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To investigate the impact of kitchen waste compost on the formulation of rice seedling substrate, this study employed indoor seedling tray nursery methods. Six formulations, incorporating kitchen waste compost, peat, and vermiculite as raw materials, were prepared based on volume-specific gravity. The physicochemical characteristics of each seedling substrate were analyzed to assess their influence on rice seedling growth, considering the cost implications of synthesizing different formulations. The findings revealed a significant alteration in both the physicochemical parameters of the seedling substrate and the growth indexes of rice seedlings as the substitution of peat by kitchen waste compost increased. The formulation denoted as WF1 exhibited physicochemical parameters and growth indexes aligning with all applicable standards. Notably, key physicochemical indicators, including pH, electrical conductivity (EC), unit weight, and aeration porosity, increased gradually with the rising proportion of kitchen waste compost. Conversely, growth indicators such as seedling emergence rate, plant height, and stem thickness exhibited a gradual decline. The concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and antioxidant enzyme activities in rice seedling roots indicated that an increased presence of kitchen waste compost imposed significant stress on rice seedling growth. From a formulation cost perspective, integrating kitchen waste compost into the rice seedling substrate effectively reduced costs. The WF1 treatment demonstrated a 9.53% reduction in formulation cost compared to the CK treatment. The optimal formulation, consisting of 10% kitchen waste compost, 40% peat, and 50% vermiculite, was identified as better suited for the growth of rice seedlings, achieving a balance between growth performance and cost efficiency. In conclusion, incorporating kitchen waste compost in rice nursery substrate formulation can yield cost-effective solutions while maintaining acceptable growth parameters for rice seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gastroenteritis is among the leading causes of mortality globally in infants and young children, with rotavirus (RV) causing ~258 million episodes of diarrhea and ~128,000 deaths annually in infants and children. RV-induced mechanisms that result in diarrhea are not completely understood, but malabsorption is a contributing factor. RV alters cellular lipid metabolism by inducing lipid droplet (LD) formation as a platform for replication factories named viroplasms. A link between LD formation and gastroenteritis has not been identified. We found that diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase 1 (DGAT1), the terminal step in triacylglycerol synthesis required for LD biogenesis, is degraded in RV-infected cells by a proteasome-mediated mechanism. RV-infected DGAT1-silenced cells show earlier and increased numbers of LD-associated viroplasms per cell that translate into a fourfold-to-fivefold increase in viral yield (P < 0.05). Interestingly, DGAT1 deficiency in children is associated with diarrhea due to altered trafficking of key ion transporters to the apical brush border of enterocytes. Confocal microscopy and immunoblot analyses of RV-infected cells and DGAT1−/− human intestinal enteroids (HIEs) show a decrease in expression of nutrient transporters, ion transporters, tight junctional proteins, and cytoskeletal proteins. Increased phospho-eIF2α (eukaryotic initiation factor 2 alpha) in DGAT1−/− HIEs, and RV-infected cells, indicates a mechanism for malabsorptive diarrhea, namely inhibition of translation of cellular proteins critical for nutrient digestion and intestinal absorption. Our study elucidates a pathophysiological mechanism of RV-induced DGAT1 deficiency by protein degradation that mediates malabsorptive diarrhea, as well as a role for lipid metabolism, in the pathogenesis of gastroenteritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eu3+ single doping and Eu3+, R+ (R = Li, Na, K) charge compensation co-doped orange-red MgZn2(PO4)2 phosphors were prepared by high-temperature solid-state method. The effect of charge compensation agent R+ on the luminescence properties of MgZn2(PO4)2:Eu3+ phosphors was investigated. The morphology and composition of the samples were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), high-angle annular dark field (HAADF), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) techniques. The photoluminescence properties were studied using excitation and emission spectra. In this study, R+ is used as charge compensation to improve the emission intensity of Eu3+ and the physical explanation is given. The optimal doping concentration of Eu3+ in MgZn2(PO4)2 was obtained to be 5 mol%. Under ultraviolet (396 nm) excitation, a strong orange-red luminescence corresponding to the 5D0 → 7Fi- (i = 1, 2, 3, and 4) transition of Eu3+ is observed. The CIE coordinates and decay lifetimes of typical samples are discussed. The chromaticity coordinates of the two samples were (0.604, 0.392) and (0.616, 0.382), respectively, both located in the orange-red region. The fluorescence lifetime of MgZn2(PO4)2 phosphors co-doped 5% Eu3+ and 5% R+ (R = Na and K) is obviously improved. The results show that MgZn1.9 R0.05(PO4)2:0.05Eu3+ (R = Na and K) is a kind of orange-red phosphor with high efficiency under near ultraviolet excitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To test the effect of a substrate made from kitchen waste compost rather than partial peat on the growth of pak choi (Brassica chinensis L.). In indoor pots, four substrates were prepared by volume: 80% peat + 20% vermiculite (T1), 70% peat + 10% kitchen waste compost + 20% vermiculite (T2), 60% peat + 20% kitchen waste compost + 20% vermiculite (T3), and 50% peat + 30% kitchen waste compost + 20% vermiculite (T4). Soil was used as a control in the studies. The physicochemical properties of the four substrates, and the seed germination, growth, and quality of pak choi were all investigated. The results showed that the addition of kitchen waste compost increased the pH, EC, and bulk weight of the substrates while decreasing the aeration porosity. The addition of kitchen waste compost considerably enhanced the alkaline nitrogen, effective phosphorus, fast-acting potassium, and organic matter content of the substrates. Overall, the 70% peat + 10% kitchen waste compost + 20% vermiculite cultivation substrate formulation had a substantial effect on the quality indices of pak choi, delivering better growth results than soil. On the basis of this study, it is suggested that the cultivation substrate employing kitchen waste compost be optimized in order to further reduce the amount of peat utilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To clarify the improvement effect of organic fertilizer application on peanut continuous cropping obstacles, a field plot experiment was conducted in a plot that had been continuously cropped with peanut for 5 years. Equal amounts of nitrogen were applied to the plot using charcoal-based fertilizer (T2), pig manure compost (T3), and chicken manure compost (T4), while chemical fertilizer (T1) and no fertilizer (CK) were used as controls. The study investigated peanut agronomic traits, yield and its contributing factors, soil physical and chemical properties, and peanut leaf diseases. The results showed that all three types of organic fertilizers could significantly promote peanut growth, with the T3 performing the best. The main stem height, length of the first lateral branch, and number of branches per plant in the T3 were 31.45%, 21.28%, and 26.32% higher