Responses of precipitation and water vapor budget on the Chinese Loess Plateau to global land cover change forcing.

There have been notable changes in precipitation patterns on the Loess Plateau (LP) of China in recent decades, and numerous attribution studies have focused on sea surface temperature anomalies and atmospheric circulation changes induced by aerosols and greenhouse gases emission. However, the influences of global land use and land cover change (LULCC) as an important forcing factor in the climate system on regional precipitation remains poorly understood. In this study, we quantified the impacts of LULCC on precipitation and the water vapor budget in the LP region, utilizing data from LULCC forcing experiments conducted by the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6). Although global LULCC forcing exerted a negative effect on long-term mean precipitation on the LP region from 1850 to 2014, the different response characteristics were detected during different time periods. The global LULCC caused a decrease of 14 mm in annual precipitation during the period of 1850-1960. Conversely, from 1961 to 2014, it led to an increase of 6.4 mm, which is largely attributed to the enhanced water vapor transport along the southern boundary and westerly belt of the LP region. Moreover, from the perspective of the net water vapor balance of the entire LP, although LULCC caused net water vapor export during both periods 1850-1960 and 1961-2014, the export during the latter period (0.20 × 104 kg s-1) was smaller than that during the former period (0.28 × 104 kg s-1), indicating that the global expansion of grassland and cropland, along with the continuous rise in the leaf area index from 1961 to 2014, contributed to retaining more water vapor within the LP, which in turn was more favorable for precipitation. These findings provide valuable insights into the reasons behind precipitation variations in the LP region, emphasizing that global vegetation restoration and greening play a significant role in improving precipitation in ecologically fragile areas.

Sports Augmented Cognitive Benefits: An fMRI Study of Executive Function with Go/NoGo Task.

Exercise is believed to have significant cognitive benefits. Although an array of experimental paradigms have been employed to test the cognitive effects on exercising individuals, the mechanism as to how exercise induces cognitive benefits in the brain remains unclear. This study explores the effect of dynamic neural network processing with the classic Go/NoGo task with regular exercisers. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to analyze the brain activation of areas involved in executive function, especially inhibitory control. Nineteen regular joggers and twenty-one subjects as a control group performed the task, and their brain imaging data were analyzed. The results showed that at the attentive visual period, the frontal and parietal areas, including the prefrontal cortex, putamen, thalamus, lingual, fusiform, and caudate, were significantly enhanced in positive activities than the control group. On the other hand, in the following inhibitory control processing period, almost the same areas of the brains of the exercise group have shown stronger negative activation in comparison to the control group. Such dynamic temporal response patterns indicate that sports augment cognitive benefits; i.e., regular jogging increases the brain's visual attention and inhibitory control capacities.

Tunable dielectric properties of mesoporous carbon hollow microspheres via textural properties.

In this study, mesoporous carbon hollow microspheres (PCHMs) with tunable textural properties have been prepared through a facile hard template etching method. The PCHMs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, and nitrogen adsorption and desorption systems. Uniform PCHMs with shell thickness ranging from 23 nm to 55 nm are realized. PCHMs with different textural properties can regulate dielectric and electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption effectively. The composite of paraffin wax mixed with 10 wt% PCHMs (the shell thickness of PCHMs is 35 nm) exhibits a minimum coefficient value of -53.8 dB at 8.8 GHz, with a thickness of 3.4 mm. Besides, it is remarkable that the effective absorption bandwidth covers all the X band with as low as a 10 wt% filler ratio, compared with other spherical EM wave absorbers. The excellent EM wave absorption capability of PCHMs can be ascribed to the better impendence matching and strong EM wave attenuation constant based on tunable textural properties. Our results provide a facile strategy to tune dielectric properties of spherical carbon absorbers based on textural properties, and can be extended to other spherical absorbers.

Rapamycin inhibits ox-LDL-induced inflammation in human endothelial cells in vitro by inhibiting the mTORC2/PKC/c-Fos pathway.

