LeGO-LOAM-FN: An Improved Simultaneous Localization and Mapping Method Fusing LeGO-LOAM, Faster_GICP and NDT in Complex Orchard Environments

To solve the problem of cumulative errors when robots build maps in complex orchard environments due to their large scene size, similar features, and unstable motion, this study proposes a loopback registration algorithm based on the fusion of Faster Generalized Iterative Closest Point (Faster_GICP) and Normal Distributions Transform (NDT). First, the algorithm creates a K-Dimensional tree (KD-Tree) structure to eliminate the dynamic obstacle point clouds. Then, the method uses a two-step point filter to reduce the number of feature points of the current frame used for matching and the number of data used for optimization. It also calculates the matching degree of normal distribution probability by meshing the point cloud, and optimizes the precision registration using the Hessian matrix method. In the complex orchard environment with multiple loopback events, the root mean square error and standard deviation of the trajectory of the LeGO-LOAM-FN algorithm are 0.45 m and 0.26 m which are 67% and 73% higher than those of the loopback registration algorithm in the Lightweight and Ground-Optimized LiDAR Odometry and Mapping on Variable Terrain (LeGO-LOAM), respectively. The study proves that this method effectively reduces the influence of the cumulative error, and provides technical support for intelligent operation in the orchard environment.

Key genes of electron transfer, the nitrogen cycle and tetracycline removal in bioelectrochemical systems

BACKGROUND

Soil microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can remove antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) simultaneously, but their removal mechanism is unclear. In this study, metagenomic analysis was employed to reveal the functional genes involved in degradation, electron transfer and the nitrogen cycle in the soil MFC.

RESULTS

The results showed that the soil MFC effectively removed tetracycline in the overlapping area of the cathode and anode, which was 64% higher than that of the control. The ARGs abundance increased by 14% after tetracycline was added (54% of the amplified ARGs belonged to efflux pump genes), while the abundance decreased by 17% in the soil MFC. Five potential degraders of tetracycline were identified, especially the species Phenylobacterium zucineum, which could secrete the 4-hydroxyacetophenone monooxygenase encoded by EC 1.14.13.84 to catalyse deacylation or decarboxylation. Bacillus, Geobacter, Anaerolinea, Gemmatirosa kalamazoonesis and Steroidobacter denitrificans since ubiquinone reductase (encoded by EC 1.6.5.3), succinate dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.5.1), Coenzyme Q-cytochrome c reductase (EC 1.10.2.2), cytochrome-c oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) and electron transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (EC 1.5.5.1) served as complexes I, II, III, IV and ubiquinone, respectively, to accelerate electron transfer. Additionally, nitrogen metabolism-related gene abundance increased by 16% to support the microbial efficacy in the soil MFC, and especially EC 1.7.5.1, and coding the mutual conversion between nitrite and nitrate was obviously improved.

CONCLUSIONS

The soil MFC promoted functional bacterial growth, increased functional gene abundance (including nitrogen cycling, electron transfer, and biodegradation), and facilitated antibiotic and ARG removal. Therefore, soil MFCs have expansive prospects in the remediation of antibiotic-contaminated soil. This study provides insight into the biodegradation mechanism at the gene level in soil bioelectrochemical remediation.

A novel necroptosis-related long noncoding RNA model for predicting clinical features, immune characteristics, and therapeutic response in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

Background

Necroptosis is an immune-related cell death pathway involved in the regulation of the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we aimed to explore the role of necroptosis in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and construct a necroptosis-related lncRNA (NRL) model to assess its potential association with clinical characteristics and immune status.

Methods

Gene expression profiles and clinical data for ccRCC patients were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Pearson's correlation, univariate Cox, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator analyses were used to develop an NRL model. Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were used to determine the prognostic value of the NRL model. The clinical information was used to assess the diagnostic value of the NRL model. The TME, immune function, immune cell infiltration, and immune checkpoints associated with the NRL model risk score were studied using the ESTIMATE, GSEA, ssGSEA, and CIBERSORT algorithms. The immunophenoscore (IPS) and half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) were used to compare the efficacies of immunotherapy and chemotherapy based on the NRL model. Finally, in vitro assays were performed to confirm the biological roles of NRLs.

