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Abstract Objective To establish a practical risk stratification system (RSS) based on ultrasonography (US) and clinical characteristics for predicting soft tissue masses (STMs) malignancy. Methods This retrospective multicenter study included patients with STMs who underwent US and pathological examinations between April 2018 and April 2023. Chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the association of US and clinical characteristics with the malignancy of STMs in the training set. The RSS was constructed based on the scores of risk factors and validated externally. Results The training and validation sets included 1027 STMs (mean age, 50.90 ± 16.64, 442 benign and 585 malignant) and 120 STMs (mean age, 51.93 ± 17.90, 69 benign and 51 malignant), respectively. The RSS was constructed based on three clinical characteristics (age, duration, and history of malignancy) and six US characteristics (size, shape, margin, echogenicity, bone invasion, and vascularity). STMs were assigned to six categories in the RSS, including no abnormal findings, benign, probably benign (fitted probabilities [FP] for malignancy: 0.001–0.008), low suspicion (FP: 0.008–0.365), moderate suspicion (FP: 0.189–0.911), and high suspicion (FP: 0.798–0.999) for malignancy. The RSS displayed good diagnostic performance in the training and validation sets with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values of 0.883 and 0.849, respectively. Conclusion The practical RSS based on US and clinical characteristics could be useful for predicting STM malignancy, thereby providing the benefit of timely treatment strategy management to STM patients. Critical relevance statement With the help of the RSS, better communication between radiologists and clinicians can be realized, thus facilitating tumor management. Key Points There is no recognized grading system for STM management. A stratification system based on US and clinical features was built. The system realized great communication between radiologists and clinicians in tumor management. Graphical Abstract

We investigate the following fractional p-Laplacian convex-concave problem:(Pλ)(−Δ)psu=λ|u|q−2u+|u|ps*−2u inΩ,u=0 inRn\Ω, $$\left({P}_{\lambda }\right) \begin{cases}\begin{aligned}\hfill {\left(-{\Delta}\right)}_{p}^{s}u& =\lambda \vert u{\vert }^{q-2}u+\vert u{\vert }^{{p}_{s}^{{\ast}}-2}u\hfill & \hfill & \quad \text{in} {\Omega},\hfill \\ \hfill u& =0 \hfill & \hfill & \quad \text{in} {\mathbb{R}}^{n}{\backslash}{\Omega},\hfill \end{aligned}\quad \hfill \end{cases}$$ where Ω is a bounded C 1,1 domain in Rn ${\mathbb{R}}^{n}$ , s ∈ (0, 1), p > q > 1, n > sp, λ > 0, and ps*=npn−sp ${p}_{s}^{{\ast}}=\frac{np}{n-sp}$ is the critical Sobolev exponent. Our analysis extends classical works (A. Ambrosetti, H. Brezis, and G. Cerami, “Combined effects of concave and convex nonlinearities in some elliptic problems,” J. Funct. Anal., vol. 122, no. 2, pp. 519–543, 1994, B. Barrios, E. Colorado, R. Servadei, and F. Soria, “A critical fractional equation with concave-convex power nonlinearities,” Ann. Inst. Henri Poincare Anal. Non Lineaire, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 875–900, 2015, J. García Azorero, J. Manfredi, and I. Peral Alonso, “Sobolev versus Hölder local minimizer and global multiplicity for some quasilinear elliptic equations,” Commun. Contemp. Math., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 385–404, 2000) to fractional p-Laplacian. Owing to the nonlinear and nonlocal properties of (−Δ)ps ${\left(-{\Delta}\right)}_{p}^{s}$ , we need to overcome many difficulties and apply notably different approaches, due to the lack of Picone identity, the stability theory, and the strong comparison principle. We show first a dichotomy result: a positive W0s,p(Ω) ${W}_{0}^{s,p}\left({\Omega}\right)$ solution of (P λ) exists if and only if λ ∈ (0, Λ] with an extremal value Λ ∈ (0, ∞). The W0s,p(Ω) ${W}_{0}^{s,p}\left({\Omega}\right)$ regularity for the extremal solution seems to be unknown regardless of whether s = 1 or s ∈ (0, 1). When p ≥ 2, p − 1 < q < p and n>sp(q+1)q+1−p $n{ >}\frac{sp\left(q+1\right)}{q+1-p}$ , we get two positive solutions for (P λ) with small λ > 0. Here the mountain pass structure is more involved than the classical situations due to the lack of explicit minimizers for the Sobolev embedding, we should proceed carefully and simultaneously the construction of mountain pass geometry and the estimate for mountain pass level. Finally, we show another new result for (P λ) and all p > q > 1: without sign constraint, (P λ) possesses infinitely many solutions when λ > 0 is small enough. Here we use the Z2 ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ -genus theory, based on a space decomposition for reflexible and separable Banach spaces, which has its own interest.

