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Purpose: To determine the anti-scarring effect of polysulfonic acid mucopolysaccharide (MSP), and the implication of TGF-β1/Smad signal transduction route.Methods: Sixty (60) male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were assigned to control, model and polysulfonic mucopolysaccharide groups, respectively, each with 20 rats. Serum inflammatory factors, scar area and scar thickness, histopathological changes and relative concentrations of TGF-β1 Smad4, collagen types I and III, and α-SMA were determined.Results: In the control group, collagen cells were closely distributed and the skin structure was intact without inflammatory infiltration. In contrast, there were numerous necrotic dermal cells on rat skin surface in model group, with obvious inflammatory infiltration and severely damaged hair follicles. In contrast, in polysulfonic mucopolysaccharide group, the thickness of skin tissue and dermis was significantly improved, with a clear layer and reduced degree of inflammatory infiltration. Types I and III collagen and α-SMA were significantly down-regulated in polysulfonic mucopolysaccharide-fed rats, relative to model rats.Conclusion: Polysulfonic acid mucopolysaccharide exerts anti-scarring effect by regulating TGFβ1/Smad signal pathway, thus has the potential for use in minimizing scarring of the skin in clinical practice.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Conbercept on macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion and to explore the relevant influencing factors. Method: The clinical data of 94 patients (94 eyes) with macular edema (ME) secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University from January 2015 to September 2019 were collected. All patients received 3+PRN intravitreal injection of Conbercept. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), ellipsoid zone and external membrane integrity were observed before treatment and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Result：The constituent characteristics of different nationalities in this study are 38.30% (36 / 94) of Han nationality, 34.04% (32 / 94) of Miao nationality and 27.66% (26 / 94) of Dong nationality.The clinical baseline data (age, gender, preoperative BCVA, and CMT) of ME secondary to BRVO in different nationalities were not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in BCVA and CMT between Han, Miao and Dong nationalities at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after operation. Patients’ BCVA of different nationalities at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after operation was significantly higher than that before treatment (P < 0.05). Patients’ CMT of different nationalities decreased significantly after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months (P < 0.05). In the multiple regression analysis of this study, baseline CMT was not related to baseline BCVA (P > 0.05). Age, course of disease and integrity of the ellipsoid zone were related to baseline BCVA (P < 0.05). Baseline BCVA and baseline external membrane integrity were related to BCVA (P < 0.05). Conclusion：In the treatment of ME secondary to BRVO, Conbercept shows time stability and broad-spectrum demographic characteristics, and it can be widely used in ethnic minority areas in Southeast Guizhou.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of Conbercept on macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion and to explore the relevant influencing factors. Method: The clinical data of 94 patients (94 eyes) with macular edema (ME) secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guizhou Medical University from January 2015 to September 2019 were collected. All patients received intravitreal injection of Conbercept. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT), ellipsoid zone and external membrane integrity were observed before treatment and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Result: The constituent characteristics of different nationalities in this study are 38.30% (36 / 94) of Han nationality, 34.04% (32 / 94) of Miao nationality and 27.66% (26 / 94) of Dong nationality. The clinical baseline data (age, gender, preoperative BCVA, and CMT) of ME secondary to BRVO in different nationalities were not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in BCVA and CMT between Han, Miao and Dong nationalities at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after operation. BCVA in patients of different nationalities at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after operation was significantly higher than that before treatment (P < 0.05). CMT in patients of different nationalities decreased significantly after 1, 3, 6 and 12 months (P < 0.05). In the multiple regression analysis of this study, baseline CMT was not related to baseline BCVA (P > 0.05). Age, course of disease and ellipsoid band integrity were related to baseline BCVA (P< 0.05). Baseline BCVA and baseline external membrane integrity were related to BCVA (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In the treatment of ME secondary to BRVO, Conbercept shows time stability and broad-spectrum demographic characteristics, and it can be widely used in ethnic minority areas in Southeast Guizhou.

