reported. Three subjects (5.00%) had been detected vaccine strains on the 3rd day after LAIV vaccination; one was type B and the other two were H3N2. Four subjects (6.67%) had been detected with vaccine strains on the 7th day after LAIV vaccination, all were H3N2. There were no subjects detected carrying the influenza virus on the 15th day after vaccination. There were no statistically significant differences in the positive rate of vaccine strains of influenza virus between the experimental group and placebo-controlled group. The vaccine was well tolerated and not associated with increased rates in adverse reactions or the occurrence of severe adverse events. Pathogenicity of shed vaccine virus to surrounding people was not observed. Thus, Phase Ⅱ study can be carried out as scheduled.

Follistatin (FST) is a secretory glycoprotein and belongs to the TGF-β superfamily. Previously, we found that two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of sheep FST gene were significantly associated with wool quality traits in Chinese Merino sheep (Junken type), indicating that FST is involved in the regulation of hair follicle development and hair trait formation. The transcription regulation of human and mouse FST genes has been widely investigated, and many transcription factors have been identified to regulate FST gene. However, to date, the transcriptional regulation of sheep FST is largely unknown. In the present study, genome walking was used to close the genomic gap upstream of the sheep genomic FST gene and to obtain the FST gene promoter sequence. Transcription factor binding site analysis showed sheep FST promoter region contained a conserved putative binding site for signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), located at nucleotides −423 to −416 relative to the first nucleotide (A, +1) of the initiation codon (ATG) of sheep FST gene. The dual-luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that STAT3 inhibited the FST promoter activity and that the mutation of the putative STAT3 binding site attenuated the inhibitory effect of STAT3 on the FST promoter activity. Additionally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (ChIP) exhibited that STAT3 is directly bound to the FST promoter. Cell proliferation assay displayed that FST and STAT3 played opposite roles in cell proliferation. Overexpression of sheep FST significantly promoted the proliferation of sheep fetal fibroblasts (SFFs) and human keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, and overexpression of sheep STAT3 displayed opposite results, which was accompanied by a significantly reduced expression of FST gene (P < 0.05). Taken together, STAT3 directly negatively regulates sheep FST gene and depresses cell proliferation. Our findings may contribute to understanding molecular mechanisms that underlie hair follicle development and morphogenesis.

Abstract Background Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), which is affected by environmental pollution and climate change, promotes genetic communication, changing bacterial pathogenicity and drug resistance. However, few studies have been conducted on the effect of HGT on the high pathogenicity and drug resistance of the opportunistic pathogen Vibrio harveyi. Results V. harveyi 345 that was multidrug resistant and infected Epinephelus oanceolutus was isolated from a diseased organism in Shenzhen, Southern China, an important and contaminated aquaculture area. Analysis of the entire genome sequence predicted 5678 genes including 487 virulence genes contributing to bacterial pathogenesis and 25 antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) contributing to antimicrobial resistance. Five ARGs (tetm, tetb, qnrs, dfra17, and sul2) and one virulence gene (CU052_28670) on the pAQU-type plasmid p345–185, provided direct evidence for HGT. Comparative genome analysis of 31 V. harveyi strains indicated that 217 genes and 7 gene families, including a class C beta-lactamase gene, a virulence-associated protein D gene, and an OmpA family protein gene were specific to strain V. harveyi 345. These genes could contribute to HGT or be horizontally transferred from other bacteria to enhance the virulence or antibiotic resistance of 345. Mobile genetic elements in 71 genomic islands encoding virulence factors for three type III secretion proteins and 13 type VI secretion system proteins, and two incomplete prophage sequences were detected that could be HGT transfer tools. Evaluation of the complete genome of V. harveyi 345 and comparative genomics indicated genomic exchange, especially exchange of pathogenic genes and drug-resistance genes by HGT contributing to pathogenicity and drug resistance. Climate change and continued environmental deterioration are expected to accelerate the HGT of V. harveyi, increasing its pathogenicity and drug resistance. Conclusion This study provides timely information for further analysis of V. harveyi pathogenesis and antimicrobial resistance and developing pollution control measurements for coastal areas.