Abstract Background In the present study, we investigated the value of 18F-fibroblast-activation protein inhibitor (FAPI) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FAPI-42 PET/CT) to preoperative evaluations of appendiceal neoplasms and management for patients. Methods This single-center retrospective clinical study, including 16 untreated and 6 treated patients, was performed from January 2022 to May 2023 at Southern Medical University Nanfang Hospital. Histopathologic examination and imaging follow-up served as the reference standard. 18F-FAPI-42 PET/CT was compared to 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) PET/CT and contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT) in terms of maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax), diagnostic efficacy and impact on treatment decisions. Results The accurate detection of primary tumors and peritoneal metastases were improved from 28.6% (4/14) and 50% (8/16) for CE-CT, and 43.8% (7/16) and 85.0% (17/20) for 18F-FDG PET/CT, to 87.5% (14/16) and 100% (20/20) for 18F-FAPI-42 PET/CT. Compared to 18F-FDG PET/CT, 18F-FAPI-42 PET/CT detected more regions infiltrated by peritoneal metastases (108 vs. 43), thus produced a higher peritoneal cancer index (PCI) score (median PCI: 12 vs. 5, P

Few-shot relation extraction uses only limited labeled data to predict relations between entities. Recently, several studies have introduced prompts to better guide models in understanding relations between entities. Although effective, these approaches ignore the hidden interaction information between support instances and relations, which causes the prompts without effective guidance. In addition, due to the limited labeled data, the model cannot get enough information for training, leading to the problems of relation confusion. In this paper, we propose RelPromptCL, a few-shot relation extraction method that consists of Prompt learning with Relation information and Contrastive Learning. Specifically, RelPromptCL first gets more helpful information by utilizing prompt templates with relation information and then fuses the instance features with the relation features to obtain prototype representation. At the same time, the use of multi-level contrastive learning allows the model to discriminate more between different classes and improves the discriminative capability of the model. Finally, the similarity between the query instance and the prototypes is computed for relation classification. We carried out extensive experiments on both public datasets, the FewRel1.0 datasets and the FewRel2.0 datasets. The results clearly show the efficiency of RelPromptCL.

Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are widely distributed oxidoreductase enzymes that play important roles in plant growth, development, and responses to various stresses. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to identify and analyze the wheat GRX gene family and predict their properties and potential functions. RNA-seq and RT-qPCR expression analyses were used to investigate their regulatory functions under hormone treatment and fungal diseases. In this study, 86 GRX genes were identified in wheat and classified into CC-type, CGFS-type, and CPYC-type categories with no TaGRX located on chromosome 4B. The results show that TaGRXs regulate wheat transcriptional responses and have an integrative role in biotic and abiotic stress responses. TaGRXs are involved in wheat responses to Fusarium graminearum, Puccinia striiformis, and Erysiphe graminis diseases. TaGRX73-7D, TaGRX20-3A, and TaGRX29-3B play a negative regulatory role in E. graminis infection but a positive regulatory role in F. graminearum and P. striiformis infection. These TaGRXs play potential regulatory functions in wheat responses to the plant hormones and signaling molecules, including IAA, ABA, H2O2, and SA. The findings of this study lay the groundwork for further investigation of the functions of wheat GRX genes and their potential use as candidate genes for molecular breeding of stress-resistant wheat varieties.