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a cardiomyopathy with left ventricle or double ventricle enlargement and systolic dysfunction. It is an important cause of sudden cardiac death and heart failure and is the leading indication for cardiac transplantation. Major heart diseases like heart muscle damage and valvular problems are diagnosed using cardiac MRI. However, it takes time for cardiologists to measure DCM-related parameters to decide whether patients have this disease. We have presented a method for automatic ventricular segmentation, parameter extraction, and diagnosing DCM. In this paper, left ventricle and right ventricle are segmented by parasternal short-axis cardiac MR image sequence; then, related parameters are extracted in the end-diastole and end-systole of the heart. Machine learning classifiers use extracted parameters as input to predict normal people and patients with DCM, among which Random forest classifier gives the highest accuracy. The results show that the proposed system can be effectively utilized to detect and diagnose DCM automatically. The experimental results suggest the capabilities and advantages of the proposed method to diagnose DCM. A small amount of sample input can generate results comparable to more complex methods.

Chemotherapy can induce toxicity in the central and peripheral nervous systems and result in chronic adverse reactions that impede continuous treatment and reduce patient quality of life. There is a current lack of research to predict, identify, and offset drug-induced neurotoxicity. Rapid and accurate assessment of potential neuropathy is crucial for cost-effective diagnosis and treatment. Here we report dynamic near-infrared upconversion imaging that allows intraneuronal transport to be traced in real time with millisecond resolution, but without photobleaching or blinking. Drug-induced neurotoxicity can be screened prior to phenotyping, on the basis of subtle abnormalities of kinetic characteristics in intraneuronal transport. Moreover, we demonstrate that combining the upconverting nanoplatform with machine learning offers a powerful tool for mapping chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and assessing drug-induced neurotoxicity.

This paper examines the topology of railroad networks using weight factors based on network topological attributes, such as commodity volumes transported; therefore, offering additional insights for enhancing freight rail networks and informing planning and operational decisions. The method proposed in this paper uses connectedness efficiency for network performance by considering node and link weights based on origination, termination, and interchange commodity volumes. These volume-based weights are designed to enable mixed units through normalizations. This paper uses freight traffic1 and associated volumes of goods moved as attributes to analyze the topology of an aggregate U.S. national railroad network as a case study. Following the topology of the aggregate network, freight data associated with U. S. counties are assigned to the nearest nodes in the network, and used to calculate node weights. After the assignment of node weights, connectedness efficiency was computed as a primary measure to assess the network for both unweighted and weighted cases with weights node for comparison purposes. It can be used for modeling network resilience at a topological level. In addition, the criticality of nodes and links were assessed reflecting the impact on network efficiency with a single node or single link loss or disability. Quarterly and annual waybill data were examined to assess seasonal changes and influences.

Streptococcus gallolyticus is an opportunistic pathogen and plays important role in various ecological niches, particularly in the intestinal tract of mammals. Obtaining the composition of S. gallolyticus strains from multiple perspectives is beneficial to broadening the knowledge of S. gallolyticus. Hence, we collected the genomic datasets of 31 S. gallolyticus strains and conducted the pan-genome analysis to systemically illustrate the genetic features and investigate the mechanism of its pathogenicity. Our results showed that the pan-genome of S. gallolyticus is composed of 4,606 homologous clusters and presented an open pan-genome structure. The phylogenetic analysis revealed the complicated relationship among S. gallolyticus strains. Six CAZyme families were identified from 182 orthologous genes that mainly derived from the core genome to clarify the carbohydrate metabolism of S. gallolyticus strains. The results showed that the metabolic ability of carbohydrates of 31 S. gallolyticus strains was different and these strains preferred glycosides and a crucial influence on the formation and modification of glycans and glycoconjugates. Particularly, the results of virulence factors indicated that the pathogenicity of S. gallolyticus strains was related to immunity, bile acid metabolism, and membrane synthesis. Besides, to guide the clinical treatment, we investigated the composition of antibiotic resistance genes of S. gallolyticus strains and claimed that these strains are resistant to antibiotics. Overall, our work systematically explores the genetic background of S. gallolyticus, provides an in-depth understanding of the biological characteristics of S. gallolyticus, and sheds light on the clinical detection and prevention of S. gallolyticus.