Rapamycin and its derivative possess anti-atherosclerosis activity, but its effects on adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells during atherosclerosis remain unclear. In this study we explored the effects of rapamycin on ox-LDL-induced adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells in vitro and the underlying mechanisms. Ox-LDL (6-48 µg/mL) dose-dependently increased the protein levels of two adhesion molecules, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and E-selectin, in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), whereas pretreatment with rapamycin (1-10 µmol/L) dose-dependently inhibited ox-LDL-induced increase in the adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells. Knockdown of mTOR or rictor, rather than raptor, mimicked the effects of rapamycin. Ox-LDL (100 µg/mL) time-dependently increased PKC phosphorylation in HUVECs, which was abolished by rapamycin or rictor siRNA. Pretreatment with PKC inhibitor staurosporine significantly reduced ox-LDL-stimulated adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells, whereas pretreatment with PKC activator PMA/TPA attenuated the inhibitory effect of rapamycin on adhesion molecule expression. Ox-LDL (100 µg/mL) time-dependently increased c-Fos levels in HUVECs, and pretreatment with rapamycin or rictor siRNA significantly decreased expression of c-Fos. Knockdown of c-Fos antagonized ox-LDL-induced adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells. Our results demonstrate that rapamycin reduces ox-LDL-stimulated adhesion molecule expression and macrophage adhesion to endothelial cells by inhibiting mTORC2, but not mTORC1, and mTORC2 acts through the PKC/c-Fos signaling pathway.

Nomograms to predict survival after colorectal cancer resection without preoperative therapy.

BACKGROUND: The predictive accuracy of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stages of colorectal cancer (CRC) is mediocre. This study aimed to develop postoperative nomograms to predict cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) after CRC resection without preoperative therapy. METHODS: Eligible patients with stage I to IV CRC (n = 56072) diagnosed from 2004 to 2010 were selected from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The patients were allocated into training (n = 27,700), contemporary (n = 3158), and prospective (n = 25,214) validation cohorts. Clinically important variables were incorporated and selected using the Akaike information criterion in multivariate Cox regressions to derive nomograms with the training cohort. The performance of the nomograms was assessed and externally testified using the concordance index (c-index), bootstrap validation, calibration, time-dependent receiver-operating characteristic curves, Kaplan-Meier curves, mosaic plots, and decision curve analysis (DCA). Performance of the conventional AJCC stages was also compared with the nomograms using similar statistics. RESULTS: The nomograms for CSS and OS shared common predictors: sex, age, race, marital status, preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen status, surgical extent, tumor size, location, histology, differentiation, infiltration depth, lymph node count, lymph node ratio, and metastasis. The c-indexes of the nomograms for CSS and OS were 0.816 (95 % CI 0.810-0.822) and 0.777 (95 % CI 0.772-0.782), respectively. Performance evaluations showed that the nomograms achieved considerable predictive accuracy, appreciable reliability, and significant clinical validity with wide practical threshold probabilities, while the results remained reproducible when applied to the validation cohorts. Additionally, model comparisons and DCA proved that the nomograms excelled in stratifying each AJCC stage into three significant prognostic subgroups, allowing for more robust risk classification with an improved net benefit. CONCLUSIONS: We propose two prognostic nomograms that exhibit improved predictive accuracy and net benefit for patients who have undergone CRC resection. The established nomograms are intended for risk assessment and selection of suitable patients who may benefit from adjuvant therapy and intensified follow-up after surgery. Independent external validations may still be required.

Meta-analysis shows that circulating tumor cells including circulating microRNAs are useful to predict the survival of patients with gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are metastatic cells disseminated into the bloodstreams. They have been proposed to monitor disease progression for decades. However, the prognostic value of CTCs in gastric cancer (GC) remains controversial. We performed a meta-analysis to investigate the topic. METHODS: A systematic search was made for relevant studies in academic data bases, involving the Medline, Embase, and Science Citation Index. Data on prognosis of GC patients, such as recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS), were extracted when possible. The meta-analysis was performed with the random effects model and the pooled hazard ratios (HRs) and their associated 95% confident intervals (95%CIs) were computed as effect measures. RESULTS: Twenty six studies (including 40 subgroups) with peripheral blood samples of 1950 cases from 10 countries were included in the final analysis. The pooled results showed that GC patients with detectable CTCs (including circulating miRNAs) had a tendency to experience shortened RFS (HR=2.91, 95% CI [1.84-4.61], I2=52.18%, n=10). As for patient deaths, we found a similar association of CTC (including circulating miRNAs) presence with worse OS (HR=1.78, 95% CI [1.49-2.12], I2=30.71%, n=30). Additionally, subgroup analyses indicated strong prognostic powers of CTCs, irrespective of geographical, methodological, detection time and sample size differences of the studies. CONCLUSIONS: Our meta-analysis shows that CTCs (including circulating miRNAs) can predict the survival of GC patients. Large prospective studies are warranted to determine the best sampling time points, detection methods in homogeneous patients with GC in the future.

Adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine in an activated sludge process treating swine wastewater.

