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Both dry reforming of methane (DRM) and methanation of carbon dioxide (MCD) processes offer impressive capabilities for carbon dioxide utilization. However, operating these processes independently involves substantial consumption of natural gas and hydrogen, along with high energy demands, which restrict their broader application. Addressing these challenges is crucial for advancing low-carbon development. This work analyzes the characteristics of two independent processes, namely DRM and MCD. It explores the potential for mass and heat coupling between them, considering the complementary nature of their feedstocks, products, and thermal effects. This investigation leads to the innovative proposal of process coupling schemes for DRM and MCD, marking a pioneering step in this research area. The feasibility of such coupling is assessed through process simulations, examining the characteristics under different situations. The results show that advancements in catalyst technology could enable efficient dual coupling of the DRM and MCD processes in terms of both quality and energy. This coupling process significantly reduces the consumption of natural gas and hydrogen, offering substantial energy savings. In addition, it demonstrates excellent carbon dioxide elimination and utilization capabilities, with the added benefit of flexible adjustability. A key highlight of the DRM‒MCD coupling process is its high mass integration efficiency. Methane produced in the MCD process can serve as a feedstock for DRM, addressing natural gas shortages. Similarly, hydrogen generated by DRM can feed into the MCD, potentially reducing hydrogen usage by at least 26% and mitigating hydrogen resource constraints. Moreover, the coupled process has excellent energy integration. The heat from the exothermic MCD system can be transferred to the endothermic DRM system, leading to significant reductions in energy consumption. When compared to operating the DRM and MCD processes separately, the coupled process could lower total energy consumption by at least 44% and 28%, respectively. This work provides valuable insights for the design and optimization of DRM and MCD process coupling. It underscores the potential engineering applications and feasibility of this approach, contributing to the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by transforming conventional energy and chemical processes.

Abstract Exploring efficient and easily implementable prenatal screening strategies aims at birth defect prevention and control. However, there have been limited economic evaluations of non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) strategies in China. Furthermore, these studies were predominantly confined to local or geographically proximate provinces and lacked universality and representativeness. This study assesses the health economics of current prenatal screening strategies and NIPS as first-line screening programs, analyzing their efficacy to determine an optimal strategy. From the perspective of health economics, cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and single-factor sensitivity were conducted for five different screening strategies using a decision tree model. Among pregnant women aged

Abstract Background Ulcerative colitis (UC) is defined by persistent inflammatory processes within the gastrointestinal tract of uncertain etiology. Current therapeutic approaches are limited in their ability to address oxidative stress, inflammation, barrier function restoration, and modulation of gut microbiota in a coordinated manner to maintain intestinal homeostasis. Results This study involves the construction of a metal-phenolic nanozyme (Cur-Fe) through a ferric ion-mediated oxidative coupling of curcumin. Cur-Fe nanozyme exhibits superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like and •OH scavenging activities, demonstrating significant anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties for maintaining intracellular redox balance in vitro. Drawing inspiration from Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN), a biomimetic Cur-Fe nanozyme (CF@EM) is subsequently developed by integrating Cur-Fe into the EcN membrane (EM) to improve the in vivo targeting ability and therapeutic effectiveness of the Cur-Fe nanozyme. When orally administered, CF@EM demonstrates a strong ability to colonize the inflamed colon and restore intestinal redox balance and barrier function in DSS-induced colitis models. Importantly, CF@EM influences the gut microbiome towards a beneficial state by enhancing bacterial diversity and shifting the compositional structure toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype. Furthermore, analysis of intestinal microbial metabolites supports the notion that the therapeutic efficacy of CF@EM is closely associated with bile acid metabolism. Conclusion Inspired by gut microbes, we have successfully synthesized a biomimetic Cur-Fe nanozyme with the ability to inhibit inflammation and restore intestinal homeostasis. Collectively, without appreciable systemic toxicity, this work provides an unprecedented opportunity for targeted oral nanomedicine in the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

Agricultural water accounts for more than 70 % of the total global water usage, and the scarcity of global freshwater resources will largely limit global agricultural production. Precision irrigation is the key to improving water efficiency and achieving sustainable agriculture. Accurate and rapid access to crop water information is an essential prerequisite for precise irrigation decisions. Traditional moisture detection methods based on soil moisture and crop physiological parameters are faced with the problems of variable field conditions, low efficiency and lack of spatial information, which can be extremely limited in practical applications. By contrast, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) remote sensing has the advantages of low cost, small size, flexible data acquisition time, and easy acquisition of high-resolution image data. Therefore, UAV remote sensing has become an easy and efficient method for crop water information monitoring. This study systematically introduces the principles, methods and applications of crop water stress analysis using the UAV technology. First, the mechanism of crop water stress analysed by UAV is elaborated, focusing on the relationship between canopy temperature, evapotranspiration, sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) and crop water stress. Next, various UAV imaging technologies for crop water stress monitoring are presented, including optical sensing systems, red, green and blue (RGB) images, multi-spectral sensing systems, and hyper-spectral sensing systems. Subsequently, the application of machine learning algorithms in the field of UAV monitoring of crop water information is outlined, demonstrating their potential for data processing and analysis. Finally, new directions and challenges in UAV-based crop water information acquisition and processing are synthesised and discussed, with special emphasis on the prospects of data assimilation algorithms and non-stomatal restriction in monitoring crop water information in the future. This study provides a comprehensive comparison and assessment of the mechanisms, technologies and challenges of UAV-based crop water information monitoring, providing insights and references for researchers in related fields.

Background: The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between swollen limb circumference and compartment pressure after a snakebite and to evaluate the diagnostic value of the circumference difference between the healthy and affected sides and the circumference growth rate for snake venom-induced compartment syndrome (CS). Method: The study was based on a prospective cohort study of snakebite patients at the emergency department of West China Hospital from May 2021 to October 2022. The snakebite patients were divided into the CS and non-compartment syndrome (NCS) groups. The diagnostic value of the circumference of the swollen limb for the CS after snakebite was evaluated using a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, and the cut-off value of the circumference of the swollen limb for CS after snakebite was calculated with sensitivity and specificity. Result: The present study enrolled 115 patients with severely swollen limbs after snakebite. The mean age was 59.1 ± 13.6 years, with 58 (50.4 %) female cases and 57 (49.6 %) male cases. There were 33 (28.7 %) cases where the upper limbs were injured and 82 (71.3 %) cases where the lower limbs were injured. These patients were divided into CS (n = 19) and NCS (n = 96) groups. The area under the curve (AUC) for the 15 cm circumference difference and circumferential growth rate of the upper edge of the patella was 0.683 (95 % CI 0.508 to 0.858, P = 0.037), and 0.685 (95 % CI 0.512 to 0.858, P = 0.035). The optimal cut-off values for the 15 cm circumference difference and circumferential growth rate of the upper edge of the patella to distinguish CS and NCS were 2.8 cm (sensitivity = 76.9 %, specificity = 66.7 %) and 7 % (sensitivity = 76.9 %, specificity = 66.7 %), respectively. Conclusion: Limb circumference measurement is a non-invasive, convenient, effective, and repeatable bedside test that can assist clinicians in the early detection of suspected snake venom-induced CS in patients exhibiting limb swelling after snake bites.