The low electron conductivity and scarce electrochemically active sites impede the practical application of bimetal oxides for supercapacitors. Herein, fluorine-doped and oxygen vacancy–enrich NiMoO4 (F-NiMoO4-x) nanosheet arrays are constructed via facile hydrothermal and wet chemical reduction processes on carbon cloth fibers (CFC). The structural and electronic properties in F-NiMoO4-x can be modulated by the synergistic effect of dopant F and O vacancies to boost the electrical conductivity and enhance Faradaic redox sites. The obtained flexible F-NiMoO4-x@CFC as a self-supporting electrode can provide superior areal capacitance of 2.45 F cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2, 6-fold higher than that of pristine NiMoO4@CFC electrode. Moreover, the assembled flexible solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) delivers an impressive energy density of 336.5 μWh cm−2 at a power density of 1790 μW cm−2 with a wide voltage window of 1.8 V. Moreover, the ASC can work at different bending angels with an ultralong and stable lifespan.

Freight rail networks serve a key role in transporting bulk goods to accommodate changing market demands and to serve public needs. Network analyses of such systems can provide important insights into enhancing transportation efficiency and system resilience. This paper develops and investigates a topological analysis model for network efficiency, which is associated with the connectedness of a network's nodes by its links and their corresponding network attributes. This model allows analyzing network topologies with or without assigned weights to their nodes and links based on different attributes. Key attributes may include physical length of links, commodity types and volume of goods transported through links, and dwell-time at nodes, and origination termination volumes of goods, types of goods moved, and origins and destination of goods. The model presented here enables (1) defining distinctions that may be employed for the assignment of node and link weights, (2) gaining an understanding of node and link criticality, and (3) providing methods for objectively maintaining and enhancing network performance. Such analyses can inform rail managers and executives in planning expansions, route or freight changes, or preparations for potential node or link failures. A case study of an aggregate U.S. freight rail network along with other example topologies is presented to demonstrate the use of selected network attributes and their influence on connectedness efficiency and the impacts of node and link failures on the overall transport efficiency.

Airport service quality (ASQ) is a competitive advantage for airport management in today's airport market. Since the COVID-19 health crisis has unprecedentedly influenced airport regulations and operations, effective measurement of ASQ has become crucial for airport administrations. Surveying travelers' attitudes is useful for ASQ assessment but collecting responses could be time-consuming and costly. Therefore, this paper adopts a data-driven crowdsourcing approach to study ASQ during the COVID-19 pandemic by investigating Google Maps reviews from the 98 busiest U.S. airports. To do so, this study develops a topical ontology of keywords regarding ASQ attributes and uses a sentiment tool to derive passengers' attitudes. Through sentiment analysis, Google Maps reviews show more positive sentiment toward

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with genetic susceptibility and recurrent attacks. Research examining the etiology of this disease has mainly focused on environmental factors and immunity, with immune disorders believed to be the main factor in the occurrence and development of AD. While some studies have demonstrated that increased proportion of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in the lesions of specific dermatitis mouse models, the expression of Th17 cells and interleukin (IL)-17 in patients with AD remains controversial.Related literatures were retrieved from English databases including PubMed, Embase, and Ovid-Medline. Literatures published from the establishment of the database to April 2021 were identified using the following keywords: AD, T helper cell 17 (Th17 cell), and interleukin 17 (IL-17). Review Manager5.3 software was adopted for meta-analysis.A total of 8 studies, involving 1,147 subjects, related to the pathogenesis of AD were included in this meta-analysis. The analysis revealed that the expression of Th17 cells in patients with AD was higher than that in healthy patients (P0.00001), and the serum expression of IL-17 was also elevated in patients with AD compared to healthy participants (P=0.0001).A total of 8 publications related to the pathogenesis of AD were analyzed. The meta-analysis found that patients with AD had higher expressions of Th17 cells and IL-17 compared to healthy subjects, suggesting that AD may be related to Th17 cells and IL-17.

Antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs) are mainly caused by the extensive use and abuse of antibiotics and have become a global public health concern. Owing to the development of high-throughput sequencing, metagenomic sequencing has been widely applied to profile the composition of ARGs, investigate their distribution pattern, and track their sources in diverse environments. However, the lack of a detailed transmission mechanism of ARGs limits the management of its pollution. Hence, it’s essential to introduce how to utilize the metagenomic data to obtain an in-depth understanding of the distribution pattern and transmission of ARGs. This review provides an assessment of metagenomic data utilization in ARG studies and summarizes current bioinformatic tools and databases, including ARGs-OAP, ARG analyzer, DeepARG, CARD, and SARG, for profiling the composition of ARGs and tracking the source of ARGs. Several bioinformatic tools and databases were then benchmarked. Our results showed that although SARG is a good database, the application of two or more bioinformatic tools and databases could provide a comprehensive view of ARG profiles in diverse environmental samples. Finally, several perspectives were proposed for future studies to obtain an in-depth understanding of ARGs based on metagenomic data. Our review of the utilization of metagenomic data together with bioinformatic tools and databases in ARG studies could provide insights on exploring the profiles and transmission mechanism of ARG in different environments that mitigate the spread of ARGs and manage the ARGs pollution.

Cold tumor microenvironment (TME) marked with low effector T cell infiltration leads to weak response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment. Thus, switching cold to hot TME is critical to improve potent ICI therapy. Previously, we reported extracellular vesicle (EV)-like ginseng-derived nanoparticles (GDNPs) that were isolated from Panax ginseng C.A. Mey and can alter M2 polarization to delay the hot tumor B16F10 progression. However, the cold tumor is more common and challenging in the real world. Here, we explored a combinatorial strategy with both GDNPs and PD-1 (programmed cell death protein-1) monoclonal antibody (mAb), which exhibited the ability to alter cold TME and subsequently induce a durable systemic anti-tumor immunity in multiple murine tumor models. GDNPs enhanced PD-1 mAb anti-tumor efficacy in activating tumor-infiltrated T lymphocytes. Our results demonstrated that GDNPs could reprogram tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) to increase CCL5 and CXCL9 secretion for recruiting CD8(+) T cells into the tumor bed, which have the synergism to PD-1 mAb therapy with no detected systemic toxicity. In situ activation of TAMs by GDNPs may broadly serve as a facile platform to modulate the suppressive cold TME and optimize the PD-1 mAb immunotherapy in future clinical application.

The increasing pollution of urban drinking water sources by antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) threatens human health worldwide. However, the distribution and influencing factors of ARGs, especially how to reveal the risks of ARGs in this environment remains unclear. Hence, Chaohu Lake was selected as an example to investigate the characteristics of ARGs and explore the interactions among physicochemical factors, microorganisms, and ARGs by metagenomic approach. In this work, 75 ARG subtypes with an average of 30.4×/Gb (ranging from 15.2×/Gb to 57.9×/Gb) were identified, and multidrug and bacA were most frequent in Chaohu Lake. Non-random co-occurrence patterns and potential host bacteria of ARGs were revealed through co-occurrence networks. Microbial community and mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were the major direct factors in ARG profiles. The dissemination of ARGs was mainly driven by plasmids. Considering the interactions among MGEs, human bacterial pathogens, and ARGs, antibiotic resistome risk index (ARRI) was proposed to manifest the risks of ARGs. Overall, our work systemically investigated the composition and associated factors of ARGs and built ARRI to estimate the potential risks of ARGs in a typical urban drinking water source, providing an intuitive indicator for managing similar lakes.

