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Abstract Objectives Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) have a relatively high prevalence among university students. This study aimed to identify independent risk factors for TMD in university students and develop an effective risk prediction model. Methods This study included 1,122 university students from four universities in Changchun City, Jilin Province, as subjects. Predictive factors were screened by using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression and the machine learning Boruta algorithm in the training cohort. A multifactorial logistic regression analysis was used to construct a TMD risk prediction model. Internal validation of the model was conducted via bootstrap resampling, and an external validation cohort comprised 205 university students undergoing oral examinations at the Stomatological Hospital of Jilin University. Results The prevalence of TMD among university students was 44.30%. Ten predictive factors were included in the model, comprising gender, facial cold stimulation, unilateral chewing, biting hard or resilient foods, clenching teeth, grinding teeth, excessive mouth opening, malocclusion, stress, and anxiety. The model demonstrated good predictive ability with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of 0.853, 0.838, and 0.821 in the training cohort, internal validation cohort, and external validation cohort, respectively. The calibration curves demonstrated that the predicted results were consistent with the actual results, and the decision curve analysis (DCA) indicated the model's high clinical utility. Conclusions An online nomogram of TMD in university students with good predictive performance was constructed, which can effectively predict the risk of TMD in university students. The model provides a useful tool for the early identification and treatment of TMDs in university students, helping clinicians to predict the probability of TMDs in each patient, thus providing more personalized and accurate treatment decisions for patients.

As one of the largest tissues in the animal body, skeletal muscle plays a pivotal role in the production and quality of pork. Consequently, it is of paramount importance to investigate the growth and developmental processes of skeletal muscle. Lijiang pigs, which naturally have two subtypes, fast-growing and slow-growing, provide an ideal model for such studies by eliminating breed-related influences. In this study, we selected three fast-growing and three slow-growing 6-month-old Lijiang pigs as subjects. We utilized assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with sequencing (ATAC-seq) combined with genomics, RNA sequencing, and proteomics to screen for differentially expressed genes and transcription factors linked to increased longissimus dorsi muscle volume in Lijiang pigs. We identified 126 genes through ATAC-seq, including PPARA, TNRC6B, NEDD1, and FKBP5, that exhibited differential expression patterns during muscle growth. Additionally, we identified 59 transcription factors, including Foxh1, JunB, Mef2 family members (Mef2a/b/c/d), NeuroD1, and TEAD4. By examining open chromatin regions (OCRs) with significant genetic differentiation, genes such as SAV1, CACNA1H, PRKCG, and FGFR4 were found. Integrating ATAC-seq with transcriptomics and transcriptomics with proteomics, we identified differences in open chromatin regions, transcription, and protein levels of FKBP5 and SCARB2 genes in fast-growing and slow-growing Lijiang pigs. Utilizing multi-omics analysis with R packages, we jointed ATAC-seq, transcriptome, and proteome datasets, identifying enriched pathways related to glycogen metabolism and skeletal muscle cell differentiation. We pinpointed genes such as MYF6 and HABP2 that exhibit strong correlations across these diverse data types. This study provides a multi-faceted understanding of the molecular mechanisms that lead to differences in pig muscle fiber growth.

Abstract Background Heavy metal pollution has emerged as a significant concern for human health, prompting increased awareness of its potential adverse effects. While previous research has established a connection between heavy metals and liver function biomarkers, the specific relationship between heavy metals and HBV infection remains unexplored. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the potential correlations between five blood heavy metals - lead, cadmium, mercury, manganese, and selenium - and the presence of HBsAg, HBsAb, and HBcAb in adults. Methods The study utilized data from NHANES 2007–2018. Participants were classified into four groups based on their infectious status, and the association between heavy metals and HBV infection was analyzed using multiple logistic regression and stratification analysis. Results A total of 8431 participants were included, with 5 436 classified as Susceptible, 1 765 as Vaccinated, 865 as Natural Infection, and 103 as Acute/Chronic HBV Infection. The Vaccinated group exhibited a lower mean age (34.52 ± 14.16 years) compared to the other groups. Statistically significant differences in heavy metal concentrations (except selenium) were observed among the groups (P

ABSTRACTLong non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) are gaining attention in the context of pork production due to their role in regulating fat deposition, a crucial economic trait. This study focused on profiling LncRNAs in back fat deposition in Saba and Yorkshire pigs, which exhibit significant differences in fat accumulation. Using transcriptome sequencing and bioinformatics, we identified 704 differentially expressed mRNAs and 50 LncRNAs. We employed cis-regulatory analysis to explore the function of LncRNAs. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment revealed pathways and enzyme activity-related terms, indicating that LncRNAs may modulate gene expression to influence biological processes. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed enrichment in fat deposition pathways, underscoring the critical role of LncRNAs in this process. Further analysis and construction of LncRNA-mRNA interaction networks revealed 5 potential regulatory networks. Combining the data of differentially expressed LncRNAs and mRNAs, we identified candidate LncRNAs that regulate the expression of ACACA and FASN, which are functionally important genes affecting fat deposition. In summary, this study provides a theoretical foundation and valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying LncRNA-mediated regulation of fat deposition in pigs. These findings are essential for advancing our understanding of porcine fat deposition and enhancing pork production.

