Influence of Low-Temperature Cap Layer Thickness on Luminescence Characteristics of Green InGaN/GaN Quantum Wells

GaN cap layer with different thicknesses was grown on each InGaN well layer during MOCVD growth for InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) samples to study the influence of the cap layer on the photoluminescence (PL) characteristics of MQWs. Through the temperature-dependent (TD) PL spectra, it was found that when the cap layer was too thick, the localized states of the quantum wells were relatively non-uniform. The thicker the well layer, the worse the uniformity of the localized states. Furthermore, through micro-area fluorescence imaging tests, it was found that when the cap layer was too thick, the luminescence quality of the quantum well was worse. In summary, the uniformity of the localized states in the quantum wells and the luminescence characteristics of the quantum wells could be improved when a relatively thin cap layer of the quantum well was prepared during the growth. These results could facilitate high efficiency QW preparation, especially for green LEDs.

Optimization of a Screw Centrifugal Blood Pump Based on Random Forest and Multi-Objective Gray Wolf Optimization Algorithm

The centrifugal blood pump is a commonly used ventricular assist device. It can replace part of the heart function, pumping blood throughout the body in order to maintain normal function. However, the high shear stress caused by the impeller rotating at high speeds can lead to hemolysis and, as a consequence, to stroke and other syndromes. Therefore, reducing the hemolysis level while ensuring adequate pressure generation is key to the optimization of centrifugal blood pumps. In this study, a screw centrifugal blood pump was used as the research object. In addition, pressure generation and the hemolysis level were optimized simultaneously using a coupled algorithm composed of random forest (RF) and multi-objective gray wolf optimization (MOGWO). After verifying the prediction accuracy of the algorithm, three optimized models were selected and compared with the baseline model in terms of pressure cloud, 2D streamline, SSS distribution, HI distribution, and vortex distribution. Finally, via a comprehensive evaluation, the optimized model was selected as the final optimization design, in which the pressure generation increased by 24% and the hemolysis value decreased by 48%.

Cellular Sensors and Viral Countermeasures: A Molecular Arms Race between Host and SARS-CoV-2

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has caused disastrous effects on the society and human health globally. SARS-CoV-2 is a sarbecovirus in the Coronaviridae family with a positive-sense single-stranded RNA genome. It mainly replicates in the cytoplasm and viral components including RNAs and proteins can be sensed by pattern recognition receptors including toll-like receptors (TLRs), RIG-I-like receptors (RLRs), and NOD-like receptors (NLRs) that regulate the host innate and adaptive immune responses. On the other hand, the SARS-CoV-2 genome encodes multiple proteins that can antagonize the host immune response to facilitate viral replication. In this review, we discuss the current knowledge on host sensors and viral countermeasures against host innate immune response to provide insights on virus-host interactions and novel approaches to modulate host inflammation and antiviral responses.

scMoMaT jointly performs single cell mosaic integration and multi-modal bio-marker detection

Single cell data integration methods aim to integrate cells across data batches and modalities, and data integration tasks can be categorized into horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and mosaic integration, where mosaic integration is the most general and challenging case with few methods developed. We propose scMoMaT, a method that is able to integrate single cell multi-omics data under the mosaic integration scenario using matrix tri-factorization. During integration, scMoMaT is also able to uncover the cluster specific bio-markers across modalities. These multi-modal bio-markers are used to interpret and annotate the clusters to cell types. Moreover, scMoMaT can integrate cell batches with unequal cell type compositions. Applying scMoMaT to multiple real and simulated datasets demonstrated these features of scMoMaT and showed that scMoMaT has superior performance compared to existing methods. Specifically, we show that integrated cell embedding combined with learned bio-markers lead to cell type annotations of higher quality or resolution compared to their original annotations.