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) has been considered as a promising alternative to the traditional Haber-Bosch process for the preparation of ammonia (NH3) under ambient conditions. The development of cost-effective electrocatalysts with suppressive activity for hydrogen evolution reaction is critical for improving the efficiency of NRR. Herein, oxygen-containing molybdenum carbides (O-MoC) embedded in nitrogen-doped carbon layers (N-doped carbon) can be easily fabricated by pyrolyzing the chelate of dopamine and molybdate. A rate of NH3 formation of 22.5 μg·h-1·mgcat-1 is obtained at -0.35 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode with a high faradaic efficiency of 25.1% in 0.1 mM HCl + 0.5 M Li2SO4. Notably, the synthesized O-MoC@NC-800 also exhibits high selectivity (no formation of hydrazine) and electrochemical stability. The moderate electron structure induced by the interaction between O-MoC and N-doped carbon shells can effectively weaken the activity of hydrogen evolution reaction and increase the faradaic efficiency of NRR. Additionally, by applying the in situ Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, an associative reaction pathway is proposed on O-MoC@NC-800. This work provides new insights into the rational design of carbon-encapsulated metal nanoparticles as efficient catalysts for NRR at ambient conditions.

Background: Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) display the characteristics of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation. Objective: The study aimed to explore the molecular mechanisms of mouse SKPs differentiation into SKP-derived fibroblasts (SFBs). Methods: We compared the microRNA (miRNA) profile in mouse SKPs and SFBs by RNA sequencing. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to validate the miRNA expression. The integrated analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression data was performed to explore the potential crosstalk of miRNA-mRNA in SKP differentiation. Results: 207 differentially expressed miRNAs and 835 miRNA target genes in the gene list of integrated mRNA expression profiling were identified. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis revealed that cell differentiation and cell proliferation process were significantly enriched. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis revealed the target genes were significantly most enriched in the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, cancer pathways and axon guidance signaling pathway. The most upregulated and downregulated target genes were involved in the Wnt, Notch, cytokine- cytokine receptor interaction, TGF-β, p53 and apoptotic signaling pathway. The miRNAmRNA regulatory networks and 507 miRNA-mRNA pairs were constructed. Seven miRNAs (miR- 486-3p, miR-504-5p, miR-149-3p, miR-31-5p, miR-484, miR-328-5p and miR-22-5p) and their target genes Wnt4, Dlx2, Sema4f, Kit, Kitl, Inpp5d, Igfbp3, Prdm16, Sfn, Irf6 and Clu were identified as miRNA-mRNA crosstalk pairs. Conclusion: These genes and signaling pathways might control SKPs proliferation and SKPs differentiation into SFBs during the process of SKPs differentiation, which might promote the application of SKPs in the clinical treatment of skin-related diseases by regulating SKPs proliferation and SKPs differentiation.

Solvent extraction is a mass transfer process. In this paper, we investigate the role of heat transfer in solvent extraction: in particular, how the heat transfer properties of the solid and the heating method (conventional heating and microwave heating) drive this mass transfer process. Water-based solvent extraction of pectin from orange peel, apple pomace, mango peel and carrot pulp was carried out. The thermal conductivity and dielectric loss were shown as good predictors of extraction performance, with step change increases in mass transfer rates when microwave processing was applied to biomass with dielectric loss significantly higher than water (e.g. 120 mins reduced to 45 mins for optimal pectin extraction from apple pomace). When the loss factor was lower there was no difference in extraction performance between the two technologies (e.g. carrot pulp extraction time was 60 mins in both cases). Further investigations were carried out at different heating rates for both conventional and microwave extraction in order to decouple the effects of microwave volumetric and selective heating. It was shown that below a certain power threshold (within the range of 100–120 W in these experiments), microwave and conventional extraction are equivalent, while above the threshold, microwaves achieved a step-change in extraction time. These findings are the first experimental confirmation of recent theoretical advances in microwave biomass processing, in which Temperature-Induced Diffusion drives mass transfer. It is also the first paper to allow identification of biomass characteristics that will be most amenable to microwave extraction.

BackgroundTetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is a type of congenital cardiac disease with pulmonary artery (PA) stenosis being the most common defect. Repair surgery needs an appropriate patch to enlarge the narrowed artery from the right ventricular (RV) to the PA.MethodsIn this work, we proposed a generative adversarial networks (GANs) based method to optimize the patch size, shape, and location. Firstly, we built the 3D PA of patients by segmentation from cardiac computed tomography angiography. After that, normal and stenotic areas of each PA were detected and labeled into two sub-images groups. Then a GAN was trained based on these sub-images. Finally, an optimal prediction model was utilized to repair the PA with patch augmentation in the new patient.ResultsThe fivefold cross-validation (CV) was performed for optimal patch prediction based on GANs in the repair of TOF and the CV accuracy was 93.33%, followed by the clinical outcome. This showed that the GAN model has a significant advantage in finding the best balance point of patch optimization.ConclusionThis approach has the potential to reduce the intraoperative misjudgment rate, thereby providing a detailed surgical plan in patients with TOF.

Tailoring well-dispersed nanoparticles on the sulfur host with high catalytic activity is of great importance yet remains challenging in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Herein, a novel multi-phase interface structure of embedded CoP and Co2P nanoparticles (CoxP NPs) on hollow N-doped carbon substance (CoxP/NC) was successfully fabricated by the in-situ conversion of ZIF-67@ZIF-8 dual templates. The abundant multi-phase interfaces on CoxP/NC enabled efficient lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) capture, accelerated Li-ion diffusion, and boosted LiPSs conversion, thus forming a rapid and robust “adsorption-diffusion-conversion” network. Moreover, the well-defined hollow carbon polyhedrons physically inhibit the LiPSs diffusion and provide superior conductivity. As a result, the assembled S@CoxP/NC cathode with a high sulfur loading of 82% delivers an excellent rate capability (617.7 mAh g−1 at 3C), impressive stability (a small capacity decay of 0.053% per cycle over 1250 cycles at 1C), and favorable durability of thick sulfur cathodes (with a high areal sulfur loading of 4.68 mg cm2 over 300 cycles).

Wind power resources are remotely distributed in China. The fixed series compensation (FSC) is one of the traditional methods to solve the problem of long-distance power transmission of the doubly-fed induction generators (DFIGs) based wind farm. The introduction of FSC will bring potential sub-synchronous oscillation (SSO) risks to the power system. With the development of flexible AC transmission system (FACTS), thyristor-controlled series compensation (TCSC) has become an effective substitute for FSC due to its suppression effect on sub-synchronous oscillation. This paper mainly studied the natural and active suppression effect of TCSC on sub-synchronous oscillation of grid integrated DFIG. Based on the frequency scanning method, the impedance characteristics of TCSC and DFIG were obtained to study the natural suppression effect of TCSC, and some key parameters were discussed. However, when the system was particularly weak, the natural suppression might not keep the system stable. Thus, an additional sub-synchronous oscillation damping control (SSDC) was proposed as active suppression of TCSC, which could further enhance the stability of system. The frequency scanning results showed that the SSDC could effectively improve system stability. Finally, the electromagnetic transient simulation results in PSCAD/EMTDC verified the above conclusions.