than those in the CK, respectively. There was no significant difference between the T2 and T4 s in terms of main stem height and number of branches per plant compared to the T3. In terms of yield and its contributing factors, the performance of organic fertilizers was significantly better than that of the T1 and CK s. Among them, the T3 had the highest yield, which was 36.81% and 22.07% higher than that of the CK and T1 s, respectively. There was no significant difference between the T4 and the T3. The T2 and T4 s had the highest hundred-pod weight, while the T3 and T4 s had the lowest number of pods per kilogram. There was no significant difference in hundredkernel weight among the three types of organic fertilizers. In terms of soil physical and chemical properties, the application of organic fertilizers significantly increased soil pH, porosity, field water holding capacity, and decreased soil bulk density compared to chemical fertilizer and no-fertilizer s. There was no significant difference in these indicators among the organic fertilizer s. In terms of soil nutrient content, all fertilization s significantly increased the content of total nitrogen, alkaline nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium in the soil. Among them, the organic fertilizer treatments were significantly better than the chemical fertilizer in terms of total nitrogen and available phosphorus content. Additionally, organic fertilizer s significantly increased the soil organic carbon content, with the T2 having the highest organic carbon content, which was 20.56% higher than that of the CK. In terms of soil phenolic acid content, organic fertilizer s significantly reduced the content of vanillic acid and coumarin in the soil, with the lowest coumarin content observed in the T3 and T4 s. In terms of peanut leaf diseases, the disease index of peanut leaf spot and brown spot were significantly lower in the organic fertilizer s than in the no-fertilizer and chemical fertilizer s, but there was no significant difference between the different organic fertilizer s. After the comprehensive evaluation of the affiliation function method, it can be found that T4 can alleviate the continuous cropping obstacle to the greatest extent. The conclusion drawn from this study is that biochar-based fertilizer, pig manure compost, and chicken manure compost can all promote growth, increase yield, improve soil environmental quality, and provide certain disease prevention and control effects for peanut plants under continuous cropping obstacles. It is recommended to choose organic fertilizer for application in areas where peanut continuous cropping is more serious in a timely and site-specific manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the usefulness of kitchen waste as compost for rice production, three groups of kitchen compost dosage gradients (15 t/hm2, 30 t/hm2, and 45 t/hm2) were established on the basis of field plot experiments, and the local common chemical fertilizer of equivalent nitrogen (1.88 t/hm2) and chicken manure compost (13.49 t/hm2) were used as controls for fertilization treatments. We measured and assessed rice yield, rice quality, soil nutrients and heavy metal content. The findings demonstrated that rice yields in the kitchen waste compost treatment were greater than the chemical fertilizer treatment in the equivalent nitrogen fertilizer condition. Comparing kitchen waste compost to chemical fertilizer and chicken manure compost treatments, kitchen waste compost greatly decreased the chalkiness of rice and significantly enhanced flavor quality. The 15 t/hm2 kitchen waste compost treatment greatly decreased the Hg concentration in rice in terms of safety quality. There was no discernible difference between the treatments in terms of the other residual rice heavy metal content, which was within the Chinese national standard's allowable limits. The addition of kitchen waste compost to the soil improved the soil's organic matter and fast-acting potassium contents. Regarding the safety of the soil, none of the treatments went beyond the heavy metals limit, and the levels were substantially below the maximum allowed by the Chinese national standard and were within the safe range. This demonstrates that, in line with national requirements, kitchen waste compost is an acceptable substitute for chemical fertilizers that provide the same amount of nitrogen for rice growing and is safe for agricultural soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For precise measurement of the moment of inertia (MOI) of asymmetric objects, using an air bearing torsional pendulum, the nonlinearity of the torsion bar and the damping effect caused by the interaction between air and sample need to be included in the analysis. The instantaneous undamped natural frequency and instantaneous damping coefficient of the motion are obtained from the Hilbert transform of the angular displacement signal and are used for data fitting to calculate the MOI. Measurements for algorithm verification were made using a special sample with large windvanes to increase the damping effect. The nonlinear analysis of the MOI experimental results indicated a relative error of less than 0.1% compared with 0.3% for classical linear analysis of the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic lights optimization is one of the principal components to lessen the traffic flow and travel time in an urban area. The present article seeks to introduce a novel procedure to design the traffic lights in a city using evolutionary-based optimization algorithms in combination with an ontology-based driving behavior simulation framework. Accordingly, an ontology-based knowledge base is introduced to provide a machine-understandable knowledge of roads and intersections, traffic rules, and driving behaviors. Then, a simulation environment is developed to inspect car behavior in real time. To optimize the traffic lights, a sine-based equation was defined for each traffic light, and the total travel time of the vehicles was considered as the cost function in the optimization algorithm. The optimization was performed with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 vehicles in the urban areas. Based on the results, in contrast to uncontrolled intersections without traffic lights, optimized traffic lights can significantly contribute to total travel time-saving. To conclude, due to an escalation in the number of vehicles, the significance of optimized traffic lights has encountered an increase, and unoptimized traffic lights could increase total travel time even more than a city deprived of any traffic light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the development of multifunctional synthetic nucleosomes that enable the study of chromatin-mediated protein interactions. The topics include mapping the binding sites for nucleosome-protein interactions, investigating the recognition of specific histone modifications within the nucleosome, and identifying proteins associated with the nucleosome acidic patch.