Abstract Background Pathogenic (P) copy number variants (CNVs) may be associated with second-trimester ultrasound soft markers (USMs), and noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) can enable interrogate the entire fetal genome to screening of fetal CNVs. This study evaluated the clinical application of NIPS for detecting CNVs among fetuses with USMs in pregnant women not of advanced maternal age (AMA). Results Fetal aneuploidies and CNVs were identified in 6647 pregnant women using the Berry Genomics NIPS algorithm.Those with positive NIPS results underwent amniocentesis for prenatal diagnosis. The NIPS and prenatal diagnosis results were analyzed and compared among different USMs. A total of 96 pregnancies were scored positive for fetal chromosome anomalies, comprising 37 aneuploidies and 59 CNVs. Positive predictive values (PPVs) for trisomy 21, trisomy 18, trisomy 13, and sex chromosome aneuploidies were 66.67%, 80.00%, 0%, and 30.43%, respectively. NIPS sensitivity for aneuploidies was 100%. For CNVs, the PPVs were calculated as 35.59% and false positive rate of 0.57%. There were six P CNVs, two successfully identified by NIPS and four missed, of which three were below the NIPS resolution limit and one false negative. The incidence of aneuploidies was significantly higher in fetuses with absent or hypoplastic nasal bone, while that of P CNVs was significantly higher in fetuses with aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA), compared with other groups. Conclusions NIPS yielded a moderate PPV for CNVs in non-AMA pregnant women with fetal USM. However, NIPS showed limited ability in identifying P CNVs. Positive NIPS results for CNVs emphasize the need for further prenatal diagnosis. We do not recommend the use of NIPS for CNVs screening in non-AMA pregnant women with fetal USM, especially in fetuses with ARSA.

In order to study the effect of physical synergistic enzymatic treatment on the structural characteristics of highland barley starch, ultrasonic and pressure heat were combined with pullulanase to treat highland barley starch. The particle morphology, crystal structure, functional group structure and particle size of treated samples were determined. The results showed that the contents of resistant starch and amylose were increased while amylopectin was decreased. The original structure of starch granules of highland barley was seriously damaged by the modification, showing a clumped structure, rough surface, full of wrinkles, cracks and holes, and the polarized cross disappeared. It was also found that the average particles size of highland barley starch and the number of large particles increased. Meanwhile, the crystallinity of highland barley starch changed from A-type crystal to B-, C- and V-type which lead to the crystallinity increased. The modified treatment did not produce new chemical groups and chemical bonds, but changed the internal structure of barley starch rearrangement. In addition, compared to untreated, the order degree (DO) of the modified barley starch increased, and the value of DO treated with pullulanase was the largest. The modification treatment made the starch molecules into smaller particles then formed more denser and larger starch crystals.

Abstract Background Persistent pain is the most reported symptom in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however, effective and brief assessment tools are lacking. We validated the Chinese version of the Global Pain Scale (C-GPS) in Chinese patients with RA and proposed a short version of the C-GPS (s-C-GPS). Method The study was conducted using a face-to-face questionnaire survey with a multicenter cross-sectional design from March to December 2019. Patients aged > 18 years who met the RA diagnostic criteria were included. Based on the classical test theory (CTT) and the item response theory (IRT), we assessed the validity and reliability of the C-GPS and the adaptability of each item. An s-C-GPS was developed using IRT-based computerized adaptive testing (CAT) analytics. Results In total, 580 patients with RA (mean age, 51.04 ± 24.65 years; mean BMI, 22.36 ± 4.07 kg/m2), including 513 (88.4%) women, were included. Most participants lived in a suburb (49.3%), were employed (72.2%) and married (91.2%), reported 9–12 years of education (66.9%), and had partial medical insurance (57.8%). Approximately 88.1% smoked and 84.5% drank alcohol. Analysis of the CTT demonstrated that all items in the C-GPS were positively correlated with the total scale score, and the factor loadings of all these items were > 0.870. A significant positive relationship was found between the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the C-GPS. IRT analysis showed that discrimination of the C-GPS was between 2.271 and 3.312, and items 6, 8, 13, 14, and 16 provided a large amount of information. Based on the CAT and clinical practice, six items covering four dimensions were included to form the s-C-GPS, all of which had very high discrimination. The s-C-GPS positively correlated with the VAS. Conclusion The C-GPS has good reliability and validity and can be used to evaluate pain in RA patients from a Chinese cultural background. The s-C-GPS, which contains six items, has good criterion validity and may be suitable for pain assessment in busy clinical practice. Trial registration This cross-sectional study was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1800020343), granted on December 25, 2018.

Seasonal drought and summer soil high-temperature stress in Southern China often lead to decreased yield and quality of Annona squamosa. It is important to explore reasonable and effective water and fertilizer management measures as well as cover measures to improve the soil hydrothermal conditions in orchards to realize the increase in yield and quality of Annona squamosa. This study involved a two-year (2022–2023) field experiment in Yun County, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, using three factors and a three-level orthogonal test, resulting in nine different experimental treatments for water, fertilizer and heat. The three irrigation levels were W1 (soil moisture content of 55% of field moisture capacity), W2 (soil moisture content of 75% of field moisture capacity) and W3 (soil moisture content of 85% of field moisture capacity). The three fertilizer levels were F1 (1666 kg·hm−2), F2 (2083 kg·hm−2) and F3 (2500 kg·hm−2), and the three cover methods were A1 (no cover), A2 (fresh grass cover) and A3 (straw cover). The effects of these treatments on soil hydrothermal conditions, growth indices and fruit yield and quality of Annona s1uamosa were systematically monitored and analyzed, and the relationships between these treatments and yield and quality was analyzed based on a Mantel test. The results showed that T5 (W2F2A3) had the highest average soil moisture content over two years, followed by T7 (W3F1A3). The T7 (W3F1A3) treatment effectively reduced soil temperature by 5 °C compared to T1 (W1F1A1). T5 (W2F2A3) had the highest average yield over two years, with an increase of 33.99% compared to T1 (W1F1A1). Additionally, T5 (W2F2A3) has the highest average soluble solids, soluble sugars and vitamin C content over two years, with increases of 28.13%, 13.36% and 4.86%, respectively, compared to T1 (W1F1A1). A Pearson correlation analysis showed that there was a significant correlation between Annona squamosa growth and soil moisture content and soil temperature, and the Mantel test showed that soil hydrothermal conditions had significant influence on the growth and yield. T5 (W2F2A3) has the highest comprehensive benefit in promoting growth, increasing yield and improving quality for the plant. The effects of different irrigation quantities, fertilizer amounts and different cover measures on the coupling interaction for soil hydrothermal status in the root zone, growth, yield and quality of Annona squamosa were investigated, providing reliable theoretical support for the scientific planting model of Annona squamosa in the low-heat river valley of Yunnan Province.

Myofibrillar proteins are an important component of proteins. Flavor characteristics are the key attributes of food quality. The ability of proteins to bind flavor is one of their most fundamental functional properties. The dynamic balance of release and retention of volatile flavor compounds in protein-containing systems largely affects the sensory quality and consumer acceptability of foods. At present, research on flavor mainly focuses on the formation mechanism of flavor components, while there are few reports on the release and perception of flavor components. This review introduces the composition and structure of myofibrillar proteins, the classification of flavor substances, the physical binding and chemical adsorption of myofibrillar proteins and volatile flavor substances, as well as clarifies the regulation law of flavor substances from the viewpoint of endogenous flavor characteristics and exogenous environment factors, to provide a theoretical reference for the flavor regulation of meat products.

Starter cultures can help improve the quality and safety of traditional fermented meat products. This work was conducted to evaluate the effects of the inoculum of Staphylococcus xylosus on the quality characteristics of a Sichuan cured rabbit product (Chan Si Tu). Physicochemical analyses showed that meats inoculated with S. xylosus had a significant increase in lightness, redness, cohesiveness and chewiness (P1 were proposed as the most odouractive compounds that enhanced the complexity of the product. Thus, inoculation with S. xylosus in the cured rabbit meat product (Chan Si Tu) can effectively enhance the product quality.

