[Cardiac magnetic resonance image segmentation based on lightweight network and knowledge distillation strategy].

To address the issue of a large number of network parameters and substantial floating-point operations in deep learning networks applied to image segmentation for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), this paper proposes a lightweight dilated parallel convolution U-Net (DPU-Net) to decrease the quantity of network parameters and the number of floating-point operations. Additionally, a multi-scale adaptation vector knowledge distillation (MAVKD) training strategy is employed to extract latent knowledge from the teacher network, thereby enhancing the segmentation accuracy of DPU-Net. The proposed network adopts a distinctive way of convolutional channel variation to reduce the number of parameters and combines with residual blocks and dilated convolutions to alleviate the gradient explosion problem and spatial information loss that might be caused by the reduction of parameters.

Ferrihydrite regulated nitrogen metabolic pathway at biocathode of bioelectrochemical system - Insight into biofilm formation and bacterial composition.

To further understand the nitrogen metabolism disrupted by anthropogenic activities, 2.5 g/L of ferrihydrite were added into cathodic chamber of bioelectrochemical system to expediate the nitrogen removal process. It was found that the nitrate removal constant was significantly improved and maintained at around 0.

Durable PVA-based hydrogel sponge with cellulose whiskers embedded in the 3D interconnected channels for efficient oil/water separation.

Superhydrophilic hydrogel was typically used as the membrane coating on various substrates for oil/water separation. Nevertheless, these coatings may suffer from such limitations as poor adhesion strength and abrasion-resistance. Thus, the facile construction of hydrogel sponge with 3D connecting channels would be an ideal choice.

Strong self-association of chitosan microgels at interface mediated high stabilities in Pickering emulsion.

The spontaneous self-organization of naturally-occurring polysaccharide particles into a thick and robust gel network at interface in Pickering emulsion is challenging. Inspired by the phenomenon that chitosan microgels (CSMs) with a certain size could self-associate into a solidified gel phase upon freezing, here we tentatively used CSMs to construct a highly-stable Pickering emulsion. CSMs can form a stable Langmuir's layer at the water/oil interface through the network deformation and re-arrangement of dangling chains, while the subsequent negative polymer coating can avoid the bridging resulting from the cross-association for CSMs on different emulsion droplets upon freezing.

PROTAC-Mediated HDAC7 Protein Degradation Unveils Its Deacetylase-Independent Proinflammatory Function in Macrophages.

Class IIa histone deacetylases (Class IIa HDACs) play critical roles in regulating essential cellular metabolism and inflammatory pathways. However, dissecting the specific roles of each class IIa HDAC isoform is hindered by the pan-inhibitory effect of current inhibitors and a lack of tools to probe their functions beyond epigenetic regulation. In this study, a novel PROTAC-based compound B4 is developed, which selectively targets and degrades HDAC7, resulting in the effective attenuation of a specific set of proinflammatory cytokines in both lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages and a mouse model.

Targeting pericentric non-consecutive motifs for heterochromatin initiation.

Pericentric heterochromatin is a critical component of chromosomes marked by histone H3 K9 (H3K9) methylation. However, what recruits H3K9-specific histone methyltransferases to pericentric regions in vertebrates remains unclear, as does why pericentric regions in different species share the same H3K9 methylation mark despite lacking highly conserved DNA sequences. Here we show that zinc-finger proteins ZNF512 and ZNF512B specifically localize at pericentric regions through direct DNA binding.

Tracking the transmission matrix of a moving fiber with the transmitted data.

During data transmission, the dynamic change of a scattering medium will make the measured transmission matrix (TM) invalid, so it is necessary to repeatedly measure the TM to achieve a long-time data transmission, which requires stopping the data transmission process frequently to measure the TM and leads to a reduction in the communication capacity. To solve this problem, we propose a TM tracking method during data transmission. In the case of more than three discrete levels of phase modulation, this method can realize the calibration of the TM with the intensity pictures captured by the camera and the recovered data, so it does not require stopping the data transmission process to measure the TM and thus avoids the loss of communication capacity.

Polyvinyl alcohol/kappa-carrageenan-based package film with simultaneous incorporation of ferric ion and polyphenols from Capsicum annuum leaves for fruit shelf-life extension.

Bio-based food packaging materials have elicited growing interests due to their great degradability, high safety and active biofunctions. In this work, by simultaneously introducing the polyphenolic extracts from Capsicum annuum leaves and ferric ion (Fe) into the Polyvinyl alcohol/kappa-carrageenan (PVA/κ-carrageenan)-based film-forming matrix, an active package film was developed, with the purpose to improve the food shelf life. The experimental results indicated that the existence of Fe can not only improve the mechanical properties owing to the multiple dynamic coordinated interactions, but also endow the composite films with excellent fire-retardancy.

Multi-channel data transmission through a multimode fiber based on OAM phase encoding.

Data transmission based on the transmission matrix method has realized the multiplexing of a large number of orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes under scattering, which encodes the data by modulating the amplitude of the OAM modes. However, this amplitude modulation (amplitude encoding) method has obvious cross talk when the number of output modes is small, resulting in a non-negligible bit error rate. Here, a multi-channel data transmission method based on OAM phase modulation (phase encoding) under scattering is proposed.

The effect of mobile phone ringtone on visual recognition during driving: Evidence from laboratory and real-scene eye movement experiments.

Objective: To determine the effect of mobile phone ringtones on visual recognition during driving, laboratory and real-scene eye movement experiments were conducted with simulated and real driving tasks, respectively. Competition for visual attention during driving increases with the integration of sounds, which is related to driving safety.