In order to improve the positioning accuracy of millimeter wave system with non-line-of-sight (NLOS) paths, a depth-first multipath parameter estimation algorithm was proposed based on distributed compressed sensing.According to the evaluated multipath parameters, NLOS path could be identified, so that the localization performance was enhanced.Firstly, depth-first algorithm was applied to reduce the unnecessary path searching, and the more accurate multipath parameters were obtained.Secondly, under the reverse positioning distance residual method, NLOS path recognition could be carried out.Then, the scatterers in the NLOS path were matched, and the position of which were regarded as virtual anchor nodes.Combining the information of base stations and virtual anchor nodes, positioning enhancement was realized.Finally, localization performance of the proposed algorithm was simulated, compared with the distance weighted least square (LS) and maximum discrimination transformation (MDT) algorithms, the performance of the proposed algorithm is improved by 17% and 8% respectively.

A finite time controller with PD-like structure for satellite attitude control is proposed in this paper. The controller is constructed with simple structure based on standard PD controller. The fractional order term is designed hence system could both have strong robustness and finite time convergence rate, and the advantage of finite time control and PD control is combined in this paper. System convergence rate is discussed by Lyapunov method, and the constraint on control parameters is given by implementing the coupled term of angular velocity and attitude quaternion. Moreover, the accuracy at steady stage depending on control parameters is given hence system could converge to this field within finite time. System stability and performance is demonstrated by numerical simulation results.

To investigate the influence of different rhenium contents on the helium desorption behavior in tungsten–rhenium alloys, pure tungsten and tungsten–rhenium alloys were irradiated with helium under the same conditions. All irradiated samples were characterized using TDS and DBS techniques. The results indicate that the addition of rhenium can reduce the total helium desorption quantity in tungsten–rhenium alloys and slightly accelerate the reduction in the concentration of vacancy-type defects accompanying helium dissociation. The desorption activation energy of helium is approximately 2 eV at the low-temperature peak (~785 K) and about 4 eV at the high-temperature peak (~1475 K). An increase in rhenium content causes the desorption peak to shift towards higher temperatures (>1473 K), which is attributed to the formation of the stable complex structures between rhenium and vacancies. Besides, the migration of He-vacancy complexes towards traps and dynamic annealing processes both lead to the recovery of vacancy-type defects, resulting in a decrease in the positron annihilation S parameters.

Plant defensins are widely distributed in the leaves, fruits, roots, stems, seeds, and tubers. Research shows that defensin in plants play a significant role in physiological metabolism, growth and development. Plant defensins can kill and suppress a variety of pathogenic bacteria. In this study, we understand the phylogenetic relationships, protein characterization, chromosomal localization, promoter and gene structural features of the TaPDFs family through sequence alignment and conserved protein structural domain analysis. A total of 73 PDF gene members in wheat, 15 PDF genes in maize, and 11 PDF genes in rice were identified. A total of 35, 65, and 34 PDF gene members were identified in the genomes of Ae. tauschii, T. urartu, and T. dicoccoides, respectively. TaPDF4.9 and TaPDF2.15 were constructed into pART27 vector with YFP by homologous recombination for subcellular localization analysis. Subcellular localization results showed that TaPDF4.9 and TaPDF2.15 were basically located in the cell membrane and cytoplasm, and TaPDF4.9 was also located in the nucleus. TaPDF4.9 and TaPDF2.15 could inhibit the infection of Phytophthora infestans strain ‘88069’. The results suggest that TaPDFs may be able to improve disease resistance. The study of wheat defensins will be beneficial for improving wheat yield and provides a theoretical basis for research on resistance to wheat diseases.