Abstract Background Macroautophagy (hereafter autophagy) is a tightly regulated process that delivers cellular components to lysosomes for degradation. Damage-regulated autophagy modulator 1 (DRAM1) induces autophagy and is necessary for p53-mediated apoptosis. However, the signalling pathways regulated by DRAM1 are not fully understood. Methods HEK293T cells were transfected with FLAG-DRAM1 plasmid. Autophagic proteins (LC3 and p62), phosphorylated p53 and the phosphorylated proteins of the class I PI3K-Akt-mTOR-ribosomal protein S6 (rpS6) signalling pathway were detected with Western blot analysis. Cellular distribution of DRAM1 was determined with immunostaining. DRAM1 was knocked down in HEK293T cells using siRNA oligos which is confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. Cells were serum starved for 18 h after overexpression or knockdown of DRAM1 to decrease the rpS6 activity to the basal level, and then the cells were stimulated with insulin growth factor, epidermal growth factor or serum. rpS6 phosphorylation and rpS6 were detected with Western blotting. Similarly, after overexpression or knockdown of DRAM1, phosphorylation of IGF-1Rβ and IGF-1R were examined with Western blotting. Cell viability was determined with CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay. Finally, human cancer cells Hela, SW480, and HCT116 were transfected with the FLAG-DRAM1 plasmid and phosphorylated rpS6 and rpS6 were detected with Western blot analysis. Results DRAM1 induced autophagy and inhibited rpS6 phosphorylation in an mTORC1-dependent manner in HEK293T cells. DRAM1 didn’t affect the phosphorylated and total levels of p53. Furthermore, DRAM1 inhibited the activation of the PI3K-Akt pathway stimulated with growth factors or serum. DRAM1 was localized at the plasma membrane and regulate the phosphorylation of IGF-1 receptor. DRAM1 decreased cell viability and colony numbers upon serum starvation. Additionally, DRAM1 inhibited rpS6 phosphorylation in several human cancer cells. Conclusions Here we provided evidence that DRAM1 inhibited rpS6 phosphorylation in multiple cell types. DRAM1 inhibited the phosphorylation of Akt and the activation of Akt-rpS6 pathway stimulated with growth factors and serum. Furthermore, DRAM1 regulated the activation of IGF-1 receptor. Thus, our results identify that the class I PI3K-Akt-rpS6 pathway is regulated by DRAM1 and may provide new insight into the potential role of DRAM1 in human cancers.

Protein homeostasis or proteostasis is critical for proper cellular function and survival. It relies on the balance between protein synthesis and degradation. Lysosomes play an important role in degrading and recycling intracellular components via autophagy. Among the three types of lysosome-based autophagy pathways, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) selectively degrades cellular proteins with KFERQ-like motif by unique machinery. During the past several years, significant advances have been made in our understanding of how CMA itself is modulated and what physiological and pathological processes it may be involved in. One particularly exciting discovery is how other cellular stress organelles such as ER signal to CMA. As more proteins are identified as CMA substrates, CMA function has been associated with an increasing number of important cellular processes, organelles, and diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. Here we will summarize the recent advances in CMA biology, highlight ER stress-induced CMA, and discuss the role of CMA in diseases.

Animal growth and development are regulated by neural and endocrine growth axes, in which cell proliferation plays key roles. Recently, many research showed that circular RNAs were involved in hepatocyte and myoblast proliferation. Previously, we identified a circular RNA derived from the chicken GHR gene, named circGHR. However, the function of circGHR is unclear. The objective of this study was to investigate circGHR expression pattern and its roles in cell proliferation. Results indicated that circGHR was a closed-loop structure molecule, and it was richer in the nucleus of hepatocytes and myoblast. Real-time PCR showed that circGHR was increased from E13 to the 7th week in the liver but decreased in the thigh and breast muscle. The CCK-8 assay displayed that circGHR promoted cell proliferation. Simultaneously, the biomarker genes PCNA, CCND1, and CDK2 and the linear transcripts GHR and GHBP were upregulated when circGHR was overexpressed. Altogether, these data exhibited that circGHR could promote cell proliferation possibly by regulating GHR mRNA and GHBP expression.

