Effects of Microplastics, Fertilization and Pesticides on Alien and Native Plants.

Plastic mulches, fertilizers and pesticides have been extensively employed in agriculture to increase crop yields, though it has also led to the inadvertent accumulation of them over time. These accumulations have the potential to disrupt the soil ecological process and subsequently impact the plant community composition. Alien plants always benefit from environmental variability, thus whether the accumulation of fertilizer, plastic, and pesticide in soil promotes the dominance of alien plants in an invaded community.

A Comparison of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Multiple Conventional Therapy in Treating Oral Lichen Planus: A Network Meta-analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of seven conventional treatments and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) combined therapies for oral lichen planus.

Materials And Methods: This study employs PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Cnki to collect studies. After evaluating the quality and bias risk, RevMan 5.

Viral infection induces inflammatory signals that coordinate YAP regulation of dysplastic cells in lung alveoli.

Severe viral pneumonia can induce rapid expansion of KRT5+ basal-like cells in small airways and alveoli; this forms a scar-like structure that persists in the injured alveoli and impedes normal alveolar epithelium regeneration. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which viral infection induced this remodeling response. Through comparing different lung-injury models, we demonstrated that infection induced strong IFN-γ signal-stimulated dysplastic KRT5+ cell formation.

The Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement Parameters May Predict Filter Retrieval Outcomes.

Background: We aimed to investigate the potential correlation between the placement factors of various retrievable inferior vena cava filters and retrieval outcomes. Additionally, we aimed to identify the factors affecting the placement tilt of the filter.

Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care center to investigate patients who had previously undergone retrievable filter placement at our center and who subsequently had their filters removed between January 2020 and December 2021.

Shape Sensing and Kinematic Control of a Cable-Driven Continuum Robot Based on Stretchable Capacitive Sensors.

A Cable-Driven Continuum Robot (CDCR) that consists of a set of identical Cable-Driven Continuum Joint Modules (CDCJMs) is proposed in this paper. The CDCJMs merely produce 2-DOF bending motions by controlling driving cable lengths. In each CDCJM, a pattern-based flexible backbone is employed as a passive compliant joint to generate 2-DOF bending deflections, which can be characterized by two joint variables, i.

A chimp algorithm based on the foraging strategy of manta rays and its application.

To address the issue of poor performance in the chimp optimization (ChOA) algorithm, a new algorithm called the manta ray-based chimpa optimization algorithm (MChOA) was developed. Introducing the Latin hypercube method to construct the initial population so that the individuals of the initial population are evenly distributed in the solution space, increasing the diversity of the initial population. Introducing nonlinear convergence factors based on positive cut functions to changing the convergence of algorithms, the early survey capabilities and later development capabilities of the algorithm are balanced.

Design and control of a novel variable stiffness actuator based on antagonistic variable radius principle.

Variable stiffness actuators (VSAs) are essential for ensuring safe human-robot interactions in robotic applications. This paper proposes a novel rotary VSA using an antagonistic Hoberman linkage mechanism (AHLM), which offers a large stiffness range and a compact structure. The VSA-AHLM consists of two sets of antagonistic-type quadratic springs based on spiral cams connected to the Hoberman linkage mechanism (HLM) through four cables.

Cancer stem cell biomarkers and related signalling pathways.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a distinct subset of neoplastic cells characterised by their heightened capacity for tumorigenesis. These cells are implicated in the facilitation of cancer metastasis, recurrence, and resistance to conventional therapeutic interventions. Extensive scientific research has been devoted to the identification of biomarkers and the elucidation of molecular mechanisms in order to improve targeted therapeutic approaches.

Insights into enhanced toxic effects by the binary mixture of carbendazim and procymidone on hepatic lipid metabolism in mice.

Carbendazim (CBZ) and procymidone (PRO) are two widely used fungicides in agriculture. However, there are still gaps in knowledge regarding about the potential hazards of joint exposure to CBZ and PRO in animals. Here, 6-week-old ICR mice were exposed to CBZ, PRO and CBZ + PRO for 30 days, and metabolomics were performed to discover the mechanism by which the mixture enhanced the effects on lipid metabolism.

Discussion on treatment courses of brucellosis with spondylitis - a report of two cases.

Human Brucellosis is a zoonotic contagious disease caused by Brucella infection and is common throughout the world, which can travel through the bloodstream to various organs. Brucellar spondylitis(BS) is the foremost cause of brucellosis's debilitating and disabling complications. We report two sisters with brucellosis complicated by lumbar spondylodiscitis accompanied by cold abscess formation.

An experimental study to measure oil recovery factor by chemical agents and carbon dioxide after waterflooding.

Development of tight formations would be one of the main priority for petroleum industries due to the enormous demand to the fossil fuels in various industries. In this paper, we provided a set of experiments on the generated foams by carbon dioxide (CO) and nitrogen (N), cyclic CO injection, water alternating gas injection (WAG), active carbonated water injection (coupling surfactant effects and carbonated water (CW)), and introducing the impact of active carbonated water alternating gas injection (combination of WAG and CW injection) after waterflooding. Carbon dioxide is more feasible than nitrogen, it can be mobilize more in the pore throats and provided higher oil recovery factor.

Sensors and Sensor Fusion Methodologies for Indoor Odometry: A Review.

Although Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) generally provide adequate accuracy for outdoor localization, this is not the case for indoor environments, due to signal obstruction. Therefore, a self-contained localization scheme is beneficial under such circumstances. Modern sensors and algorithms endow moving robots with the capability to perceive their environment, and enable the deployment of novel localization schemes, such as odometry, or Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM).

Parameter Space Optimization for Robust Controller Synthesis With Structured Feedback Gain.

