Browse Articles

Study of the spatial strength distribution patterns and microstructure characteristics of ultra-fine tailings cemented paste backfill

AbstractIn this study, the spatial distribution of the mechanical strength of ultra-fine tailings cemented paste backfill (UCPB) in underground stopes was examined, and the micro-mechanism responsible for differences in spatial strength performance via changes in particle deposition was elucidated. To better understand this phenomenon, we constructed a similar backfilling stope model using the ultra-fine tailings of a gold mine. We manufactured specimens at different spatial locations and conducted a novel series of tests, including uniaxial compressive strength, shear strength, and conventional triaxial tests, to obtain the strength parameters in different spatial distributions. The strength parameters for the different UCPB locations in this model were revealed and examined along with the original pore and particle size distributions. Computer tomography (CT) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observations before and after the UCPB failed revealed that the particle deposition effect at different positions was the primary cause of the size effect. The strength distribution pattern demonstrated that the UCPB material has an apparent spatial effect. Consequently, considering the position relationship between the stope and filling mouth is crucial when designing the strength of adjacent mining rooms. This research may guide both backfill study and design.

Discretized representations in V1 predict suboptimal orientation discrimination

Crowd counting in domain generalization based on multi-scale attention and hierarchy level enhancement

AbstractIn order to solve the problem of weak single domain generalization ability in existing crowd counting methods, this study proposes a new crowd counting framework called Multi-scale Attention and Hierarchy level Enhancement (MAHE). Firstly, the model can focus on both the detailed features and the macro information of structural position changes through the fusion of channel attention and spatial attention. Secondly, the addition of multi-head attention feature module facilitates the model’s capacity to effectively capture complex dependency relationships between sequence elements. In addition, the three-stage encoding and decoding processing mode enables the model to effectively represent crowd density information. Finally, the fusion of multi-scale features derived from different receptive fields is further enhanced through multi-scale hierarchy level feature fusion, thereby enabling the model to learn high-level semantic information and low-level multi-scale visual field feature information. This method enhances the model’s capacity to capture key feature information, even in highly differentiated datasets, thereby improving the model’s generalization ability on a single domain. The model has demonstrated strong generalization capabilities through extensive experiments on different datasets. This study not only improves the accuracy of crowd counting, but also introduces a new research approach for single domain generalization of crowd counting.

pACP-HybDeep: predicting anticancer peptides using binary tree growth based transformer and structural feature encoding with deep-hybrid learning

A nomogram predicting the risk of venous thromboembolism in patients following urologic surgeries

L3MBTL3 and STAT3 collaboratively upregulate SNAIL expression to promote metastasis in female breast cancer

CHST3, PGBD5, and SLIT2 can be identified as potential genes for the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis and sarcopenia

Research and application of multi-frequency electromagnetic technology in real-time online characterization of steel microstructures and mechanical properties

Restoring small water bodies to improve lake and river water quality in China

AbstractClimate change, population growth, and agricultural intensification are increasing nitrogen (N) inputs, while driving the loss of inland water bodies that filter excess N. However, the interplay between N inputs and water body dynamics, and its implications for water quality remain poorly understood. Analyzing data from 1995 to 2015 across China, here, we find a 71% reduction in the area of small (<104.5 m2) water bodies (SWB), primarily in high-N-input agricultural regions. Preferential loss of SWBs, the most efficient nutrient filters, places 42% of China at high water quality risk due to increasing N inputs and declining SWB density. Currently, N removal by water bodies is 986 kilotonnes year−1, but restoring 2.3 million hectares of SWB could increase removal by 21%, compared to just 5% for equivalent restoration of large water bodies. Targeted SWB restoration is crucial for improving water quality and mitigating N pollution in China.

