Search

Abstract In areas where loess is distributed, landslides represent a significant geohazard with severe implications. Among these events, loess-mudstone landslides are particularly prevalent, posing substantial risks to the safety and property of local residents, and moisture plays a pivotal role as a key factor in causing these disasters. In this study, the hydraulic properties of the soils along the longitudinal section of an ongoing loess-mudstone landslide are investigated through the variation of soil water characteristic curves, which are subsequently fitted by utilizing van Genuchten model. Moreover, a comprehensive experimental investigation was conducted on the loess, mudstone, and loess-mudstone mixtures to facilitate analysis, including X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation, particle size distribution (PSD) analysis, along with fundamental geotechnical tests for parameter determination. It is found that mudstone and loess have distinct SWCC distribution. The SWCC of loess at various depths exhibits a similar distribution pattern due to the occurrence of landslide. The SWCC distribution of loess-mudstone mixture displays a transitional trend between the SWCC of mudstone and that of loess, and the water retention capacity increases as the mudstone content increases. The experimental findings have demonstrated notable agreement between each other and exhibited a satisfactory level of concurrence with the observed phenomena in geological surveys.

In the context of the Fashion Apparel Industry 4.0, a transformative evolution is directed towards the Online Apparel Mass Customization (OAMC) strategy, which provides efficient and personalized apparel product solutions to consumers. A critical challenge within this customization process is the determination of sizes. While existing research addresses comfort evaluation in relation to wearer and garment fit, little attention has been given to how garment fit influences the wearer’s body image, which is also an important purchase consideration. This study investigates the impact of garment fit on the wearer’s body scale perception using quantitative research design. A digital dataset of avatars, clothed in varying sizes of T-shirts, were created for the body scale perception experiment, and an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model was developed to predict the effect of T-shirt fit on body image. With only a small number of garments and body measurements as inputs, the ANN model can accurately predict the body scales of the clothed persons. It was found that the effect of apparel fit on body image varies depending on the wearer’s gender, body size, and shape. This model can be applied to enhance the online garment shopping experience with respect to personalized body image enhancement.

BackgroundHepatitis B virus-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) is a syn-drome with a high short-term mortality rate, and its prognosis is critical in clinical management. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) in the occurrence and development of HBV-ACLF and its prognostic value for 90-day mortality.MethodsThe expression levels of GPX4, oxidative stress-related molecules and inflammatory cytokines in serum or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of 289 participants were determined by RT-qPCR or ELISA, and the methylation level of GPX4 promoter in PBMCs was determined by MethyLight.ResultsThe expression levels of GPX4 in the PBMCs and serum of HBV-ACLF patients were lower than those in non-HBV-associated acute-on-chronic liver failure (non-HBV ACLF) patients, patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and healthy control (HC) individuals, while the methylation level of the GPX4 promoter was greater. In HBV-ACLF patients, the methylation level of the GPX4 promoter is correlated with oxidative stress, inflammation-related molecules, and some clinicopathological indicators. The methylation level of the GPX4 promoter was identified as an independent risk factor for 90-day mortality in HBV-ACLF patients and yielded a larger area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) than the model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score in predicting 90-day mortality.ConclusionThe GPX4 promoter methylation level has promising potential as a predictor of 90-day mortality in patients with HBV-ACLF.

Abstract Surface modification is frequently used to solve the problems of low combustion properties and agglomeration for aluminum‐based fuels. However, due to the intrinsic incompatibility between the aluminum powder and the organic modifiers, the surface coating is usually uneven and disordered, which significantly deteriorates the uniformity and performances of the Al‐based fuels. Herein, a new approach of monolayer nano‐vesicular self‐assembly is proposed to prepare high‐performance Al fuels. Triblock copolymer G‐F‐G is produced by glycidyl azide polymer (GAP) and 2,2′‐(2,2,3,3,4,5,5‐Octafluorohexane‐1,6‐diyl) bis (oxirane) (fluoride) ring‐open addition reaction. By utilizing G‐F‐G vesicular self‐assembly in a special solvent, the nano‐sized vesicles are firmly adhered to the surface of Al powder through the long‐range attraction between the fluorine segments and Al. Meanwhile, the electrostatic repulsion between vesicles ensures an extremely thin coating thickness (≈15 nm), maintaining the monolayer coating structure. Nice ignition, combustion, anti‐agglomeration, and water‐proof properties of Al@G‐F‐G(DMF) are achieved, which are superior among the existing Al‐based fuels. The derived Al‐based fuel has excellent comprehensive properties, which can not only inspire the development of new‐generation energetic materials but also provide facile but exquisite strategies for exquisite surface nanostructure construction via ordered self‐assembly for many other applications.

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a public health problem that seriously threatens human health. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4) in the occurrence and development of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Methods A total of 169 participants including 137 patients with CHB and 32 healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. We detected the expression of GPX4 and stimulator of interferon genes (STING) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The methylation level of GPX4 gene promoter in PBMCs was detected by TaqMan probe-based quantitative methylation-specific PCR (MethyLight). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to detect the serum levels of GPX4, IFN-β, oxidative stress (OS) related molecules, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Results The expression levels of GPX4 in PBMCs and serum of CHB patients were lower than those of HCs, but the methylation levels of GPX4 promoter were higher than those of HCs, especially in patients at the immune tolerance phase. STING mRNA expression levels in PBMCs and serum IFN-β levels of patients at the immune activation phase and reactivation phase of CHB were higher than those at other clinical phases of CHB and HCs. GPX4 mRNA expression level and methylation level in PBMCs from patients with CHB had a certain correlation with STING and IFN-β expression levels. In addition, the methylation level of the GPX4 promoter in PBMCs from patients with CHB was correlated with molecules associated with OS and inflammation. Conclusions GPX4 may play an important role in the pathogenesis and immune tolerance of CHB, which may provide new ideas for the functional cure of CHB.

Abstract Extreme heat events caused by continuous anthropogenic climate change have been increasing. Establishing public cooling environments (PCEs) is imperative for protecting public health and enhancing productivity. Yet, disparities in access to PCEs based on race, travel behavior, and income status can undermine their role in helping communities cope with extreme heat. This study investigates the varied access to three types of PCEs across 40 U.S. counties. Our findings reveal that White people enjoy greater access to PCEs than other groups, especially to tree-covered green spaces (TCGSs), outperforming Black people approximately three times. Driving can disproportionately narrow the racial/ethnic inequality gap compared to walking. Non-expense-required public environments (NERPEs) and expense-required public environments (ERPEs) are less accessible to high-income groups. Our research underscores the ongoing challenges in achieving environmental justice through equitable PCE access and stresses the importance of further studies and policy actions to eliminate disparities.

Population migration has become a dominant force in shaping local demographic changes in the United States, surpassing natural growth rates. However, whether the migration pattern and the influential factor have distinctive disparities between hierarchical county pairs is still elusive. This study delves into the spatial diversity and driving forces behind migration patterns at the county level, with a particular focus on the disparities through an examination of migration levels and scales. We utilize county-pair-level migration data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey to unveil the intricate network structure of population movement. Our findings reveal a pronounced spatial diversity in migration patterns, while cities witness a net influx of population, and in contrast to rural areas, majority of population inflow of cities primarily stems from metro areas. We employ Hierarchical Linear Models to analyze the impact of social connectedness, local wealthiness, and racial diversity on migration flows. The results highlight that cities with robust social networks, higher economic status, and balanced racial diversity are more attractive to migrants. Notably, the influence of racial diversity differences between origin and destination counties is found to be more significant in attracting migration compared to per capita income disparities. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and urban planners in managing demographic changes and addressing the challenges associated with migration-driven population redistribution. The study underscores the importance of considering social, economic, and racial factors in understanding and shaping migration patterns, with implications for regional development and social cohesion.