As an available resource rich in cellulose, agricultural residues have attracted a lot of interest for textile and other applications. Herein, reed straw fiber was obtained from a typical agricultural waste - reed straw - by an alkali-oxygen one-bath process. The effects of the amount of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen peroxide, the treatment temperature and time on the degumming rate were discussed. The optimum technological parameters of the alkali-oxygen one-bath process were found as follows: the dosage of sodium hydroxide was 35 g/L, the dosage of hydrogen peroxide - 30 mL/L, treatment temperature - 85 ℃ and cooking time - 2 h. Under these conditions, the degumming rate achieved was 54.30%. The prepared fiber will be considered as a promising and sustainable raw material for the textile industry and other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pentalogy of Cantrell is a congenital anomaly characterized by a combination of birth defects involving the sternum, diaphragm, pericardium, abdominal wall, and heart. Pentalogy of Cantrell is a rare anomaly with high mortality. This paper describes the treatment of a 9-month-old girl with pentalogy of Cantrell, pentalogy of Fallot, and left ventricular diverticulum. The patient is alive and well 13 years after surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a research report on structural basis for selective modification of Rho and Ras GTPases by Clostridioides difficile toxin B. Topics include urgent antibiotic resistance threats identified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and leading cause of health care–associated infective diarrhea and posed a substantial financial burden on the U.S. health system.

Context • Coronary heart disease (CHD) refers to a disease where coronary atherosclerosis induces stenosis or obstruction of the blood vessels. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) function to protect and repair the vascular endothelium, and their functional activity state reflects the ability of the body to repair vascular damage. In the peripheral blood of patients with CHD, the density of EPCs decreases, and the function of EPCs is low. Objective • This study aimed to investigate the effects of a China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA)-approved prescription medicine, Tongxin, on the density and function of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood. Design • In this study, a randomized, single blind, parallel controlled clinical trial was used. The single blind subjects were subjects. Setting • The study took place in the Cardiology and Emergency Departments at Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Shanghai, China. Participants • Participants were 48 patients with coronary heart disease at the hospital. Intervention • Participants were randomly divided into 2 groups (n=24 each): a control group and an intervention group. Both groups received routine drug treatments, such as platelet inhibitors, nitrates, β-receptor blockers, statins, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor antagonists (ARBs), and calcium blockers. The control group was treated with the Shexiang Baoxin Pill, while the intervention group was treated with prescription Tongxin. The course of treatment was 3 months for both groups. Outcome Measures • Changes in the density and function of EPCs in the peripheral blood of the 2 groups were measured at baseline and postintervention, and the clinical efficacy of the 2 treatments was statistically analyzed. Results • The density of EPCs was significantly higher in both groups after 3 months of treatment, compared to the densities at baseline (P < .05). The change in density between baseline and postintervention was significantly greater for the intervention group than for the control group (P < .05). For the control group, the proliferative vitality [optical density (OD)] value of the EPCs was significantly higher than that at baseline from the fourth day of treatment (P < .05). In the intervention group, the OD value was significantly higher than that at baseline from the first day of treatment (P<.05). Furthermore, the intervention group’s cells began to enter the logarithmic growth phase of increase from the fifth day of treatment, and the group’s increase as significantly higher than the control group’s from the fifth to the seventh dayof treatment (P < .05 for all 3 days). Moreover, the total effective rate was higher in the intervention group than in the control group (P<.05). Conclusions • Prescription Tongxin can stimulate the release of EPCs from the bone marrow to the peripheral blood of patients with CHD, can significantly increase the proliferation of EPCs in the peripheral blood, and can improve the clinical symptoms of patients. Its curative effect was greater than that of the control treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of existing evacuation models neglect the fact that leaking toxic gas usually degrades atmospheric visibility under chemical disasters. This paper takes the impact of leaking toxic gas on atmospheric visibility into account in evacuation problems. The reduction of traffic speed and road capacity under conditions of low atmospheric visibility is introduced and has stochastic features. Further, a robust evacuation traffic management model for evacuation scenarios of low visibility and toxic-gas-leakage disasters is developed to obtain optimal evacuation plans. The proposed robust optimization model can guarantee the feasibility of optimal evacuation plans to the evacuation scenarios of low atmospheric visibility under corresponding robustness requirements. Numerical experiments show that neglecting the impact of low atmospheric visibility overestimates the performance of optimal evacuation plans and even assigns evacuation traffic to roads with bad driving conditions under chemical disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A turbocharger turbine is exposed to pulsating flow conditions when it is connected to an engine exhaust system due to the opening and closing of the exhaust valves. However, many radial turbines are designed and tested under steady-state conditions without taking into account these unsteady exhaust flows. In order to seek the optimal aerodynamic design of a radial flow turbine (RFT) under pulsating flow conditions, the present research utilizes a numerical simulation approach to optimize the blade shape of a small-scale mixed flow turbine (MFT) under 50 Hz pulses. This corresponds to a four-stroke, three-cylinder engine rotating at 2000 rpm. In order to understand how a less computationally intensive, steady-state optimization compares, the blade shape was also optimized using the peak power point of the pulse. Three turbine features were modified during the optimization process, including blade cone angle, blade axial location, and blade camber angles. The optimization was carried out using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-genetic algorithm (GA) coupled approach, targeting at maximizing both energy-weighted efficiency and energy output during a predefined pulse period. To ensure that the new design maintains a similar matching to the engine, the maximum deviation of turbine swallowing capacity is controlled to within ±5% of the baseline for all new blade designs. The design that achieves the maximum pulse cycle-averaged efficiency was produced from unsteady optimization, with a performance benefit of 0.66%. The unsteady optimization also produced a blade shape that delivers the maximum energy output, with an improvement of 5.42%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spinal tuberculosis (STB), which is the most frequent and serious form of skeletal TB, is seriously harmful to a patient's life. However, very little research has been conducted on clinical isolates of STB. The purpose of this study was to genotype clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) from patients with STB, investigate their drug resistance profiles, and determine whether the genotypes and drug resistance patterns share any relationships with the demographic and clinical features of the patients. Preliminary species identification of the MTB strains was performed using a TCH/PNB culture method and multilocus polymerase chain reactions. Of the