Method: We manipulated the physical (long exposure duration short exposure duration) and psychological (self-related non-self-related) properties of mobile phone ringtones presented to drivers.

Freeze-drying pretreatment of watermelon peel to improve the efficiency of pectin extraction: RSM optimization, extraction mechanism, and characterization.

This study assessed the processing parameters and mechanism of pectin extraction and pectin qualities from freeze-dried (FD) pretreatment watermelon peel. The optimal extraction conditions for the highest pectin yield (21.83 %) were a liquid/solid ratio (w/w) of 29, pH of 1.

A single region of the Phytophthora infestans avirulence effector Avr3b functions in both cell death induction and plant immunity suppression.

As a destructive plant pathogen, Phytophthora infestans secretes diverse host-entering RxLR effectors to facilitate infection. One critical RxLR effector, PiAvr3b, not only induces effector-triggered immunity (ETI), which is associated with the potato resistance protein StR3b, but also suppresses pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP)-triggered immunity (PTI). To date, the molecular basis underlying such dual activities remains unknown.

Geological Borehole Video Image Stitching Method Based on Local Homography Matrix Offset Optimization.

Due to the influence of the shooting environment and inherent image characteristics, there is a large amount of interference in the process of image stitching a geological borehole video. To accurately match the acquired image sequences in the inner part of a borehole, this paper presents a new method of stitching an unfolded borehole image, which uses the image generated from the video to construct a large-scale panorama. Firstly, the speeded-up robust feathers (SURF) algorithm is used to extract the image feature points and complete the rough matching.

Risk of Malnutrition in Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

(1) Background: Studies have reported that COVID-19 may increase the risk of malnutrition among patients. However, the prevalence of such risk in hospitalized COVID-19 patients is uncertain due to the inconsistent use of assessment methods. (2) Methods: PubMed, Web of Science, and EMBASE were searched to identify studies on the nutritional status of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Exploring the Relationship between Sugar and Sugar Substitutes-Analysis of Income Level and Beverage Consumption Market Pattern Based on the Perspective of Healthy China.

This paper estimates the impact of income level on household beverage consumption, analyzes the consumption trends of sugar-sweetened beverages and sugar-free beverages in households, explores the future changes in the beverage consumption market pattern, and predicts the possible impact of the sugar industry on the development of sugar substitutes based on the beverage consumption data of Kantar Consumer Index in China from 2015 to 2017. The research results show that, firstly, there is an "inverted U-shaped" relationship between income level and household consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which indicates that as income rises, household consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages tends to increase and then decrease. Secondly, income level has a positive effect on the household consumption of sugar-free beverages.

Transmission matrix-based phase correction for optical systems.

The demands in fields such as biology and communications are driving the development of structured light. However, the optical modulation devices which play an important role in generating structured light, often introduce phase distortion. Additional phase correction is required to obtain more precise modulation capabilities.

Data transmission under high scattering based on OAM-basis transmission matrix.

Multiplexing of orbital angular momentum (OAM) channels is an important method to increase the optical communication capacity at present, but the multiple scattering and distortion of long-distance optical communication greatly limit its application. Here, a data transmission method based on an OAM-basis transmission matrix (TM) under high scattering is proposed. In this method, OAM modes are directly encoded by the OAM-basis TM, and the incident power spectral distribution of OAM modes can be directly acquired by the intensity profile of the speckle field on the camera.

Analysis of resistance risk and resistance-related point mutations in Cyt b of QioI fungicide ametoctradin in Phytophthora litchii.

Background: Litchi downy blight, caused by Phytophthora litchii, is one of the most important diseases of litchi. Ametoctradin, as the only QioI (quinone inside and outside inhibitor) fungicide, has been registered in China in 2019. However, the ametoctradin-resistance risk and molecular basis in Phytophthora litchii have not been reported.

Resistance Risk and Novel Resistance-Related Point Mutations in Target Protein PiORP1 of Fluoxapiprolin in .

Fluoxapiprolin is a new oxysterol binding protein inhibitor (OSBPI), which showed excellent inhibitory activity to plant pathogenic oomycetes. Its resistance risk and mechanism in are unclear. In the current study, the sensitivities of 103 isolates to fluoxapiprolin were investigated, and a unimodal distribution with a mean EC value of 0.

Functional, oncological outcomes and safety of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy versus open partial nephrectomy in localized renal cell carcinoma patients with high anatomical complexity.

Purpose: Partial nephrectomy (PN) is the main treatment strategy for localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, for RCC with high anatomical complexity, PN remains a challenge for urologists. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the functional oncological outcomes and safety of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) versus open partial nephrectomy (OPN) in localized RCC patients with highly anatomical complexity (R.

Functional, oncological outcomes and safety of nephron-sparing surgery versus radical nephrectomy in patients with localised renal cell carcinoma with high anatomical complexity: a retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching method.

Background: Nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) is widely applied for small renal masses. However, the indication of NSS in patients with localised renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with high anatomical complexity is controversial. Thus, we compare functional and oncological outcomes, and safety of NSS versus radical nephrectomy (RN) in patients with localised RCC with high anatomical complexity Radius, Exophytic/endophytic, Nearness, Anterior/posterior, Location.

Resistance to pydiflumetofen in Botrytis cinerea: risk assessment and detection of point mutations in sdh genes that confer resistance.

Background: Gray mold caused by Botrytis cinerea Pers. is one of the most significant airborne diseases. It can infest a wide range of crops, causing significant losses in yield and quality worldwide.