Abstract High energy density lithium metal batteries (LMBs) have garnered significant research interests in the past decades. However, the growth of lithium dendrites and the low Coulombic efficiency (CE) of Li metal anode pose significant challenges for the development of LMBs. Herein, we report a triethyl orthoformate (TEOF)-based localized high-concentration electrolyte (LHCE) that facilitates a highly reversible Li metal anode with dendrite-free deposition morphologies and an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.1% for 450 cycles. Mechanistic study reveal that the steric hindrance caused by the terminal ethyl groups in the TEOF solvent molecule results in a weak solvating ability, leading to the formation of anion-dominant solvation structures. The anion-dominant solvation sheaths play an essential role in the formation of a LiF-rich solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI), which effectively suppresses the growth of Li dendrites. Furthermore, the TEOF-based electrolyte demonstrates the stable cycling of high-voltage Li||NMC811 cells. These results provide insights into understanding of steric hindrance effect on electrolyte solvation structure and offer valuable guidance for the design of electrolyte solvents in the development of lithium metal batteries.

Exercise can stimulate physiological cardiac growth and provide cardioprotection effect in ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. MiR-210 is regulated in the adaptation process induced by exercise; however, its impact on exercise-induced physiological cardiac growth and its contribution to exercise-driven cardioprotection remain unclear. We investigated the role and mechanism of miR-210 in exercise-induced physiological cardiac growth and explored whether miR-210 contributes to exercise-induced protection in alleviating I/R injury. Here, we first observed that regular swimming exercise can markedly increase miR-210 levels in the heart and blood samples of rats and mice. Circulating miR-210 levels were also elevated after a programmed cardiac rehabilitation in patients that were diagnosed of coronary heart diseases. In 8-week swimming model in wild-type (WT) and miR-210 knockout (KO) rats, we demonstrated that miR-210 was not integral for exercise-induced cardiac hypertrophy but it did influence cardiomyocyte proliferative activity. In neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, miR-210 promoted cell proliferation and suppressed apoptosis while not altering cell size. Additionally, miR-210 promoted cardiomyocyte proliferation and survival in human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) and AC16 cell line, indicating its functional roles in human cardiomyocytes. We further identified miR-210 target genes, cyclin-dependent kinase 10 (CDK10) and ephrin-A3 (EFNA3), that regulate cardiomyocyte proliferation and apoptosis. Finally, miR-210 KO and WT rats were subjected to swimming exercise followed by I/R injury. We demonstrated that miR-210 crucially contributed to exercise-driven cardioprotection against I/R injury. In summary, this study elucidates the role of miR-210, an exercise-responsive miRNA, in promoting the proliferative activity of cardiomyocytes during physiological cardiac growth. Furthermore, miR-210 plays an essential role in mediating the protective effects of exercise against cardiac I/R injury. Our findings suggest exercise as a potent nonpharmaceutical intervention for inducing miR-210, which can alleviate I/R injury and promote cardioprotection.

ObjectiveNontyphoidal Salmonella is a significant public health concern due to its ability to cause foodborne illnesses worldwide. This study aims to characterize the nontyphoidal Salmonella strains isolated from patients in China.MethodsA total of 19 nontyphoidal Salmonella strains were characterized through serovar identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), biofilm formation assessment. Genetic relatedness was determined using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). WGS was employed to decipher the resistance mechanism and to contextualize the S. serovar Mbandaka strains among previously sequenced isolates in China. The biofilm associated mrkA gene was examined by PCR.ResultsThe predominant serovar identified was S. Enteritidis, followed by S. Mbandaka, S. Thompson, S. Livingston, S. Alachua, and S. Infantis. PFGE analysis indicated a notable genetic similarity among the S. Mbandaka isolates. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that these strains were likely derived from a single source that had persisted in China for over five years. One multidrug resistance (MDR) S. Enteritidis isolate carried a highly transferable IncB/O/K/Z plasmid with blaCTX-M-15. One S. Thompson strain, harboring the mrkABCDF operon in an IncX1 plasmid, isolated from cutaneous lesions, demonstrated robust biofilm formation. However, no mrkABCDF loci were detected in other strains.ConclusionOur study emphasizes the importance of persisted surveillance and prompt response to Salmonella infections to protect public health. The dissemination of blaCTX-M-15-harboring IncB/O/K/Z plasmid and the spread of virulent mrkABCDF operon among Salmonella in China and other global regions warrant close monitoring.

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) that provides diverse ecosystem services are crucial components of a city. Achieving appropriate density and equitable distribution of UGI is highly significant for urban planning to ensure sustainable and high-quality development. However, there is still a lack of an applied method for effectively measuring spatial equity of UGI in cities with multiple scales, which impairs the ability to regularly monitor it. Furthermore, the extent to which UGI should be implemented in urban planning in China is still uncertain. In this study, a “Structure-Function-Zoning“ analysis framework for the spatial pattern of UGI is proposed. A monitoring index system in terms of the structure and functions of UGI is first established. Then, an approach for measurement of spatial distribution equity of UGI is developed based on a spatial zoning strategy along the urban expansion axis. And a weighted index is proposed for comprehensive evaluation of UGI pattern. Using three Chinese cities (i.e., Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang) as examples, our research shows that the UGI pattern of Tianjin is distributed more balanced from urban center to suburb among the cities and Shijiazhuang shows relatively poor spatial equity of UGI. In terms of comprehensive evaluation of UGI pattern, Beijing and Tianjin are both rated as “moderate” while Beijing was slightly better than Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang was rated as “relatively poor”. The proposed analysis framework is designed to access the structure and function of UGI in a way that can be spatially differentiated, easily described, and clearly compared for cities of different sizes. More broadly, the comprehensive index adopted in the study can be regarded as a simple and practical tool to perform regular monitoring and provide early warning for UGI planning in urban renewal process.