Triple attention feature enhanced pyramid network for facial expression recognition

The purpose of facial expression recognition is to capture facial expression features from static pictures or videos and to provide the most intuitive information about human emotion changes for artificial intelligence devices to use effectively for human-computer interaction. Among the factors, the excessive loss of locally valid information and the irreversible degradation trend of the information at different expression semantic scales with increasing network depth are the main challenges faced currently. To address such problems, an enhanced pyramidal network model combining with triple attention mechanisms is designed in this paper. Firstly, three attention mechanism modules, i.e. CBAM, SK, and SE, are embedded into the backbone network model in stages, and the key features are sensed by using spatial or channel information mining, which effectively reduces the effective information loss caused by the network depth. Then, the pyramid network is used as an extension of the backbone network to obtain the semantic information of expression features across scales. The recognition accuracy reaches 96.25% and 73.61% in the CK+ and Fer2013 expression change datasets, respectively. Furthermore, by comparing with other current advanced methods, it is shown that the proposed network architecture combining with the triple attention mechanism and multi-scale cross-information fusion can simultaneously maintain and improve the information mining ability and recognition accuracy of the facial expression recognition model.

Arthroscopic treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion with two headless compression screws and distal radius bone graft

BACKGROUND

The treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion remains a challenging problem for hand surgeons. Minimally invasive treatment has become the preferred method of treatment.

PURPOSE

This study introduces the arthroscopic technique with two headless compression screws (HCS) fixation and distal radius bone grafting for the treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion, aiming to evaluate its clinical and radiological outcomes.

METHODS

It was a retrospective study. From January 2019 to February 2021, a total of 23 patients were included in the current study. Among them, 13 patients with unstable scaphoid fracture underwent arthroscopic treatment with two HCS; 10 patients with scaphoid nonunion underwent arthroscopic treatment with two HCS and a distal radius bone graft. The range of motion of the wrist, visual analog scale (VAS), grip strength, the Modified Mayo Wrist Score (MMWS), the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score, and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score were collected at preoperatively and the final follow-up. A computed tomography scan of the wrist was performed on each patient to analyze for union and postoperative osteoarthritis during the follow-up period.

RESULTS

Significant improvement was only observed in wrist extension. Clinical outcomes including grip strength, VAS pain score, MMWS, PRWE score, and DASH score were significantly improved at the final follow-up. In the subgroup analysis, both patients stabilized with either two HCS or a distal radius bone graft and two HCS have improved clinical outcomes after surgery, respectively. All patients achieved union. No screw fixation failure occurred, and no other postoperative complication was observed in any of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The arthroscopic technique with two-HCS fixation and distal radius bone grafting is a reliable and effective technique for the treatment of unstable scaphoid fracture and nonunion, providing satisfactory union rates and clinical outcomes.

Medium/High-Entropy Amalgamated Core/Shell Nanoplate Achieves Efficient Formic Acid Catalysis for Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cell

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) have been attracting extensive research interests in designing advanced nanomaterials, while their precise control is still in the infancy stage. Herein, we have reported a well-defined PtBiPbNiCo hexagonal nanoplates (HEA HPs) as high-performance electrocatalysts. Structure analysis decodes that the HEA HP is constructed with PtBiPb medium-entropy core and PtBiNiCo high-entropy shell. Significantly, the HEA HPs can reach the specific and mass activities of 27.2 mA cm^-2 and 7.1 A mg_Pt ^-1 for formic acid oxidation reaction (FAOR), being the record catalyst ever achieved in Pt-based catalysts, and can realize the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) power density (321.2 mW cm^-2 ) in fuel cell. Further experimental and theoretical analyses collectively evidence that the hexagonal intermetallic core/atomic layer shell structure and multi-element synergy greatly promote the direct dehydrogenation pathway of formic acid molecule and suppress the formation of CO*.