The current study aimed to investigate the difference of volatile compounds in Qinghai Yushu yak. In this experiment, brisket, round, tenderloin, bottom round of yak was taken as the research object, the electronic nose, electronic tongue intelligent detection combined with the solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method (SPME-GC-MS) to analyze the flavor, the principal component analysis (PCA), the cluster analysis (CA) and correlation analysis (Pearson) of yak meat. The results showed that the taste intensity of electronic tongue was significantly different, the taste of different parts of yak meat was significantly different, and the taste of sample HT was better than that of other samples. The principal component analysis results of electronic nose showed that HT, HB and QT were close to the X axis, and the odor characteristics were similar. A total of 57 volatile compounds were detected in yak meat, including aldehydes (12 kinds), alcohols (11 kinds), hydrocarbons (11 kinds), acids (5 kinds), ketones (3 kinds), and other miscellaneous sulfur compounds (15 kinds). Among them, the results of PCA-GC-MS showed the contents of benzaldehyde, nonaldehyde, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, m-xylene, allyl methyl sulfide and 2-acetylpyrrole in the bottom round of yak were significantly different from those in other parts, indicating that the flavor of bottom round of yak was significantly different from that in other parts which was the same as the results of electronic nose PCA showed that data analysis. The results would provide a theoretical basis and a data reference for the processing technology and flavor characteristic identification of yak in the future.

The study was conducted to explore the effects of Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the quality changes of bacon during storage. The blank control group (CK) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae 0.3% case group (SC) Sichuan-style bacon were prepared by the same process, and whose physicochemical and microbiological properties were determined during storage. The results showed that the pH and moisture content of the products from SC were 5.98 and 25.88%, which were lower than those of CK, whereas the difference of aw between groups was not observed. For oxidation indexes, the acid value (AV), peroxide value (POV) and thiobarbituric acid value (TBA) of the SC was 1.85 mg/g, 0.024 g/100 g, and 0.241 mg/kg, which were significantly lower than those of the CK of 2.13 mg/g, 0.043 g/100 g, and 0.314 mg/kg (P

ABSTRACTA large number of publications have incorporated deep learning in the process of remote sensing change detection. In these Deep Learning Change Detection (DLCD) publications, deep learning methods have demonstrated their superiority over conventional change detection methods. However, the theoretical underpinnings of why deep learning improves the performance of change detection remain unresolved. As of today, few in-depth reviews have investigated the mechanisms of DLCD. Without such a review, five critical questions remain unclear. Does DLCD provide improved information representation for change detection? If so, how? How to select an appropriate DLCD method and why? How much does each type of change benefits from DLCD in terms of its performance? What are the major limitations of existing DLCD methods and what are the prospects for DLCD? To address these five questions, we reviewed according to the following strategies. We grouped the DLCD information assemblages into the four unique dimensions of remote sensing: spectral, spatial, temporal, and multi-sensor. For the extraction of information in each dimension, the difference between DLCD and conventional change detection methods was compared. We proposed a taxonomy of existing DLCD methods by dividing them into two distinctive pools: separate and coupled models. Their advantages, limitations, applicability, and performance were thoroughly investigated and explicitly presented. We examined the variations in performance between DLCD and conventional change detection. We depicted two limitations of DLCD, i.e. training sample and hardware and software dilemmas. Based on these analyses, we identified directions for future developments. As a result of our review, we found that DLCD’s advantages over conventional change detection can be attributed to three factors: improved information representation; improved change detection methods; and performance enhancements. DLCD has to surpass the limitations with regard to training samples and computing infrastructure. We envision this review can boost developments of deep learning in change detection applications.

Abstract Background A 2-year field trial was conducted to test the effect of biochar addition (0, 15, 30, and 45 t hm−2) on soil properties, nutrients, diazotrophic community diversity, abundance, and structure, and soybean growth, yield, and quality. Furthermore, we aimed to explore the responses of diazotrophs, grain yield, and quality to nine soil environmental factors. Rhizosphere soil and plant samples were collected after harvest. Results Biochar application resulted in a lower soil bulk density (γ d) but higher total organic carbon (TOC), effective phosphorus (AP) and total nitrogen (TN). Compared with untreated soil, the diversity index of diazotrophic bacteria in biochar-amended soil decreased, but the abundance of diazotrophic bacteria increased. The microbial community remained stable when a small amount of biochar was applied but changed as biochar amount increased. Furthermore, biochar reduced the proportion of unique nitrogen-fixing bacteria, but did not affect that of common nitrogen-fixing bacteria between biochar-amended and untreated soils, and increased the relative abundance of Bradyrhizobium (B9 vs. B0) and Sinorhizobium (B18 or B21 vs. B0) involved in symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The main components and content of fatty acids (except for stearic acid) and the content of protein and soybean oil remained stable under biochar application. The low biochar treatment (15 t hm−2) promoted soybean growth and yield. Redundancy analysis suggested that TN greatly influenced the diazotrophic community structure at the phylum and genus levels, and that pH, TOC, and NO3 −-N greatly influenced grain yield and quality. Conclusions Soil diazotroph environment can be improved by targeted farmland implementation based on changes in soil physicochemical properties, which would benefit biological N fixation in agricultural soils and further increase economic benefit. Graphical Abstract

ABSTRACT: Objectives: This study attempted to identify the relationship between antibiotic exposure and risk of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) infection. Methods: Antibiotic exposure was analysed as a risk factor for CRKP infection, cases of which were extracted from research articles indexed in PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library. Relevant studies published until January 2023 were reviewed, and a meta-analysis was conducted on antibiotic exposure within four types of control groups, which comprised 52 studies. Results: The four types of control groups included carbapenem-susceptible K. pneumoniae infections (CSKP; comparison 1); other infections, especially without CRKP infection (comparison 2); CRKP colonisation (comparison 3); and no infection (comparison 4). Carbapenems exposure and Aminoglycosides exposure were two risk factors common to the four comparison groups. Compared with the risk of CSKP infection, tigecycline exposure in bloodstream infections and quinolone exposure within 30 days were associated with an increased risk of CRKP infection. However, the risk of CRKP infection associated with tigecycline exposure in mixed (MIX) infections (infections involving two or more different infection sites) and quinolone exposure within 90 days was similar to the risk of CSKP infection. Conclusion: Carbapenems and Aminoglycosides exposure are likely risk factors for CRKP infection. Antibiotic exposure time as a continuous variable was not associated with the risk of CRKP infection, compared with the risk of CSKP infection. Tigecycline exposure in MIX infections and quinolone exposure within 90 days may not increase the risk of CRKP infection.

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a diverse neurodevelopmental disease primarily distinguished by limited and stereotyped activities as well as impaired social interaction. Due to the high heritability of ASD, research on the disorder has emphasised on identifying the underlying genetic and epigenetic aetiology. Many ASD loci have been identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs). However, GWASs are more susceptible to bias due to population stratification. Moreover, GWASs barely reflect the genetic aetiology of subtypes of behavioural deficits.Methods We applied whole-genome transmission disequilibrium test (TDT) to reveal the gene sets that are significantly associated with the four behavioural subtypes of restricted repetitive behaviours in 334 ASD trios. We further mapped the clustered genes to pathways and enriched the SFARI genes in these pathways.Results Four unique gene clusters (181 genes in total) that are related to four different behavioural subtypes in ASD were identified. 23 SFARI genes were enriched in these four clusters. Through pathway analysis, nine non-SFARI genes (CNDP1, ETNK1, ITPKB, KCNQ5, PDE4D, PDGFRA, PPARGC1A, ULK2, SYNJ2) were found to be linked to the SFARI genes, which may contribute to the development of ASD. Furthermore, we found that the mTOR pathway enriched with the CNDP1, PDE4D, ULK2 genes is associated with neurodevelopment.Conclusions Whole-genome TDT test is a unique tool in clustering genes related to ASD subtypes of behavioural deficits. Several new candidate genes for ASD are revealed by pathway analysis of the clustered genes. These findings are useful for understanding the underlying mechanism of ASD.