Abstract The electrolyte solvation structure and the solid-electrolyte interphase (SEI) formation are critical to dictate the morphology of lithium deposition in organic electrolytes. However, the link between the electrolyte solvation structure and SEI composition and its implications on lithium morphology evolution are poorly understood. Herein, we use a single-salt and single-solvent model electrolyte system to systematically study the correlation between the electrolyte solvation structure, SEI formation process and lithium deposition morphology. The mechanism of lithium deposition is thoroughly investigated using cryo-electron microscopy characterizations and computational simulations. It is observed that, in the high concentration electrolytes, concentrated Li+ and anion-dominated solvation structure initiate the uniform Li nucleation kinetically and favor the decomposition of anions rather than solvents, resulting in inorganic-rich amorphous SEI with high interface energy, which thermodynamically facilitates the formation of granular Li. On the contrary, solvent-dominated solvation structure in the low concentration electrolytes tends to exacerbate the solvolysis process, forming organic-rich mosaic SEI with low interface energy, which leads to aggregated whisker-like nucleation and growth. These results are helpful to tackle the long-standing question on the origin of lithium dendrite formation and guide the rational design of high-performance electrolytes for advanced lithium metal batteries.

The Jianshui yellow–brown duck is a unique country-specific waterfowl species in Yunnan Province, well known for its tender meat. However, there is a lack of comprehensive systematic research on the molecular genetic characteristics, especially germplasm resources and economic traits, of the Jianshui yellow–brown ducks. This study investigated the molecular genetic characteristics of Jianshui yellow–brown ducks, compared their selection signals with those of ancestral mallard and meat-type Pekin ducks, and identified genes specific to their meat-use performance. Furthermore, this study also evaluated the breeding potential for its meat performance. In this study, phylogenetic trees, PCA and Admixture analysis were used to investigate the population genetic structure among local duck breeds in China; population genetic differentiation index (Fst), nucleotide diversity and Tajima’s D were used to detect selected loci and genes in the population of Jianshui yellow–brown ducks; and transcriptome technology was used to screen for differentially expressed genes in the liver, sebum and breast muscle tissues, and finally, the results of the genome selection signals and transcriptome data were integrated to excavate functional genes affecting the meat performance of the Jianshui yellow–brown ducks. The results of the genetic structure of the population showed that Jianshui yellow–brown ducks were clustered into a separate group. Selection signal analysis indicated significant selection pressure on certain genes related to meat characteristics (ELOVL2, ELOVL3, GDF10, VSTM2A, PHOSPHO1, and IGF2BP1) in both Jianshui yellow–brown ducks and mallards. Transcriptomic data analysis suggested that ELOVL3, PHOSPHO1, and GDF10 are vital candidate genes influencing meat production and quality in Jianshui yellow–brown ducks. A comparison of selection signals between Jianshui yellow–brown ducks and Pekin ducks revealed only 21 selected genes in the Jianshui yellow–brown duck population, and no significant genes were related to meat traits. Moreover, whole-genome resequencing data suggested that the Jianshui yellow–brown duck represents a unique category with distinct genetic mechanisms. Through selection signaling and transcriptomic approaches, we successfully screened and identified important candidate genes affecting meat traits in Jianshui yellow–brown ducks. Furthermore, the Jianshui yellow–brown duck has good potential for improved meat performance, highlighting the need for further improvement.

A novel peptide (VSAAAA) was obtained after the isolation, purification, and identification of millet gliadin. In order to explore the anti-inflammatory effect of peptide VSAAAA in vivo, the peptide VSAAAA was administered in the first three weeks, and ulcerative colitis was induced in mice with DSS aqueous solution in the last week. Results showed that the disease activity index and histopathological changes in the colon were significantly reduced after VSAAAAA intervention. The expression levels of serum proinflammatory cytokines in mice were significantly reduced. In addition, VSAAAA gavage significantly alleviated decrease in the expression levels of the intestinal nexus proteins ZO-1 and occludin and increase in the expression levels of p65 and p-p65 proteins in the NF-κB signaling pathway. Moreover, the intestinal flora composition of colitis mice was regulated by decreasing the relative abundance of harmful bacteria (Firmicutes) and increasing the relative abundant of beneficial bacteria (Bacteroides).

For the planar robot with underactuated constraints, a stable control method is presented on the foundation of motion planning method and intelligent optimization, which includes two stages. (1) Designing the controllers to control the actuated manipulators to given target states. (2) Planning the motion trajectory combined with the underactuated constraints between all links, using the intelligent algorithm to find the adaptable trajectory parameters, and tracking such planned trajectories to control full manipulators to the given states simultaneously. At last, multigroup simulations demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.

The sustainable extraction of saponins was investigated using natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) combined with ultrasound-assisted extraction. A novel NADES (butyric acid-urea) that was responsive to ionic strength was designed and used as the extractant. Ultrasound treatment and a catalyst ferric chloride with plant cell wall breaking function were applied to improve the extraction efficiency. Since the solubility of the NADES varied significantly with ionic strength, 95% of NADES was readily separated from the water phase after the addition of sodium chloride, while saponins remained in the water phase for easy collection. The reuse capacity of NADES, the eco-friendliness of the extraction method, and the antioxidant activity of the extract were further evaluated. NADES was continuously recovered and used to extract Polygonatum sibiricum powder: the yield of saponins did not decrease after five cycles of recovery and re-extraction. The penalty point on the “Eco-scale” suggested that the extraction method was “green” (i.e. eco-friendly). Compared with ethanol extracts, the NADES extracts showed a higher saponin concentration and antioxidant activity. The study can contribute to the sustainable and green extraction of hydrophilic active substances in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