Flowslide in loessic regions, characterized by their elongated shape and tendency to slide and accumulate along channels or gentle hillslopes, frequently lead to devastating and unpredictable disasters. The Yongguang 1# flowslide in Minxian County, Gansu Province, caused by the Minxian-Zhangxian Ms6.6 earthquake at 7:45AM on July 22, 2013, claimed twelve lives and had a volume of approximately 23×104 m3. The landslide had a vertical difference of 175m between its front and rear edges, a total length of 1 030 m, and a ratio of 0.17, classifying it as a long-runout landslide. This paper explored the characteristics of the sliding process and the sliding velocities of different portions of the flowslide through field survey and a comprehensive analysis of the observation data of the sliding process, while also analyzing the sliding mechanism. Triggered by earthquake, the runout process of the flowslide has been affected by local terrain. The flowslide experienced two complex sliding stages of acceleration and deceleration. Initially, the landslide slid as a whole in the front platform area for 50 to 130 m, and then the front sliding body with an volume of about 6×104 m3 continued to slide along the front channel for 740 m, resulting in a maximum runout distance of 870 m. The entire sliding process lasted about 7 hours, with a maximum sliding speed of approximately 10.6 m/s, and an average sliding speed of 0.034 m/s. The formation of the Yongguang 1# landslide was influenced by the coupled effects of seismic activity and early-precipitation. The earthquake, preceded by heavy rainfall, led to infiltration and softening of the soil. During the sliding process, the high water content in the sliding zone generated high pore water pressure, and in some cases, liquefaction occurred. The channel-shaped topography and low permeability of the sliding zone soil caused a very slow dissipation of pore water pressure, resulting in a significant reduction in frictional resistance in the sliding zone soil throughout the entire sliding process, with a noticeable velocity-sustaining effect. These factors are the primary reasons for the long-runout of the Yongguang 1# landslide.

On October 3, 2021, a large landslide occurred at the loess-mudstone interface in Nandianzi, Lingtai, its successful early warning measures preventing casualties. In order to investigate the occurrence mechanism behind the Nandianzi landslide, a basic investigation was conducted, covering the topography, lithology, hydrogeological conditions, and human engineering activities related to the landslide. Based on the characteristics and differences of the crack development of the landslide, the landslide mass was divided into five blocks. The characteristics of each block were thoroughly analyzed through qualitative and quantitative analysis. The specific sliding situation of different parts of the landslide was analyzed, and further evidence was provided for the objective rationality of landslide classification and zoning, as well as the analysis of landslide mechanisms. Ultimately, it is concluded that the main causes of landslide disasters are as follows: (1) Large-scale excavation and earthwork activities at the lower and middle parts of the slope and the toe, leading to slope steepening and reduced resistance to sliding; (2) Formation of slope depressions, causing inadequate drainage and softening of the rock layer contact surface, thereby diminishing slope stability; and (3) Prolonged heavy rainfall that leads to instability and causes significant loss. While the Nandianzi landslide in Lintai county represents a successfully averted disaster, it serves as a noteworthy case study and a cautionary example for scientifically and standardizedly approaching urban construction and rural revitalization in China. This study holds significance value for monitoring, early warning,risk assessmen, and engineering treatment in comparable regions.

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented need for accessible health care services and significantly accelerated the development processes of telehealth tools for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) early screening and diagnosis. This study aimed to examine the feasibility and utility of a time-efficient telehealth tool combining a structured snack time assessment activity and a novel behaviour coding scheme for identifying ASD. Methods A total of 134 1–6-year-old individuals with ASD (age in months: mean = 51.3, SD = 13.1) and 134 age- and sex-matched typically developing individuals (TD) (age in months: mean = 54, SD = 9.44) completed a 1-min snack time interaction assessment with examiners. The recorded videos were then coded by trained coders for 17 ASD-related behaviours; the beginning and end points and the form and function of each behaviour were recorded, which took 10–15 min. Coded details were transformed into 62 indicators representing the count, duration, rate, and proportion of those behaviours. Results Twenty indicators with good reliability were selected for group difference, univariate and multivariate analyses. Fifteen behaviour indicators differed significantly between the ASD and TD groups and remained significant after Bonferroni correction, including the children’s response to the examiner’s initiation, eye gaze, pointing, facial expressions, vocalization and verbalization, and giving behaviours. Five indicators were included in the final prediction model: total counts of eye gaze, counts of standard pointing divided by the total counts of pointing, counts of appropriate facial expressions, counts of socially oriented vocalizations and verbalizations divided by the total counts of vocalizations and verbalizations, and counts of children using giving behaviours to respond to the examiner's initiations divided by the total counts of the examiner's initiation of snack requisitions. The ROC curve revealed a good prediction performance with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.955, a sensitivity of 92.5% and a specificity of 84.3%. Conclusion Our results suggest that the snack activity-based ASD telehealth approach shows promise in primary health care settings for early ASD screening.

Microwave annealing, an emerging annealing method known for its efficiency and low thermal budget, has established a foundational research base in the annealing of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) devices. Typically, to obtain high-quality MoS2 devices, mechanical exfoliation is commonly employed. This method’s challenge lies in achieving uniform film thickness, which limits the use of extensive data for studying the effects of microwave annealing on the MoS2 devices. In this experiment, we utilized a neural network approach based on the HSV (hue, saturation, value) color space to assist in distinguishing film thickness for the fabrication of numerous MoS2 devices with enhanced uniformity and consistency. This method allowed us to precisely assess the impact of microwave annealing on device performance. We discovered a relationship between the device’s electrical performance and the annealing power. By analyzing the statistical data of these electrical parameters, we identified the optimal annealing power for MoS2 devices as 700 W, providing insights and guidance for the microwave annealing process of two-dimensional materials.

Modern data centers provide the foundational infrastructure of cloud computing. Workload generation, which involves simulating or constructing tasks and transactions to replicate the actual resource usage patterns of real-world systems or applications, plays essential role for efficient resource management in these centers. Data center traces, rich in information about workload execution and resource utilization, are thus ideal data for workload generation. Traditional traces provide detailed temporal resource usage data to enable fine-grained workload generation. However, modern data centers tend to favor tracing statistical metrics to reduce overhead. Therefore the accurate reconstruction of temporal resource consumption without detailed, temporized trace information become a major challenge for trace-based workload generation. To address this challenge, we propose STWGEN, a novel method that leverages statistical trace data for workload generation. STWGEN is specifically designed to generate the batch task workloads based on Alibaba trace. STWGEN contains two key components: a suite of C program-based flexible workload building blocks and a heuristic strategy to assemble building blocks for workload generation. Both components are carefully designed to reproduce synthetic batch tasks that closely replicate the observed resource usage patterns in a representative data center. Experimental results demonstrate that STWGEN outperforms state-of-the-art workload generation methods as it emulates workload-level and machine-level resource usage in much higher accuracy.

The unloading effect by excavation may cause irreversible and severe damage to the surrounding rock masses in underground engineering. In this paper, both conventional triaxial compression (CTC) tests and triaxial unloading confining pressure (TUCP) tests were conducted on fine-grained granite to study its triaxial compression failure processes due to unloading. Based on the crack volumetric strain (CVS) method, the crack axial strain (CAS) method and crack radial area strain (CRAS) method were proposed to identify the failure precursor information (including stress thresholds and axial strain at the initiation point of crack connectivity stage) during the rock failure processes. The results of the CTC tests show that the stable crack development stress σsd, unstable crack development stress σusd, and crack connectivity stress σct identified by the CAS method are 6%, 74%–84%, and 86%–97% of the peak stress, respectively. For the TUCP cases, as the confining pressure increases, the stress thresholds, axial pressure at failure and axial strain at the start of the crack connectivity stage increase, while the time ratio of the crack connectivity stage to the entire unloading stage decreases. This indicates that fine-grained granite is prone to generate more cracks and leads to fail suddenly under high confining pressure. Furthermore, this new method demonstrates that the point at which the derivative of the radial crack area strain transitions from stable to a sudden increase or decrease is defined as the precursor point of rock failure. The results of axial strain at the starting point of the crack connectivity stage are very close to those predicted by the AE method, with β1 no more than 11%.

