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Researchers' investment in reader engagement includes the construction of an appealing abstract. While numerous studies have been conducted on abstracts' rhetorical features, scant empirical attention has been paid to negation use in academic writing. The current study seeks to narrow the research gap from a general and diachronic perspective by adopting an interpersonal model of negation. We found that while "not, no," and "little" tend to be the commonly used negative markers in "Science" abstracts, "little" increased diachronically but decreased for "not" and "no." Functionally, writers prefer to use "interactive negations" and employ relatively more negative markers that function as "consequence" (interactive dimension) and "hedging" (interactional dimension) in their abstracts. Finally, we discuss the possible reasons for such results as well as their pedagogical implications.

Abstract Edible oil may be mixed with tiny solid impurities like raw material fragments, hair, metal fragments and etc. during the production and manufacturing process. For food safety reasons, these tiny impurities need to be detected in the quality control process. As compared with manual detection ways, computer vision-based impurity detection methods can greatly reduce the workload and improve the detection efficiency and accuracy. However, there are currently no datasets for the detection of solid impurities in edible oils. For this reason, a dual-modal edible oil impurity (DMEOI) dataset is developed and made publicly available. The dataset is composed of 14520 event and full-pic images and annotated in two ways. Five common edible oils and four typical impurities are included in the dataset. The DMEOI dataset can be used for liquid impurity detection in either single-modal or dual-modal way. To prove the usability of the dataset, four object detection algorithms are applied and compared.

Abstract Exploitation of mineral resources is a vital backbone of a country’s socio-economic development. However, the coal exploration would cause ecological and environmental problems such as pollutions of water, soils and atmosphere. Especially, the pollution of heavy metals of soil has become increasingly severity. Plant enrichment and tolerance to heavy metals are crucial for the phytoremediation of coal gangue mountain. In phytoremediation, phytostabilization which can reduce the metal contamination of soil by uptake and burn-off of heavy metals with highly accumulating plants, is one of the most effective techniques of eco-remediation treatment. In present work, heavy metals contamination of soil and plants in the Yaojie mining which located in arid and semi-arid area of northwest China were investigated through field investigation. To identify the suitable plants for the remediation and ecological reclamation of heavy metal contaminated soil in typical mining area, the contamination characteristics of heavy metals in the above-ground parts of 27 native plants and their surrounding non-rhizosphere soils were analyzed. After eliminated by wet digestion and high-pressure closed digestion, the mass fractions of Zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) were determined with inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometer, and the contents of Hydrargyrum (Hg) and Arsenic (As) were analyzed with atomic fluorescence spectrophotometer. The Nemerow pollution index showed that in the surrounding soil, the pollution index of heavy metal was 6.32, which reached the extreme severe pollution level. Among the 6 heavy metals, the most severe contamination being Hg (P i = 8.50) and had particularly strong Coefficient of variation (CV = 105.8%), which is more likely to be caused by anthropogenic activities. In the aboveground parts of 27 plants, except for Zn, other metals exceeded the standard level, and the exceedance rates in descending order were As, Hg, Cr, Cd, and Cu. The most severe exceedance of As was found in C. virgata, which was as high as 19.20, and the average exceedance rate of As in all plants was 2.79. Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) was utilized as an indicator of the enrichments of various metals in 27 plants. The maximum value of BCF for As and Hg in C. virgata were 1.52 and 2.50, Cr and Cu in X. sibiricum were 0.72 and 2.32, Cd and Zn in S. glauca were 3.33 and 1.82. As revealed, except Cr, all the BCF of other metals are greater than 1, indicating that the three plants exhibited a strong accumulation capacity of heavy metal and are potential candidate pioneer species for the removal of heavy metals from the contaminated soil in the Yaojie mining area. This study provides a basis for plant selection for ecological restoration of contaminated soils in arid and semi-arid regions.