In this paper, the analysis and design method for the suboptimum Class- $\text{E}_{\mathrm {M}}/\text{F}_{3}$ inverter (i.e., only the zero-voltage switching (ZVS), the zero-voltage-derivative switching (ZVDS), the zero-current switching (ZCS) conditions are satisfied) with a duty ratio D =0.5 are presented. In the proposed design method, a new design parameter K called the slope of switch current (when the switch turns off) is introduced for defining the suboptimum degree and the distance from the optimum condition. By using the design method of the soft switching resonant inverter, the third harmonic filter circuit is innovatively introduced to reduce the current flowing through the parallel capacitor of the main circuit, and greatly reduce the peak switching voltage of the main circuit and auxiliary circuit. And the circuit waveforms and design equations can be derived in detail. Compared with the conventional Class- $\text{E}_{\mathrm {M}}$ inverter, the proposed inverter can offer the much lower peak switching voltage and higher efficiency. To verify the validity of the proposed method, a Class- $\text{E}_{\mathrm {M}}/\text{F}_{3}$ inverter operating at 1MHz is designed using the IRFZ24N transistor. The experimental results show that the output power of the new inverter is 15.138W, the efficiency reaches 96.4%, and the peak switching voltage of the main circuit and auxiliary circuit is reduced by 29.3% and 15.6%, respectively. The PSpice-simulation results and the experimental measurement results of the designed inverter are agreed with the analytical results, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed design method.

The linking of ethacrynic acid with ethylenediamine and 1,4-butanediamine gave EDEA and BDEA, respectively, as membrane-permeable divalent pro-inhibitors of glutathione S-transferase (GST). Their divalent glutathione conjugates showed subnanomolar inhibition and divalence-binding to GSTmu (GSTM) (PDB: 5HWL) at ∼0.35 min−1. In cisplatin-resistant SK-OV-3, COC1, SGC7901 and A549 cells, GSTM activities probed by 15 nM BDEA or EDEA revealed 5-fold and 1.0-fold increases in cisplatin-resistant SK-OV-3 and COC1 cells, respectively, in comparison with the susceptible parental cells. Being tolerable by HEK293 and LO2 cells, BDEA at 0.2 μM sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 and COC1 cells by ∼3- and ∼5-folds, respectively, released cytochrome c and increased apoptosis; EDEA at 1.0 μM sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 and A549 cells by ∼5- and ∼7-fold, respectively. EDEA at 1.7 μg/g sensitised resistant SK-OV-3 cells to cisplatin at 3.3 μg/g in nude mouse xenograft model. BDEA and EDEA are promising leads for probing cellular GSTM and sensitising cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancers.

With unlimited topological modes in mathematics, the fractional orbital angular momentum (FOAM) demonstrates the potential to infinitely increase the channel capacity in acoustic-vortex (AV) communications. However, the accuracy and stability of FOAM recognition are still limited by the nonorthogonality and poor anti-interference of fractional AV beams. The popular machine learning, widely used in optics based on large datasets of images, does not work in acoustics because of the huge engineering of the 2-dimensional point-by-point measurement. Here, we report a strategy of phase-dislocation-mediated high-dimensional fractional AV communication based on pair-FOAM multiplexing, circular sparse sampling, and machine learning. The unique phase dislocation corresponding to the topological charge provides important physical guidance to recognize FOAMs and reduce sampling points from theory to practice. A straightforward convolutional neural network considering turbulence and misalignment is further constructed to achieve the stable and accurate communication without involving experimental data. We experimentally present that the 32-point dual-ring sampling can realize the 10-bit information transmission in a limited topological charge scope from ±0.6 to ±2.4 with the FOAM resolution of 0.2, which greatly reduce the divergence in AV communications. The infinitely expanded channel capacity is further verified by the improved FOAM resolution of 0.025. Compared with other milestone works, our strategy reaches 3-fold OAM utilization, 4-fold information level, and 5-fold OAM resolution. Because of the extra advantages of high dimension, high speed, and low divergence, this technology may shed light on the next-generation AV communication.

Rapidly completing the exploration and construction of unknown environments is an important task of a UAV cluster. However, the formulation of an online autonomous exploration strategy based on a real-time detection map is still a problem that needs to be discussed and optimized. In this paper, we propose a distributed unknown environment exploration framework for a UAV cluster that comprehensively considers the path and terminal state gain, which is called the Distributed Next-Best-Path and Terminal (DNBPT) method. This method calculates the gain by comprehensively calculating the new exploration grid brought by the exploration path and the guidance of the terminal state to the unexplored area to guide the UAV’s next decision. We propose a suitable multistep selective sampling method and an improved Discrete Binary Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm for path optimization. The simulation results show that the DNBPT can realize rapid exploration under high coverage conditions in multiple scenes.

Actinomycetes are essential sources of numerous bioactive secondary metabolites with diverse chemical and bioactive properties. Lichen ecosystems have piqued the interest of the research community due to their distinct characteristics. Lichen is a symbiont of fungi and algae or cyanobacteria. This review focuses on the novel taxa and diverse bioactive secondary metabolites identified between 1995 and 2022 from cultivable actinomycetota associated with lichens. A total of 25 novel actinomycetota species were reported following studies of lichens. The chemical structures and biological activities of 114 compounds derived from the lichen-associated actinomycetota are also summarized. These secondary metabolites were classified into aromatic amides and amines, diketopiperazines, furanones, indole, isoflavonoids, linear esters and macrolides, peptides, phenolic derivatives, pyridine derivatives, pyrrole derivatives, quinones, and sterols. Their biological activities included anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, cytotoxic, and enzyme-inhibitory actions. In addition, the biosynthetic pathways of several potent bioactive compounds are summarized. Thus, lichen actinomycetes demonstrate exceptional abilities in the discovery of new drug candidates.