Due to the different in-situ stress level, mining stress state, and surrounding rock properties of steeply inclined deep coal mining, the mutation mechanism of underground engineering rock mass is complex. This paper studies the cause and control of mining disaster of steeply inclined deep coal resources in Wudong coal mine. The results show that the structural field is the key of multifield analysis, and particularly a large area of suspended roof is easy to expand energy and induce dynamic hazards. By means of borehole television- (BT-) transient electromagnetic (TEM) detection, it is found that there are hidden dangers of roof safety and suspected water hazards in Wudong coal mine, and the roof above the detection area (+575 m south roadway to 2250–2600 m) is in a suspended state; there is a suspected water-rich area in the range of 2320–2340 m and 2390–2400 m, and the lowest vertical height is +613.8–+615.5 m. Exploring and releasing the water in the aquifer effectively reduced the water pressure; in +575 m south roadway, +587 m measure roadway, and blasting chamber, the suspended roof blasting holes are constructed. Microseism- (MS-) TEM monitoring shows that the apparent resistivity fluctuates significantly, the microseismic energy and events have been significantly reduced, and it is maintained at a low level for two consecutive weeks, confirming the effectiveness of the stable release of the high-stress roof in the +575 m near stope area; at the same time, the safeguard measures for long-term roof dynamic monitoring are constructed.

The circadian clock plays a key role in our daily physiology and metabolism. Alcohol consumption disrupts the circadian rhythm of metabolic genes in the liver; however, the potential contribution of circadian clock modulation to alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is unknown. We identified a novel liver protective agent, physcion, which can alleviate fat accumulation and inflammation in ALD mice via reprogramming the hepatic circadian clock. The model of alcoholic hepatitis was established by intragastrically administering ethanol. In vitro, physcion was investigated by treating HepG2 cells with ethanol. The role of circadian clock in Physcion caused liver protection was tested by knocking down the core circadian gene Bmal1. Physcion application caused reduced lipogenesis and alleviated inflammation in alcohol-induced mice. In alcoholic hepatosteatosis models, physcion upregulated the core circadian genes. And the circadian misalignment triggered by ethanol was efficiently reversed by physcion. Physcion attenuated lipogenesis via reprogramming the circadian clock in HepG2 cells. Suppression of Bmal1 by RNA interference abolished the protective of physcion. In addition, Physcion binds to the active pocket of BMAL1 and promotes its expression. The study identified the novel liver protective effects of physcion on alcohol-induced liver injury, and modulation of the core circadian clock regulators contributes to ALD alleviation. More importantly, strategies targeting the circadian machinery, for example, Bmal1, may prove to be beneficial treatment options for this condition.

This paper describes an improved brain-inspired simultaneous localization and mapping (RatSLAM) that extracts visual features from saliency maps using a frequency-tuned (FT) model. In the traditional RatSLAM algorithm, the visual template feature is organized as a one-dimensional vector whose values only depend on pixel intensity; therefore, this feature is susceptible to changes in illumination intensity. In contrast to this approach, which directly generates visual templates from raw RGB images, we propose an FT model that converts RGB images into saliency maps to obtain visual templates. The visual templates extracted from the saliency maps contain more of the feature information contained within the original images. Our experimental results demonstrate that the accuracy of loop closure detection was improved, as measured by the number of loop closures detected by our method compared with the traditional RatSLAM system. We additionally verified that the proposed FT model-based visual templates improve the robustness of familiar visual scene identification by RatSLAM.

Robot simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) is often required when robots are used to explore prior-unknown environment,e.g.,in rescue scenarios.Fog computing,an emerging computing mode could be used to enable faster,more accurate,speedier,and energy-saved robot SLAM.The framework of fog-enabled robot SLAM addressing was proposed,and challenges it faced were analyzed.Finally,technologies by real implementation of testbed were demonstrated.

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and lysosome are central to cellular stress responses, but it is unclear how ER stress is signaled to lysosomes. Here the authors show that ER stress activates chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) via direct phosphorylation of the CMA receptor LAMP2A by the lysosomal p38 MAPK.

Background: Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy in children and young adults. Most failures of osteosarcoma treatment were due to resistance to chemotherapy. Development of new therapy required elucidation underlying molecular mechanism. Many miRNAs have been proved to be involved in the pathogenesis of osteosarcoma. Methods: MiR-3928 expression level was assayed by qRT-PCR. MiRNA mimics or ASO were transfected for up-regulation or down-regulation of miR-3928 expression. Cell proliferation was assayed by formazan test. Apoptosis and cell cycle were assayed by FACS. MiR-3928 targeted genes were predicated by bioinformatics algorithm (TargetScanHuman). The correlation between targeted gene and miR-3928 was analyzed by Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis. Results: MiR-3928 was down-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues. Over-expression of miR-3928 inhibited tumor growth, induced cell apoptosis, increased the percent of cells in G1 phrase and decreased the percent of cells in S phrase. Down-regulation of miR-3928 promoted cell proliferation. ERBB3, IL-6R and CDK6 may be the targeted genes of miR-3928. Conclusions: Down-expression of miR-3928 in osteosarcoma promoted tumor growth by targeting ERBB3, IL-6R and CDK6. MiR-3928 may be a potential therapy target worth further investigation.