Abstract Background At the end of 2021, an epidemic of reproductive abnormalities in cows occurred in Jilin Province, China, posing an urgent need for a rapid diagnosis. Results To identify the cause of the disease, a total of 172 samples were collected from 21 dead calves and 45 aborting or pregnant cows in 10 farms across the province. Routine PCR or RT-PCR detection did not find any common abortion-related agents. We then employed the viromics-based precision diagnosis method to analyze these samples, and the read-based annotation showed signals of an Akabane disease virus (AKAV) in some libraries. To further identify the virus, nested RT-PCR detection revealed that 52.3% (11/21) of dead calves and 26.6% (12/45) of cows were positive for the virus. Phylogenetic analysis of the partial fragments showed that the S segment of the virus was 100% identical to the Chinese strain TJ2016, but its M and L segments shared 94.3% and 96.5% identities with an Israeli strain. Conclusions The viromic and molecular results suggested that these animals were infected with a reassortant AKAV. Coupled with the clinical signs, the virus should be responsible for the epizootic, highlighting that molecular and serological surveys of the virus in cows during early pregnancy, as well as ecological investigation in its arthropod vectors, are necessary.

Chinese government has been advocating a reduction in energy intensity in its efforts to meet peak carbon targets, particularly in the context of emerging economic growth and frequent technological breakthroughs. This study assesses China’s digital economy based on regional data experience and constructs a non-linear dynamic threshold model that incorporates heterogeneity thresholds for low-carbon technology innovation into the impact mechanism to explore whether the digital economy can effectively reduce regional energy intensity. It is found that China’s digital economy currently shows an overall upward trend with fluctuations in parts and a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Further, a significant heterogeneous threshold effect of low-carbon technology innovation exists in the effect of digital economy development on energy intensity: a lower level of low-carbon technology innovation is not advantageous to the decrease of energy intensity by digital economy development, while as the level of low-carbon technology innovation increases and exceeds the “threshold value,” the effect of digital economy development is effectively enhanced to a certain extent, thus promoting the reduction of energy intensity. As the level of low-carbon technology innovation raises and surpasses the “critical value,” the impact effect of digital economy development is heightened to a certain extent, thus promoting the decrease of energy intensity. The study replies the question of how to effectively use low-carbon technology innovation to accomplish digital economy development and help reduce regional energy intensity, which provides a reference for achieving the goal of carbon peak and accelerating green and high-quality economic development.

Abstract Background Carcass traits are essential economic traits in the commercial pig industry. However, the genetic mechanism of carcass traits is still unclear. In this study, we performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) based on the specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) to study seven carcass traits on 223 four-way intercross pigs, including dressing percentage (DP), number of ribs (RIB), skin thinkness (ST), carcass straight length (CSL), carcass diagonal length (CDL), loin eye width (LEW), and loin eye thickness (LET). Results A total of 227,921 high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected to perform GWAS. A total of 30 SNPs were identified for seven carcass traits using the mixed linear model (MLM) (p

Abstract. Caloric restriction (CR) is a well-established dietary intervention known to extend healthy lifespan and exert positive effects on aging-related diseases, including cardiovascular conditions. Sirtuins, a family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent histone deacetylases, have emerged as key regulators of cellular metabolism, stress responses, and the aging process, serving as energy status sensors in response to CR. However, the mechanism through which CR regulates Sirtuin function to ameliorate cardiovascular disease remains unclear. This review not only provided an overview of recent research investigating the interplay between Sirtuins and CR, specifically focusing on their potential implications for cardiovascular health, but also provided a comprehensive summary of the benefits of CR for the cardiovascular system mediated directly via Sirtuins. CR has also been shown to have considerable impact on specific metabolic organs, leading to the production of small molecules that enter systemic circulation and subsequently regulate Sirtuin activity within the cardiovascular system. The direct and indirect effects of CR offer a potential mechanism for Sirtuin modulation and subsequent cardiovascular protection. Understanding the interplay between CR and Sirtuins will provide new insights for the development of interventions to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases.