Anisotropic discontinuity exists widely in rock masses of mines, tunnels, slopes, water conservancy and hydropower projects. The shear characteristics of bolted anisotropic rock joints are extremely important for the stability design of engineering rock mass. However, few scholars have studied the bolted anisotropic rock joint. The different rock properties on both sides of the rock joint, especially the different rock strengths, will greatly affect the deformation characteristics and failure mode of the rock mass. Based on this, a series of shear tests were carried out on the bolted anisotropic rock joint under different normal stresses, and the characteristics of shear stress–shear displacement curve, shear strength, failure characteristics of the rock joint and deformation characteristics of the bolt are discussed. λ is defined as the strength ratio of upper and lower rock on the structural surface. The results show that the effect of λ on the shear stress–shear displacement curve is not obvious at the pre-fracture stage. The shear stress–shear displacement curve at the pre-breaking stage of the bolt presents a softening stage when the normal stress is equal to 0.5 MPa, tends to be horizontal when the normal stress is equal to 1 MPa and presents a hardening stage when the normal stress is greater than 1 MPa. After the bolt is broken, the shear stress–shear displacement curve presents a stepped-down descent. With the increase in λ, the breaking shear stress of the bolt increases. Elliptic failure occurs on the surface of the bolted anisotropic rock joint, and the length of the major axis of the ellipse decreases with the increase in λ value and normal stress. The bolts with different λ values of anisotropic rock joint show “Z-shaped” tensile bending deformation characteristics after shear fracture, and the horizontal and vertical components of the bolt deformation decrease with the increase in λ value and normal stress. The fracture shear displacement of the bolt increases with the increase in normal stress and decreases with the increase in λ value. The research results are helpful to further understand the shear mechanical characteristics and differences of bolted rock joints and provide a reference for solving the engineering problems of the composite layered rock mass.

To analyze the shear characteristics and mesoscopic failure mechanism of irregular serrated rock discontinuities, a great deal of interview samples of irregular serrated structures were made by 3D printing technology, and laboratory shear tests were carried out on them under different normal stresses. At the same time, PFC numerical simulation software is used to establish relevant models to study the evolution of microcracks and the distribution characteristics of the force chain on the rock discontinuity during the shear process. The results show that the shear mechanical properties of irregular serrated rock discontinuities are affected by normal stress, undulating angle, and undulating height. The shear strength increases with the increase of normal stress and undulating height, and decreases with the increase of undulating angle. The numerical simulation results show that the irregular structural surface cracks under different undulation angles, which first start at the near force end serration root on both sides and further evolve to the adjacent serrations, while the irregular structural surface cracks under different undulation heights, which first start at the serration root with the lowest height and expand to the adjacent serrations. At the same time, the number of cracks increases with the increase of normal stress and the force chain is mainly distributed near the sawtooth surface. The force chain is more concentrated near the near force end sawtooth and at the tip and root of the rest of the sawtooth. At the same time, the direction of the force chain is approximately perpendicular to the force surface of the sawtooth. The research results are helpful in further understanding the shear mechanical properties and differences of irregular serrated rock discontinuities.

Understanding the asperity damage behaviors of joints during shearing is critical for evaluating the stability of deep underground engineering structures. In this paper, we prepared plaster joints and used them for direct shear tests under different normal stiffness (0–7 MPa/mm) and various shear rate (0.5–20 mm/min) conditions. The effects of normal stiffness and shear rate on mechanical behavior and AE characteristics were studied. With the increase of normal stiffness, the damaged area of the surface of the joint and the weight of the damaged, rough body basically show a linear increase. With the increase of the shear rate, the peak shear stress and the final shear stress of the joint are non-linearly decreased (the decrease rate at the shear rate of 0.5–5 mm/min is much larger than that at the shear rate of 5–20 mm/min), more local cracks appear on the surface of the joint, and the dilatancy of the joint slightly decreases. More than 60% of the acoustic emission signals in the shearing process of the joint are concentrated in the post-peak phase. With the increase of normal stiffness, the cumulative number of acoustic emission impacts and cumulative energy both increase. With the increase in shear rate, the accumulated acoustic emission impact number decreases, and the accumulated AE energy tends to increase when the shear rate is 0.5–5 mm/min and decreases when the shear rate increases to 5–20 mm/min.

This study investigates the effects of the water-soluble and organic-soluble Trichosanthes extracts on the hyperglycemic condition in streptozotocin- (STZ-) induced diabetic rats. The blood glucose levels, body weights, water intake, and urine volumes of rats in different experimental groups were monitored throughout the experiment, and the results obtained indicate that the two extracts can effectively reduce blood sugar levels, increase body weights, and improve water intake and urine volumes in diabetic rats. Based on blood biochemical analyses, the two extracts play an important role in regulating the diabetes-induced lipid metabolism disorder, increasing the levels of insulin and C-peptide, and alleviating the symptoms of diabetes. The variation in the liver glycogen contents of the water-soluble fraction and ethanol fraction groups suggests that the mechanisms underlying the hypoglycemic effects of the two extracts are different. Indeed, the water-soluble fraction alleviates diabetes symptoms in rats mainly by antioxidative activity, unlike the ethanol fraction.

Critical thinking is an important part of the quality cultivation of engineering students. At present, many colleges and universities in China have gradually realized it, and mainly strengthen the training of students' critical thinking by offering relevant humanities courses, but there are few researches related to this topic through the penetration of engineering professional courses, and they are not deep enough. This study mainly discusses the efficacy of virtual simulation system teaching method in improving critical thinking of engineering students engaged in NC (Numerical Control) machining. It integrates the types of learning activities in the proposed teaching method with the development elements of critical thinking, and then constructs the context-based teaching design along with a self-developed virtual learning environment for the cultivation of students' critical thinking. We also evaluated students' response towards the research topics to investigate its teaching-learning effectiveness and acceptance by student community. Responses from questionnaires were collected from a convenience sample of 63 junior students majoring in NC machining from the author's university. The subsequent empirical study was conducted to exhibit superior results for mostly the cognitive skills of critical thinking. Students' feedback also revealed that students obtain more satisfaction and self-confidence, and demonstrated high positive attitude towards the proposed teaching method, and showed high perceived usefulness of the context-based teaching design to acquire complete, concrete and confident knowledge of NC machining. The findings of this study are valuable for academic institutions and educators to design the virtual visualized lectures and classrooms to enhance students' performance in critical thinking.