Study on Rapid Detection of Pesticide Residues in Shanghaiqing Based on Analyzing Near-Infrared Microscopic Images

Aiming at guiding agricultural producers to harvest crops at an appropriate time and ensuring the pesticide residue does not exceed the maximum limit, the present work proposed a method of detecting pesticide residue rapidly by analyzing near-infrared microscopic images of the leaves of Shanghaiqing (Brassica rapa), a type of Chinese cabbage with computer vision technology. After image pre-processing and feature extraction, the pattern recognition methods of K nearest neighbors (KNN), naïve Bayes, support vector machine (SVM), and back propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) were applied to assess whether Shanghaiqing is sprayed with pesticides. The SVM method with linear or RBF kernel provides the highest recognition accuracy of 96.96% for the samples sprayed with trichlorfon at a concentration of 1 g/L. The SVM method with RBF kernel has the highest recognition accuracy of 79.16~84.37% for the samples sprayed with cypermethrin at a concentration of 0.1 g/L. The investigation on the SVM classification models built on the samples sprayed with cypermethrin at different concentrations shows that the accuracy of the models increases with the pesticide concentrations. In addition, the relationship between the concentration of the cypermethrin sprayed and the image features was established by multiple regression to estimate the initial pesticide concentration on the Shanghaiqing leaves. A pesticide degradation equation was established on the basis of the first-order kinetic equation. The time for pesticides concentration to decrease to an acceptable level can be calculated on the basis of the degradation equation and the initial pesticide concentration. The present work provides a feasible way to rapidly detect pesticide residue on Shanghaiqing by means of NIR microscopic image technique. The methodology laid out in this research can be used as a reference for the pesticide detection of other types of vegetables.

Comparison of methods for the effective evaluation of the energy content of poultry byproduct meal for beagles

The objectives of this study were to compare the energy values of poultry byproduct meal (PBM) as feed for adult beagle dogs using the direct, difference, and regression methods to examine dogs' nitrogen metabolism, energy utilization, gaseous metabolism, and body health. Five groups of six 12 mo old female beagles with an average body weight of 9.67 ± 0.52 kg were tested in a 5 × 6 incomplete Latin square design, with six repetitions in each group. Five experimental diets were tested consisting of 100% PBM; three substitution diets containing either 15%, 30%, or 45% PBM (termed 15PBM, 30PBM, and 45PBM, respectively); and a basal diet (included 6.90% PBM). Each experimental period lasted for 10 d, comprising 4 d of dietary acclimation followed by 6 d of testing (including 3 d feeding period and 3 d fasting period), during which the heat production (HP) was determined and feces and urine were collected. Results showed that, in the feeding state, the nitrogen intake, urinary nitrogen, apparent nitrogen digestibility, retained nitrogen, andHP increased significantly (P < 0.05) as the PBM level increased. The net protein utilization, biological value of protein, and total apparent digestibility of amino acids did not differ between the 30PBM and 45PBM diets (P > 0.05). The O2 consumption and CO2 production of beagles during the fasting period were not influenced by the PBM level (P > 0.05). The digestible energy and metabolizable energy values of the PBM estimated by the regression method were 20.16 and 18.18 MJ/kg dry matter (DM), respectively, and did not differ from those determined by the direct method (P > 0.05). The fecal DM percentages and fecal PBM scores were significantly higher in the PBM diet than in the difference method groups (P < 0.05). The direct method group had a significantly higher fecal score (4.63) than the other groups (P < 0.05), The fecal score of the 45PBM diet (3.50) was significantly higher than the 30PBM diet (2.90; P < 0.05). In summary, the direct and difference methods of determining the effective energy value of PBM for beagles, produce significantly different results. Under the conditions of this test, the best proportion of PBM in beagle feed for optimum energy provision is 30%.

The addition of biochar and nitrogen alters the microbial community and their cooccurrence network by affecting soil properties

Biochar plays an important role in reducing the harmful environmental effects of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers on agroecosystems, but the the impact mechanisms of biochar combined with N fertilizers on soil microorganisms are not clear enough. In this study, high-throughput sequencing was used to study the influences of three N fertilizer levels (0 (N0), 90 (N90) and 120 (N120) kg ha^-1) and two biochar levels (0 (B0) and 20 (B20) t ha^-1) on the soil microbial community and symbiotic network among microbial taxa in wheat fields. Compared to the control (B0N0), N fertilizer alone or combined with biochar significantly increased soil total N, available N, and organic matter in topsoil (0-20 cm), and the same results were found only in B20N120 treatment in subsoil (20-40 cm). In addition, bacterial and fungal diversity in topsoil were significantly increased and decreased by all N and biochar treatments, respectively. Moreover, soil bacterial and fungal community compositions also were also changed by N and biochar. Furthermore, biochar weakened the competition and cooperation among microorganisms in topsoil and subsoil, and the keystone species of networks were also changed by biochar. Redundancy analysis showed that soil total N, available N, available P, available K and pH were the main environmental factors driving the changes in bacterial and fungal community structures. These data indicated that the addition of N fertilizer and biochar could improve soil fertility by maintaining the stability of microbial community structures, which can provide reasonable guidance for the sustainable development of agriculture, such as maintaining dryland production.