The complicated task allocation, scheduling and planning problem with multiple stations and multiple robots commonly seen in spot welding production line design is studied in this paper. To deal with the highly coupled model combined with several task planning sub-problems, including robot cells design, robots allocation among cells, welding allocation among cells and robots, and welding scheduling for each robot, as well as numerous internal and external constraints, the traditional multi-robot task allocation (MRTA) framework is extended to a novel and uniform multi-station multi-robot (MS-MRTA) framework, and a sophisticated hierarchical optimization algorithm is proposed. Firstly, to establish the optimization model based on MS-MRTA framework as a whole, constraints such as reachability constraint, maximum speed and acceleration constraint, collision constraint and welding operation time constraint are considered, and the optimization objective is established based on the balance of welding tasks of each robot and each cell. Then, in order to solve the highly coupled model, a hierarchical optimization algorithm is proposed to divide the problem into three layers from top to bottom: the path planning of a single robot, welding task allocation among robots, and welding task allocation among cells. The path planning of a single robot is analogous to the Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) solved by iterating the Lin-Kernighan-Helsgaun (LKH) solver with the trapezoidal acceleration and deceleration motion. To solve the welding task allocation among robots with numerous constraints, a regional assignment method was proposed which simplify the model and eliminate the accessibility constraint and collision constraint, and combined with genetic algorithm to solve the sub-problem iteratively. The welding task allocation among cells is solved based on the principle of balanced welding of each cell. Genetic algorithm is used to obtain the nested iterative solution of three sub-problems. The cases of actual door welding tasks are studied to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization algorithm. Compared with the method of long-term trial and error by experienced experts and two other more advanced algorithms, the proposed optimization algorithm results in a task assignment scheme with less welding time, less waiting time and an increase of welding operation productivity, which shows the effectiveness and feasibility of the multi-robot multi-station task allocation algorithm based on stepwise optimization.

Skin-derived precursors (SKPs) can differentiate into fibroblasts. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of the differentiation process. Our previous study has compared the transcriptomes of mouse SKPs and SKP-derived fibroblasts (SFBs) by RNA-Seq analysis and found some genes and signal pathways that might play important roles in the transition from SKPs to SFBs. Here, to further investigate the process by which SKPs differentiate into fibroblasts, we compared the proteomes between SKPs and SFBs using iTRAQ. Our results showed that 243 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified. Among the 28 DEPs which were related to the functional group of cell differentiation, Down-regulated DEPs collagen XVIII, keratin 10, keratin 5, keratin 14, and TIFIbeta, up-regulated DEPs Thy-1, ANXA1, alpha-catenin, and calreticulin might play important roles in the transition of SKPs to fibroblasts. Further study is needed to clarify the roles of these proteins in the differentiation process of SKPs into fibroblasts, which could facilitate investigations of the detailed molecular mechanisms in the process and make it possible to take advantage of the potential therapeutic applications of SKPs in skin regeneration in the future.

Okra extract is known to have potential application as a bio-flocculant for wastewater treatment. However, no research to date has given insight into the components responsible for the flocculating ability of okra extract or its flocculating mechanism. The work presented here addresses this knowledge gap showing that pectin, especially pectin homogalacturonan (HGA) regions, appear to be the polysaccharides responsible for the flocculating ability of okra extract. The way pectin works in flocculation may be best explained by a polymer bridging mechanism. Specifically, a linear relationship between okra bio-flocculating ability and pectin homogalacturonan region to rhamnogalacturonan-I region weight ratio (HGA/RG-I) was found (y = 2.0x+47.6, R2 = 0.93, when GalA content > 300 mg/g extract), which was also validated using commercial citrus peel pectin.

The decision of manufacturing resource sharing in garment supply chain is studied which garment brand provides clothing design and other soft resources, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) provides production capacity and other hard resources. The evolutionary game model considering internal factors of enterprises is constructed and the equilibrium conditions of sharing decision evolution are obtained. Then the effects of the influence ability of the cloud manufacturing platform on the above decision-making are explored. The research results show that the probability of brand and OEM choosing to share is positively related to the transformation capability of manufacturing resources, the level of informatization and the influence of cloud platform, and is negatively correlated with risk cost. Compared with small garment enterprises, large and medium-sized garment enterprises have stronger sharing willingness. The influence of the cloud platform will help to improve the trust level of the garment enterprises and promote the sharing probability of the garment supply chain.