During 2013–2017, a total of 211 cases of listeriosis were reported by 64 sentinel hospitals in China to a national foodborne disease surveillance network. The average case-fatality rate was 31.2% for perinatal cases and 16.4% for nonperinatal cases. Sequence types 87 and 8 were the most prevalent types.

Glyphosate-resistant crops developed by the CP4-EPSPS gene from Agrobacterium have been planted on a massive scale globally, which benefits from the high efficiency and broad spectrum of glyphosate in weed control. Some glyphosate-resistant (GR) genes from microbes have been reported, which might raise biosafety concerns. Most of them were obtained through a hygromycin-HPT transformation system. Here we reported the plant source with 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) gene from goosegrass endowed rice with high resistance to glyphosate. The integrations and inheritability of the transgenes in the rice genome were investigated within two generations. The EiEPSPS transgenic plants displayed similar growth and development to wild type under no glyphosate selection pressure but better reproductive performance under lower glyphosate selection pressure. Furthermore, we reconstructed a binary vector pCEiEPSPS and established the whole stage glyphosate selection using the vector. The Glyphosate-pCEiEPSPS selection system showed a significantly higher transformation efficiency compared with the hygromycin-HPT transformation system. Our results provided a promising alternative gene resource to the development of GR plants and also extended the plant transformation toolbox.

The spatial distribution of droplet size and velocity affects the deposition and distribution on the target. In order to investigate the influence of different adjuvant and pressures on the spatial distribution of droplet size and velocity in atomization area of different nozzles, air induction flat fan nozzle IDK120-03, multi-range flat fan nozzle LU120-03 and anti-drift flat fan nozzle AD120-03 were selected. Phase Doppler Interferometer (PDI) was used to analyze and compare the distribution of droplet size and velocity in the atomization area of three nozzles when four typical adjuvant Maisi, Maidao, Adsee AB-600 and Surun sprayed at different pressures. The results show that the volume median diameter of droplet size has no obvious change along the vertical direction of the nozzle center and increases with distance in the horizontal direction, the droplet size decreases with increasing pressure at the same position, the adjuvant all increases the droplet size (about 12%, 12%, 10% and 9% for Maisi, Maidao, Surun and Adsee AB-600, respectively), IDK120-03 nozzle droplet size is the largest and LU120-03 nozzle is the smallest in the same position. For droplet velocity distribution, droplet velocity decrease in distance along the vertical and horizontal direction, respectively, the droplet velocity increases with increasing pressure at the same position, compared with water, the droplet velocity increased by about 13%, 9%, 8%, and 4% for Maisi, Maidao, Surun, and Adsee AB-600, respectively, the velocity of AD nozzle is the largest and IDK nozzle is the smallest at the same position. The experiment can provide a basis for the selection of adjuvants and nozzles in pesticide application, and provide a data base for studying the distribution of droplets on the target.

Soft sensing technologies offer promising prospects in the fields of soft robots, wearable devices, and biomedical instruments. However, the structural design, fabrication process, and sensing algorithm design of the soft devices confront great difficulties. In this paper, a soft tactile actuator (STA) with both the actuation function and sensing function is presented. The tactile physiotherapy finger of the STA was fabricated by a fluid silica gel material. Before pulse detection, the tactile physiotherapy finger was actuated to the detection position by injecting compressed air into its chamber. The pulse detecting algorithm, which realized the pulse detection function of the STA, is presented. Finally, in actual pulse detection experiments, the pulse values of the volunteers detected by using the STA and by employing a professional pulse meter were close, which illustrates the effectiveness of the pulse detecting algorithm of the STA.

Abstract This paper is concerned with the Black–Scholes–Barenblatt equation ∂tu+r(x∂xu−u)+G(x2∂xxu)=0 $\partial _{t}u+r(x\partial _{x}u-u)+G(x^{2}\partial _{xx}u)=0$, where G(α)=12(σ‾2−σ_2)|α|+12(σ‾2+σ_2)α $G(\alpha )=\frac{1}{2}(\overline{\sigma}^{2}-\underline{\sigma}^{2})|\alpha |+\frac{1}{2}(\overline{\sigma}^{2}+\underline{\sigma}^{2})\alpha $, α∈R $\alpha \in \mathbb{R}$. This equation is usually used for derivative pricing in the financial market with volatility uncertainty. We discuss a strict comparison theorem for Black–Scholes–Barenblatt equations, and study strict sub-additivity of their solutions with respect to terminal conditions.