Elastic spherical polishing tools effectively conform to the polishing surface and exhibit high efficiency in the removal of materials, so they are extensively used in the sub-aperture polishing stages of optical components. However, their processing is often accompanied by significant mid-spatial frequency (MSF) errors, which critically degrade the performance of optical systems. To suppress the MSF errors generated during polishing with spherical tools, this study investigates the influence factor of MSF errors during the polishing process through an analysis of the convolution effect in material removal. A material removal profile model is established, and a uniform removal simulation is conducted to assess the influence of different shape material removal profiles on MSF errors. Simulation and experimental results show that a Gaussian-like shape material removal profile is more effective in suppressing the MSF errors during polishing compared to the “W” and trapezoidal shape material removal profiles. In addition, based on the characteristics of the RMS decreasing in a serrated trend with the decrease in path spacing, a path spacing optimization method considering the polishing efficiency is proposed to improve the polishing efficiency while controlling the MSF errors, and the effectiveness of the path spacing optimization method is verified by comparing the MSF error at the maximum theoretical path spacing and the path spacing that is less than this. Finally, the path spacing optimization method is used to polish single-crystal silicon to further illustrate its practicality.

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) has developed rapidly, and the combination of BDS Phase II (BDS-2) and BDS Phase III (BDS-3) has attracted wide attention. It is found that there are code ISBs between BDS-2 and BDS-3, which may have a certain impact on the BDS-2 and BDS-3 combined positioning. This paper focuses on the performance of BDS-2/BDS-3 combined B1I single-frequency pseudorange positioning and investigates the positioning performance with and without code ISBs correction for different types of receivers, include geodetic GNSS receivers and low-cost receivers. The results show the following: (1) For geodetic GNSS receivers, the code ISBs of each receiver is about −0.3 m to −0.8 m, and the position deviation is reduced by 7% after correcting code ISBs. The code ISBs in the baseline with homogeneous receivers has a little influence on the positioning result, which can be ignored. The code ISBs in the baseline with heterogeneous receivers is about −0.5 m, and the position deviation is reduced by 4% after correcting code ISBs. (2) The code ISBs in the low-cost receivers are significantly larger than those in the geodetic GNSS receivers, and the impact on the positioning performance of the low-cost receivers is significantly greater than that on the geodetic GNSS receivers. After correcting the code ISBs, the position deviation of low-cost receivers can be reduced by around 12% for both undifferenced and differenced modes. (3) For low-cost receivers, correcting the code ISBs can increase the number of epochs successfully solved, which effectively improves the low-cost navigation and positioning performance. (4) The carrier-phase-smoothing method can effectively reduce the distribution dispersion of code ISBs and make the estimation of ISBs more accurate. The STD values of estimated code ISBs in geodetic GNSS receivers are reduced by about 40% after carrier-phase smoothing, while the corresponding values are reduced by about 7% in low-cost receivers due to their poor carrier-phase observation quality.

Global navigation satellite system (GNSS) provides users with all-weather, continuous, high-precision positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services. In the operation and use of GNSS, the influence of the space environment is a factor that must be considered. For example, during geomagnetic storms, a series of changes in the Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere affect GNSS’s positioning performance. To investigate the positioning performance of global satellite navigation systems during geomagnetic storms, this study selected three geomagnetic storm events that occurred from September to December 2023. Utilizing the global positioning system (GPS)/Beidou navigation satellite system (BDS) dual-system, kinematic precise point positioning (PPP) experiments were conducted, and the raw observational data from 100 stations worldwide was analyzed. The experimental results show that the positioning accuracy of some stations in high-latitude areas decreases significantly when using the conventional Geometry Free (GF) cycle-slip detection threshold during geomagnetic storms, which means that the GF is no longer applicable to high-precision positioning services. Meanwhile, there is no significant change in the satellite signal strengths received at the stations during the period of the decrease in positioning accuracy. Analyzing the cycle-slip rates for stations where abnormal accuracy occurred, it was observed that stations experiencing a significant decline in positioning accuracy exhibited serious cycle-slip misjudgments. To improve the kinematic PPP accuracy during magnetic storms, this paper proposes an adaptive threshold for cycle-slip detection and designs five experimental strategies. After using the GF adaptive threshold, the station positioning accuracy improved significantly. It achieved the accuracy level of the quiet period, while the cycle-slip incidence reached the average level. During magnetic storms, the ionosphere changes rapidly, and the use of the traditional GF constant threshold will cause serious cycle-slip misjudgments, which makes the dynamic accuracy in high latitude areas and some mid-latitude areas uncommon, while the use of the GF adaptive threshold can alleviate this phenomenon and improve the positioning accuracy in the high-latitude regions and some of the affected mid-latitude areas during the magnetic storms.

BackgroundHepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high prevalence and poor prognosis worldwide. Therefore, it is urgent to find effective and timely diagnostic markers. The objective of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of F-box protein 43 promoter methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for HCC.MethodA total of 247 participants were included in this study, comprising individuals with 123 hepatitis B virus-associated HCC, 79 chronic hepatitis B, and 45 healthy controls. F-box protein 43 methylation and mRNA levels in PBMCs were detected by MethyLight and quantitative real-time PCR.ResultF-box protein 43 promoter methylation levels were significantly lower in HCC PBMCs than the chronic hepatitis B (P < 0.001) and healthy control PBMCs (P < 0.001). Relative mRNA expression levels of F-box protein 43 in HCC PBMCs were significantly higher than those in chronic hepatitis B (P < 0.001) and healthy control PBMCs (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis of F-box protein 43 promoter methylation levels yielded an area under curve (AUC) of 0.793 with 76.42% sensitivity and 68.35% specificity when differentiating HCC from chronic hepatitis. These values for the F-box protein 43 promoter methylation level were superior to those of the alpha-fetoprotein serum (AFP) level (AUC: 0.780, sensitivity: 47.97%, and specificity: 96.20%), with increments in values for the combination of F-box protein 43 promoter methylation AFP levels (AUC: 0.888, sensitivity: 76.42%, and specificity: 86.08%).ConclusionHypomethylation of the F-box protein 43 promoter in PBMCs is a promising biochemical marker for HBV-associated HCC.

Mushrooming new city developments have occurred in many developing countries in the past two decades, which generate profound socio-economic, environmental, and politico-institutional consequences. This article examines how neoliberal planning facilitates and shapes new city projects in the Global South. In particular, this article focuses on three key mechanisms of neoliberal planning that promote new cities: deregulation, authoritarian state intervention, and public-private partnerships (PPPs). The findings suggest that neoliberal planning has been widely employed as a critical tool in developing new cities across the Global South, which has generated detrimental consequences such as social exclusion and inequality, spatial fragmentation, and environmental deterioration. It also finds that deregulation, authoritarian state intervention, and PPPs can work hand in hand in complex and dynamic ways to foster new cities. Although this article does not argue that neoliberal planning is the only mechanism that facilitates new city building, pervasive and variegated neoliberal planning warrants further attention to the interactions between neoliberal planning and new city building. In addition, further research is needed to decipher how neoliberal planning coexists and interacts with non-neoliberal ideologies and practices in new city developments, which is critical for promoting sustainable development.

Biological receptor-ligand adhesion governed by mammalian cells involves a series of mechanochemical processes that can realize reversible, loading rate-dependent specific interfacial bonding, and even exhibit a counterintuitive behavior called catch bonds that tend to have much longer lifetimes when larger pulling forces are applied. Inspired by these catch bonds, we designed a hydrogen bonding-meditated hydrogel made from acrylic acid-N-acryloyl glycinamide (AA-NAGA) copolymers and tannic acids (TA), which formed repeatable specific adhesion to polar surfaces in an ultra-fast and robust way, but hardly adhered to nonpolar materials. It demonstrated up to five-fold increase in shear adhesive strength and interfacial adhesive toughness with external loading rates varying from 5 to 500 mm min−1. With a mechanochemical coupling model based on Monte Carlo simulations, we quantitatively revealed the nonlinear dependence of rate-sensitive interfacial adhesion on external loading, which was in good agreement with the experimental data. Likewise, the developed hydrogels were biocompatible, possessed antioxidant and antibacterial properties and promoted wound healing. This work not only reports a stimuli-responsive hydrogel adhesive suitable for multiple biomedical applications, but also offers an innovative strategy for bionic designs of smart hydrogels with loading rate-sensitive specific adhesion for various emerging areas including flexible electronics and soft robotics.