Non-heading Chinese cabbage, a variety of Brassica campestris, is an important vegetable crop in the Yangtze River Basin of China. However, the immaturity of its stable transformation system and its low transformation efficiency limit gene function research on non-heading Chinese cabbage. Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated (ARM) transgenic technology is a rapid and effective transformation method that has not yet been established for non-heading Chinese cabbage plants. Here, we optimized conventional ARM approaches (one-step and two-step transformation methods) suitable for living non-heading Chinese cabbage plants in nonsterile environments. Transgenic roots in composite non-heading Chinese cabbage plants were identified using phenotypic detection, fluorescence observation, and PCR analysis. The transformation efficiency of a two-step method on four five-day-old non-heading Chinese cabbage seedlings (Suzhouqing, Huangmeigui, Wuyueman, and Sijiu Caixin) was 43.33%–51.09%, whereas using the stout hypocotyl resulted in a transformation efficiency of 54.88% for the 30-day-old Sijiu Caixin. The one-step method outperformed the two-step method; the transformation efficiency of different varieties was above 60%, and both methods can be used to obtain transgenic roots for functional studies within one month. Finally, optimized ARM transformation methods can easily, quickly, and effectively produce composite non-heading Chinese cabbage plants with transgenic roots, providing a reliable foundation for gene function research and non-heading Chinese cabbage genetic improvement breeding.

Abdominal subcutaneous fat deposition (ASFD) is not only related to meat quality in the pig industry but also to human health in medicine. It is of great value to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms of ASFD. The present study aims to identify obese-specific biomarkers and key pathways correlated with ASFD in pigs. The ASF-related mRNA expression dataset GSE136754 was retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and systematically analyzed using a comprehensive bioinformatics method. A total of 565 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between three obese and three lean pigs, and these DEGs were mainly involved in the p53 signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway and fatty acid metabolism. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network, consisting of 540 nodes and 1,065 edges, was constructed, and the top ten genes with the highest degree scores—ABL1, HDAC1, CDC42, HDAC2, MRPS5, MRPS10, MDM2, JUP, RPL7L1 and UQCRFS1—were identified as hub genes in the whole PPI network. Especially HDAC1, MDM2, MRPS10 and RPL7L1 were identified as potential robust obese-specific biomarkers due to their significant differences in single gene expression levels and high ROC area; this was further verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) on abdominal subcutaneous fat samples from obese-type (Saba) and lean-type (Large White) pigs. Additionally, a mRNA-miRNA-lncRNA ceRNA network consisting of four potential biomarkers, 15 miRNAs and 51 lncRNAs was established, and two targeted lncRNAs with more connections, XIST and NEAT1, were identified as potentially important regulatory factors. The findings of this study may provide novel insights into the molecular mechanism involved in ASFD.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a clinically prevalent inflammatory disorder that still needs to be developed with more accurate diagnostic biomarkers and more satisfactory therapies. This study intended to explore the therapeutic material basis and molecular mechanisms of a classical traditional Chinese medicinal prescription, Sang Ju Yin (SJY), against ALI, focusing on the chemical components of formula composition, the disturbance of host genes/metabolites and the dysbiosis of intestinal flora. First, based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) component analysis, 212 in vitro and 44 in vivo compounds were identified respectively in SJY. Then, network pharmacology was adopted to calculate potential anti-ALI compounds in SJY and predict that CXCR2, PI3K-Akt signaling and arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism could be potential targets. Subsequently, integrative multi-omics techniques were employed to elaborate deeper systematic molecular mechanisms. Metabolomic data combining both 1H NMR and LC-MS techniques illustrated that 146 pulmonary and 75 fecal biomarkers, associated with AA and other metabolisms, were recuperated by SJY’s intervention. Transcriptomic analyses suggested that SJY could significantly regulate genes and signaling pathways involved with inflammation and apoptosis, such as PI3K-Akt. Further the obtained key targets (IL-10, LCAT, CXCR2 and C5) were verified by qRT-PCR and their relative compound-target interaction were validated by molecular docking. Notably, the disturbance of intestinal microbial community (such as the abundance of Lactobacillus, etc.) was detected through 16S rRNA gene sequencing, that could be effectively reshaped by SJY. Collectively, our integrated work showed SJY could regulate the crosstalk of metabolite-target-pathway-microflora along the gut-microbiota-lung axis on the whole. Noteworthy, our study provided fundamental and new insights into how molecular networks connected different types of components, genes, metabolites, microbes and potential pathways to map an endogenous functional landscape for clinical ALI diagnosis and SJY application.