A trench-assisted multicore fiber (TA-MCF) with single-supermode transmission and nearly zero flattened dispersion is proposed herein. By adding a simplified microstructure cladding with only one ring of low-index inclusions on the basis of the multicore fiber, the microstructure cladding and mode-coupling mechanism were jointly employed into the TA-MCF to modulate light transmission. This guarantees that the TA-MCFs had sufficient capability for wideband dispersion management when only pure, germanium-doped, and fluorine-doped silica glass with low index differences were chosen to form the TA-MCF. Analyses also revealed that the TA-MCFs have the merits of shorter cut-off wavelength and flatter-top optical intensity distribution compared with traditional multicore fibers. After the investigation of the structural parameters’ influences on the dispersion of the fundamental supermode, two TA-MCFs with single-supermode transmission and nearly zero flattened dispersion were designed. For the seven-core TA-MCF, the dispersion varying from −0.46 to 1.35 ps/(nm·km) in the wavelength range of 1.50 to 2.04 μm, with bending loss as low as 0.085 dB/km and 35-mm bending radius at 1550 nm was achieved with index difference less than 0.015. The TA-MCFs proposed herein have the advantages of being a quasi-single material, with an all solid scheme and simplified structure.

Articular cartilage defects have been addressed by using multiple strategies. In the last two decades, promising new strategies by using assorted scaffolds and cell sources to induce tissue regeneration have emerged, such as autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and mesenchymal stem cell implantation (MSCI). However, it is still controversial in the clinical strategies when to choose these treatments. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses to compare the efficacy and safety of different cartilage treatments. In our study, 17 studies were selected to compare different treatments for cartilage defects. The results of meta-analyses indicated that cell-based cartilage treatments showed significant better efficacy than cell-free treatments did (OR: 4.27, 95% CI: 2.19–8.34; WMD: 10.11, 95% CI: 2.69–16.53). Another result indicated that MACT had significant better efficacy than traditional ACI did (OR: 0.49, 95% CI: 0.30–0.82). Besides, the incidence of graft hypertrophy of MACT was slightly lower than that of traditional ACI (OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.00–5.94). Current data showed that the cell-based treatments and MACT are better options for cartilage treatments, but more well-designed comparative studies are still needed to enhance our understanding of different treatments for cartilage defects.

The jointly quantitative analysis of multi-sensor gait data for the best gait-classification performance has been a challenging endeavor in wireless body area networks (WBANs)-based gait telemonitoring applications. In this study, based on the joint sparsity of data, we proposed an advanced hybrid technique of distributed compressed sensing (DCS) and joint sparse representation classification (JSRC) for multi-sensor gait classification. Firstly, the DCS technique is utilized to simultaneously compress multi-sensor gait data for capturing spatio-temporal correlation information about gait while the energy efficiency of the sensors is available. Then, the jointly compressed gait data are directly used to develop a novel neighboring sample-based JSRC model by defining the sparse representation coefficients-inducing criterion (SRCC), in order to yield the best classification performance as well as a lower computational time cost. The multi-sensor gait data were selected from an open wearable action recognition database (WARD) to validate the feasibility of our proposed method. The results showed that when the comparison ratio and the number of neighboring samples are selected as 70% and 40%, respectively, the best accuracy (95%) can be reached while the lowest computational time spends only 60 ms. Moreover, the best accuracy and the computational time can increase by 5% and decrease by 40 ms, respectively, when compared with the traditional JSRC techniques. Our proposed hybrid technique can take advantage of the joint sparsity of data for jointly processing multi-sensor gait data, which greatly contributes to the best gait-classification performance. This has great potential for energy-efficient telemonitoring of multi-sensor gait.