Fish-aggregating devices play a significant role in tuna purse fisheries. The severe marine environment and the large number of non-biodegradable fish-aggregating devices impact structural safety and cause marine litter. Therefore, hydrodynamic performance and the use of biodegradable materials are crucial issues for ensuring the sustainability of fish-aggregating devices. In this study, a type of virtual biodegradable drifting fish-aggregating device (Bio-DFAD) was designed. Numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the motion responses and relative velocities of Bio-DFADs in regular waves (first- and fifth-order waves). The numerical model was applied based on unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations with the realizable k–ε model. For different scenarios of modeling, various conditions were modeled, including the relative length, wave steepness, and diameter of the balsa wood, to analyze their effects on the hydrodynamic response of the Bio-DFADs. The results indicated that the increased relative length, wave steepness, and diameter of balsa wood had a significant influence on the motion response amplitude operators (RAOs) and relative velocity of Bio-DFADs. The results suggested that a relative length (LF/B = 1.5) and smaller diameter (DF = 30 mm) were recommended for fewer motion responses and relative velocity. The obtained results provide insight for practical engineering applications of the hydrodynamic design of Bio-DFADs.

The surface of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) underwent oxygen plasma treatment to enhance its machinability and mitigate the tearing effects commonly associated with mechanical forces on 2D materials. This treatment led to the oxidation of the atoms on the top 1–3 layers of MoS2, resulting in the formation of MoO3 on the surface. During mechanical scanning probe lithography (m-SPL), only the surface oxide layer was uniformly removed, with material accumulation occurring predominantly on one side of the machined area. The resolution of the machining process was significantly enhanced via dynamic lithography while maintaining atomic-level smoothness in the machined area. Importantly, these techniques only removed the surface oxide layer, preserving the integrity of the underlying MoS2 surface, which was pivotal in avoiding damage to the original material structure. This study provided valuable insights and practical guidance for the nanofabrication of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) nanodevices, demonstrating a method to finely tune the machining of these materials.

To reveal the mechanism of rainfall- and irrigation-induced landslides in loess slopes within cold regions, a series of tests on loess samples subjected to different permeability durations were conducted, and the effects of rainfall on several performance indicators, including the permeability coefficient, composition, microstructure, soil–water characteristic curve, and the shear strength of the loess, were investigated. The results show that the permeability coefficient of the loess decreased by 68% after permeability testing. With increased permeability duration, there is a marked decrease in total dissolved solids, sand particles, and clay particles, contrasted with an increase in silt particles. This dynamic alters the original soil structure and impacts the soil–water characteristic curve of the loess. Additionally, rainwater infiltration heightens the effective saturation of the loess, in turn diminishing the shear strength of the loess as effective saturation increases. This reduction in shear strength is further intensified with extended infiltration time (or rainfall duration). A landslide is triggered once the shear strength diminishes to the level of the geostatic stress of the loess slope, and the influence of the rainfall-induced loss of soil shear strength should be taken into account during slope stability analysis. This study enhances the understanding of the initiation mechanisms of rainfall-induced landslides in loess slopes.

In the era of big data, unsupervised learning algorithms such as clustering are particularly prominent. In recent years, there have been significant advancements in clustering algorithm research. The Clustering by Density Peaks algorithm is known as Clustering by Fast Search and Find of Density Peaks (density peak clustering). This clustering algorithm, proposed in Science in 2014, automatically finds cluster centers. It is simple, efficient, does not require iterative computation, and is suitable for large-scale and high-dimensional data. However, DPC and most of its refinements have several drawbacks. The method primarily considers the overall structure of the data, often resulting in the oversight of many clusters. The choice of truncation distance affects the calculation of local density values, and varying dataset sizes may necessitate different computational methods, impacting the quality of clustering results. In addition, the initial assignment of labels can cause a ‘chain reaction’, i.e., if one data point is incorrectly labeled, it may lead to more subsequent data points being incorrectly labeled. In this paper, we propose an improved density peak clustering method, DPC-MS, which uses the mean-shift algorithm to find local density extremes, making the accuracy of the algorithm independent of the parameter dc. After finding the local density extreme points, the allocation strategy of the DPC algorithm is employed to assign the remaining points to appropriate local density extreme points, forming the final clusters. The robustness of this method in handling uncertain dataset sizes adds some application value, and several experiments were conducted on synthetic and real datasets to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method outperforms some of the more recent methods in most cases.

PLC-β is widely distributed in eukaryotic cells and is the key enzyme in phosphatidylinositol signal transduction pathway. The cellular functions regulated by its four subtypes (PLC-β1, PLC-β2, PLC-β3, PLC-β4) play an important role in maintaining homeostasis of organism. PLC-β and its related signals can promote or inhibit the occurrence and development of cancer by affecting the growth, differentiation and metastasis of cells, while targeted intervention of PLC-β1-PI3K-AKT, PLC-β2/CD133, CXCR2-NHERF1-PLC-β3, Gαq-PLC-β4-PKC-MAPK and so on can provide new strategies for the precise prevention and treatment of malignant tumors. This paper reviews the mechanism of PLC-β in various tumor cells from four aspects: proliferation and differentiation, invasion and metastasis, angiogenesis and protective measures.

Abstract Background Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are heterogeneous populations. Heterogeneity exists within the same tissue and between different tissues. Some studies have found enormous heterogeneity in immunomodulatory function among MSCs derived from different tissues. Moreover, the underlying mechanism of heterogeneity in immunomodulatory abilities is still unclear. Methods Foreskin mesenchymal stromal cells (FSMSCs) and human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells (HuMSCs) were isolated and cultured until the third passage. According to the International Association for Cell Therapy standard, we confirmed the cell type. Then, FSMSCs and HuMSCs were cocultured with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro. Furthermore, the supernatant was sampled for an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to investigate the secretion of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and TGF-β1. Finally, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of FSMSCs and HuMSCs. Results We successfully identified FSMSCs and HuMSCs as MSCs. When cocultured with LPS pretreated PBMCs, FSMSCs and HuMSCs could effectively reduced the secretion of IL-1β and TNF-α. However, FSMSCs stimulated the PBMCs to secrete more IL-10, TGF-β1, and IL-6. Furthermore, 4 cell subsets were identified from integrated scRNA-seq data, including proliferative MSCs (MKI67 +, CD146 low+, NG2 +, PDGFRB − ), pericytes (CD146 high+, PDGFRB +, MKI67 − , CD31 − , CD45 − , CD34 − ), immune MSCs (CXCL12 high+, PTGIS high+, PDGFRB +, CD146 − , MKI67 − ) and progenitor proliferative MSCs (CXCL12 low+, PTGIS low+, PDGFRB +, CD146 − , MKI67 − ). Among them, we found that immune MSCs with strengthened transcriptional activity were similar to pericytes with regard to the degree of differentiated. Various of immune-related genes, gene sets, and regulons were also enriched in immune MSCs. Moreover, immune MSCs were determined to be close to other cell subsets in cell–cell communication analysis. Finally, we found that the proportion of immune MSCs in foreskin tissue was highest when comparing the subset compositions of MSCs derived from different tissues. Conclusions FSMSCs show better immunomodulatory capacity than HuMSCs in vitro. Moreover, immune MSCs may play a vital role in the heterogeneity of immunoregulatory properties. This study provides new insights suggesting that immune MSCs can be isolated to exert stable immunoregulatory functions without being limited by the heterogeneity of MSCs derived from different tissues.

BeiDou Medium Earth Orbit moderate-energy electron detection data play an important role in space environment effect analysis including satellite anomaly diagnosis, satellite risk estimation, etc. However, the data contain outliers which cause obstacle for the subsequent usage significantly. To solve this problem, we propose an outlier detection method based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) which can learn a rule from labeled historical data and detect outliers from the detection data. With this method, we can identify outliers and do some follow-up operations to improve the data quality. In comparison with general methods, this CNN method provides a more reliable and rapid way to build dataset for the follow-up work.