Michele Ruggieri (1543–1607) was the first Westerner officially approved to reside in China. He promoted Chinese and Western cultural exchange, and he was especially noted for facilitating dialogue between Confucianism and Catholicism. His writings had an important impact in both China and Europe. During his sojourn preaching in China, Ruggieri not only wrote the Tianzhu shilu—the first catechism written in Chinese—but he was also the first Westerner to translate the Four Books into Western language and introduce them to Europe. Based on Ruggieri’s two translations of the Four Books—one translation into Spanish, and one into Latin—this article analyzes Ruggieri’s views of Confucius. In his translations, Ruggieri identified Confucius as a philosopher and a shengren, or saint, and he highlighted the status of Confucius in the Four Books. After analyzing Ruggieri’s treatments of Confucian concepts, this article discusses how Ruggieri’s translations imply that Confucianism had both rational and religious dimensions. After Ruggieri, other Jesuits who came to China gradually turned to emphasizing the rational aspects of Confucianism.

This study investigates the asymptotic synchronization in fractional memristive neural networks of the Riemann–Liouville type, considering mixed time delays and jump mismatches. Addressing the challenges associated with discrepancies in the circuit switching speed and the accuracy of the memristor, this paper introduces an enhanced model that effectively navigates these complexities. We propose two novel event-based hybrid impulsive controllers, each characterized by unique triggering conditions. Utilizing advanced techniques in inequality and hybrid impulsive control, we establish the conditions necessary for achieving synchronization through innovative Lyapunov functions. Importantly, the developed controllers are theoretically optimized to minimize control costs, an essential consideration for their practical deployment. Finally, the effectiveness of our proposed approach is demonstrated through two illustrative simulation examples.

Purpose. To compare the refractive errors measured by the Spot photoscreener (with or without cycloplegia) to cycloplegic retinoscopy in 6- to 10-week-old infants. Materials and Methods. 101 right eyes from 101 healthy infants aged 6 to 10 weeks were recruited for this cross-sectional observational study. Refractive errors were measured using Spot photoscreener before and after cycloplegia, as well as cycloplegic retinoscopy. Comparisons between the refractive measurements were performed using one-way ANOVA with the post hoc Tukey HSD test or Kruskal–Wallis test with the Steel–Dwass test according to the data normality. Pearson’s correlation test and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. The agreement was evaluated using a Bland–Altman plot with 95% limits of agreement of the differences. Results. Spot photoscreener was found to underestimate the spherical equivalent by 2.33 Diopters (D) in these infants. Following the induction of cycloplegia, the spherical equivalent measured by Spot photoscreener was in excellent agreement with cycloplegic retinoscopy with the mean difference of 0.01 D. Spot photoscreener overestimated cylindrical parameter by 0.2 D with poor agreement with cycloplegic retinoscopy no matter whether cycloplegia was induced. It had good agreement with cycloplegic retinoscopy in the J0 vector than the J45 vector measurement. Conclusions. With the induction of cycloplegia, Spot photoscreener can accurately evaluate spherical equivalent in hyperopic infants with mild-to-moderate astigmatism. While it may provide valuable measurements of astigmatism, discrepancies in cylinder and axis should be taken into account.