Comparative analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.12.1 and BA.5.2 variants

The initial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron subvariants, BA.1 and BA.2, are being progressively displaced by BA.5 in many countries. To provide insight on the replacement of BA.2 by BA.5 as the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant, we performed a comparative analysis of Omicron BA.2.12.1 and BA.5.2 variants in cell culture and hamster models. We found that BA.5.2 exhibited enhanced replicative kinetics over BA.2.12.1 in vitro and in vivo, which is evidenced by the dominant BA.5.2 viral genome detected at different time points, regardless of immune selection pressure with vaccine-induced serum antibodies. Utilizing reverse genetics, we constructed a mutant SARS-CoV-2 carrying spike F486V substitution, which is an uncharacterized mutation that concurrently discriminates Omicron BA.5.2 from BA.2.12.1 variant. We noticed that the 486th residue does not confer viral replication advantage to the virus. We also found that 486V displayed generally reduced immune evasion capacity when compared with its predecessor, 486F. However, the surge of fitness in BA.5.2 over BA.2.12.1 was not due to stand-alone F486V substitution but as a result of the combination of multiple mutations. Our study upholds the urgency for continuous monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants with enhanced replication fitness.

Pursuing High Efficiency in Photocatalytic Oxidative Couplings of Heteroarenes and Aliphatic C-H bonds

5- and 6-Membered heteroarenes, both azoles and azines, were directly alkylated by alkanes, ethers and carbamates using t-butyl peroxybenzoate under LED irradiation. As a serendipitous finding, an organic photosensitizer, 9,10-dichloroanthracene,...

Synthesis of a renewable bisguaiacol amide and its hydrogen bonding effect on enhancing polybenzoxazine performance

The development of bio-based phenols to replace bisphenol A (BPA) is an ongoing challenge in polymer industry. In this work, we recommend a renewable bisphenol, bisguaiacol amide (BGA), which is...

Tunable Rectification of Diffusion-Wave Fields by Spatiotemporal Metamaterials

The diffusion process is the basis of many branches of science and engineering, and generally obeys reciprocity between two ports of a linear time-invariant medium. Recent research on classical wave dynamics has explored the spatiotemporal modulation to exhibit preferred directions in photons and plasmons. Here we report a distinct rectification effect on diffusion-wave fields by modulating the conductivity and observe nonreciprocal transport of charges. We experimentally create a spatiotemporal diffusion metamaterial, in which a mode transition to zero frequency is realized. A direct current component thereby emerges, showcasing a biased effect on the charge diffusion when the incident fundamental frequency is a multiple of the system modulation frequency. These results may find applications spanning a plethora of diffusive fields in general.

A New Species of Ascodipteron (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) from China Based on Morphology and DNA Barcodes

A new species of the genus Ascodipteron Adensamer, 1896 (Diptera: Hippoboscidae) is described from Fujian, namely A. guoliangi sp. nov. Habitus and diagnostic details, as well as the attachment sites on the host, are documented with photographs. A detailed comparison of the new species with related species is provided and the new species is accommodated in the most recent key to the world species of Ascodipteron.

[Solitary fibrous tumor in choroid: a clinicopathologic analysis of two cases]

Solitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is an uncommon spindle cell tumor that occurs mainly in the pleura, but also in other parts of the body. Intraocular SFT is very rare. This paper reports 2 cases of choroidal SFT which were diagnosed by clinical, imaging, histopathological and immunohistochemical staining. The patient remained asymptomatic with no sign of recurrence and metastasis after operation.