With the four different parts (plate tendon, sirloin beef the naked eye, and beef fillet) of raw cut steak as the research object, this paper made a comparative analysis of its conventional nutrients, volatile flavor substances, amino acids, the color L* value, a* value, b* value, water retention, etc, investigated the differences of the different parts of the raw cut steak in nutrition characteristics, edible quality, and processing suitability. According to the results, among the conventional nutrients, the protein content of plate tendon was the highest, the fat content of sirloin beef was the highest, but with the lowest water content, while the fat content of beef fillet was the lowest but with the highest water content. A total of 100 kinds of volatile flavor substances had been detected in the four parts, and 50, 56, 48 and 40 kinds of volatile substances were detected in plate tendon, sirloin, naked eye and beef fillet, respectively. Among them, there were 9 kinds of volatile flavor substances shared by 4 parts of steak. Nonanal content ranked top in 4 parts of steak, which was one of the main flavor substances of raw cut steak. In the color difference, there were significant differences in L*, a* and b* between beef fillet and the other three parts (P0.05). Plate Tendon was suitable for cryopreservation because of its lowest thawing loss rate. Among the texture indexes, the hardness and chewiness of plate tendon were the highest, whereas the hardness and chewiness of naked eye were the lowest (P>0.05). The ratios of essential amino acid/total amino acid (EAA/TAA) to total amino acid (EAA/TAA) in 4 different parts of raw steak were 39.80%, 39.10%, 38.90% and 39.50%, respectively, which were all around 40%. The contents of glutamic acid, histidine and other umami amino acids in 4 different parts of raw cut steak were higher. Thus, the raw cut steak of four different parts belonged to high-quality protein.

Abstract Posterior capsular opacification (PCO) is the most common complication after cataract surgery. Present strategies can’t meet the clinical needs of long-term prevention. This research reports a novel intraocular lens (IOL) bulk material with high biocompatibility and synergistic therapy. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) doped MIL-101-NH2 metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) (AuNPs@MIL) was firstly fabricated via in situ reductions. Then the functionalized MOFs were uniformly mixed with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy) ethyl acrylate (EA) to form the nanoparticle doped polymer (AuNPs@MIL-PGE), and which was used to fabricate IOL bulk materials. The materials’ optical and mechanical properties with different mass contents of nanoparticles are investigated. Such bulk functionalized IOL material could efficiently remove residual human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) in the capsular bag in the short term, and can prevent PCO on demand in the long run by near-infrared illumination (NIR) action. In vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrate the biosafety of the material. The AuNPs@MIL-PGE exhibits excellent photothermal effects, which could inhibit cell proliferation under NIR and doesn’t cause pathological effects on the surrounding tissues. Such functionalized IOL can not only avoid the side effects of the antiproliferative drugs but also realize the enhanced PCO prevention in clinical practice.

The challenge of detecting changes in high-resolution remote sensing imagery often stems from the difficulties in effectively extracting features and constructing appropriate change detection models considering the scale characteristics of ground objects. To solve these issues, we propose a novel UNet 3+ change detection method that considers the scale characteristics inherent in various land-cover change types. Our method includes three key steps: a multi-scale segmentation method, a class-specific UNet 3+ method, and an object-oriented change detection method based on UNet 3+. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we select two datasets for experiments and compare our proposed method with the UNet 3+ single-scale sampling method, the class-specific UNet 3+ single-scale sampling method, and the UNet 3+ multi-scale hierarchical sampling method. Our experimental results show that our proposed method has higher overall accuracy and F1, lower missed detection rate and false detection rate, and can detect more changes in ground features than other methods. To verify the scalability of this method, we compare this method with traditional change detection methods such as PCA-k-means, OCVA, a single-scale sampling method based on random forest, and a class-specific object-based method. Experimental results and accuracy indexes show that our proposed method better considers the scale characteristics of ground objects and achieves higher accuracy. Additionally, we compared our proposed method with other DLCD methods including LamboiseNet, BIT, CDNet, FCSiamConc, and FCSiamDiff. Our results show that our proposed method effectively considers edge information and has an acceptable time consumption. Our approach not only considers the full-scale characteristics of the feature extraction but also the scale characteristics of the change detection model. In addition, it considers a more practical feature extraction unit (object), making it more accurate.

A series of Zn-modified HBeta (Zn/HBeta) catalysts were prepared via the wetness impregnation method with different zinc precursors such as ZnSO4·7H2O, ZnCl2, C4H6O4Zn·2H2O and Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, and their catalytic performance in the conversion of ethanol to propylene reaction was evaluated. Results indicate that the amount and strength distribution of the acid sites of the Zn/HBeta catalysts were easily tuned by employing different types of zinc precursors. More importantly, when the zinc species were introduced to the HBeta, the propylene yield was significantly enhanced, whereas the yields of ethylene and C2–C4 alkanes were remarkably suppressed. For the catalyst prepared by using the ZnCl2 precursor, a higher propylene yield of up to 43.4% for Zn/HBeta-C was achieved as a result of the moderate amount and strength distribution of acid sites. The average coking rate of the used Zn/HBeta catalysts strongly depended on the amount of total acid sites, especially the strong acid sites, i.e., the higher the amount of total acid sites of the catalyst, the greater the average coking rate. For the catalyst prepared by using the ZnSO4·7H2O precursor, Zn/HBeta-S exhibited a better stability even after depositing more coke, which was due to the higher amount of strong acid sites.

BackgroundPostbiotics are an emerging research interest in recent years and are fairly advanced compared to prebiotics and probiotics. The composition and function of postbiotics are closely related to fermentation conditions.MethodsIn this study, we developed a solid-state fermentation preparation method for postbiotics with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. The antibacterial activity was improved 3.62 times compared to initial fermentation conditions by using optimization techniques such as single factor experiments, Plackett–Burman design (PBD), steepest ascent method (SAM), and central composite design (CCD) methods. The optimized conditions were carried out with an initial water content of 50% for 8 days at 37°C and fermentation strains of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens J and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum SN4 at a ratio of 1:1 with a total inoculum size of 8%. The optimized SSF medium content ratios of peptide powder, wheat bran, corn flour, and soybean meal were 4, 37.4, 30, and 28.6%, respectively.ResultsUnder these optimized conditions, postbiotics with a concentration of 25 mg/mL showed significant broad-spectrum antibacterial capabilities against Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus and strong antioxidant activity against ABTS, DPPH, and OH radicals. Moreover, the optimized postbiotics exhibited good anti-inflammatory ability for reducing nitric oxide (NO) secretion in RAW 264.7 macrophage cells in response to LPS-induced inflammation. Furthermore, the postbiotics significantly improved intestinal epithelial wound healing capabilities after mechanical injury, such as cell scratches in IPEC-J2 cells (p < 0.05).ConclusionIn brief, we developed postbiotics through optimized solid-state fermentation with potential benefits for gut health. Therefore, our findings suggested that the novel postbiotics could be used as potential functional food products for improving body health.