There has been a significant increase in the amount of construction and demolition waste (C&DW) produced over the past few decades, posing challenges to the construction industry and endangering environmental and sustainable development. Therefore, the present study is conducted with an objective to determine the association among factors in critical management practices that contribute in waste maximization and minimization in construction projects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire. The population of this study comprised of project managers, field engineers, consultants, civil engineers, working in the construction industry in Pakistan. The ‘confirmatory factor analysis’ (CFA) was applied to validate the measurement model, based on five latent factors and 27 observed variables for construction waste maximization (case study- I), and five latent factors and 28 observed variables for construction waste minimization (case study- II). The Cronbach's alpha value

This study presents the results of micro-oscillator fabrication using the transfer printing (TP) of gold (Au) thin films and inkjet printing of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles. The Au thin films are formed into a double-supported microbeam to function as a micro-oscillator on a polymer substrate. The Au microbeams have a thickness of 300 nm and a length of 250 or 300 μm. To improve adhesion strength between the substrate and the Au thin film, the Au thin film is transferred and printed onto a substrate pre-coated with a 30-nm-thick Au surface via atomic diffusion bonding. Furthermore, GO nanoparticles are deposited on the transfer-printed Au thin film and the convex part of the stamp using inkjet printing to enhance the mechanical properties of the micro-oscillator. The former deposition forms a double-layered beam of Au and GO. The Au/GO/Au-layered microbeam is fabricated on a pre-structured substrate by TP after another Au thin film is then deposited on this GO/Au surface. These micro-oscillators can be driven by electrostatic force at less than 10 kHz with 90–210 V of applied voltage, while the deflection of the micro-oscillator is measured by a laser displacement meter. The Au micro-oscillators have a damping ratio of 0.166, and a resonance frequency of 0.28 kHz. This resonance frequency is smaller than that estimated by finite element method analysis. This difference in resonance frequency is attributed to the Young's modulus of the Au thin film and structural defects due to van der Waal bonding. The modulus of the laminated thin film of Au and GO nanoparticles is higher than that of the Au thin film.

Glial cells play an important role in signal transduction, energy metabolism, extracellular ion homeostasis and neuroprotection of the central nervous system. However, few studies have explained the potential effects of exosomes from glial cells on central nervous system health and disease. In this study, the genes expressed in exosomes from astrocytes and microglia were identified by deep RNA sequencing. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis indicated that several pathways in these exosomes are responsible for promoting neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. Gene ontology analysis showed that extracellular exosome, mitochondrion and growth factor activity were enriched in exosomes from the unique astrocyte group, while extracellular exosome and mitochondrion were enriched in exosomes from the unique microglia group. Next, combined with the screening of hub genes, the protein-protein interaction network analysis showed that exosomes from astrocytes influence neurodegenerative diseases through metabolic balance and ubiquitin-dependent protein balance, whereas exosomes from microglia influence neurodegenerative diseases through immune inflammation and oxidative stress. Although there were differences in RNA expression between exosomes from astrocytes and microglia, the groups were related by the hub genes, ubiquitin B and heat shock protein family A (Hsp70) member 8. Ubiquitin B appeared to be involved in pleiotropic regulatory functions, including immune regulation, inflammation inhibition, protein catabolism, intracellular protein transport, exosomes and oxidative stress. The results revealed the clinical significance of exosomes from glia in neurodegenerative diseases. This study was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Nantong University, China (approval No. S20180102-152) on January 2, 2018.

Abstract The endometrium plays a critical role in embryo implantation and pregnancy, and a thin uterus is recognized as a key factor in embryo implantation failure. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (UC-MSCs) have attracted interest for the repair of intrauterine adhesions. The current study investigated the repair of thin endometrium in rats using the UC-MSCs and the mechanisms involved. Rats were injected with 95% ethanol to establish a model of thin endometrium. The rats were randomly divided into normal, sham, model, and UC-MSCs groups. Endometrial morphological alterations were observed by hematoxylin–eosin staining and Masson staining, and functional restoration was assessed by testing embryo implantation. The interaction between UC-MSCs and rat endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) was evaluated using a transwell 3D model and immunocytochemistry. Microarray mRNA and miRNA platforms were used for miRNA-mRNA expression profiling. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to identify the biological processes, molecular functions, cellular components, and pathways of endometrial injury and UC-MSCs transplantation repair and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to further identify the expression changes of key molecules in the pathways. Endometrium thickness, number of glands, and the embryo implantation numbers were improved, and the degree of fibrosis was significantly alleviated by UC-MSCs treatment in the rat model of thin endometrium. In vitro cell experiments showed that UC-MSCs migrated to injured ESCs and enhanced their proliferation. miRNA microarray chip results showed that expression of 45 miRNAs was downregulated in the injured endometrium and upregulated after UC-MSCs transplantation. Likewise, expression of 39 miRNAs was upregulated in the injured endometrium and downregulated after UC-MSCs transplantation. The miRNA-mRNA interactions showed the changes in the miRNA and mRNA network during the processes of endometrial injury and repair. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the process of endometrial injury was mainly attributed to the decomposition of the extracellular matrix (ECM), protein degradation and absorption, and accompanying inflammation. The process of UC-MSCs transplantation and repair were accompanied by the reconstruction of the ECM, regulation of chemokines and inflammation, and cell proliferation and apoptosis. The key molecules involved in ECM-receptor interaction pathways were further verified by qRT-PCR. Itga1 and Thbs expression decreased in the model group and increased by UC-MSCs transplantation, while Laminin and Collagen expression increased in both the model group and MSCs group, with greater expression observed in the latter. This study showed that UC-MSCs transplantation could promote recovery of thin endometrial morphology and function. Furthermore, it revealed the expression changes of miRNA and mRNA after endometrial injury and UC-MSCs transplantation repair processed, and signaling pathways that may be involved in endometrial injury and repair.

Recently, certain challenges have persisted in PH sensor applications, especially when employing hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films as sensing layers, where issues related to sensitivity, hysteresis, and long-term stability hamper performance. Microwave annealing (MWA) technology, as a promising solution for addressing these challenges, has gained significant attraction due to its unique advantages. In this article, the effects of microwave annealing (MWA) treatment on the sensing behaviors of Extended-Gate Field-Effect Transistors (EGFETs) utilizing HfO2 as a sensing film have been investigated for the first time. Various power levels of MWA treatment (1750 W/2100 W/2450 W) were selected to explore the optimal processing conditions. A thorough physical analysis was conducted to characterize the surface of the MWA-treated HfO2 sensing thin film using techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our findings reveal that MWA treatment effectively increased the surface sites (Ns) in the HfO2 sensing thin film, consequently leading to an increase in the pH sensitivity of EGFETs to 59.6 mV/pH, as well as a reduction in hysteresis and an enhancement in long-term stability. These results suggest that MWA offers a straightforward, energy-efficient method to enhance overall HfO2 sensing film performance in EGFETs, offering insights for HfO2 applications and broader microelectronics challenges.

With the rapid development of the economy, car ownership has grown rapidly, which causes many traffic problems. In recent years, intelligent transportation systems have been used to solve various traffic problems. To achieve effective and efficient traffic management, intelligent transportation systems need a large amount of complete traffic data. However, the current traffic data collection methods result in different forms of missing data. In the last twenty years, although many approaches have been proposed to impute missing data based on different mechanisms, these all have their limitations, which leads to low imputation accuracy, especially when the collected traffic data have a large amount of missing values. To this end, this paper proposes a latent-factor-model-based approach to impute the missing traffic data. In the proposed approach, the spatial information of the road network is first combined with the spatiotemporal matrix of the original traffic data. Then, the latent-factor-model-based algorithm is employed to impute the missing data in the combined matrix of the traffic data. Based on the real traffic data from METR-LA, we found that the imputation accuracy of the proposed approach was better than that of most of the current traffic-data-imputation approaches, especially when the original traffic data are limited.