Swine wastewater is an important pollution source of antibiotics entering the aquatic environment. In this work, the adsorption behavior of sulfamethazine (SMN), a commonly-used sulfonamide antibiotic, on activated sludge from a sequencing batch reactor treating swine wastewater was investigated. The results show that the adsorption of SMN on activated sludge was an initially rapid process and reached equilibrium after 6hr. The removal efficiency of SMN from the water phase increased with an increasing concentration of mixed liquor suspended solids, while the adsorbed concentration of SMN decreased. Solution pH influenced both the speciation of SMN and the surface properties of activated sludge, thus significantly impacting the adsorption process. A linear partition model could give a good fit for the equilibrium concentrations of SMN at the test temperatures (i.e., 10, 20 and 30°C). The partition coefficient (Kd) was determined to be 100.5L/kg at 20°C, indicating a quite high adsorption capacity for SMN. Thermodynamic analysis revealed that SMN adsorption on activated sludge was an exothermic process. This study could help to clarify the fate and behavior of sulfonamide antibiotics in the activated sludge process and assess consequent environmental risks arising from sludge disposal as well.

Dexmedetomidine with different concentrations added to local anesthetics in erector spinae plane block: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Dexmedetomidine has been used as a perineural local anesthetic (LA) adjuvant to facilitate the potency of erector spinal plane block (ESPB). This quantitative review aimed to evaluate whether perineural dexmedetomidine for ESPB can improve the effects of analgesia compared to LA alone. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the addition of dexmedetomidine to LA compared to LA alone in ESPB were included. The pain scores, duration of sensory block, the time to first analgesia requirement, postoperative morphine consumption, rescue analgesia, and dexmedetomidine-related side effects were analyzed and combined using random-effects models. Results: A total of 823 patients from 13 RCTs were analyzed. Dexmedetomidine was used at the concentration of 0.5 µg/kg in three trials and 1 µg/kg in nine trials, and both in one trial. Both concentrations of dexmedetomidine perineurally administrated significantly reduced the rest VAS scores postoperatively at 12 h (0.5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.86; 95% CI: -1.59 to -0.12; p = 0.02; 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.49; 95% CI: -0.83 to -0.16; p = 0.004), and 24 h (0.5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.43; 95% CI: -0.74 to -0.13; p = 0.005; 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.62; 95% CI: -0.84 to -0.41; p < 0.00001). Both concentrations of dexmedetomidine added in LAs improved the dynamic VAS scores postoperatively at 12 h (0.5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.55; 95% CI: -0.95 to -0.15; p = 0.007; 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.66; 95% CI: -1.05 to -0.28; p = 0.0006) and 24 h (0.5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.52; 95% CI: -0.94 to -0.10; p = 0.01; 1 µg/kg dexmedetomidine: MD = -0.46; 95% CI: -0.75 to -0.16; p = 0.002). Furthermore, perineural dexmedetomidine prolonged the duration of the sensory block and the time to first analgesia requirement, reduced postoperative morphine consumption, and lowered the incidence of rescue analgesia and chronic pain. Conclusion: The meta-analysis showed that using perineural dexmedetomidine at either 0.5 µg/kg or 1 µg/kg doses in ESPB can effectively and safely enhance pain relief. Systematic review registration: PROSPERO (CRD42023424532: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/).

Rising rainfall intensity induces spatially divergent hydrological changes within a large river basin.

Droughts or floods are usually attributed to precipitation deficits or surpluses, both of which may become more frequent and severe under continued global warming. Concurring large-scale droughts in the Southwest and flooding in the Southeast of China in recent decades have attracted considerable attention, but their causes and interrelations are not well understood. Here, we examine spatiotemporal changes in hydrometeorological variables and investigate the mechanism underlying contrasting soil dryness/wetness patterns over a 54-year period (1965-2018) across a representative mega-watershed in South China-the West River Basin. We demonstrate that increasing rainfall intensity leads to severe drying upstream with decreases in soil water storage, water yield, and baseflow, versus increases therein downstream. Our study highlights a simultaneous occurrence of increased drought and flooding risks due to contrasting interactions between rainfall intensification and topography across the river basin, implying increasingly vulnerable water and food security under continued climate change.

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in diagnosing pneumonia of adults.