The research field of Information Retrieval (IR) has evolved significantly, expanding beyond traditional search to meet diverse user information needs. Recently, Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated exceptional capabilities in text understanding, generation, and knowledge inference, opening up exciting avenues for IR research. LLMs not only facilitate generative retrieval but also offer improved solutions for user understanding, model evaluation, and user-system interactions. More importantly, the synergistic relationship among IR models, LLMs, and humans forms a new technical paradigm that is more powerful for information seeking. IR models provide real-time and relevant information, LLMs contribute internal knowledge, and humans play a central role of demanders and evaluators to the reliability of information services. Nevertheless, significant challenges exist, including computational costs, credibility concerns, domain-specific limitations, and ethical considerations. To thoroughly discuss the transformative impact of LLMs on IR research, the Chinese IR community conducted a strategic workshop in April 2023, yielding valuable insights. This paper provides a summary of the workshop’s outcomes, including the rethinking of IR’s core values, the mutual enhancement of LLMs and IR, the proposal of a novel IR technical paradigm, and open challenges.

ObjectiveCell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a useful biomarker in various clinical contexts. Herein, we aimed to identify maternal characteristics and pregnancy outcomes associated with a failed NIPS test due to high cfDNA concentrations.MethodsA retrospective study of cases with high plasma cfDNA concentration in pregnant women in which NIPS test was performed (from 174,318 cases). We reported the detection of 126 cases (118 with complete clinical information) in which the high amount of cfDNA did not allow the performance of NIPS and study the possible causes of this result.Results622 (0.35%) of 174,318 pregnant women had failed the NIPS test, including 126 (20.3%) cases with high plasma cfDNA concentrations. The failed NIPS due to high plasma cfDNA concentrations was associated with maternal diseases and treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH). Further follow-up of the 118 pregnant women in the case group revealed that the pregnancy outcomes included 31 premature deliveries, 21 abortions. The cfDNA concentrations of pregnant women with preterm deliveries were 1.15 (0.89, 1.84), which differed significantly from those who had full-term deliveries.ConclusionsAmong pregnant women with high cfDNA concentrations, systemic autoimmune diseases, pregnancy complications and LMWH were associated with increased incidence of failed NIPS test. High maternal cfDNA concentrations may not be associated with chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus. However, they should be alerted to the possibility of preterm births and stillbirths. Further clinical studies on pregnant women with high cfDNA concentrations are required.

This paper investigates the optimal process for ultrasonic desalination of Mianning ham. The study analyzed various factors such as ultrasonic treatment time, temperature, and power to determine their impact on the rate of desalination of hams. A single factor test was conducted to study the rate of desalination. Further, A Box-Behnken experimental design was used to evaluate the effect of Mianning ham desalination. The design examined the impacts of ultrasound on the physicochemical properties, texture, and sensory of the ham. Response surface processing group underwent oral processing to determine the optimal ultrasonic treatment conditions with the highest acceptance level. The results show that the best conditions were: ultrasonic time 84.56 min, ultrasonic temperature 40.35°C, and ultrasonic power 150.85 W. The average desalination rate of the ham under the optimal conditions was 25.93% ± 0.69%, and the hardness was 4.48 N ± 0.62 N. Overall, this process significantly improved the desalination rate, texture, and sensory quality of Mianning ham, providing solid theoretical support for desalination processing at the back end of ham.

The accurate identification of dynamic load is important for the optimal design and fault diagnosis of aeronautical structures. Aiming at the identification of dynamic loads on complex or unknown aeronautical structures, a deep convolution neural network (CNN) in the transform domain-based method is proposed. It takes decomposed signals from wavelet transform of several vibration signals as input. A CNN is used for feature extraction, and fully connected layers are used for predicting the decomposed loads in the transform domain. After synthesizing the predicted decomposed components, the loads in the time domain can be obtained. The proposed method could avoid the explicit modeling of the system or transfer functions with complex or unknown structures. Using the data collected on a GARTEUR model, the proposed model is trained and verified. Extensive experimental results with qualitative and quantitative evaluations show the accuracy of this method and the robustness to measurement noise and other unknown load disturbances.

Forages fed to goats influence ruminal microbiota, and further contribute to affect growth performance, meat quality and its nutritional composition. Our objective for current study was to investigate the effects of different forages on growth performance, carcass traits, meat nutritional composition, rumen microflora, and the relationships between key bacteria and amino acids and fatty acids in the longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus muscles of goats. Boer crossbred goats were separately fed commercial concentrate diet supplemented with Hemarthria altissima (HA), Pennisetum sinese (PS), or forage maize (FG), and then slaughtered 90 days after the beginning of the experiment. Growth performances did not vary but carcass traits of dressing percentage, semi-eviscerated slaughter percentage, and eviscerated slaughter percentage displayed significant difference with the treatment studied. Meats from goats fed forage maize, especially semimembranosus muscles are rich in essential amino acids, as well as an increase in the amount of beneficial fatty acids. Our 16S rRNA gene sequencing results showed that the Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Proteobacteria were the most dominant phyla in all groups but different in relative abundance. Further, the taxonomic analysis and linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) identified the specific taxa that were differentially represented among three forage treatments. The spearman’s correlation analysis showed that rumen microbiota was significantly associated with the goat meat nutritional composition, and more significant positive correlations were identified in semimembranosus muscles when compared with longissimus dorsi muscles. More specifically, the lipid metabolism-related bacteria Rikenellaceae_RC9_gut_group showed positively correlated with meat amino acid profile, while genera Oscillospiraceae_UCG-005 were positively correlated with fatty acid composition. These bacteria genera might have the potential to improve nutritional value and meat quality. Collectively, our results showed that different forages alter the carcass traits, meat nutritional composition, and rumen microflora in fattening goats, and forage maize induced an improvement in its nutritional value.

BackgroundGenetic factors are important causes of birth defects. Noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) is widely used for prenatal screening of trisomy 21, trisomy 18, and trisomy 13, which are the three most common fetal aneuploidies. Fetal fraction refers to the proportion of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma, which can influence the accuracy of NIPS. Elucidating the factors that influence fetal fraction can provide guidance for the interpretation of NIPS results and genetic counseling. However, there is currently no broad consensus on the known factors that influence fetal fraction.ObjectiveThe study aimed to explore the maternal and fetal factors influencing fetal fraction.MethodsA total of 153,306 singleton pregnant women who underwent NIPS were included. Data on gestational age; maternal age; body mass index (BMI); z-scores for chromosomes 21, 18, and 13; and fetal fraction in NIPS were collected from the study population, and the relationships between fetal fraction and these factors were examined. The relationship between fetal fraction and different fetal trisomy types was also analyzed.ResultsThe results showed that the median gestational age, maternal age, and BMI of the pregnant women were 18 (16, 20) weeks, 29 (25, 32) years, and 22.19 (20.40, 24.24) kg/m2, respectively. The median fetal fraction was 11.62 (8.96, 14.7)%. Fetal fraction increased with gestational age and decreased with maternal age and BMI (P

Tryptophan derivatives are various aromatic compounds produced in the tryptophan metabolic pathway, such as 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptamine, melatonin, 7-chloro-tryptophan, 7-bromo-tryptophan, indigo, indirubin, indole-3-acetic acid, violamycin, and dexoyviolacein. They have high added value, widely used in chemical, food, polymer and pharmaceutical industry and play an important role in treating diseases and improving life. At present, most tryptophan derivatives are synthesized by biosynthesis. The biosynthesis method is to combine metabolic engineering with synthetic biology and system biology, and use the tryptophan biosynthesis pathway of Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium glutamicum and other related microorganisms to reconstruct the artificial biosynthesis pathway, and then produce various tryptophan derivatives. In this paper, the characteristics, applications and specific biosynthetic pathways and methods of these derivatives were reviewed, and some strategies to increase the yield of derivatives and reduce the production cost on the basis of biosynthesis were introduced in order to make some contributions to the development of tryptophan derivatives biosynthesis industry.