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) combined with reaction bonding (RB) of Al particles is an effective method for preparing high-performance 3D Al2O3 ceramic foams. However, the indistinct microstructure evolution hinders the regulation of pore features and the improvement of synthetic properties. Herein, the microstructure evolution of the Al2O3 ceramic foams during the LPBF/RB process is clarified by various characterization methods, and the corresponding mechanical property modulation is realized by optimizing LPBF parameters, organic binder (E12 epoxy resin) content, heating rate, sintering time, and coral-like Al2O3 content. The expansion from Al2O3 outward growth and Al granule precipitation counteracts the shrinkage from E12 decomposition and Al2O3 sintering, resulting in an ultra-low shrinkage of 0.94%–3.01%. The pore structures of particle packing pores, hollow spheres, and microporous structures allow a tunable porosity of 52.6%–73.7%. The in-situ formation of multi-scale features including hollow spheres, flaky grains, whiskers, nanofibers, and bond bridges brings about a remarkably high bending strength of 6.5–38.3 ​MPa. Our findings reveal the relationship between microstructure evolution and property optimization of high-performance ceramic foams, with potential significance for microstructure design and practical application.

Meloidogyne vitis is a new root-knot nematode parasitic on grape root in Yunnan Province, China. In order to establish a rapid, reliable and specific molecular detection method for M. vitis, the species-specific primers were designed with rDNA-ITS (ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer) gene fragment as the target. The reaction system was optimized and the reliability, specificity and sensitivity of primer were testified, therefore, a rapid PCR detection method for M. vitis was established. The result showed that the optimal annealing temperature of the primers was 53°C, which was suitable for the detection of different life stages of M. vitis. Specificity test showed that the specific fragment size of 174 bp was obtained from M. vitis, but other five non-target nematodes did not have any amplification bands, thus effectively distinguish M. vitis and the other five species, and could specifically detect the M. vitis from mixed populations. Sensitivity test showed that this PCR technique could detect the DNA of a single second-stage juvenile (J2) and 10−4 female. Futhermore, this PCR technique could be used to detect directly M. vitis from soil samples. The rapid, sensitive and specific PCR molecular detection technique could be used for the direct identification of a single J2 of M. vitis and the detection of M. vitis in mixed nematode populations and the detection of two J2s or one male in 0.5 g soil samples, which will provide technical support for the investigation of the occurrence and damage of M. vitis and the formulation of efficient green control strategies.

According to the characteristics of power plant flue gas emission and the requirements of reducing CO2 capture cost. CO2 absorption hybrid with microalgae conversion (CAMC) can avoid the challenges of heat consumption during absorbent desorption and nutrient consumption during microalgae culture. In this study, the bicarbonate solution (represents the products of CO2 absorption by Na2CO3 and K2CO3) is used as carbon source for mutagenic Spirulina platensis cultivation, and different concentrations of bicarbonate were set to explore the best carbon source. The results showed that NaHCO3 was a better medium for the CO2 absorption hybrid with microalgae conversion system, which was beneficial for the growth of mutagenic Spirulina, compared with K2CO3. When .3 mol/L NaHCO3 was added to the CO2 absorption hybrid with microalgae conversion system, the highest biomass dry weight, carbon fixation rate and carbon utilization efficiency were obtained, which were 2.24 g/L, 230.36 mg/L/d and 26.71%, respectively. In addition, .3 mol/L NaHCO3 was conducive to protein synthesis, reaching 1,625.68 mg/L. This study provided a feasible idea for power system to achieve carbon neutrality in the future.

Abstract Background To explore the feasibility to identify malignant musculoskeletal soft tissue tumors using real-time shear wave elastography (rtSWE). Methods One hundred fifteen musculoskeletal soft tissue tumors in 92 consecutive patients were examined using both conventional ultrasonography (US) and rtSWE. For each patient, the rtSWE parameters including maximum elasticity (E max), mean elasticity (E mean), minimum elasticity (E min), standard deviation of the elasticity (E sd), and rtSWE image pattern were obtained. Eighty-one histopathologically confirmed tumors from 73 patients were subjected to analysis. Results The 81 lesions included in the study were histopathologically classified as malignant (n = 21) or benign (n = 60). The statistically significant differences between benign and malignant lesions were found in conventional US characters including size, depth, margin, echogenicity, mass texture, and power Doppler signal. Meanwhile, the significant differences were also found in quantitative rtSWE findings including E max, E mean, E min, and E sd values and in qualitative rtSWE parameter named rtSWE image pattern. Multivariate analysis showed that infiltrative margin (OR, 4.470), and size (OR, 1.046) were independent predictors for malignancy in US findings, while E sd value (OR, 9.047) was independent predictors for malignancy in quantitative rtSWE parameters. Areas under the ROC curve (Azs) for US features, Esd value, and rtSWE image pattern were 0.851, 0.795, and 0.792, respectively. Conclusions Conventional US and quantitative and qualitative rtSWE parameters are useful for malignancy prediction of musculoskeletal soft tissue tumors. rtSWE can be used to supplement conventional US to diagnose musculoskeletal soft tissue tumors.