INTRODUCTION: Accurate identification of pathogens that cause pulmonary infections is essential for effective treatment and hastening recovery in adults diagnosed with pneumonia. At present, despite metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) technology has been widely used in clinical practice for pathogen identification, the clinical significance and necessity of detecting pathogen in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) for pneumonia-stricken adults remain ambiguous. METHODOLOGY: In this study, 80 patients suffering from pulmonary infection were enrolled, who were admitted to the Affiliated Changzhou Second People's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University between January 2020 and September 2022. The diagnostic performances of mNGS and conventional methods (CM) were systematically analyzed based on BALF samples, and we further investigated the influence of mNGS and CM in diagnosis modification and treatment. RESULTS: We found a significantly higher positive rate for the mNGS method in contrast to CM. Bacteria were the most common pathogens, and Streptococcus pneumoniae was the most commonly identified pathogen. Candida albicans and Epstein-Barr virus were the most frequently identified fungus and virus. Atypical pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, virus Nontuberculous mycobacteria, and Chlamydia psittaci were also identified. A total of 77 patients were identified with mixed infections by mNGS. As the disease progressed and recurrent antibiotic treatment persisted, significant dynamic changes in the clinical manifestation from the BALF samples could be found by mNGS. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores the efficacy of mNGS in detecting pathogens in BALF samples from patients suffering pulmonary infections. Compared with the CM, mNGS significantly enhanced the positive diagnosis ratio, particularly in diagnosing Mycobacterium tuberculosis, atypical pathogens, and viral or fungal infections.

Photothermally responsive icariin and carbon nanofiber modified hydrogels for the treatment of periodontitis.

Introduction: Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease brought on by various bacteria, and effective antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and alveolar bone regeneration are the main goals of treating periodontal disease. Methods: In the current work, we employed Icariin (ICA) into a hydrogel modified with carbon nanofiber (CNF) to create a multifunctional composite nanoplatform. The composite was activated in the near infrared (NIR) to treat periodontitis. Results: The antibacterial results showed that the ICA+CNF@H showed 94.2% and 91.7% clearance of S. aureus and E. coli, respectively, under NIR irradiation. In vitro experiments showed that NIR-irradiated composites suppressed inflammatory factor (IL-6) and ROS expression and up-regulated the performance of anti-inflammatory factor (IL-10) in RAW264.7 cells. At the same time, the composites promoted the production of osteogenic factors in BMSCs, with an approximately 3-fold increase in alkaline phosphatase activity after 7 days and an approximately 2-fold increase in the rate of extracellular matrix mineralization after 21 days. In vivo tests showed that the alveolar bone height was clearly greater in the ICA+CNF@H (NIR) group compared to the periodontitis group. Discussion: In conclusion, ICA+CNF@H under NIR irradiation achieved a synergistic effect of antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, reduction of reactive oxygen species and promotion of osteogenesis, offering a novel approach for treating periodontitis.

DUSP10 alleviates ischemic stroke-induced neuronal damage by restricting p38/JNK pathway.

Neuronal apoptosis is considered one of the hallmarks of ischemic stroke. Dual specificity phosphatase 10 (DUSP10), a member of the dual-specificity phosphatase family, which is involved in the regulation of apoptosis process. This study aimed to investigate the effect of on apoptosis in primary cortical neurons exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation and reoxygenation (OGD/R) and mice suffered from transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion (MCAO/R). The results showed that DUSP10 overexpression improved survival and reduced apoptosis in neurons subjected to OGD/R, which was manifested by decreased apoptotic proteins (cleaved caspase 3 and bax) and TUNEL+ cells, as well as increased the anti-apoptotic protein (bcl-2). DUSP10 overexpression inhibited the p38/JNK signaling pathway after OGD/R treatment, whilst DUSP10 knockdown had opposite effects. In addition, the p38 inhibitor SB203580 or JNK inhibitor SP600125 attenuated the increased apoptosis of OGD/R-stimulated neurons treated with DUSP10 silencing. Consistently, DUSP10 knockdown exacerbated infarct volume in MCAO/R injury. The data of Nissl staining and TUNEL-NeuN double staining revealed that DUSP10 interference aggravated neuronal damage in the ischemic penumbra of mice. Furthermore, DUSP10 inhibition activated the p38/JNK axis accompanied by enhanced phosphorylation of p38 and JNK in vivo. In summary, DUSP10 is a neuroprotective agent against ischemic stroke-induced neuronal damage via suppressing the p38/JNK signaling pathway.

Response characteristics of antibiotic resistance genes and bacterial communities during agricultural waste composting: Focusing on biogas residue combined with biochar amendments.

This research investigated biogas residue and biochar addition on antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), mobile genetic elements (MGEs), and changes in bacterial community during agricultural waste composting. Sequencing technique investigated bacterial community structure and ARGs, MGEs changes. Correlations among physicochemical factors, ARGs, MGEs, and bacterial community structure were determined using redundancy analysis. Results confirmed that biochar and biogas residue amendments effectively lowered the contents of ARGs and MGEs. The main ARGs detected was sul1. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the main host bacteria strongly associated with the dissemination of ARGs. The dynamic characteristics of the bacterial community were strongly correlated with pile temperature and pH (P < 0.05). Redundancy and network analysis revealed that nitrate, intI1, and Firmicutes mainly affected the in ARGs changes. Therefore, regulating these key variables would effectively suppress the ARGs spread and risk of compost use.