Theanine, a representative non-protein amino acid in tea, is one of the umami components of tea and a major factor in the formation of the unique flavor of tea leaves. In addition to its delicious taste, theanine has a variety of health functions and is used in the food supplement, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and cosmetic industries. This review briefly describes the physiological functions, application prospects, and production methods of theanine. The biosynthetic pathway of L-theanine in natural plants is also introduced. Finally, the microbial synthesis of L-theanine is divided into two major biosynthetic pathways guided by glutamine and glutamate according to the different substrates. According to the status, at present, of the microbial synthesis of L-theanine, the future development of microbial synthesis of L-theanine is prospected, in order to provide technical and theoretical basis for in-depth research on the industrial production of theanine.

The latest Geostationary (GEO) Operational Environmental Satellite-16 (GOES-16) equipped with Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) has comparable spectral and spatial resolution as low earth orbiting (LEO) sensors [i.e., the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)], but with up-to-the-minute image acquisition capability. This enables greater opportunities to generate two essential climate variables—Leaf area index (LAI) and the fraction of photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) absorbed by vegetation with more cloud-free observations and at much higher frequency. The improved GEO LAI/FPAR products will increase the capacity for monitoring highly dynamic ecosystems in a timely manner. However, the radiative transfer (RT)-based MODIS operational algorithm cannot be directly applied to GOES-16 ABI data due to different sensor characteristics. Fortunately, it has been shown theoretically and practically, that the RT-based algorithm can be transplanted to any other optical sensors by optimizing the sensor-specific parameters—the single scattering albedo (SSA) and relative stabilized precision (RSP). We built the RT-based ABI-specific lookup tables (LUTs) using a global optimizing algorithm (SCE-UA) that can quickly find the optimal solution. SCE-UA optimizes the SSAs and RSPs in the LUTs by minimizing the difference between ABI and MODIS retrievals and maximizing the main algorithm execution rate. Our efforts indicate that these strategies of parametric optimization is able to decrease the discrepancy between the ABI and MODIS LAI/FPAR products. Comprehensive evaluations were conducted to evaluate ABI retrievals. These indirect inter-comparisons suggest a spatiotemporal consistency between ABI and the benchmark MODIS products, while direct validation with field measurements increases confidence in their accuracy. The proposed approach is applicable to any other optical sensors for LAI/FPAR estimation, especially, GEO sensors (i.e., Himawari-8, Geo-KOMPSAT-2A, FengYun-4 etc.).

N-hydroxy-pipecolic acid (NHP) is a hydroxylated product of pipecolic acid and an important systemic acquired resistance signal molecule. However, the biosynthesis of NHP does not have a natural metabolic pathway in microorganisms. Here, we designed and constructed a promising artificial pathway in Escherichia coli for the first time to produce NHP from biomass-derived lysine. This biosynthesis route expands the lysine catabolism pathway and employs six enzymes to sequentially convert lysine into NHP. This artificial route involves six functional enzyme coexpression: lysine α-oxidase from Scomber japonicus (RaiP), glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus subtilis (GDH), Δ1-piperideine-2-carboxylase reductase from Pseudomonas putida (DpkA), lysine permease from E. coli (LysP), flavin-dependent monooxygenase (FMO1), and catalase from E. coli (KatE). Moreover, different FMO1s are used to evaluate the performance of the produce NHP. A titer of 111.06 mg/L of NHP was yielded in shake flasks with minimal medium containing 4 g/L of lysine. By this approach, NHP has so far been produced at final titers reaching 326.42 mg/L by 48 h in a 5-L bioreactor. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first NHP process using E. coli and the first process to directly synthesize NHP by microorganisms. This study lays the foundation for the development and utilization of renewable resources to produce NHP in microorganisms.

The purpose of this study is to use the life cycle cost theory to analyze the efficiency of large medical equipment in hospitals, so as to implement life cycle cost (LCC) management and solve the current problems in hospitals. The analysis model of cost benefit of large medical equipment is established, and the cost-effectiveness of 4 large medical equipment between 2019 and 2021 is investigated and analyzed. In terms of the data in each information system of hospitals, the utilization of large medical equipment is quantitatively evaluated and analyzed by life cycle theory. The results show that the Revolution 256 row has the highest revenue of 113.29%. The annual depreciation of Signa 3.0 T HDxt is the highest, amounting to 4,160,000 yuan. However, there is lack of quality control and preventive maintenance of most equipment during use. The cost and benefit of large medical equipment in hospitals are analyzed, which demonstrates that Signa 3.0 T HDxt shows better effectiveness. Too high hospital warranty cost reflects the weak maintenance strength of hospital engineering technicians. The fundamental point of the maintenance and management of large medical equipment is to strengthen the performance evaluation of medical engineering technicians.

Background: This study aims to evaluate prenatal diagnosis methods following positive noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) results.Methods: According to the positive noninvasive prenatal screening results, 926 pregnant women were divided into three groups: main target disease group (high risk for trisomy 21, trisomy 18, or trisomy 13), sex chromosome aneuploidy (SCA) group, and other chromosomal abnormalities group [abnormal Z-scores for chromosomes other than trisomy (T)21/T18/T13 or SCAs]. The verification methods and results were then retrospectively analysed.Results: In the main target disease group, the positive rate of chromosomal abnormalities confirmed by quantitative fluorescence polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR) was 75.18% (212/282), which was not significantly different from that by karyotyping (79.36%, 173/218) and copy number variation (CNV) detection methods (71.43%, 65/91). The positive rate of additional findings confirmed by karyotyping and copy number variation detection methods in main target disease group was 0.46% (1/218) and 8.79% (8/91), respectively. The positive rate of chromosomal abnormalities confirmed by karyotyping and CNV detection methods were 27.11% (45/166) and 38.46% (95/247) in the SCA group and 4.17% (1/24) and 20% (36/180) in the other chromosomal abnormalities group, respectively. Fetal sex chromosome mosaicism was detected in 16.13% (20/124) of the confirmed SCA cases. There were no significant differences in the detection rates of chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and CNV sequencing (CNVseq) among the three groups (p > 0.05).Conclusion: QF-PCR can quickly and accurately identify aneuploidies following NIPS-positive results for common aneuploidy, and in combination with karyotyping and CNV detection techniques can provide more comprehensive results. With the NIPS-positive results for SCA or other abnormalities, CMA and CNVseq may have the same effect on increasing the detection rate. The addition of fluorescence in situ hybridization assay may help to identify true fetal mosaicism.

Low-temperature storage has become the most common way for fresh meat storage because of its lower cost and better preservation effect. Traditional low-temperature preservation includes frozen storage and refrigeration storage. The refrigeration storage has a good fresh-keeping effect, but the shelf life is short. Frozen storage has a long shelf life, but it has a great impact on the quality of meat structure and other qualities, and cannot achieve a complete “fresh-keeping” effect. With the development of food processing storage and freezing technology, two new storage methods, ice temperature storage and micro-frozen storage, have attracted more attention. In this paper, the effects of different low-temperature storage methods on the sensory, physicochemical properties, myofibrillar protein oxidation, microstructure, and processing characteristics of fresh beef were studied. The optimal storage methods under different storage requirements were analyzed to reveal the mechanism and efficacy of ice temperature storage and micro-frozen storage technology, as well as the advantages compared with traditional low-temperature refrigeration. It has practical significance for guiding the application of low-temperature storage of fresh meat. Finally, this study concluded that the longest shelf life could be achieved by frozen storage, and the best preservation effect was achieved during the shelf life of ice temperature storage, and the effect of micro-frozen storage on the myofibrillar protein oxidation and microstructure was the best.