Differential code bias (DCB) of satellite is an error that cannot be ignored in precise positioning, timing, ionospheric modeling, satellite clock correction, and ambiguity resolution. The completion of the third generation of BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) has extended DCB to multichannel code bias observations and observable-specific signal bias (OSB). In this paper, the DCB and OSB products provided by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are analyzed and compared. The DCB parameters for the BDS satellites are applied in both single- and dual-frequency single point positioning (SPP), and the results are intensively investigated. Based on the satellite DCB parameters of the BDS, the performance of precise point positioning (PPP) with different frequency combinations is also analyzed in terms of positioning accuracy and convergence time. The standard deviations (STDs) of DCBs at each signal pair fluctuate from 0.2 ns to 1.5 ns. The DCBs of BDS-2 are slightly more stable than those of BDS-3. The mean values and STDs of C2I and C7I OSBs for BDS-2 are at the same level and are numerically smaller than their counterparts for the C6I OSBs. The mean OSBs for each signal of the BDS-3, excluding C2I, fluctuate between 12.35 ns and 12.94 ns, and the STD fluctuates between 2.11 ns and 3.10 ns. The DCBs and OSBs of the BDS-3 of the IGSO satellites are more stable than those of the MEO satellites. The corrections for TGD and DCB are able to improve the accuracy of single-frequency SPP by 44.09% and 44.07%, respectively, and improve the accuracy of dual-frequency SPP by 6.44% and 12.85%, respectively. The most significant improvements from DCB correction are seen in single-frequency positioning with B1I and dual-frequency positioning with B2a+B3I. DCB correction can improve the horizontal and three-dimensional positioning accuracy of the dual-frequency PPP of different ionosphere-free combinations by 13.53% and 13.84% on average, respectively, although the convergence is slowed.

Tropospheric delay (TD) parameter estimation is a critical issue underlying high-precision data processing for global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). The most widely used TD parameter estimation methods are the random walk (RW) and piece-wise constant (PWC). The RW method can effectively track rapid variations of tropospheric delay, but it may introduce excessive noise. In contrast, the PWC method introduces less noise, but it is less adaptable to cases of large variations of tropospheric delay. To address the problem of how to choose the optimal TD parameter estimation method, this paper investigates the variation patterns of international GNSS service zenith tropospheric delay (IGS ZTD) products and proposes a combined strategy model for TD parameter estimation. Firstly, this paper avoids the day-boundary jumps problem of IGS ZTD products by grouping based on single-day data. Secondly, this paper introduces discrete point areas (DPAs) to measure the magnitude of the ZTD values and uses comprehensive indicators to reflect the variation of ZTD. Next, based on the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, this study selected five different climate classifications with a total of 20 IGS stations as experimental data. The data assessed span from day of year (DOY) 001 to DOY 365 in 2022. This paper then applied 26 different parameter estimation strategies for static precise point positioning (PPP) data processing, and the parameter estimation strategies that were used include the RW and PWC (with the piece-wise constant ranging from twenty minutes to five hundred minutes at twenty-minute intervals). Finally, ZTD and positioning results were obtained using various parameter estimation methods, and a combined strategy model was established. We selected five different climate classifications of IGS stations as validation data and designed three sets of comparative experiments: RW, PWC120, and the combined strategy model, to verify the effectiveness of the combined strategy model. The experimental results revealed that: RW and the combined strategy model have a comparable ZTD accuracy and both are superior to PWC120. The combined strategy model improves the positioning accuracy in the U direction compared to RW and PWC120. In arid (B) and polar (E) regions with a small variation of TD, the PWC120 strategy displayed a better positioning accuracy than the RW strategy; in equatorial (A) and warm-temperate (C) regions, where there are large variations of TD, the RW strategy exhibited a better positioning accuracy than the PWC120 strategy. The combined strategy model can flexibly select the optimal parameter estimation method according to the comprehensive indicator while ensuring ZTD estimation accuracy; it enhances positioning accuracy.

Alpha linolenic acid (ALA) is an essential polyunsaturated fatty acids that can improve human health. Rapeseed is the second largest oil crop in the world but the ALA content in its seed fatty acids is only about 10%. Two rapeseed germplasms YH25005 and R8Q10 with high content (up to 21%) ALA were developed by intervarietal crossing. They were used as the maternal parent (P1) when crossed with a low ALA parent SW (P2) to produce the seeds of the F1 hybrid, F2, and backcrosses to P1 (BCP1) and P2 (BCP2). A multigeneration joint segregation analysis was conducted to determine major gene ​+ ​polygene effects of the content of three major unsaturated fatty acids including oleic (OA), linoleic (LA) and ALA. The results showed that, although some genes favorable to ALA accumulation were not allelic in R8Q10 and YH25005, all the inheritances of OA, LA and ALA in YH25005 ​× ​SW and R8Q10 ​× ​SW followed a genetic model of ‘two pairs of additive major genes ​+ ​additive-dominant polygenes’. It is suggested that the contents of OA, LA and ALA are closely related and the major genes in the parent SW containing loss-of-function mutations in FAD2 and FAD3 loci had strong effect to reduce ALA and elevate OA. However, total genetic effect of the polygenes was greater than that of the two major genes, especial on ALA content. It indicated that it is necessary to employ a larger F2 population to find the plant that accumulate enough minor-effect polygenes for high ALA content. The results are useful for high ALA rapeseed breeding and future work of gene mapping.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is the most common complication of sepsis. Intravenous injection of HUMSCs can regulate the level of circulating endothelial cytokines and alleviate lung injury in juvenile septic rats. In this study, we performed proteomic and phosphorylated proteomic analysis of lung tissue of juvenile septic rats after Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells (HUMSCs) intervention for the first time, and screened the potential proteins and pathways of HUMSCs for therapeutic effect. The 4D proteome quantitative technique was used to quantitatively analyze the lung tissues of septic rats 24 hours (3 biological samples) and 24 hours after HUMSCs intervention (3 biological samples). A total of 213 proteins were identified as differentially expressed proteins, and 971 phosphorylation sites changed significantly. Based on the public database, we analyzed the functional enrichment of these proteins and phosphorylated proteins. In addition, Tenascin-C may be the key differential protein and ECM receptor interaction pathway may be the main signal pathway by using various algorithms to analyze the protein-protein interaction network. Phosphorylation analysis showed that tight junction pathway was closely related to immune inflammatory reaction, and EGFR interacted most, which may be the key differential phosphorylated protein. Finally, 123 conserved motifs of serine phosphorylation site (pS) and 17 conserved motifs of threonine (pT) phosphorylation sites were identified by motif analysis of phosphorylation sites. Results from proteomics and phosphorylated proteomics, the potential new therapeutic targets of HUMSCs in alleviating lung injury in juvenile septic rats were revealed.

Abstract Aim To explore the prevalence of depressive symptoms among patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and analyse the relationship between free fatty acids (FFAs), body mass index (BMI) and depressive symptoms among patients with CHF. Design A cross‐sectional study. Methods Questionnaires were distributed to 200 patients with CHF in the department of Cardiology at a tertiary first‐class hospital in Shandong province. A total of 195 hospitalized patients completed the survey. Data collected from February 2017–November 2017 were analysed by using Pearson's correlation and multiple linear regression. The depressive status of the patients was assessed by the Zung Self‐rating Depression Scale (SDS), and the relationships between FFA, BMI and depressive symptoms were analysed using SPSS 20.0. Results The results showed that 71.28% CHF patients have depressive symptoms. The serum FFA level was significantly higher in CHF patients with depressive symptoms than those without depressive symptoms (p = .003), and FFA level was significantly positively correlated with the SDS score (r = .242, p = .001). The differences in SDS scores were statistically significant between two different BMI groups (p

Abstract Background Currently, there is no effective treatment for premature ovarian failure (POF), and stem cell therapy is considered the most promising treatment. Human umbilical cord blood mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) have shown good regenerative ability in various diseases, including POF; however, their underlying mechanism and dosage for POF treatment remain unclear. This study aimed to compare the effect of single and multiple injections of hUC-MSCs on ovarian function repair in chemotherapy-induced POF. Methods Female mice were intraperitoneally injected with 30 mg/kg busulfan and 120 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CTX) to induce POF. In the single hUC-MSC injection group, hUC-MSCs were transplanted into mice D7 after CTX and busulfan administration, while in the multiple injection group, hUC-MSCs were transplanted on D7, D14, and D21 after CTX and busulfan administration. We evaluated the ovarian morphology, fertility, follicle-stimulating hormone and estradiol concentrations, follicle count, POF model, and cell transplantation results. In addition, real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, and miRNA and mRNA chips were used to evaluate the effect of the cell therapy. Results Ovary size, number of follicle at all developmental stages, and fertility were significantly reduced in the POF group compared with the control. Under hUC-MSC treatment, the ovarian morphology and follicle count were significantly restored, and fertility was significantly increased. By comparing the single and multiple hUC-MSC injection groups, we found that the anti-Müllerian hormone and Ki-67 levels were significantly increased in the multiple hUC-MSC group on D60 after chemotherapy. The expression of stimulating hormone receptors, inhibin α, and inhibin β was significantly restored, and the therapeutic effect was superior to that of the single hUC-MSC injection group. Conclusion These results indicate that hUC-MSCs can restore the structure of injured ovarian tissue and its function in chemotherapy-induced POF mice and ameliorate fertility. Multiple hUC-MSC transplantations have a better effect on the recovery of ovarian function than single hUC-MSC transplantation in POF.