Various optimal control and system designs involve searching for a feedback gain matrix with structural constraints. As an alternative solution, the parameter space methods map the constraints from the state space to another extended state-input space, in which an equivalent optimization problem is solved. However, to further extend its applications, there are still some issues need to be addressed, such as the limited type of structural constraints, the marginally stable solutions, and the low computation efficiency.

Decoupled identification and compensation of nonlinear hysteresis cascading with linear dynamic in a moving magnet voice coil actuator.

The moving magnet voice coil actuator (MMVCA) is a promising choice for the long stroke nanopositioning stage with the advantage of low moving mass. However, the hysteresis observed in MMVCA limits further improvement on tracking performance. The hysteresis is cascading with the linear dynamic of the positioning stage, which makes common hysteresis identification inapplicable.

Knock out hepatic Krüppel-like factor 16 (KLF16) improve myocardial damage and promoted myocardial protection of myocardial ischemia-reperfusion via anti-oxidative and anti-inflammation effects by TFAM/PPARβ signal passage.

This study is aimed at investigating mechanisms and effects of Krüppel-like factor 16 (KLF16) affects myocardial ischemia-reperfusion. Patients with myocardial ischemia-reperfusion and normal volunteer were collected. C57BL6J male mice were located left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD).

Shining light on chiral inorganic nanomaterials for biological issues.

The rapid development of chiral inorganic nanostructures has greatly expanded from intrinsically chiral nanoparticles to more sophisticated assemblies made by organics, metals, semiconductors, and their hybrids. Among them, lots of studies concerning on hybrid complex of chiral molecules with achiral nanoparticles (NPs) and superstructures with chiral configurations were accordingly conducted due to the great advances such as highly enhanced biocompatibility with low cytotoxicity and enhanced penetration and retention capability, programmable surface functionality with engineerable building blocks, and more importantly tunable chirality in a controlled manner, leading to revolutionary designs of new biomaterials for synergistic cancer therapy, control of enantiomeric enzymatic reactions, integration of metabolism and pathology bio-to nano or structural chirality. Herein, in this review our objective is to emphasize current research state and clinical applications of chiral nanomaterials in biological systems with special attentions to chiral metal- or semiconductor-based nanostructures in terms of the basic synthesis, related circular dichroism effects at optical frequencies, mechanisms of induced optical chirality and their performances in biomedical applications such as phototherapy, bio-imaging, neurodegenerative diseases, gene editing, cellular activity and sensing of biomarkers so as to provide insights into this fascinating field for peer researchers.

A Novel Homozygous Frameshift Mutation in ITGB3 Causes Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia.

The objective of this study was to elucidate the molecular characteristics of a Chinese family with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT). The proband was diagnosed with GT based on clinical manifestations, platelet aggregation, and the expression of CD41 and CD61 in platelets. Whole-exome and Sanger sequencing were used to detect genetic defects related to GT in the proband and the family of the pedigree.

Mechatronics design and testing of a cable-driven upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton with variable stiffness.

In this paper, we present a cable-driven exoskeleton with variable stiffness for upper limb rehabilitation. Adjustable stiffness of the cable-driven exoskeleton is achieved by attaching a novel variable stiffness module (VSM) to each driving cable. The module is able to vary stiffness in a large range through changing cable tension.

Asymmetric elastoplasticity of stacked graphene assembly actualizes programmable untethered soft robotics.

There is ever-increasing interest yet grand challenge in developing programmable untethered soft robotics. Here we address this challenge by applying the asymmetric elastoplasticity of stacked graphene assembly (SGA) under tension and compression. We transfer the SGA onto a polyethylene (PE) film, the resulting SGA/PE bilayer exhibits swift morphing behavior in response to the variation of the surrounding temperature.

Three-dimensional reconstruction method based on bionic active sensing in precision assembly.

With the prevailing application of new materials and the higher requirements for the quality and efficiency of production in the equipment manufacturing industry, traditional assembly methods can hardly meet the needs of large-scale production, especially in the field of high-precision assembly. Robot assembly guided by visual perception has become the key of the research in the field of engineering technology. It requires higher accuracy of robot visual perception and the control over force, position and so on.

Study of photodegradation kinetics of aflatoxins in cereals using trilinear component modeling of excitation-emission matrix fluorescence data.

In this work, a smart analytical strategy that combines excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence detection with alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm was developed for fast, on-line and interference-free study on the photodegradation kinetics of aflatoxin B (AFB) and aflatoxin G (AFG) in rice and wheat under UV-Vis light (λ = 250-500 nm) treatment. With the aid of prominent "second-order advantage" of ATLD method, pure fluorescence signals of two targeted analytes can be directly resolved out from heavily overlapping spectral environment and accurately quantified even in the presence of unknown matrix interferences. Cereal samples in kinetic processing of photodegradation were detected without complex pretreatment steps except for a simple extraction using methanol/water solution (4:1, v/v), which solves the problem facing varied matrix interferences in the case of on-line monitoring of aflatoxins.

Efficacy of Bacillus methylotrophicus SY200 strain as feed additive against experimental Salmonella typhimurium infection in mice.

To investigate the effects of Bacillus methylotrophicus SY200 on Salmonella typhimurium (STM) infection in mice, a total of 36 three-week-old male mice were selected and randomly divided into 3 equal groups (N = 12). Group A and group B were fed with basal diet while group C was fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.1% (w/w) B.

A survey on design of reaction spheres and associated speed and orientation measurement technologies.

With the rapid development of micro-spacecraft, miniaturization has become a key problem in attitude control. As an angular momentum exchange actuator, a single reaction sphere can generate multi-DOF output torques and satisfy the requirement of three-axis attitude control. This enables it to be a potential alternative for micro-spacecraft attitude control system.