Background: We aimed to assess the clinical application of noninvasive prenatal screening (NIPS) based on second-trimester ultrasonographic soft markers (USMs) in low-risk pregnant women.Methods: Data of pregnant women between April 2015 and December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Pregnant women [age at expected date of confinement (EDC) of

Fermented meat products have a long history in China. These products exhibit a characteristic unique flavor, compact meat quality, clear color, long shelf life and wide variety and are easy to transport. During the processing and storage of fermented meat products, microorganisms are present and exhibit diverse characteristics. Microorganisms can accelerate the degradation of proteins and fats to produce flavor compounds, inhibit the growth and reproduction of heterozygous bacteria, and reduce the content of chemical pollutants. This paper reviews the microbial diversity of Chinese ham, sausage, preserved meat, pressed salted duck, preserved fish and air-dried meat and provides analyses of the microbial compositions of various products. Due to the differences in raw materials, technology, auxiliary materials, and fermentation technology, the microbial species found in various fermented meat products in China are different. However, most fermented meat products in China are subjected to pickling and fermentation, so their microbial compositions also have similarities. Microorganisms in fermented meat products mainly include staphylococci, lactobacilli, micrococci, yeasts, and molds. The study of microbial diversity is of great significance for the formation of quality flavor and the safety control of fermented meat products, and it provides some theoretical reference for the study of fermented meat products in China.

Abstract Background We previously performed targeted sequencing of autism risk genes in probands from the Autism Clinical and Genetic Resources in China (ACGC) (phase I). Here, we expand this analysis to a larger cohort of patients (ACGC phase II) to better understand the prevalence, inheritance, and genotype–phenotype correlations of likely gene-disrupting (LGD) mutations for autism candidate genes originally identified in cohorts of European descent. Methods We sequenced 187 autism candidate genes in an additional 784 probands and 85 genes in 599 probands using single-molecule molecular inversion probes. We tested the inheritance of potentially pathogenic mutations, performed a meta-analysis of phase I and phase II data and combined our results with existing exome sequence data to investigate the phenotypes of carrier parents and patients with multiple hits in different autism risk genes. Results We validated recurrent, LGD, de novo mutations (DNMs) in 13 genes. We identified a potential novel risk gene (ZNF292), one novel gene with recurrent LGD DNMs (RALGAPB), as well as genes associated with macrocephaly (GIGYF2 and WDFY3). We identified the transmission of private LGD mutations in genes predominantly associated with DNMs and showed that parental carriers tended to share milder autism-related phenotypes. Patients that carried DNMs in two or more candidate genes show more severe phenotypes. Conclusions We identify new risk genes and transmission of deleterious mutations in genes primarily associated with DNMs. The fact that parental carriers show milder phenotypes and patients with multiple hits are more severe supports a multifactorial model of risk.

BackgroundOur aim was to provide a theoretical basis for clinicians to conduct genetic counseling and choose further prenatal diagnosis methods for pregnant women who failed non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS).MethodsA retrospective analysis was performed on pregnant women who had failed NIPS tests.ResultsAmong the 123,291 samples, 394 pregnant women did not obtain valid results due to test failures. A total of 378 pregnant women were available for follow-up, while 16 patients were lost to follow-up. Of these 378, 135 pregnant women chose further prenatal diagnosis through amniocentesis, and one case of dysplasia was recalled for postpartum chromosome testing. The incidence rate of congenital chromosomal abnormalities in those who failed the NIPS was 3.97% (15/378), which was higher than that of the chromosomal abnormalities in the common population (1.8%). Among the pregnant women who received prenatal diagnosis, the positive rates of chromosomal abnormalities in the chromosomal microarray analysis/copy number variation sequencing (CMA/CNV-seq) group and in the karyotyping group were 15.28 and 4.76%, respectively.ConclusionPrenatal diagnosis should be strongly recommended in posttest genetic counseling for pregnant women with NIPS failures. Further, high-resolution detection methods should be recommended for additional prenatal diagnoses.

The structural characteristic of oxidized poly (2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (OP) was confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography, gel permeation chromatography and hydroxylamine hydrochloride titration. The results demonstrated that OP prepared through 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-mediated oxidation of poly (2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) was featured by multiple aldehyde groups on its side chain, with no free formaldehyde produced during the oxidation process. The computational simulation for the electrophilic reactivity of OP molecule showed that the reactivity of the aldehyde groups in OP with the amino groups of collagen was comparable to that of glutaraldehyde. In this study, OP was chosen as a collagen modifier to investigate the modification effects on the secondary structure, aggregation behaviour and thermal stability of collagen. The covalent cross-linking occurred between the aldehyde groups of OP and the amino groups of collagen under alkaline condition. The covalent binding between OP and collagen was strengthened with the increasing reaction pH and OP dosage, and the triple helix of collagen was altered to some degree. Furthermore, OP promoted the intense aggregation of collagen and enhanced the thermal stability of collagen. This work provides guidance for preparing novel collagen modifier with multiple aldehyde groups.

Mianning ham, a traditional Chinese dry-cured ham, is protected by national geographical indications. To understand the surface and internal flavor composition and microbial community structure of Mianning ham, solid phase microextraction-gas chromatography (SPME-GC-MS) technology and Illumina high-throughput sequencing were utilized. The results showed that a total of 60 flavor substances were identified in the hams. Forty-nine kinds of flavorings were identified on the surface, including 14 aldehydes, 6 ketones, 10 alcohols, 5 esters, 7 hydrocarbons, 5 acids, and 2 other compounds. Thirty-six kinds of internal flavorings were identified, including 13 aldehydes, 4 ketones, 6 alcohols, 3 esters, 5 hydrocarbons, 4 acids and 1 other type. Decanal (34.91 μg/g) was the most prevalent compound on the surface, followed by n-hexanol (24.99 μg/g), n-hexanal (20.20 μg/g), and n-octyl (16.14 μg/g). n-Hexanal (20.74 μg/g) was the most common compound internally, followed by non-aldehyde (5.70 μg/g), 1-octene-3-alcohol (3.54 μg/g), and inverse-2-octenal (2.77 μg/g). Penicillium lanosum, Penicillium nalgiovense, Debaryomyces hansenii, Staphylococcus equorum, and Erwinia tasmaniensis were isolated from the surfaces of the hams by the traditional culture method. By Illumina high-throughput sequencing, three fungal phyla were identified. Ascomycota was the dominant phylum followed by Basidiomycota. At the genus level, 11 fungi were identified, of which Aspergillus was the dominant fungus, followed by Penicillium and Wallemia. These findings provide fundamental knowledge regarding the microorganisms and flavor compounds in Mianning ham, which will help industrial processors develop effective strategies for standardizing quality parameters.

The deformation and environmental influence of the pit excavation in downtown is very important. A 3D FEM analysis is conducted to understand the deformation of a 13.9 to 15.2 m deep excavation with an in-plane dimension of about 189 m width and 251 m length constructed by the frame top-down method (FTDM) in the soft clay region in the Shanghai metropolitan area. The field monitoring results indicate that the magnitudes of wall deflections and ground settlements, along with the column’s uplift difference, are relatively small, which are below the specified protection levels, and that the FTDM is feasible as one of the extralarge excavation construction methods. It is reasonable to predict wall deflection by 3D FEM simulation with qualitative comparison between the simulated column uplifts and the measured data, yet the prediction of the settlement distribution is of no satisfaction. This project studied in this paper not only serves as a special case study calibrated and verified by numerical tools but also provides insights into the design and construction of an extralarge deep excavation using the frame top-down method in soft soils and metropolitan environment.