BackgroundPolymyositis (PM) is an acquirable muscle disease with proximal muscle involvement of the extremities as the main manifestation; it is a category of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy. This study aimed to identify the key biomarkers of PM, while elucidating PM-associated immune cell infiltration and immune-related pathways.MethodsThe gene microarray data related to PM were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The analyses using Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), and protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks were performed on differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The hub genes of PM were identified using weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm, and the diagnostic accuracy of hub markers for PM was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve. In addition, the level of infiltration of 28 immune cells in PM and their interrelationship with hub genes were analyzed using single-sample GSEA.ResultsA total of 420 DEGs were identified. The biological functions and signaling pathways closely associated with PM were inflammatory and immune processes. A series of four expression modules were obtained by WGCNA analysis, with the turquoise module having the highest correlation with PM; 196 crossover genes were obtained by combining DEGs. Subsequently, six hub genes were finally identified as the potential biomarkers of PM using LASSO algorithm and validation set verification analysis. In the immune cell infiltration analysis, the infiltration of T lymphocytes and subpopulations, dendritic cells, macrophages, and natural killer cells was more significant in the PM.ConclusionWe identified the hub genes closely related to PM using WGCNA combined with LASSO algorithm, which helped clarify the molecular mechanism of PM development and might have great significance for finding new immunotherapeutic targets, and disease prevention and treatment.

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is developing rapidly, and the related market applications and scientific research are increasing. Studies based on large low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations have become research hotspots. The global coverage of the LEO constellation can reduce the dependence of navigation satellites on ground-monitoring stations and improve the precise orbit determination (POD) accuracy of navigation satellites. In this paper, we simulate various LEO satellite constellations (with 12, 30, and 60 satellites), along with ground stations’ observation data, to examine the impact of LEO satellites on the precision of the BeiDou-3 Global Navigation Satellite System (BDS-3) in terms of its POD accuracy. Using the simulated observation data of both LEO satellites and ground-monitoring stations, we analyze the integrated orbit determination for the LEO and BDS-3 satellites. The findings reveal that the 3D orbital accuracy of BDS-3 is 9.51 dm by using only seven ground-monitoring stations, and it is improved to a centimeter level after adding the LEO constellations. As the number of LEO constellation satellites increases, the impact on improving accuracy gradually diminishes. In terms of time synchronization accuracy in the BDS-3, compared to the results of clock offset using only ground stations, the addition of 12 LEO satellites resulted in an improvement of 49% for RMS1(root mean square) and 52% for RMS2 (standard deviation), the addition of 30 LEO satellites resulted in an improvement of 66% for RMS1 and 70% for RMS2, and the addition of 60 LEO satellites resulted in an improvement of 87% for RMS1 and 90% for RMS2. The integrated orbit determination of the LEO and BDS-3 satellites constellation greatly improves the accuracy of time synchronization. In addition, we also use simulated inter-satellite link (ISL) data to perform enhanced BDS-3 satellites POD and time synchronization experiments. The experiments showed that the orbit determination accuracy of the seven sta (seven stations) and ISL scheme is comparable to that of the seven sta and LEO12 scheme, and that the time synchronization accuracy of the seven sta and ISL scheme is slightly worse. The preliminary experiments showed that the LEO satellite could enhance the orbit determination accuracy of BDS-3 and obtain a higher time synchronization accuracy.

Abstract There is still a lack of competing risk analysis of patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma (pRCC) following surgery. We performed the cumulative incidence function (CIF) to estimate the absolute risks of cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality (OCM) of pRCC over time, and constructed a nomogram predicting the probability of 2-, 3- and 5-year CSM based on competing risk regression. A total of 5993 pRCC patients who underwent nephrectomy between 2010 and 2016 were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The 2-, 3-, 5-year CSM rates were 3.2%, 4.4% and 6.5%, respectively, and that of OCM were 3.2%, 5.0% and 9.3%, respectively. The estimates of 5-year cumulative mortality were most pronounced among patients aged > 75 years in OCM (17.0%). On multivariable analyses, age, tumor grade, T stage, N stage, and with or without bone, liver and lung metastases were identified as independent predictors of CSM following surgery and were integrated to generate the nomogram. The nomogram achieved a satisfactory discrimination with the AUCt of 0.730 at 5-year, and the calibration curves presented impressive agreements. Taken together, age-related OCM is a significant portion of all-cause mortality in elderly patients and our nomogram can be used for decision-making and patient counselling.

The employment psychology of young migrant workers in China has changed drastically in past decades. In particular, the construction industry has been facing labor shortages and aging workforces for years, and the eruption of coronavirus disease 2019 has exacerbated the problem. In contrast, the food delivery business has grown rapidly during the pandemic with a surge in the number of food delivery knights. It is vitally important to understand the employment psychology of the young migrant workers, the main component of the workforce for both industries. The presented study conducted a comparative analysis between construction workers and food delivery knights using data from face-to-face interviews, online social media, and World Value Survey. Results showed that the two groups of young migrant workers have different employment psychology during their job selection, construction workers cared more about income, and food delivery knights paid more attention to autonomy, working environment, and family.

Construction equipment teleoperation is a promising solution when the site environment is hazardous to operators. However, limited situational awareness of the operator exists as one of the major bottlenecks for its implementation. Virtual annotations (VAs) can use symbols to convey information about operating clues, thus improving an operator’s situational awareness without introducing an overwhelming cognitive load. It is of primary importance to understand how an operator’s visual system responds to different VAs from a human-centered perspective. This study investigates the effect of VA on teleoperation performance in excavating tasks. A visual attention map is generated to describe how an operator’s attention is allocated when VAs are presented during operation. The result of this study can improve the understanding of how human vision works in virtual or augmented reality. It also informs the strategies on the practical implication of designing a user-friendly teleoperation system.

Urban rail transit is an essential part of the urban public transportation system. The reasonable spatial data visualization of urban rail transit stations can provide a more intuitive way for the majority of travelers to arrange travel plans and find destinations. The map service of rail transit stations generated by data visualization has gradually become indispensable information guidance in the rail transit system. The existing map service icons block each other when the scale changes, and new stations cannot be displayed dynamically when users drag the map. This paper uses filtering and sorting methods to dynamically query and visualize the relatively more important transportation stations within the users’ visible range, so as to solve the above problems and provide people with better transportation services. Our method introduces three constraints: spatial diversity, time-sharing passenger flow analysis and whether it is a transit station, and calculates the scores of constraint relationships of feature objects to evaluate stations. On the basis of the skyline query, the scores of feature objects are combined and sorted to obtain an ordered object set of the most interesting k points(top-k POIs), and the rail transit stations are dynamically retrieved and visualized. Before sorting POIs, we filter out POIs that need to be fitted, so that only the k most representative POIs in the currently visible range are displayed. When the map scale changes, the displayed POIs are updated. Finally, through the statistics of efficiency calculation of this method under different scales and centers, combined with users’ evaluations, it was proved that our method could better display critical information and improve user experience.