The appropriate nutrient conditions for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans dual-species biofilm formation in vitro

AbstractPolymicrobial biofilms, the reason for most chronic wound infections, play a significant role in increasing antibiotic resistance. The in vivo effectiveness of the new anti-biofilm therapy is conditioned by the profound evaluation using appropriate in vitro biofilm models. Since nutrient availability is crucial for in vitro biofilm formation, this study is focused on the impact of four selected cultivation media on the properties of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans dual-species biofilms. To reflect the wound environment, Tryptic soy broth, RPMI 1640 with and without glucose, and Lubbock medium were supplemented with different amounts of host effector molecules present in human plasma or sheep red blood cells. The study demonstrates that the Lubbock medium provided the most appropriate amount of nutrients regarding the biomass structure and the highest degree of tolerance to selected antimicrobials with the evident contribution of the biofilm matrix. Our results allow the rational employment of nutrition conditions within methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans dual-species biofilm formation in vitro for preclinical research. Additionally, one of the potential targets of a complex antibiofilm strategy, carbohydrates, was revealed since they are prevailing molecules in the matrices regardless of the cultivation media.

Application of the Lasso regularisation technique in mitigating overfitting in air quality prediction models

SOX2+ sustentacular cells are stem cells of the postnatal adrenal medulla

AbstractRenewal of the catecholamine-secreting chromaffin cell population of the adrenal medulla is necessary for physiological homeostasis throughout life. Definitive evidence for the presence or absence of an adrenomedullary stem cell has been enigmatic. In this work, we demonstrate that a subset of sustentacular cells endowed with a support role, are in fact adrenomedullary stem cells. Through genetic tracing and comprehensive transcriptomic data of the mouse adrenal medulla, we show that cells expressing Sox2/SOX2 specialise as a unique postnatal population from embryonic Schwann Cell Precursors and are also present in the normal adult human adrenal medulla. Postnatal SOX2+ cells give rise to chromaffin cells of both the adrenaline and noradrenaline lineages in vivo and in vitro. We reveal that SOX2+ stem cells have a second, paracrine role in maintaining adrenal chromaffin cell homeostasis, where they promote proliferation through paracrine secretion of WNT6. This work identifies SOX2+ cells as a true stem cell for catecholamine-secreting chromaffin cells.

2 × 2 MIMO dual-wideband ground radiation antenna with a T-shaped isolator for Wi-Fi 6/6E/7 applications

Investigating the effect of parameters in the thermodynamic analysis of the solid oxide fuel cell cycle using response surface methodology

Genomic signatures of adaptation in native lizards exposed to human-introduced fire ants

Study on dynamic compression characteristics of coal containing gas under different strain rates

Identification of ferroptosis-related signature predicting prognosis and therapeutic responses in pancreatic cancer

Comparative 3D ultrastructure of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes

AbstractDespite the enormous significance of malaria parasites for global health, some basic features of their ultrastructure remain obscure. Here, we apply high-resolution volumetric electron microscopy to examine and compare the ultrastructure of the transmissible male and female sexual blood stages of Plasmodium falciparum as well as the more intensively studied asexual blood stages revisiting previously described phenomena in 3D. In doing so, we challenge the widely accepted notion of a single mitochondrion by demonstrating the presence of multiple mitochondria in gametocytes. We also provide evidence for a gametocyte-specific cytostome, or cell mouth. Furthermore, we generate the first 3D reconstructions of the parasite’s endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and Golgi apparatus as well as gametocyte-induced extraparasitic structures in the infected red blood cell. Assessing interconnectivity between organelles, we find frequent structural appositions between the nucleus, mitochondria, and apicoplast. We provide evidence that the ER is a promiscuous interactor with numerous organelles and the trilaminar pellicle of the gametocyte. Public availability of these volumetric electron microscopy resources will facilitate reinterrogation by others with different research questions and expertise. Taken together, we reconstruct the 3D ultrastructure of P. falciparum gametocytes at nanometre scale and shed light on the unique organellar biology of these deadly parasites.

Application of response surface methodology (RSM) for experimental optimization in biogenic silica extraction from rice husk and straw ash

A robust and interpretable ensemble machine learning model for predicting healthcare insurance fraud