specimens collected from 85 hospital in-patients with STB at Xiangya Hospital, China, the 56 culture-positive MTB strains we identified were genotyped by spoligotyping. The strains were tested for resistance to anti-tuberculosis drugs (ATDs), and the demographic and clinical features of the patients were analyzed in combination with the genotyping and drug resistance results. Of the 56, cases, 53 involved M. tuberculosis and 3 involved M. bovis. Spoligotyping revealed 27 Beijing-type cases and 29 nonBeijing cases. When patients with STB were relapsing or experiencing systemic toxicity signs/symptoms (STS), the Beijing MTB-type strains predominated (p < 0.05), but when the patients were receiving initial treatment or lacked STS, the nonBeijing type MTB strains dominated. The Beijing and nonBeijing types differed in their resistance patterns to 8 ATDs, and the resistance rate of the Beijing type was higher than that of the nonBeijing type (p < 0.05). The bacteriological features of STB, including genotype and drug resistance, shared close relationships with the clinical features of patients with STB. Our data provide a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of STB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of Cd on the uptake and translocation of metals in different plant species have received great attention and been widely investigated. We investigated and compared the influences of Cd on the growth and the uptake and translocation of Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni in potato and wheat. Although the inhibition dose of Cd in potato was higher than that in wheat, the average estimated field yields of two plants did not significantly differ. In sierozem for two plants during their growth, Cd increased the mobility of Zn, but the movement of other metals remained unaffected. In the aboveground parts, the concentrations and accumulation of metals decreased significantly. In the roots, the concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Ni first decreased and then exhibited no notable differences. The concentrations of Pb first exhibited no significant and then increased. The transport factor (TF) of metals (except Cd) decreased notably. The concentrations, accumulation and TF of metals in potato were remarkably higher than those in wheat. Our results suggest that the toxicity of Cd to wheat growth was not remarkably higher than that to potato growth, and the Cd ingestion risk to humans of wheat grown in the Cd-contaminated sierozem was lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With technology advancement, industrial revolution 4.0, businesses nowadays are in competition in terms of product, service and business model innovation. Meanwhile, the emergent socio-ecological crisis is making it increasingly important to identify the impact of business on environment and the society. To date, much literature has explored how sustainability might be achieved through firms' internal research and development, and supply chain collaboration. However, issues such as how different stakeholders including customers, partners, government, and universities can be involved, forming innovation ecosystem in a sustainable way is under-explored. This paper aims to provide connection between innovation and sustainability, through literature review and exploratory case studies. A conceptual framework is generated starting from firm/intra-firm level, to supply chain/inter-firm level, and towards ecosystem level. With emerging themes of innovation from sustainability perspective proposed, the framework can be enriched and validated through future empirical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current era of Industrial 4.0, open innovation, and the sharing economy, innovation ecosystems are formed through government-industry-university (triple helix) interaction. The concept of responsible innovation has emerged to explore how innovation can be conducted in a transparent, trustworthy, and sustainable way so as to respond to the public interest. While current literature provides a conceptual framework, details of how responsible innovation can be formed, developed, and sustained in the sharing economy, in particular in developing countries, have been under-explored. This paper aims to explore factors of responsible innovation, linking dimensions with business practice, and identify the dynamic stages of the industry life cycle. Through an in-depth case study of China's shared bicycle industry and the firm Hellobike, this paper has prioritized factors which lead to responsibility, such as user safety and friendliness in product design, real-time operations combined with big data, collaboration between industry and local government for industry standardization, and user credit systems. It has enriched key dimensions based on literature and case studies and proposed dynamic interaction models for industry, government, users, and universities at different stages of responsible innovation in the shared bicycle sector. From this empirical study, future research areas have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the Jigede gabbros from the Shalazhashan tectonic belt, Alxa Block. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U-Pb dating reveals that they were emplaced in the Middle Permian (ca. 262 Ma). All the gabbro samples collected from the intrusion exhibit low contents of TiO2 (0.24–0.37 wt %) and (4.87–5.41 wt %), but high levels of MgO (11.15–12.15 wt %), CaO (11.45–12.75 wt %), Al2O3 (14.18–17.08 wt %) and high Mg# (0.81–0.83). Relative to HREEs and LILEs, the gabbros are enriched in LREEs and depleted in Th, Nb, Ce, Zr, Hf, and Ti, with positive Eu, Sr and U anomalies. In contrast to MORB, the Jigede intrusion has higher initial 87Sr/86Sr values of 0.7046 to 0.7054 and lower εNd(T) of + 1.8 to + 4.8. Elemental and isotopic data suggest that the intrusion was likely to have been produced by partial melting of a shallow lithospheric mantle source modified by slab-derived fluids, with subsequent cumulation of plagioclase. Thus, the Jigede intrusion was emplaced in a back-arc setting, in response to the Paleo-Asian oceanic subduction. In addition, the final closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean did not occur prior to the Middle Permian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surfactants are widely used to refold recombinant proteins that are produced as inclusion bodies in E. Coli. However, the microscopic details of the surfactant-assisted protein refolding processes are yet to be uncovered. In the present work, the authors aim to provide insights into the effect of hydrophobic interactions of a denatured protein with surfactant molecules on the refolding kinetics and equilibrium by using the Langevin dynamics for coarse-grained models. The authors have investigated the folding behavior of a β-barrel protein in the presence of surfactants of different hydrophobicities and concentrations. It is shown that the protein folding process follows a “collapse-rearrangement” mechanism, i.e., the denatured protein first falls into a collapsed state before acquiring the native conformation. In comparison with the protein folding without surfactants, the protein-surfactant hydrophobic interactions promote the collapse of a denatured protein and, consequently, the formation of a hydrophobic core. However, the surfactants must be released from the hydrophobic core during the rearrangement step, in which the native conformation is formed. The simulation results can be qualitatively reproduced by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five undescribed guanidine alkaloids, plumbagines H K (1 – 4) and plumbagoside