Many events such as large-scale activities and traffic accidents could cause an increase in vehicle density in an area, which makes the evacuation of vehicles important. However, the existing evacuation methods are not efficient limit to multi-vehicles sequences or destinations. In this paper, we introduce a novel dynamic weighted road network model for route planning. Based on the model, the route planning algorithm can obtain higher search efficiency while avoiding congested roads. For multi-vehicles evacuation, we propose a spatial diversity theory to evaluate the overlaps of routes between vehicles to be evacuated and those already evacuated. To verify the efficiency and effectiveness of our model, we conducted experiments on real road network. The results showed that our methods and algorithms can provide more reasonable paths and manage the process more efficiently.

Polyurethane microcellular elastomers (PUME) are good at impact protection and energy absorption, and belong to rate sensitive- and strain history-dependent materials. In this study, PUME with different densities of 800 kg/m3, 600 kg/m3 and 400 kg/m3 were prepared, then the compressive responses of PUME in the strain rate range of 0.001 s−1 to 3400 s−1 were systemically investigated. By studying the energy absorption and efficiency diagram of PUME, the compressive properties of materials with different densities under compressive impact load were described, which showed that PUME with a density of 600 kg/m3 had better performance. A visco–hyperelasticity–air constitutive model was established to describe the large deformation response of PUME at high strain rates. The model included three components: hyperelastic part, viscoelastic part and gas pressure part. Quasi-static and dynamic compression tests were used to determine the constitutive relations of seven parameters. The samples with a density of 600 kg/m3 at different strain rates were fitted by MATLAB software, and the constitutive model parameters were obtained. The comparison between the constitutive equation and the experimental results showed that there was a good consistency. The constitutive model can provide data support for simulation analysis and application of PUME as energy absorbing protective facilities.

Background: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and fibroblasts show similar morphology, surface marker expression, and proliferation, differentiation, and immunomodulatory capacities. These similarities not only blur their cell identities but also limit their application.Methods: We performed single-cell transcriptome sequencing of the human umbilical cord and foreskin MSCs (HuMSCs and FSMSCs) and extracted the single-cell transcriptome data of the bone marrow and adipose MSCs (BMSCs and ADMSCs) from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Then, we performed quality control, batch effect correction, integration, and clustering analysis of the integrated single-cell transcriptome data from the HuMSCs, FMSCs, BMSCs, and ADMSCs. The cell subsets were annotated based on the surface marker phenotypes for the MSCs (CD105+, CD90+, CD73+, CD45−, CD34−, CD19−, HLA-DRA−, and CD11b−), fibroblasts (VIM+, PECAM1−, CD34−, CD45−, EPCAM−, and MYH11−), and pericytes (CD146+, PDGFRB+, PECAM1−, CD34−, and CD45−). The expression levels of common fibroblast markers (ACTA2, FAP, PDGFRA, PDGFRB, S100A4, FN1, COL1A1, POSTN, DCN, COL1A2, FBLN2, COL1A2, DES, and CDH11) were also analyzed in all cell subsets. Finally, the gene expression profiles, differentiation status, and the enrichment status of various gene sets and regulons were compared between the cell subsets.Results: We demonstrated 15 distinct cell subsets in the integrated single-cell transcriptome sequencing data. Surface marker annotation demonstrated the MSC phenotype in 12 of the 15 cell subsets. C10 and C14 subsets demonstrated both the MSC and pericyte phenotypes. All 15 cell subsets demonstrated the fibroblast phenotype. C8, C12, and C13 subsets exclusively demonstrated the fibroblast phenotype. We identified 3,275 differentially expressed genes, 305 enriched gene sets, and 34 enriched regulons between the 15 cell subsets. The cell subsets that exclusively demonstrated the fibroblast phenotype represented less primitive and more differentiated cell types.Conclusion: Cell subsets with the MSC phenotype also demonstrated the fibroblast phenotype, but cell subsets with the fibroblast phenotype did not necessarily demonstrate the MSC phenotype, suggesting that MSCs represented a subclass of fibroblasts. We also demonstrated that the MSCs and fibroblasts represented highly heterogeneous populations with distinct cell subsets, which could be identified based on the differentially enriched gene sets and regulons that specify proliferating, differentiating, metabolic, and/or immunomodulatory functions.

BackgroundUnderstanding the patterns and trends in the context of both incidence and mortality and anticipating future trends is important for viral hepatitis prevention, treatment, and guiding resource allocation in China. The objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive temporal analysis of acute viral hepatitis and its type using the most updated data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD 2019) to estimate the incidence and mortality of hepatitis from 1990 to 2019 and make predictions to 2030.MethodsThe age-standardized incidence (ASIR) and mortality rate (ASMR) of viral hepatitis in China were obtained from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD 2019). Trends of ASIR and ASMR for viral hepatitis were plotted using locally weighted regression (LOESS). We used joinpoint regression analysis to detect temporal changes and estimate the annual percent of change (APC) of each trend segment and the corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). A Bayesian age-period-cohort analysis was employed to describe ASIR and ASMR trends between 1990 and 2019 and projections to 2030.ResultsIn 1990, there were 67 million incident cases of acute viral hepatitis, which then decreased to 47 million incidence cases in 2019. Hepatitis A and hepatitis B account for the majority of acute viral hepatitis, and the most pronounced declines in hepatitis B (−48.7%) and hepatitis C (−39.0%) were observed between 1990 and 2019. The ASIR of overall acute viral hepatitis shows a persistent decline, with an average annual percent of change (AAPC) of −1.9% (95% CI: −1.9, −1.8) between 1990 and 2019. The trend of ASMR demonstrated a rapid decline between 1990 and 2005, followed by a slow decline until 2030.ConclusionOur study reveals favorable declining trends of incidence and mortality for acute viral hepatitis in China from 1990 and 2019, and these favorable trends are predicted to continue up to 2030. Despite the favorable trends observed, the absolute number of viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis A and B, is still substantial in China. A scaled-up vaccine campaign is still needed to tackle the large number of vaccine preventable hepatitis infections.

The Construction and demolition (C and D) waste generation is a critical issue for the construction industry, which negatively affects the economy, environment, and society. This study estimates the penalty-cost based on the produced C&D wastes in steel and concrete skeleton projects. Field survey and the BOQ data were collected from five concrete and four steel skeleton projects. The difference of materials used and wastes generated between concrete and steel skeleton projects were evaluated statistically (ANOVA and Welch and Brown-Forsythe). A financial analysis was implemented for estimating the penalty cost. The study outcomes demonstrate that the amount of waste that construction managers estimated is significantly lower than the actual amount generated. Furthermore, 0.055% of the total project cost of a penalty was estimated based on the waste produced at construction sites. In the end, the estimated penalty was validated by comparing it with the six recent completed projects. The penalty calculated in this study could save the project cost and reduce the C&D waste. As a result, imposing the estimated cost as a penalty would force construction managers to think thoroughly about the generated C&D waste problems. This study also has a novelty and will add to the body of knowledge by using penalty-cost quantification model to save project-cost of construction material-based-waste, and it can be further explored by adopting more quality data and engaging different construction materials.

A novel self-centering hybrid rocking column (HRC) with a replaceable soft steel energy dissipator (RED) is proposed to solve the issue of traditional frame structures being vulnerable to damage during earthquakes and difficult rehabilitation after. The resilient performance of the proposed RED-HRC was investigated by using theoretical, experimental, and numerical methods. The yield states of the designed RED are taken as the control points to establish theoretically the corresponding relationship f (M, θ) between the overturning moment M and the rotation angle θ of the RED-HRC. In addition, a group of RED-HRC specimens were tested under pseudo static loading to investigate the resilient performance by considering the main influencing factors of the cross-sectional area of the prestressed unbonded tendons, the initial value of the prestressing force, the axial compression ratio of HRCs, and the thickness of the RED. Moreover, a finite element model (FEM) validated by the experimental data was established by using the ABAQUS platform to further study the resilience of the proposed RED-HRCs, focusing on the energy dissipating efficiency of the RED. The design method and process for the RED-HRC were finally developed. A typical hysteretic response with “double-flag shape” characteristics was obtained. These results show that the proposed RED-HRC has excellent resilient performances of good energy dissipation capacity, strong self-centering ability, and high strength and stiffness, realizing the goal of low damage level during the earthquake and quick rehabilitation after.