Disks are the main equipment for data storage in data centers. The prediction of disk failure is of great significance for the reliability and security of data. On account of the few abnormal samples in the disk datasets, it is difficult to satisfy the requirement of supervised and semi-supervised algorithms for the number of abnormal data while the unsupervised algorithms have poor performance on recall rate when solving the problems of local anomalies and wrapped a nomalies. This paper presents an incremental learning disk failure prediction model using the density metric of edge samples. An isolation region is built by searching the nearest neighbor of each sample. We calculate the nearest training point of the test point which is not a global anomaly and the nearest training point of the obtained nearest training point by Euclidean distance. The global metric of abnormal degree of the test sample comes from the ratio of the radius of the region where the two nearest training points are located. Then, the local metric of abnormal degree of the test sample comes from the ratio between the nearest distance from the test point to the edge of the training point region and the radius of the region. Abnormal scores of test points can be obtained by combining two measurements. We identify the SMART attributes that are significantly related to disk failures and promote their weights in the next time the attributes are inputted. The experiments are carried on the synthetic and public datasets which contain local anomalies and wrapped anomalies. The proposed method outperforms the typical unsupervised algorithms such as iNNE, iForest and LOF, and the achieved recall rates increase at most 7%. Furthermore, the contrast tests on the public disk datasets also verify the proposed method has better performance on recall rate.

With the rapid development of remote-sensing technology and the increasing number of Earth observation satellites, the volume of image datasets is growing exponentially. The management of big Earth data is also becoming increasingly complex and difficult, with the result that it can be hard for users to access the imagery that they are interested in quickly, efficiently and intelligently. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a remote-sensing image-retrieval model based on an ensemble neural networks. This model can make full use of existing training data to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the initial retrieval of remote-sensing images and keep model simple. The retrieval of aerial images using the proposed model is compared with the results obtained using ten individual neural networks and two ensemble neural networks and the results show that the proposed approach has a high degree of precision. In addition, the coverage rate and mean precision show a dramatic improvement of more than 40% compared with existing methods based on normal way. And, the coverage ratio gets 86% for the top 10 return results.

In this study, a diabetic kidney disease model was established by placing the test rats on a high-sugar/high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin induction. Histopathological examination (H&E, Masson, and PASM stain) showed pathological changes in the diabetic rat kidneys, in addition to fibrotic symptoms and collagen deposition. Immunohistochemistry and western blot analyses indicated that the diabetic condition significantly increased the expressions of fibrotic markers including collagen, α-SMA, and fibronectin. The levels of cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein were also increased in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) rat blood, while the level of high-density lipoprotein was decreased. The results of Oil red O staining experiments indicated that the kidneys of diabetic rats exhibited appreciable fat deposition, with high contents of triglyceride and cholesterol. To inhibit fibrosis and reduce fat deposition, low molecular weight fucoidan (LMWF) may be used. Based on PCR and western blot analyses, LMWF can regulate the expression levels of important lipid metabolism regulators, thereby impeding the development of kidney fibrosis. Through the vitro model, it also be indicated that LMWF could inhibit fibrosis process through regulating lipid metabolism which induced by palmitic acid.

In the past 40 years, China has undergone a rapid urbanization process which has led to a significant contradiction between the desire to develop modern urban spaces and the need to protect historic urban sites. Urban construction has brought not only the destruction of the physical space of the historic urban sites, but also the fragmentation of the natural landscape and its structural disconnection to the historic urban landscape. Ancient Chinese planners had their own thoughts regarding urban construction and the specific patterns of the urban landscape. The urban landscape of Chinese historic cities focuses predominantly on the structural relationship to its neighborhood. This paper aims to explore the value and character of the historic landscape of the ancient city, finding the key causes of its decline in the process of urbanization. The World Cultural Heritage city Pingyao is taken as a case study. Firstly, an analysis of its historical spatial structure and urban planning ideas of the ancient city of Pingyao using ancient maps and historical documents is presented. Then, a quantitative analysis of the urban space expansion in Pingyao city from 1989 to 2016 is conducted and its land use structure further analyzed. Additionally, four editions of the urban master plan in Pingyao have comprehensively shown that modern urban construction and planning tend to focus more on urban economic functions and social needs. In contrast, ancient urban planning relied on the spatial connection between urban space and its natural environment to construct a higher urban cultural connotation. As a result, the different development mode between modern urbanization and construction of ancient cities could be the key reason for the decline of spatial structure and landscape fragmentation of historical cities in China. With respect to the experience and thoughts of Pingyao’s ancient urban planning and construction, technical ideas and suggestions are put forward as reference in future spatial planning for Pingyao’s urban development and cultural protection. Our findings have been incorporated into the relevant sections of the spatial planning of Pingyao.

Diketopiperazines are potential structures with extensive biological functions, which have attracted much attention of natural product researchers for a long time. These compounds possess a stable six-membered ring, which is an important pharmacophore. The marine organisms have especially been proven to be a wide source for discovering diketopiperazine derivatives. In recent years, more and more interesting bioactive diketopiperazines had been found from various marine habitats. This review article is focused on the new 2,5-diketopiperazines derived from marine organisms (sponges and microorganisms) reported from the secondary half-year of 2014 to the first half of the year of 2021. We will comment their chemical structures, biological activities and sources. The objective is to assess the merit of these compounds for further study in the field of drug discovery.

AChE and BuChE are druggable targets for the discovery of anti-Alzheimer’s disease drugs, while dual-inhibition of these two targets seems to be more effective. In this study, we synthesised a series of novel isoflavone derivatives based on our hit compound G from in silico high-throughput screening and then tested their activities by in vitro AChE and BuChE bioassays. Most of the isoflavone derivatives displayed moderate inhibition against both AChE and BuChE. Among them, compound 16 was identified as a potent AChE/BuChE dual-targeted inhibitor (IC50: 4.60 μM for AChE; 5.92 μM for BuChE). Molecular modelling study indicated compound 16 may possess better pharmacokinetic properties, e.g. absorption, blood–brain barrier penetration and CYP2D6 binding. Taken together, our study has identified compound 16 as an excellent lead compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