Abstract Objective To investigate the 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging manifestations for anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare subtype of T/NK cell lymphoma. Methods Fifty patients with ALCL, including 32 anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK)-positive patients and 18 ALK-negative patients, were enrolled. The positive detection, maximal standardized uptake value (SUVmax), and distribution of nodal and extranodal involvement were recorded and analysed. Fifty patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) were collected as a control group. Results ALCL lesions were demonstrated to be 18F-FDG-avid tumours with a mean SUVmax of 19.4 ± 12.6. Most (76%) ALCL patients presented with stage III-IV disease, and nodal and extranodal involvement occurred in 74.0 and 72.0% of the patients, respectively. ALCL and DLBCL showed many similarities in tumour stage, 18F-FDG uptake and tumour involvement (P > 0.05), although the preferred extranodal organs of involvement (bone and the gastrointestinal tract, respectively) were different (P

Evidence shows that chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome hugely impacts the body and mind. The central mechanisms in patients with CP/CPPS resulted in increased attention as neuroimaging techniques developed. This review investigated the study design and major neuroimaging findings in CP/CPPS patients to provide comprehensive evidence. Seven databases were searched and screened: PubMed, EMBASE/SCOPUS, Cochrane Library Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, Wanfang, and China Biology Medicine disc. Nine studies were eventually included in the analysis. The results demonstrate that the insula, anterior cingulate gyrus, postcentral gyrus, and precuneus are significantly associated with CP/CPPS patients’ pain feelings and cause dysregulation of painful emotions, lowering patients’ tolerance to stimulus.

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3PUFA) are regarded as viable alternatives to aid the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). Most research focuses on eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); little information is available about the effect of docosapentaenoic acid (DPA) on the gut microbiota and their metabolism in UC mice. In this study, the changes in gut microbiota and their metabolism in UC mice were studied through the 16S rRNA sequencing method and untargeted metabolomics. Moreover, the differential bacterial genus and differential metabolites in responding to DPA supplementation were screened through permutation test after orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The results indicated that DPA supplementation increased the diversity and altered the composition of the gut microbiota in UC mice; Akkermansia, Alistipes, Butyricicoccus, and Lactobacillus were selected as the differential bacterial genus. Supplementation of DPA also altered the fecal metabolite profile in the UC mice. Moreover, butyrate, N-carbamylglutamate (NCG), and histamine were screened as the differential metabolites. In conclusion, the regulation effect of DPA on the gut microbiota and their metabolism might be involved in the intervention mechanism of DPA in UC. More research needs to be carried out to elucidate the mechanism systematically.

This study aimed to isolate and characterize pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC) from marine and freshwater fish swim bladders. The physicochemical properties, protein pattern, amino acid composition, structure, thermal denaturation temperature, and antioxidant activity of PSC from four different swim bladder sources were investigated and compared. The results demonstrated that the four types of collagen extracted were all type I collagen. The yield of PSC extracted from grass carp (GCSB-PSC), bighead carp (BCSB-PSC), grouper (GSB-PSC), and monkfish swim bladders (MSB-PSC) were 38.98, 27.97, 18.16, and 10.35%, respectively. Compared to the other three PSCs, BCSB-PSC has the highest thermal denaturation temperature (38.60 °C). Based on FTIR spectroscopy and circular dichroism (CD) analysis, the extracted PSCs retained the triple helix and secondary structure well. Antioxidant studies showed that in the swim bladders of four species the swim bladder PSC could scavenge DPPH and ABTS radicals. Overall, swim bladders from marine and freshwater fish can be utilized as raw materials for collagen extraction, and the extracted collagen has potential commercial applications.