Study of the Semileptonic Decay Λ_{c}^{+}→Λe^{+}ν_{e}

The study of the Cabibbo-favored semileptonic decay Λ_{c}^{+}→Λe^{+}ν_{e} is reported using a 4.5  fb^{-1} data sample of e^{+}e^{-} annihilations collected at center-of-mass energies ranging from 4.600 GeV to 4.699 GeV with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. The branching fraction of the decay is measured to be B(Λ_{c}^{+}→Λe^{+}ν_{e})=(3.56±0.11_{stat}±0.07_{syst})%, which is the most precise measurement to date. Furthermore, we perform an investigation of the internal dynamics in Λ_{c}^{+}→Λe^{+}ν_{e}. We provide the first direct comparisons of the differential decay rate and form factors with those predicted from lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) calculations. Combining the measured branching fraction with a q^{2}-integrated rate predicted by LQCD, we determine |V_{cs}|=0.936±0.017_{B}±0.024_{LQCD}±0.007_{τ_{Λ_{c}}}.

Four New Species of Macquartia (Diptera: Oestroidea) from China and Phylogenetic Implications of Tachinidae

Macquartia Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera: Tachinidae, Tachininae) represents one of the most ancient evolutionary lineages of tachinids, parasitizing Chrysomelidae larvae. We found four new Macquartia species collected by malaise traps, namely M. brunneisquama sp. nov., M. chinensis sp. nov., M. flavifemorata sp. nov., and M. flavipedicel sp. nov. These new species are described and illustrated, and their comparison with congeners as well as an identification key to the 12 species of Macquartia from China known to date are included. To determine the significance of the mitogenome architecture and evolution across different tachinid lineages of this primitive taxonomic group, four complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced, annotated, and analyzed. The gene arrangements are consistent with the ancestral insect mitogenomes. The full-length sequences and protein-coding genes (PCGs) of the mitogenomes of the four species are all AT-biased. Analyses of Ka/Ks and overall p-genetic distance demonstrated that nad5 showed the highest evolutionary rate and nad1/nad4L were the most conserved genes among the four species. Phylogenetic reconstruction based on 13 PCGs strongly supported the monophyly of Macquartia, and the relationships of the four species are (M. flavifemorata + (M. flavipedicel + (M. brunneisquama + M. chinensis))). This study will help enhance our understanding of the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships in Tachinidae.

Identification of potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) based on TMT-labeled LC-MS/MS and machine learning

OBJECTIVES

To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying aggressive progression of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma and identify potential biomarkers.

METHODS

Samples were collected and sequenced using tandem mass tag-labeled liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified and further analyzed using Mfuzz and protein-protein interaction analysis (PPI). Parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were performed to validate the DEPs.

RESULTS

Five thousand, two hundred and three DEPs were identified and quantified from the tumor/normal comparison group or the N1/N0 comparison group. Mfuzz analysis showed that clusters of DEPs were enriched according to progressive status, followed by normal tissue, tumors without lymphatic metastases, and tumors with lymphatic metastases. Analysis of PPI revealed that DEPs interacted with and were enriched in the following metabolic pathways: apoptosis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, PI3K-Akt pathway, cholesterol metabolism, pyruvate metabolism, and thyroid hormone synthesis. In addition, 18 of the 20 target proteins were successfully validated with PRM and IHC in another 20 paired validation samples. Based on machine learning, the five proteins that showed the best performance in discriminating between tumor and normal nodules were PDLIM4, ANXA1, PKM, NPC2, and LMNA. FN1 performed well in discriminating between patients with lymph node metastases (N1) and N0 with an AUC of 0.690. Finally, five validated DEPs showed a potential prognostic role after examining The Cancer Genome Atlas database: FN1, IDH2, VDAC1, FABP4, and TG. Accordingly, a nomogram was constructed whose concordance index was 0.685 (confidence interval: 0.645-0.726).

CONCLUSIONS

PDLIM4, ANXA1, PKM, NPC2, LMNA, and FN1 are potential diagnostic biomarkers. The five-protein nomogram could be a prognostic biomarker.