E (5), as well as five known analogues (6 – 10) were isolated from the roots of Plumbago zeylanica. Their structures were established by extensive spectroscopic analyses and chemical methods. In addition, 1 – 10 were accessed their anti-inflammatory activities by measuring nitric oxide (NO) concentrations in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. However, all compounds especially 1 and 3–5 could not inhibit the secretion of NO but significant increase the secretion of NO. The result reminded us that 1–10 may become potential novel immune potentiators. [Display omitted] • Five new guanidine alkaloids were isolated and structurally elucidated. • Their absolute conformations were determined by CD and chemical methods. • All compounds showed no anti-inflammatory activities, but displayed immunostimulatory activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein refolding in vitro, the formation of the tertiary structure that enables the protein to display its biological function, can be significantly enhanced by adding a polymer of an appropriate hydrophobicity and concentration into the refolding buffer. A molecular simulation of the refolding of a two-dimensional simple lattice protein was presented. A protein folding map recording the occurrence frequency of specified conformations was derived, from which the refolding thermodynamics and kinetics were interpreted. It is shown that, in the absence of polymer, the protein falls into the “energy trapped” conformations characterized by a high intramolecular hydrophobic interaction, denoted as HH contact, and a high magnitude of the structure overlap function, χ. This makes it difficult for the protein to fold to the native state. The polymer with a suitable chain length, concentration, and hydrophobicity has formed complex with partially folded protein and created diversified intermediates with low χ. This gives more pathways for the protein to fold to the native state. At a given hydrophobicity, the short chain polymer has a broader concentration range where it assists protein folding than those of long chains. The above simulation agrees well with the experimental results reported elsewhere [Cleland et al., J. Biol. Chem. 267, 13327 (1992); ibid., Bio/Technology 10, 1013 (1992); Chen et al., Enzyme Microb. Technol. 32, 120 (2003); Lu et al., Biochem. Eng. J. 24, 55 (2005); ibid., J. Chem. Phys. 122, 134902 (2005); ibid., Biochem. Eng. J. (to be published)] and is of fundamental importance for the design and application of polymers for protein refolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein refolding to its native state in vitro is a challenging problem in biotechnology, i.e., in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food industry. Protein aggregation and misfolding usually inhibit the recovery of proteins with their native states. These problems can be partially solved by adding a surfactant into a suitable solution environment. However, the process of this surfactant-assisted protein refolding is not well understood. In this paper, we wish to report on the first-ever simulations of surfactant-assisted protein refolding. For these studies, we defined a simple model for the protein and the surfactant and investigated how a surfactant affected the folding behavior of a two-dimensional lattice protein molecule. The model protein and model surfactant were chosen such that we could capture the important features of the folding process and the interaction between the protein and the surfactant, namely, the hydrophobic interaction. It was shown that, in the absence of surfactants, a protein in an “energy trap” conformation, i.e., a local energy minima, could not fold into the native form, which was characterized by a global energy minimum. The addition of surfactants created folding pathways via the formation of protein-surfactant complexes and thus enabled the conformations that fell into energy trap states to escape from these traps and to form the native proteins. The simulation results also showed that it was necessary to match the hydrophobicity of surfactant to the concentration of denaturant, which was added to control the folding or unfolding of a protein. The surfactants with different hydrophobicity had their own concentration range on assisting protein refolding. All of these simulations agreed well with experimental results reported elsewhere, indicating both the validity of the simulations presented here and the potential application of the simulations for the design of a surfactant on assisting protein refolding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recovering high quality surfaces from noisy triangulated surfaces is a fundamental important problem in geometry processing. Sharp features including edges and corners cannot be well preserved in most existing denoising methods except the recent total variation (TV) and ℓ0 regularization methods. However, these two methods have suffered producing staircase artifacts in smooth regions. In this paper, we first introduce a second order regularization method for restoring a surface normal vector field, and then propose a new vertex updating scheme to recover the desired surface according to the restored surface normal field. The proposed model can preserve sharp features and simultaneously suppress the staircase effects in smooth regions, which overcomes the drawback of the first order models. In addition, the new vertex updating scheme can prevent ambiguities introduced in existing vertex updating methods. Numerically, the proposed high order model is solved by the augmented Lagrangian method with a dynamic weighting strategy. Intensive numerical experiments on a variety of surfaces demonstrate the superiority of our method visually and quantitatively [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: This study performed typing of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) to determine the association with smoking, matrix metalloproteinases, and common comorbidities. Materials and methods: The study enrolled 94 hospitalized patients. Participants were divided into a group of 69 current and former smokers (group A) and a group of 25 that had never smoked (group B). Patients were also divided into 3 categories according to the degree of emphysema and bronchial wall thickness using HRCT to determine the association with levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) and TIMP-1, as well as associated comorbidities. These three categories were: type A - no or mild emphysema, with or without bronchial wall thickening; type E - emphysema without bronchial wall thickening; and type M - both emphysema and bronchial wall thickening. Results: The low attenuation area (LAA) scores in group A patients were higher than those in group B (t = 2.86, P < 0.01); correlation analysis showed that smoking was associated with a decline of the forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity ratio (FEV1/FVC%) and higher LAA scores in patients with COPD (F = 4.46, F = 8.20, P < 0.05). The levels of MMP-9 in group A were higher than those in group B (t = 3.65, P < 0.01). Among COPD patients with more than 3 comorbidities, there were statistically significant differences in both the smoking group and the nonsmoking group (chi-square = 12.08, P < 0.01). When compared to type A patients, who had coincident cardiovascular diseases in the smoking group, patients of type M and E showed statistically significant differences (F = 2.42 and 2.12, P < 0.05). Conclusion: Emphysema was more severe in smokers. Metalloproteinase levels in smokers were higher than those in nonsmokers. Moreover, comorbidities were more severe in