Background:. The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a health threat worldwide and has been declared global pandemic by the World Health Organization. Possible transmission routes, including respiratory droplets, close contact, and aerosol propagation, have put plastic and reconstructive healthcare professionals at high risk, especially during surgical procedures. The aim of this study was to summarize and share our experience of infection control measures and corresponding outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods:. Infection control measures, including workflow optimization, useful epidemiologic survey methods, and personal full protective clothing, were discussed. Characteristics and outcomes of emergency cases and elective cases under local and general anesthesia during the COVID-19 pandemic were summarized. Results:. A hierarchy of interventions were applied mainly from 4 aspects. First, administration control and online consultation significantly decreased patient attendance. Second, a triage workflow was established to identify high-/low-risk patients, with clinical manifestations (fever, fatigue, cough, nasal discharge, etc), epidemiologic survey, blood test, chest computed tomographic scan, and coronavirus test if necessary. Third, strict environmental control was adopted using increasing ventilation, isolated room for inpatients, etc. Fourth, proper rotation of healthcare staff was ensured to reduce workload and minimize possible contact. A total of 904 emergency interventions, 2561 local anesthesia, and 570 general anesthesia were performed during this period, and none of the cases/healthcare professionals were found to be infected. Conclusions:. Our experience could help global plastic and reconstructive healthcare professionals to get better preparation and continue to give qualified medical services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proper adjustments should be taken according to their own clinical settings.

In order to obtain better target identification performance, an efficient waveform design method with high range resolution and low sidelobe level for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) radar is proposed in this paper. First, the wideband CP‐based OFDM signal is transmitted on each antenna to guarantee large bandwidth and high range resolution. Next, a complex orthogonal design (COD) is utilized to achieve code domain orthogonality among antennas, so that the spatial diversity can be obtained in MIMO radar, and only the range sidelobe on the first antenna needs suppressing. Furthermore, sidelobe suppression is expressed as an optimization problem. The integrated sidelobe level (ISL) is adopted to construct the objective function, which is solved using the Broyden‐Fletcher‐Goldfarb‐Shanno (BFGS) algorithm. The numerical results demonstrate the superiority in performance (high resolution, strict orthogonality, and low sidelobe level) of the proposed method compared to existing algorithms.

Abstract Background De novo likely gene‐disrupting variants of POGZ cause autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability. However, de novo missense variants of this gene were not well explored in neuropsychiatric disorders. Methods The single‐molecule molecular inversion probes‐based targeted sequencing method was performed on the proband. Variant was validated using Sanger sequencing in both proband and parents. Immunoblot analysis was performed to examine the expression of POGZ in patient‐derived peripheral blood lymphocytes. Published POGZ de novo missense variants in neuropsychiatric disorders were reviewed. Results We detected a novel de novo missense variant in POGZ (c.1534C>A, p.H512N, NM_015100.4) in an individual with ASD. Immunoblot analysis revealed a dramatic reduction in POGZ protein in patient‐derived peripheral blood lymphocytes suggesting a loss‐of‐function mechanism of this de novo missense variant. In addition, we collected and annotated additional eight POGZ de novo missense variants identified in neuropsychiatric disorders from literatures. Conclusion Our findings will be beneficial to the functional analysis of POGZ in ASD pathogenesis, and for genetic counseling and clinical diagnosis of patients with POGZ de novo missense variants.

Abstract Background Forkhead box (FOX) proteins are a family of transcription factors. Mutations of three FOX genes, including FOXP1, FOXP2, and FOXG1, have been reported in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). However, due to the lack of site‐specific statistical significance, the pathogenicity of missense mutations of these genes is difficult to determine. Methods DNA and RNA were extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes. The mutation was detected by single‐molecule molecular inversion probe‐based targeted sequencing, and the variant was validated by Sanger sequencing. Real‐time quantitative PCR and western blot were performed to assay the expression of the mRNA and protein. To assess the pattern of disorder‐related missense mutations of NDD‐related FOX genes, we manually curated de novo and inherited missense or inframeshift variants within FOXP1, FOXP2, and FOXG1 that co‐segregated with phenotypes in NDDs. All variants were annotated by ANNOVAR. Results We detected a novel de novo missense mutation (NM_001244815: c.G1444A, p.E482K) of FOXP1 in a patient with intellectual disability and severe speech delay. Real‐time PCR and western blot revealed a dramatic reduction of mRNA and protein expression in patient‐derived lymphocytes, indicating a loss‐of‐function mechanism. We observed that the majority of the de novo or transmitted missense variants were located in the FOX domains, and 95% were classified as pathogenic mutations. However, 10 variants were located outside of the FOX domain and were classified as likely pathogenic or variants of uncertain significance. Conclusion Our study shows the pathogenicity of missense and inframeshift variants of NDD‐related FOX genes, which is important for clinical diagnosis and genetic counseling. Functional analysis is needed to determine the pathogenicity of the variants with uncertain clinical significance.

Vicarious calibration, as one on-orbit calibration method, is a supplement to onboard calibration of sensors. The application of vicarious calibration, however, is greatly limited due to the time- and effort-consuming field measurements of atmosphere and surface. Fortunately, the Radiometric Calibration Network (RadCalNet) provides automated in situ data at multiple sites, thus increasing the opportunities to achieve ongoing ground-reference calibration of in-orbit instruments. The MEdium Resolution Spectrum Imager-II (MERSI-II) onboard FengYun-3D (FY) has the temporal, spectral, spatial, and radiometric capacity for image capture at a level on par with other sensors used worldwide, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Its on-orbit radiometric performance, however, is assessed in a limited manner. In this study, the reflectance-based vicarious calibration method was employed to calibrate the MERSI-II sensor using ground measurements from RadCalNet at the Railroad Valley Playa site. The calibration of the MERSI-II sensor with large view angles presents difficulties due to the uncertainties introduced by surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) effects. Thus, we performed BRDF correction to harmonize the sensor and ground measurements to consistent observation geometries, before the in-situ measurements were taken as inputs for the 6SV radiative transfer model to predict at-sensor radiance. The calibration results were comprehensively validated with ground data and MODIS benchmark datasets. The results show that accounting for BRDF correction could improve the accuracy of vicarious calibration and ensure inter-consistency between different sensors. An analysis of the vicarious calibration of FY-3D MERSI-II yielded uncertainties of

Recurrent sporadic mutations are important risk factors for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) but have been primarily investigated in European cohorts. Here, Eichler, Xia and colleagues analyse risk genes in a large Chinese ASD cohort and find novel recurrences of potential pathogenic significance.

Considering the demands of different location accuracy for multiple targets tracking, performance-driven resource allocation schemes in distributed MIMO radar system are proposed. Restricted by the tracking antenna number, location estimation mean-square error (MSE), and target priorities, an optimization problem of the minimal antenna subsets selection is modeled as a knapsack problem. Then, two operational schemes, modified fair multistart local search (MFMLS) algorithm and modified fair multistart local search with one antenna to all targets (MFMLS_OAT) algorithm, are presented and evaluated. Simulation results indicate that the proposed MFMLS and MFMLS_OAT algorithm outperform the existing algorithms. Moreover, the MFMLS algorithm can distinguish targets with different priorities, while the MFMLS_OAT algorithm can perform the tracking tasks with higher accuracy.

The transverse momentum distributions of final-state particles are very important for high energy collision physics. In this work, we investigate J/ψ and Υ meson distributions in the framework of a particle-production source, where Tsallis statistics are consistently incorporated. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data in p-p and p-Pb collisions at LHC energies. The temperature of the emission source and the nonequilibrium degree of the collision system are extracted.