The physicochemical, structural properties, antioxidant, and angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activities of fish skin protein hydrolysate (SPH) that were freeze-dried (SPH-FD) and spray-dried (SPH-SD) were investigated. SPH-SD showed abundant volatile compounds, higher DPPH radical scavenging activity and ferrous iron chelating activity than SPH-FD, while the ABTS radical scavenging activity and ACE inhibitory activity were not influenced by the drying method. Amino acid compositions showed a higher proportion of proline and hydroxyproline residues in SPH-FD. The major molecular weights were both distributed below 1000 Da. SPH-SD had spherical structures, while SPH-FD had glass shard-like structures. The results indicated that the drying method could affect the physicochemical properties of hydrolysates, and SPH-SD showed potential prospects in developing functional fortified foods.

Secondary electrons (SEs) of high-energy cosmic rays in high-altitude areas can cause irradiation damage to insulators. In this paper, the Monte Carlo method is utilized to analyze the energy loss of SEs irradiated by extensive air showers in insulators. We investigate the formation of electron–hole pairs in insulators, the influence on the insulation characteristics, and the physical mechanism of the process. The results show that the energy of the SEs is much greater than the energy of the electrons in the transmission line, which may pose a threat to the equipment of a power system, and the energy loss of the incident electrons in insulators with different energies shows different characteristics. When the electron energy is lower than 364 keV, displacement damage will not occur in the insulators, and the insulation characteristics will not change; when the electron energy is between 364 keV and 723 keV, electron–hole pairs are generated in insulators but without damage cascade, which will have little impact on the insulation characteristics; when the electron energy exceeds 723 keV, damage cascade will occur, along with many electron–hole pairs, and the insulator insulation characteristics will be greatly affected.

The interactions between the buried pipeline and tunnelling-induced ground movement are studied in this paper, in which the jointed pipeline, Pasternak foundation, and the detachment are considered. A mathematical model using the pulse function is provided to simplify the jointed pipeline to a continuous pipeline with additional local rotations. The determination of detachment is used by the usual iteration method. The finite difference method is utilized to obtain the numerical results. The results calculated by our proposed method agree with the experimental data of centrifuge tests and are close to those obtained by the other methods. The deflection and bending moment of the jointed pipeline can be predicted reasonably, as well as its detachment location. Parametric analyses about the main influencing factors are carried out. The stiffness reduction factor is significant to the discontinuous behavior of the jointed pipeline. During the parametric analyses, the detachment beneath the jointed pipeline sometimes happens and sometimes does not. The responses of the jointed pipeline and its detachment require priority attention.

The development of an efficient pretreatment, prior to enzymatic hydrolysis, is a good strategy for the sustainable use of refractory fish byproducts. This study compared hydrothermal pretreatments at 159 °C for 2 min, followed by water extraction (steam explosion-assisted extraction, SE) and 121 °C for 70 min (hot-pressure extraction, HPE), for the recovery of proteins from fish backbones. The effect of enzymatic hydrolysis on the properties of the obtained fish bone protein (FBP) was also evaluated. The results demonstrated that FBP had high contents of protein (81.09–84.88 g/100 g) and hydroxyproline (70–82 residues/1000 residues). After hydrolysis with Flavourzyme, for 3 h, the FBP hydrolysates that were pretreated with SE (SFBP-H) exhibited a better degree of hydrolysis (DH) and nitrogen recovery (NR), and a higher level of umami taste free amino acids (151.50 mg/100 mL), compared with the HPE-treated samples. The obtained SFBP-H mainly distributed below 3000 Da and had strong scavenging effects on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazy (DPPH) (IC50 = 4.24 mg/mL) and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) (IC50 = 1.93 mg/mL) radicals. Steam explosion-assisted extraction is a promising route for recovering proteins from native fish bone materials, and improving the flavor and antioxidant activity of the hydrolysates.