smokers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social image annotation, which aims at inferring a set of semantic concepts for a social image, is an effective and straightforward way to facilitate social image search. Conventional approaches mainly demonstrated on adopting the visual features and tags, without considering other types of metadata. How to enhance the accuracy of social image annotation by fully exploiting multi-modal features is still an opening and challenging problem. In this paper, we propose an improved Multi-Modal Data Fusion based Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic model (MMDF-LDA) to annotate social images via fusing visual content, user-supplied tags, user comments, and geographic information. When MMDF-LDA samples annotations for one data modality, all the other data modalities are exploited. In MMDF-LDA, geographical topics are generated from GPS locations of social images, and annotations have different probability to be used in different geographical regions. A social image is divided into several patches in advance, and then MMDF-LDA assigns annotations for the patches of social images by estimating the probability of annotation-patch assignment. Through experiments in social image annotation and retrieval on several datasets, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed MMDF-LDA model in comparison with state-of-the-art methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Anisotropy in microstructure of SLM 304 ASS will be caused by different building directions. • Anisotropy in mechanical properties of SLM 304 ASS will be caused by different building directions. • Anisotropy in hydrogen embrittlement resistance of SLM 304 ASS will be caused by different building directions. • The horizontal-printed materials have the best HE resistance. Selective laser melting (SLM), one of the 3D printing technologies can be used to produce a variety of complex parts for hydrogen service. In this study, 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) samples are manufactured by SLM technology with building directions of 0°, 45° and 90°. The results show that the 3D-0° sample with equiaxed grain has lower strength and ductility, but better HE resistance; and the strength and plasticity of 3D-45° sample with mainly inclined grains are higher, but the HE resistance is a little worse; while 3D-90° sample dominated by columnar grains cannot be used in the structural parts due to the poor mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Dynamic hydrogen charging-tensile tests were adopted to simulate the real service environment of hydrogen components. • The HE susceptibility between traditional solution-treated and SLM 304 ASS was compared. • The high-density dislocation cellular structure of SLM 304 ASS restrained the nucleation of α'-martensite. • The high-density dislocation cellular structure in 3D sample enables slow down the diffusion of hydrogen. • The cellular structure is an additional hydrogen trap in the SLM sample. 3D printing technology can be used to produce a variety of complex parts for hydrogen service. In this study, 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS) sample was manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM), one of the 3D printing technologies, then its high strength and hydrogen embrittlement resistance were discovered in comparison to traditional solution-treated 304 ASS. The unique high-density dislocation cellular structure of SLM sample remarkably restrained the nucleation of α'-martensite and slowed down the diffusion of hydrogen. Moreover, the possibility of hydrogen induced intergranular fracture was significantly reduced because of the alleviated hydrogen segregation at the grain boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the Kerguelen plume in breaking up eastern Gondwana is so far unclear. Recently, the initial magmatic record of the plume has been identified in the Comei igneous province, Tethyan Himalaya. In this contribution, we investigated a group of basaltic intrusions (Juelongpu and Zhaxikang) and felsic lavas (Sangxiu) from the Comei igneous province. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry zircon U-Pb dating indicates that these mafic and felsic rocks were emplaced in the Early Cretaceous (ca. 140-137 Ma). Probably originating from the Kerguelen plume, the Juelongpu and Zhaxikang mafic rocks are characterized by high incompatible element abundances, high Nb/Y ratios, and oceanic-island basalt-like rare earth element and trace-element patterns. The Sangxiu felsic samples share A-type affinities and were derived by partial melting of crustal rocks. These mafic and felsic rocks represent a magmatic response to the initial activity of the Kerguelen plume. Their ages (ca. 140-137 Ma) are older than the timing of initial breakup of eastern Gondwana (ca. 137-136 Ma), indicating that the plume must have been incubating underneath the supercontinent before the breakup. Recent plate reconstructions coupled with our geochemical and geochronological constraints suggest that the Kerguelen plume head was resident under the Comei area of Greater India at ca. 140 Ma. Our results, in conjunction with previous studies, support the viewpoint that the Kerguelen plume played an active role in breaking up eastern Gondwana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) materials, namely, [Eu(bipy) (CH3COO) •H2O]n (1) and [Gd(bipy)(CH3COO)]n (2), had been synthesized and characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction (XRD), infrared spectrum (IR), fluorescence spectra (IR) and thermogravimetric analysis. Results shown that the two MOFs belong to monoclinic system, space group P21/n. Eu/Gd-nuclear metal clusters in complex 1 and 2 were linked by 2,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (H2Pdc) ligand form 3D framework structure, and produce 1D channel with the pore size of 0.404 × 1.253 nm2 along the b-axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-molecule force spectroscopy techniques are powerful tools for investigating the mechanical unfolding of biomolecules. However, they are limited in throughput and require dedicated instrumentation. Here, we report a force-generating particle that can unfold target molecules on-demand. The particle consists of a plasmonic nanorod core encapsulated with a thermoresponsive polymer shell. Optical heating of the nanorod leads to rapid collapse of the polymer, thus transducing light into mechanical work to unfold target molecules. The illumination tunes the duration and degree of particle collapse, thus controlling the lifetime and magnitude of applied forces. Single-molecule fluorescence imaging showed reproducible mechanical unfolding of DNA hairpins. We also demonstrate the triggering of 50 different particles in <1 min, exceeding the speed of conventional atomic force microscopy. The polymer force clamp represents a facile and bottom-up approach to force manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salix matsudana is a salt-tolerant arbor tree species. We are interested in understanding its mechanisms of salt-tolerance. Here, we isolated a full-length 1080-bp cDNA for a salt stress-responsive cysteine protease gene from S. matsudana , designated SmCP . The deduced 359-amino-acid SmCP protein was essentially identical to cysteine proteases of other plant species and was predicted to contain inhibitor-I29 and peptidase-C1A domains with three active catalytic sites found in eukaryotic cysteine proteases. Expression profile analysis revealed that SmCP expression is constitutive and overexpression in roots takes place under salt stress. Expression of SmCP in Escherichia coli cells led to enhanced