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), a Gram-negative bacterium, is the primary cause of otitis media in children and the exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in adults. A hallmark of both diseases is an overactive inflammatory response, including the upregulation of chemokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8). An appropriate inflammatory response is essential for eradicating pathogens. However, excessive inflammation can cause host tissue damage. Therefore, expression of IL-8 must be tightly regulated. We previously reported that NTHi induces IL-8 expression in an ERK-dependent manner. We also have shown that the deubiquitinase cylindromatosis (CYLD) suppresses NTHi-induced inflammation. However, the underlying molecular mechanism of how CYLD negatively regulates ERK-mediated IL-8 production is largely unknown. Here, we examine both human lung epithelial A549 cells and lung of Cyld-/- mice to show that CYLD specifically targets the activation of ERK. Interestingly, CYLD enhances NTHi-induced upregulation of another negative regulator, MAP Kinase Phosphatase-1 (MKP-1), which, in turn, leads to reduced ERK activation and subsequent suppression of IL-8. Taken together, the CYLD suppression of ERK-dependent IL-8 via MKP-1 may bring novel insights into the tight regulation of inflammatory responses and also lead to innovative therapeutic strategies for controlling these responses by targeting key negative regulators of inflammation.

CARD-containing MAGUK protein 1 (CARMA1) plays a crucial role in regulating adaptive immune responses upon T-cell receptor (TCR) activation in T cells. Its role in regulating host mucosal innate immune response such as upregulation of mucin remains unknown. Here we show that CARMA1 acts as a key signaling mediator for synergistic upregulation of MUC5AC mucin by bacterium nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) and phorbol ester PMA in respiratory epithelial cells. NTHi-induced TLR-dependent TRAF6-MKK3-p38 MAPK signaling pathway synergizes with PKCθ-MEK-ERK signaling pathway. CARMA1 plays a crucial role in mediating this synergistic effect via TRAF6, thereby resulting in synergistic upregulation of MUC5AC mucin. Thus our study unveils a novel role for CARMA1 in mediating host mucosal innate immune response.

Inflammation is a hallmark of many serious human diseases. Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is an important human pathogen causing respiratory tract infections in both adults and children. NTHi infections are characterized by inflammation, which is mainly mediated by nuclear transcription factor-kappa B (NF-κB)-dependent production of proinflammatory mediators. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been shown to play important roles in regulating diverse biological processes, including cell growth, differentiation, apoptosis, adhesion, and migration. Its role in regulating NF-κB activation and inflammation, however, remains largely unknown.In the present study, we demonstrate that EGFR plays a vital role in NTHi-induced NF-κB activation and the subsequent induction of proinflammatory mediators in human middle ear epithelial cells and other cell types. Importantly, we found that AG1478, a specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor of EGFR potently inhibited NTHi-induced inflammatory responses in the middle ears and lungs of mice in vivo. Moreover, we found that MKK3/6-p38 and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways are required for mediating EGFR-dependent NF-κB activation and inflammatory responses by NTHi.Here, we provide direct evidence that EGFR plays a critical role in mediating NTHi-induced NF-κB activation and inflammation in vitro and in vivo. Given that EGFR inhibitors have been approved in clinical use for the treatment of cancers, current studies will not only provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of inflammation, but may also lead to the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of respiratory inflammatory diseases and other inflammatory diseases.

Non-typeable Haemophilus influenza (NTHi) is an important human pathogen causing respiratory tract infections in both adults and children. NTHi infections are characterized by inflammation, which is mainly mediated by nuclear transcription factor kappaB (NF-kappaB)-dependent production of inflammatory mediators. The deubiquitinating enzyme cylindromatosis (CYLD), loss of which was originally reported to cause a benign human syndrome called cylindromatosis, has been identified as a key negative regulator for NF-kappaB in vitro. However, little is known about the role of CYLD in bacteria-induced inflammation in vivo. Here, we provided direct evidence for the negative role of CYLD in NTHi-induced inflammation of the mice in vivo. Our data demonstrated that CYLD is induced by NTHi in the middle ear and lung of mice. NTHi-induced CYLD, in turn, negatively regulates NTHi-induced NF-kappaB activation through deubiquitinating TRAF6 and 7 and down-regulates inflammation. Our data thus indicate that CYLD acts as a negative regulator for NF-kappaB-dependent inflammation in vivo, hence protecting the host against detrimental inflammatory response to NTHi infection.