Bone hydrolysates from bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) were prepared using Protamex and Alcalase with degrees of hydrolysis (DH) of 5%, 10% and 15%. The antioxidant activity of bone hydrolysates was evaluated in vitro and then the hydrolysates with better antioxidant activity were used to immerse bighead carp fillets through a vacuum impregnation process at concentrations of 1% and 2%. Among the six hydrolysates, fish bone hydrolyzed with Protamex at DH 10% exhibited the highest ability to scavenge 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (88.79%), 2, 2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) (57.76%) and hydroxyl radicals (62.72%), as well as to chelate ferrous ions (91.46%). The hydrolysates effectively postponed freezing- and thawing-induced protein/lipid oxidation. Compared with the fillets without treatment, the impregnated fillets had higher sulfhydryl contents, greater Ca2+-ATPase activity, lower carbonyls and lower thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS). Bone hydrolysates also have a positive effect on the texture and water-holding ability of freeze-thawed fish fillets. Fish bone hydrolysates of Protamex could serve as potential antioxidants to preserve fish fillets.

Airborne phased-MIMO radar based on sub-arrays is investigated that can combine the advantages of both MIMO radar and phased array radar. The transmit beampattern design method for airborne phased-MIMO radar is proposed that can control the transmit beam width to raise the airspace coverage by transmitted signals design. In order to avoid grating lobes and achieve low sidelobes, the irregular sub-array partition is also proposed. Simulation results show that the transmit beampattern of airborne phased-MIMO radar based on irregular sub-arrays has wider beamwidth and lower sidelobes that can improve stability of detecting and tracking hypervelocity moving targets in the air. Simulation results also validate the effectiveness of the transmit beampatern design for phased-MIMO radar with irregular sub-arrays.

In the carrier-based coverage repair problem, a single mobile robot replaces damaged sensors by picking up spare ones in the region of interest or carrying them from a base station in wireless sensor and robot networks. The objective is to find the shortest path of the robot. The problem is an extension of the traveling salesman problem (TSP). Thus, it is also called the one-commodity traveling salesman problem with selective pickup and delivery (1-TSP-SELPD). In order to solve this problem in a larger sensor distribution scenario more efficiently, we propose a two-stage approach in this paper. In the first stage, the mature and effective Lin-Kernighan-Helsgaun (LKH) algorithm is used to form a Hamiltonian cycle for all delivery nodes, which is regarded as a heuristic for the second stage. In the second stage, elliptical regions are set for selecting pickup nodes' and an edge-ordered list (candidate edge list, CEL) is constructed to provide major axes for the ellipses. The process of selecting pickup nodes and constructing the CEL is repeated until all the delivery nodes are visited. The final CEL stores a feasible solution. To update it, three operations-expansion, extension, and constriction-are applied to the CEL. The experimental results show that the proposed method reduces the computing time and achieves better results in higher-dimensional problems, which may facilitate the provision of solutions for more complicated sensor networks and can contribute to the development of effective and efficient algorithms for the one-commodity pickup-and-delivery traveling salesman problem (1-PDTSP).

Selective laser sintering (SLS) to prepare composites by adding filler into polymer is an effective method to save costs and reinforce the sintered parts. This article investigated the fabrication of PA2200 composites filled with different volume fractions of hollow glass microsphere (HGM) by SLS. HGM was prepared by silane coupling agent surface treatment. The particle size distribution, microstructure, thermal and mechanical properties of PA2200/HGM composites were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and tensile experiment. The results indicated that the density of the composite was significantly reduced compared to the neat PA2200 and the density decreased with the HGMs content increasing. HGM improved the warping deformation in the process of sintering. The tensile modulus increased while tensile strength and elongation at break decreased as a function of HGM volume fraction in a certain range. This work indicated that thermal properties and tensile properties of polyamide-matrix composites can be reinforced by adjusting HGM content, and PA2200/HGM composite powder is a good material for SLS with less density and lower cost.