Highlights • Conventional and microwave-assisted extraction of “hairy” pectin from sugar beet. • Determined effect of heating method, temperature, time & pH on yield & composition. • No difference between microwave and conventional extraction under conditions tested. • Strong alkaline is favoured in rhamnogalacturonan-I “hairy” pectin extraction. • Hydrothermal water extraction can be an alternative to strong alkaline extraction., Sugar beet pectin is rich in rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I) region, which is a potential source of prebiotics. RG-I pectin cannot be extracted the same way as commercial homogalacturan-rich pectin using hot acid. Therefore, this study has explored several alternative methods, including microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) and conventional-solvent extraction (CSE) at atmospheric pressure using different solvents, and microwave-assisted hydrothermal extraction (MAHE) under pressure using water. No conclusive differences in microwave and conventional heating were found with heating rate controlled. The optimum treatment times of both MAE and CSE at 90 °C atmospheric pressure and regardless of the solvents used were 120 min; however, MAHE at 130 °C under pressure can dramatically reduce the time to 10 min. Alcohol-insoluble solids (AIS) extracted using pH13 solvent by MAE had both the highest RG-I yield at 25.3% and purity at 260.2 mg/g AIS, followed by AIS extracts using water by MAHE with 7.5% and 166.7 mg/g AIS respectively.

This paper addresses the current lack of a scalable process for the extraction of “hairy” pectins to upcycle biomasses, by describing the design methodology, building and testing of a continuous microwave-assisted process for potato waste pectin extraction. Hairy pectins have been shown to present prebiotic activity. Conventional pectin extraction methods are not suitable to produce them, as they lead to degradation of hairy regions, in part due to long heating times. Microwave heating is considered an alternative due to its selective and rapid heating. The 2 kW single mode system developed in this study achieved good temperature control of ±2.5 °C, and a stable target temperature in ≈1 min processing time at a feed flow rate of 250 mL min−1. Pectin yields of 40–45% (indicated by the galacturonic acid content) were achieved, with a feed residence time of only 0.81 s followed by 20 min cooling-down under stirring. These yields were 59.75% higher on average than control experiments in batch conditions or under continuous heating. This indicates that a short heating time is sufficient to allow pectin hydrolysis, after which the rate limiting diffusion step can proceed during cool-down, minimising pectin degradation caused by prolonged exposure to high temperatures. The presence of hairy pectin regions in the extract was confirmed by neutral sugar analysis. The high starch content in potato necessitated a de-starching procedure. A sieving procedure was implemented, which removed more starch than enzymatic de-starching, resulting in a higher purity pectin extract and the ability to collect starch as a separate value stream. This work proves the suitability of microwaves to be used as a fast heating method to extract pectin from biomass, avoiding degradation, using a scalable continuous mode of operation.

Train driving is a highly visual task. The visual capabilities of the train driver affects driving safety and driving performance. Understanding the effects of train speed and background image complexity on the visual behavior of the high-speed train driver is essential for optimizing performance and safety. This study investigated the role of the apparent image velocity and complexity on the dynamic visual field of drivers. Participants in a repeated-measures experiment drove a train at nine different speeds in a state-of-the-art high-speed train simulator. Eye movement analysis indicated that the effect of image velocity on the dynamic visual field of high-speed train driver was significant while image complexity had no effect on it. The fixation range was increasingly concentrated on the middle of the track as the speed increased, meanwhile there was a logarithmic decline in fixation range for areas surrounding the track. The extent of the visual search field decreased gradually, both vertically and horizontally, as the speed of train increased, and the rate of decrease was more rapid in the vertical direction. A model is proposed that predicts the extent of this tunnel vision phenomenon as a function of the train speed. Relevance to industry This finding can be used as a basis for the design of high-speed railway system and as a foundation for improving the operational procedures of high-speed train driver for safety.