Abstract Mental load affects the work efficiency and mental health of operators, and it has a vital effect on the efficiency and reliability of human–machine systems. In this study, the evaluation index system of operators’ mental load was used to quantitatively evaluate the mental load state of workers. The system was established by selecting indices from the operators’ physiological parameters, subjective feelings, and time perception. We propose an extended cloud evaluation model of mental load states that combines cloud model (CM) theory with analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and provides mental load levels. An energetic material initiation experiment was conducted to evaluate the mental load state of the operators using the proposed method, and the results of a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and subjective questionnaire were used to verify the performance of the method. The results show that the extended CM evaluation method scientifically and reliably quantified the mental load state. Applying the AHP-TOPSIS integration extended with the CM theory evaluation method in mental load state evaluation provides a new scientific method for studying the quantification of the mental load state and occupational health of workers in hazardous environments. The results of this study are a reference for assessing the mental state of personnel and analyzing occupational suitability for dangerous posts.

A simple, economical and selective method has been established for simultaneous detection of 6 kinds of caine-type anesthetics in cosmetics and rat serum by in situ enrichment thin layer chromatography (TLC) and Raman spectroscopy. The target caine-type anesthetics, procaine hydrochloride (Pro), tetracaine hydrochloride (Tet), dibucaine (Dib), mepivacaine hydrochloride (Mep), lidocaine hydrochloride (Lid) and ropivacaine hydrochloride (Rop), were separated by TLC. The original spots (or position of Rf equal to that of the standard) of anesthetics on TLC plates were in situ enriched into much smaller ones driven by solvent from different directions, and followed by Raman measurement for quanlitative and quantitative analysis, resulting in the improvement of sensitivity and selectivity. Optimization and standardization of the experimental conditions, the composition and proportion of developing solvent, were conducted. Thus a robust and reliable approach which enabled effective separation, accurate identification and quantification has been developed with the lowest detectable amounts of 0.4, 0.2, 1.2, 1, 1 and 1 μg for Pro, Tet, Dib, Mep, Lid and Rop, respectively. The established method was successfully applied in anesthetics analysis in cosmetics (essence, cream and gel) and rat serum without complex sample pretreatment processes, and the results were verified by HPLC. It turned out that the in situ enrichment TLC-Raman technique was feasible and effective for separation and determination of 6 caine-type anesthetics in biological samples and cosmetics, and would have good prospects for on-site qualitative screening of prohibited goods and adulterants.

Background: Esophageal cancer is one of the most unknown and deadliest cancers in the world. Although recent studies have identified some mutations linked to the development of squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (ESCC), the specific role of HomeoboxC10 (HOXC10) in the pathogenesis still requires further investigation. Methods: Agilent mRNA single-channel gene expression was employed to identify genome-wide gene signatures in ESCC. These signatures were also verified using qRT-PCR, immunohistochemical staining as well as Western blot. The biological functions of HOXC10 were further investigated through cellular studies conducted on ESCC cells. Survival analysis was conducted utilizing the Kaplan-Meier method. The GEPIA database and the STRING website were utilized to predict the potential targets that bind to HOXC10. Co-immunoprecipitation assays were performed to investigate the binding interaction between HOXC10 and Forkhead Box A3 (FOXA3). Animal models were established to analyze the effects of HOXC10 silencing on tumorigenesis in vivo. Results: The expression levels of HOXC10 mRNA were found to be upregulated in ESCC. Survival analysis revealed a significant association between abnormally elevated levels of HOXC10 mRNA and an unfavorable prognosis in patients with ESCC. In vitro studies revealed that the knockdown of HOXC10 expression resulted in the inhibition of the proliferation, invasion, and migrating ability of ESCC cells through the upregulation of FOXA3. Furthermore, tumor-bearing mouse models studies demonstrated that HOXC10 through knockdown techniques significantly suppressed ESCC tumor growth. HOXC10 was found to enhance the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway by regulating FOXA3 in ESCC cells. Conclusion: These results support a key role for HOXC10 in the tumorigenesis of ESCC by upregulating FOXA3 via the MAPK pathway and highlight its potential as a promising diagnostic and prognostic marker for ESCC.