Results

A total of 18 necroptosis-related genes and 285 NRLs in ccRCC were identified. A four-NRL model was constructed and showed good performance in the diagnosis and prognosis of ccRCC patients. The ESTIMATE scores, tumor mutation burden, and tumor stemness indices were significantly correlated with NRL model risk score. Immune functions such as chemokine receptors and immune receptor activity showed differences between different risk groups. The infiltration of immunosuppressive cells such as Tregs was higher in high-risk patients than in low-risk patients. High-risk patients were more sensitive to immunotherapy and some chemotherapy drugs, such as sunitinib and temsirolimus. Finally, the expression of NRLs included in the model was verified, and knocking down these NRLs in tumor cells affected cell proliferation, migration, and invasion.

Conclusion

Necroptosis plays an important role in the progression of ccRCC. The NRL model we constructed can be used to predict the clinical characteristics and immune features of ccRCC patients.

HRTEM Analysis of the Influence of Non-stick Coal's Oxidation Degree on Aromatic Fringe Morphology

The purpose of this research was to explore the parameters of the aromatics lattice fringes by using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) patterns, combined with ArcGIS and MATLAB methods, to quantitatively evaluate and analyze the coal samples oxidized by different concentrations of H₂O₂, and to explore the changes in the morphology and spatial distribution of the aromatic system under oxidation. As the degree of oxidation increased, the orientation of the aromatic lattice fringes became more disordered, and the distortion degree increased. The distribution range of Y and T type dislocation structures, which were widely distributed in short (<0.59 nm) lattice fringes, increased, while that of spiral type dislocation structures, which were distributed in medium (0.59-0.99 nm) and long (1.00-2.49 nm) lattice fringes, decreased. In addition, the collapse and condensation of aromatic slices caused by continuous oxidation further weakened the π-π stacking effect between aromatic rings, resulting in a decrease in the interlayer distance and stacking height. The advantages of HRTEM analysis were confirmed by XRD, SEM and FTIR analysis. This provides a new perspective on the oxidation phenomenon and enriches the examination of the low-temperature oxidation mechanism of coal.

Recent progress in cancer cell membrane-based nanoparticles for biomedical applications

Immune clearance and insufficient targeting have limited the efficacy of existing therapeutic strategies for cancer. Toxic side effects and individual differences in response to treatment have further limited the benefits of clinical treatment for patients. Biomimetic cancer cell membrane-based nanotechnology has provided a new approach for biomedicine to overcome these obstacles. Biomimetic nanoparticles exhibit various effects (e.g., homotypic targeting, prolonging drug circulation, regulating the immune system, and penetrating biological barriers) after encapsulation by cancer cell membranes. The sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic methods will also be improved by utilizing the properties of cancer cell membranes. In this review, different properties and functions of cancer cell membranes are presented. Utilizing these advantages, nanoparticles can exhibit unique therapeutic capabilities in various types of diseases, such as solid tumors, hematological malignancies, immune system diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, cancer cell membrane-encapsulated nanoparticles show improved effectiveness and efficiency in combination with current diagnostic and therapeutic methods, which will contribute to the development of individualized treatments. This strategy has promising clinical translation prospects, and the associated challenges are discussed.

Exploring youth consumer behavior in the context of mobile short video advertising using an extended stimulus–organization–response model

Under the hit of the epidemic, an increasing number of young people exchange and purchase goods by watching and resorting to mobile short video advertisements. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore the influence mechanism of mobile short video advertising on the consumption behavior of young people. This study develops a theoretical framework including fashion, socialization, entertainment, personalization, brand, psychological needs, satisfaction, and consumption behavior using a stimulus–organism–response (SOR) theory. The data from 332 young people using mobile short video advertising revealed that psychological needs exerted significant impacts on satisfaction, mediating the advertisements, and consumer satisfaction. The attributes of advertising, including fashion, socialization, entertainment, personalization, and branding, significantly promote young people’s psychological needs and satisfaction. In addition, satisfaction affects consumer behavior, and in the same manner, fashion and brand attribute directly impact consumer satisfaction.