salinity tolerance. In addition, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana lines overexpressing SmCP displayed enhanced tolerance to salt stress, with increased germination rates, antioxidant enzyme (superoxide dismutase) activity, chlorophyll content and ion flux in the root, and reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and electric conductivity compared with control plants. These results indicate that SmCP likely plays an important role in salt tolerance in S. matsudana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some Ostrowski type inequalities for functions whose second derivatives in absolute value at certain powers are s-convex in the second sense are established. Two mistakes in a recently published paper are pointed out and corrected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important steps and the main bottleneck of the activated sludge wastewater treatment process (WWTP) is the secondary clarification, where sludge bulking is still a widespread problem. In this paper, an intelligent method, based on a knowledge-leverage-based fuzzy neural network (KL-FNN), is developed to predict sludge bulking online. This proposed KL-FNN can make full use of the data and the existing knowledge from the operation of WWTP. Meanwhile, a transfer learning mechanism is applied to adjust the parameters of the proposed method to improve the predicting accuracy. Finally, this proposed method is applied to a real wastewater treatment plant for predicting the sludge bulking risk, and then for predicting the sludge bulking. The experimental results indicate that the proposed prediction method can be used as a tool to achieve better performance and adaptability than the existing methods in terms of predicting accuracy for sludge bulking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context.--Pathologists' computer-assisted diagnosis (pCAD) is a proposed framework for alleviating challenges through the automation of their routine sign-out work. Currently, hypothetical pCAD is based on a triad of advanced image analysis, deep integration with heterogeneous information systems, and a concrete understanding of traditional pathology workflow. Prototyping is an established method for designing complex new computer systems such as pCAD. Objective.--To describe, in detail, a prototype of pCAD for the sign-out of a breast cancer specimen. Design.--Deidentified glass slides and data from breast cancer specimens were used. Slides were digitized into whole-slide images with an Aperio ScanScope XT, and screen captures were created by using vendor-provided software. The advanced workflow prototype was constructed by using PowerPoint software. Results.--We modeled an interactive, computer-assisted workflow: pCAD previews whole-slide images in the context of integrated, disparate data and predefined diagnostic tasks and subtasks. Relevant regions of interest (ROIs) would be automatically identified and triaged by the computer. A pathologist's sign-out work would consist of an interactive review of important ROIs, driven by required diagnostic tasks. The interactive session would generate a pathology report automatically. Conclusions.--Using animations and real ROIs, the pCAD prototype demonstrates the hypothetical sign-out in a stepwise fashion, illustrating various interactions and explaining how steps can be automated. The file is publicly available and should be widely compatible. This mock-up is intended to spur discussion and to help usher in the next era of digitization for pathologists by providing desperately needed and long-awaited automation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrical double layer supercapacitors (EDLC) have an upper limit for their area-normalized capacitance (CA) and lead to a bottleneck that impede the commercialization of high-energy-density supercapacitor devices. Quantum capacitance (CQ) in series with electrical double layer capacitance (CEDL) has been demonstrated to be a tremendous obstacle for enhancing the CA of EDLC. Nitrogen doping can up-shift the Fermi-level and graphitization can improve the density of states (DOS), both of which can significantly mitigate the limiting influence of CQ. Here, a facile approach is developed for synthesizing an ideal carbon-based EDLC electrode material by simply adding ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (FSH) into the polymer when colloid aggregation. The morphology, porous structure, graphitization degree, doped N content and the types of the doped N of the samples can be easily tuned through changing the FSH ratio. The optimized nitrogen doped worm-like hierarchical porous carbon with graphitized porous carbon embossment (NWHC-GE) exhibits an exceptionally high CA (24.6 μF cm-2 at 1 A g-1 and 18.5 μF cm-2 at 100 A g-1). This demonstrates a way to enhance the CA and provides a potential strategy for breaking through the limiting specific capacitance of carbon-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The timely and efficient clearance of apoptotic neutrophils by macrophages (efferocytosis) is required for the resolution of inflammation and tissue repair, but the regulatory mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of the small GTPase Ras-related protein in brain (Rab)11a in regulating efferocytosis, and on this basis the resolution of inflammatory lung injury. We observed that apoptotic neutrophil feeding induced a rapid loss of Rab11a activity in bone marrow-derived macrophages and found that depletion of Rab11a in macrophages by small interfering RNA dramatically increased the phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils compared with control cells. Additionally, overexpression of wild-type Rab11a inhibited macrophage efferocytosis, whereas overexpression of dominant-negative Rab11a (Rab11a S25N) increased the clearance of apoptotic neutrophils. Rab11a knockdown also increased the surface level of CD36 in macrophages, but it reduced cell surface expression of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM) 17. Depletion of ADAM17 rescued the decreased surface CD36 expression found in macrophages overexpressing wild-type Rab11a. Also, blockade of CD36 abolished the augmented efferocytosis seen in Rab11a-depleted macrophages. In mice challenged with endotoxin, intratracheal instillation of Rab11a-depleted macrophages reduced neutrophil count in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, increased the number of macrophages containing apoptotic neutrophils, and prevented inflammatory lung injury. Thus, Rab11a inactivation in macrophages as a result of apoptotic cell binding initiates phagocytosis of apoptotic neutrophils via the modulation of ADAM17-mediated CD36 cell surface expression. Our results raise the possibility that inhibition of Rab11a activity in macrophages is a promising strategy for activating the resolution of inflammatory lung injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown by Akemann, Ipsen and Kieburg that the squared singular values of products ofM rectangular random matrices with independent complex Gaussian entries are distributed according to a determinantal point process with a correlation kernel that admits a representation in terms of Meijer G-functions. We prove the universality of the local statistics of the squared singular values, namely, the bulk universality given by the sine kernel and the edge universality given by the Airy kernel. The proof is based on the asymptotic analysis for the double contour integral representation of the correlation kernel. Our strategy can be generalized to deal with other models of products of random matrices introduced recently and to establish similar universal results. Two more examples are investigated, one is the product of M Ginibre matrices and the inverse of K Ginibre matrices studied by Forrester, and the other one is the product of M - 1 Ginibre matrices with one truncated unitary matrix considered by Kuijlaars and Stivigny. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ribosomes of trypanosomatids, a family of protozoan parasites causing debilitating human diseases, possess multiply fragmented rRNAs that together are analogous to 28S rRNA, unusually large rRNA expansion segments, and r-protein variations compared with other eukaryotic ribosomes. To investigate the architecture of the trypanosomatid ribosomes, we determined the 2.5-Å structure of the Trypanosoma cruzi ribosome large subunit by single-particle cryo-EM. Examination of this structure and comparative analysis of the yeast ribosomal assembly pathway allowed us to develop a stepwise assembly model for the eight pieces of the large subunit rRNAs and a number of ancillary "glue" proteins. This model can be applied to the characterization of Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania spp. ribosomes as well. Together with other details, our atomic-level structure may provide a foundation for structurebased design of antitrypanosome drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nucellar embryony (NE) is an adventitious form of apomixis common in citrus, wherein asexual embryos initiate directly from nucellar cells surrounding the embryo sac. NE enables the fixation of desirable agronomic traits and the production of clonal offspring of virus-free rootstock, but impedes progress in hybrid breeding. In spite of the great importance of NE in citrus breeding and commercial production, little is understood about the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, the stages of nucellar embryo initiation (NEI) were determined for two polyembryonic citrus cultivars via histological observation. To explore the genes and regulatory pathways involved in NEI, we performed mRNA-seq and sRNA-seq analyses of ovules immediately prior to and at stages during NEI in the two pairs of cultivars. A total of 305 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the poly- and monoembryonic ovules. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that several processes are significantly enriched based on DEGs. In particular, response to stress, and especially response to oxidative stress, was over-represented in polyembryonic ovules. Nearly 150 miRNAs, comprising ~90 conserved and ~60 novel miRNAs, were identified in the ovules of either cultivar pair. Only two differentially expressed miRNAs (DEMs) were identified, of which the novel miRN23-5p was repressed whereas the targets accumulated in the polyembryonic ovules. This integrated study on the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulatory profiles between poly- and monoembryonic citrus ovules provides new insights into the mechanism of NE, which should contribute to revealing the regulatory mechanisms of plant apomixis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, 4-alkyl Hantzsch esters were used to construct molecules with all-carbon quaternary centers by visible light-induced photoredox catalysis via transfer alkylation. Up to a 1500 h-1 turnover frequency was achieved in this reaction. Reactions of 4- alkyl Hantzsch nitriles as tertiary radical donors joined two contiguous all-carbon quaternary centers intermolecularly, and this chemistry was used to synthesize a common precursor of a class of hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sleep profoundly affects the emotional and motivational state. In humans and animals, loss of sleep often results in enhanced motivation for reward, which has direct implications for health risks as well as potential benefits. Current study aims at understanding the mechanisms underlying sleep deprivation (SDe)-induced enhancement of reward seeking. We found that after acute SDe, mice had an increase in sucrose seeking and consumption but not food intake, suggesting a selective enhancement of motivation for reward. In the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain region regulating emotional and motivational responses, we observed a decrease in the ratio of the overall excitatory over inhibitory synaptic inputs onto NAc principle neurons after SDe. The shift was partly mediated by reduced glutamatergic transmission of presynaptic origin. Further analysis revealed that there was selective reduction of the glutamate release probability at the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)-to-NAc synapses, but not those from the hippocampus, thalamus, or the basal lateral amygdala. To reverse this SDe-induced synaptic alteration, we expressed the stabilized step function opsin (SSFO) in the mPFC; optogenetic stimulation of SSFO at mPFC-to-NAc projection terminals persistently enhanced the action potential-dependent glutamate release. Intra-NAc optogenetic stimulation of SSFO selectively at mPFC-to-NAc terminals restored normal sucrose seeking in mice after SDe without affecting food intake. These results highlight the mPFC-to-NAc projection as a key circuit-based target for sleep to regulate reward-motivated behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, pulsed laser processing technology was used to weld TiB-enhanced aluminum matrix composites of 2 mm thickness. The effects of welding parameters on welded joints were investigated. The results show that the effect of laser power on the weld forming is obvious. The penetration and width of welded joints were increased while the laser power was increasing. The coefficient of weld forming was changed from 4.19 to 0.997. The base metal was in full penetration when the laser power was 5.5 kW. The hardness of the fusion zone is reached 120 HV when the laser power was 6 kW. It is much higher than that of base metal because of dispersed particles TiB. The pulse frequency and the welding speed are very important. The good welding formation can be obtained when the parameters meet the formula fd = (3.6-5.4) v. TiB-enhanced aluminum matrix composites can be well welded with the pulsed laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graph neural networks (GNNs) have been widely applied in the recommendation tasks and have achieved very appealing performance. However, most GNN-based recommendation methods suffer from the problem of data sparsity in practice. Meanwhile, pre-training techniques have achieved great success in mitigating data sparsity in various domains such as natural language processing (NLP) and computer vision (CV). Thus, graph pre-training has the great potential to alleviate data sparsity in GNN-based recommendations. However, pre-training GNNs for recommendations faces unique challenges. For example, user-item interaction graphs in different recommendation tasks have distinct sets of users and items, and they often present different properties. Therefore, the successful mechanisms commonly used in NLP and CV to transfer knowledge from pre-training tasks to downstream tasks such as sharing learned embeddings or feature extractors are not directly applicable to existing GNN-based recommendations models. To tackle these challenges, we delicately design an adaptive graph pre-training framework for localized collaborative filtering (ADAPT). It does not require transferring user/item embeddings, and is able to capture both the common knowledge across different graphs and the uniqueness for each graph simultaneously. Extensive experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness and superiority of ADAPT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]