Nigeria is an African country with abundant natural and human resources with an aspiration to be among the top 20 economies in world by the year 2020. Such objective can only be achieved through requisite infrastructural development projects within the Nigeria’s built environment such as road, power plants and adequate housing estate development projects etc. However, Nigeria’s housing estate developments were insufficient in terms of demands; do not reflect the desired housing needs of the end-users; in some-cases affordable but not qualitative; do not possess green building features. These has led to challenges and questions about project portfolio management (PPM) strategies that align and fit portfolios with the organizational objectives while also delivering estate development projects that are less risky and marketable. The aim of this research paper is to assess the PPM strategies used by housing estate development organizations in Nigeria’s built environment with a view of identifying, examining, and highlighting the impact of these strategies on housing estate development project portfolios in Nigeria. Literature reviewed led to identification and assessment of five PPM strategies. Krejcie and Morgan table was used to determine the sample size, while Cronbach’s alpha, mean item scores, relative importance index, T-test statistics were used for data analyses. The results show that any chosen PPM strategy(ies) by Housing Estate Development organizations will not be easy to apply, use, implement nor will it be excellent in the strive to achieve the Organizational Objectives in any given Portfolio.

Considering the classification of high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery, this paper presents a novel classification method for such imagery using deep neural networks. Deep learning methods, such as a fully convolutional network (FCN) model, achieve state-of-the-art performance in natural image semantic segmentation when provided with large-scale datasets and respective labels. To use data efficiently in the training stage, we first pre-segment training images and their labels into small patches as supplements of training data using graph-based segmentation and the selective search method. Subsequently, FCN with atrous convolution is used to perform pixel-wise classification. In the testing stage, post-processing with fully connected conditional random fields (CRFs) is used to refine results. Extensive experiments based on the Vaihingen dataset demonstrate that our method performs better than the reference state-of-the-art networks when applied to high-resolution remote sensing imagery classification.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies suggest that sulfated hetero-polysaccharides (UF) protect against developing PD. However, the detailed mechanisms of how UF suppress neuronal death have not been fully elucidated. We investigated the cytoprotective mechanisms of UF using human dopaminergic neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells as a PD model. UF prevented H2O2-induced apoptotic cell death in SH-SY5Y cells in a dose-dependent manner. An examination of the PI3K/Akt upstream pathway revealed that UF-pretreated cells showed a decreased relative density of Akt, PI3K, and TrkA, and increased the phosphorylation of Akt, PI3K, and NGF; the PI3K inhibitor, LY294002, partially prevented this effect. An examination of the PI3K/Akt downstream pathway revealed the increased expression of the apoptosis-associated markers Bax, p53, CytC, and GSK3β, and the decreased expression of Bcl-2 in UF-treated cells. UF-treated cells also exhibited decreased caspase-3, caspase-8, and caspase-9 activities, which induced cell apoptosis. Our results demonstrate that UF affect the PI3K/Akt pathway, as well as downstream signaling. Therefore, the UF-mediated activation of PI3K/Akt could provide a new potential therapeutic strategy for neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative injury. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the critical roles of UF in the treatment of PD.

HY-2A, as the first Chinese ocean dynamic environment satellite, provides an effective and efficient way of observing ocean properties. However, in the operational stage, some inconveniences of the existing ground application system have appeared. Based on the review of users’ requirements for data services, the Customized Automatic Processing Framework (CAPF) for HY-2A advanced products is proposed and has been developed. As an extension of the existing ground application system, the framework provides interfaces for adding customized algorithms, designing on-demand processing workflows, and scheduling the processing procedures. With the customized processing templates, the framework allows users to easily process the products according to their own expectations, which facilitates the usage of HY-2A satellite advanced products.

H. pylori can survive under a nutrition-deficient environment. During infection and transmission, H. pylori is confronted with nutrient limitation and the bacterium requires rapid alteration in gene expression for survival under stress conditions. However, the mechanism underlining this regulation remains unknown. A previous study showed that σ(54) is an important regulation factor for H. pylori survival in the nutrition-deficient environment. Our results show that the expression of σ(54) (rpoN) is significantly induced in the stationary phase (nutrition deficiency) and the rpoN mutant showed a significantly lower viability than wild-type H. pylori in the late stationary phase. Thus, σ(54) is involved in H. pylori survival during nutrient limitation. We used comparative proteomics to analyze the protein differentiation between wild-type and rpoN mutant during the stationary phase. With depleted nutrients, σ(54) can slow the process of proliferation by negatively regulating genes involved in energy metabolism and biosynthesis and enhance stress-resistant ability by positively regulating genes involved in protein fate and redox reaction. Especially, NapA positively regulated by σ(54) plays an important function in H. pylori survival both in the stationary phase and in water, and the latter situation would be beneficial for bacterial in vitro transmission. Our investigations give new light on the adaptive regulation of H. pylori under stress conditions.

Disaster change mapping, which can provide accurate and timely changed information (e.g., damaged buildings, accessibility of road and the shelter sites) for decision makers to guide and support a plan for coordinating emergency rescue, is critical for early disaster rescue. In this paper, we focus on optical remote sensing data to propose an automatic procedure to reduce the impacts of optical data limitations and provide the emergency information in the early phases of a disaster. The procedure utilizes a series of new methods, such as an Optimizable Variational Model (OptVM) for image fusion and a scale-invariant feature transform (SIFT) constraint optical flow method (SIFT-OFM) for image registration, to produce product maps including cloudless backdrop maps and change-detection maps for catastrophic event regions, helping people to be aware of the whole scope of the disaster and assess the distribution and magnitude of damage. These product maps have a rather high accuracy as they are based on high precision preprocessing results in spectral consistency and geometric, which compared with traditional fused and registration methods by visual qualitative or quantitative analysis. The procedure is fully automated without any manual intervention to save response time. It also can be applied to many situations.