Effect of Plane Mirrors Combined with Au-Nanoparticle Confinement on the Spectral Properties of Fe Plasma Induced by Laser-Induced Breakdown

To overcome the shortcomings of low detection sensitivity and high spectral line background noise of traditional laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a method of combining flat mirrors with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) was proposed. First, independent plane mirror and Au-NPs experiments were performed by using aluminum alloy samples. After that, the samples were placed under four conditions (None-LIBS; Three mirrors-LIBS; 20 nm Au-NPs-LIBS; 20 nm Au-NPs and Three mirrors-LIBS), and the differences between various spectral parameters were analyzed. The experimental results show that the optimal number of plane mirrors is 3, and the optimal size of gold nanoparticles is 20 nm. When 20 nm Au-NPs and Three mirrors are used in combination, the plasmonic spectral intensity can be effectively enhanced. The enhancement factor is up to 2.98 (Fe II 240.45 nm), and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is significantly improved up to 10.03. The variation of the plasma temperature between 1 and 5 μs was also investigated, and the experimental results showed that the plasma temperature could be increased by the flat mirror, while the electron temperature was almost unchanged under the action of Au-NPs. It is shown that the combination of the two enhancement methods can effectively increase the spectral intensity and improve the signal-to-noise ratio, which will help to improve the detection performance of the LIBS system.

From a Novice Teacher to a Teacher Leader: An English-As-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) Teacher's Cognitions About Her Professional Development

In this paper, a qualitative study was conducted on Jennifer, an EFL teaching professional at the tertiary level in a Chinese context, to investigate her cognitions regarding her professional development and accompanying facilitating factors in her journey from a novice teacher to a teacher leader with Borg's model of language teacher cognition as the conceptual basis for subsequent analysis. Jennifer's written overview and verbal narration in interviews of her journey in professional development were gathered following guiding protocols. Collected data were processed with thematic analysis in NVivo 12. Findings suggest that Jennifer has clear cognitions about how she learned and improved, i.e., the positive changes, in her professional journey and the facilitating factors that mediated her improvement and progress. These facilitating factors were found to include her teaching experience, in-service training, administrative promotion, drawing wisdom from reading Chinese classics, and constant reflection upon her English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching, etc. The implications of the present study for language teacher cognition researchers, English language teacher educators, and EFL teachers in the Chinese context were also discussed.

Combined Treatment of Salinity Stress and Fruit Thinning Effect on Tomato

This was an experimental investigation of the combined treatments of salinity (SAL) stress and fruit thinning (FT) on the growth, yield, fruit quality, and water use efficiency (WUE) of tomatoes with non-soil cultivation. The experiment was carried out in a plastic tunnel, Japan. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) cv. Momotaro seedlings were transplanted in a randomized complete block (RCB) manner with six plants/treatment, and an overall 36 plants in 18 pots (2 plants/pot). The experiment involved varying SAL treatment (no-SAL, moderate SAL, and serious SAL, with electroconductivity of 0.8, 3.0, and 4.5 dS m⁻¹, separately) and FT treatment (NT: no thinning and 3FT: three-fruit treatment). The tomato growth, yield, and WUE were significantly suppressed with increasing SAL. In comparison, FT treatment had less effect on tomato growth and water consumption. Either SAL stress or FT treatment significantly improved fruit quality. The combined treatment proved better than single treatment of either SAL stress or FT, avoided the subsize fruit following SAL stress treatment, reduced fruit cracking found with FT treatment, and greatly improved fruit quality. The SAL thresholds of WUEs in relation to biomass, yield, and marketable yield were approximately 3.0 dS m⁻¹ under these soilless conditions. Path analysis showed that biomass and water consumption were important indexes affecting yield. Logistic equation fitting showed that SAL stress tended to inhibit and delay plant growth; however, FT tended to advance and shorten the period of plant growth.