Simulation Analysis and Experimental Study of the Strength of Aluminum Alloy Suspension Structure.

High-speed trains have a large amount of ancillary equipment, which is suspended from the underside of the train by means of a suspension structure. Due to the large mass of the ancillary equipment, the suspension structure is subjected to various loads during train operation and there is a risk of fatigue failure. In this paper, the stress distribution at the suspension point and the lo-cation of the maximum stress point under load are investigated in detail based on actual test loads at the suspension point and finite element simulation analysis. In order to further investigate the fracture failure of the suspension points, experimental studies were carried out. Firstly, static strength tests were carried out to obtain the load-displacement curves of the structural members and to determine the fracture strength of the structure based on the displacement sensors, and secondly, fatigue tests at different stress levels were carried out to obtain the load-life curves of the structural members and to investigate the probabilistic load-life curves at different reliability levels. The test results show that the structural component has a high fracture strength of 65kN, while the conditional fatigue strength is relatively low, corresponding to a load level of 12.5kN at a median life of 106 cycles. The above research work provides the necessary basis for the design, optimization and reliability assessment of the suspension structures of high-speed trains.

Preparation of pro-angiogenic, antibacterial and EGCG-modified ZnO quantum dots for treating bacterial infected wound of diabetic rats.

The complex wound environment and abnormalities in self-metabolism of diabetic skin defects lead to impaired angiogenesis, which can easily lead to bacterial infection and increased inflammation. Therefore, there is an urgent need for multifunctional composites with antimicrobial and pro-angiogenic properties to improve the current therapeutic outcomes of diabetic wounds. In this study, we described an EGCG-modified zinc oxide quantum dots (ZnO QDs) hydrogel (ZnO-EGCG@H) for the treatment of delayed diabetic wounds. In vitro antimicrobial assays showed that ZnO-EGCG@H effectively cleared 95.6% of MRSA and 97% of AmprE. coli with good bactericidal activity. Western blotting assay analysis showed that ZnO-EGCG@H downregulated trauma inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6) by 46.9% and 57%, respectively, while upregulating 1.7-fold VEGF and 2-fold EGF, accelerating wound healing by reducing inflammatory response and promoting proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and skin epidermal cells. After 15 days of ZnO-EGCG@H treatment, the rate of skin lesion closure in rats was 96.3%, which was much better than that of 65.4% in the control group. Safety experiments showed that ZnO-EGCG@H was reassuringly biocompatible and harmless to vital organs. The obtained results suggested that ZnO-EGCG@H had the potential to be a safe and effective treatment method with a promising future as a diabetic wound treatment material.

MicroRNA-877-5p Inhibits Cell Progression by Targeting FOXM1 in Lung Cancer.

Background: Many researches revealed that microRNAs (miRNAs) function as potential oncogene or tumor suppressor gene. As an antioncogene, miR-877-5p was reduced in many tumors. Objective: This research aimed to explore the biological role and mechanisms of miR-877-5p, which may help patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) find effective therapeutic targets. Methods: The downstream targets of miR-877-5p were predicted by Bioinformatics software. RT-qPCR and western blot were employed to analyze the gene levels. The impacts of miR-877-5p and FOXM1 were assessed by cell function experiments. Results: The miR-877-5p was reduced in NSCLC. In addition to this, it also inhibited cell progression of NSCLC cells in vitro. Moreover, the upregulation of FOXM1 expression restored the inhibitory effect of enhancement of miR-877-5p. Conclusions: Taken together, miR-877-5p inhibited cell progression by directly targeting FOXM1, which may provide potential biomarkers for targeted therapy of NSCLC.

Accumulation of microplastics in fish guts and gills from a large natural lake: Selective or non-selective?

In recent years, microplastics (MPs) have become emerging contaminant causing widespread concern about their ecotoxicological effects. However, little is known regarding the accumulation of MPs in different tissues of fishes, especially for freshwater fishes in natural environments. In this study, MPs in guts and gills of 11 fish species from Lake Chao, China were examined to explore the accumulation differences and foraging preferences of MPs. In general, MPs in fish guts varied from 2.85 to 8.38 items/individual, while ranged from 3.06 to 8.90 items/individual in fish gills. In terms of characteristic composition (shape, color, size, and polymer type), our results demonstrate higher occurrence of fibrous, black, small sized (<1 mm), and polypropylene MPs. Meanwhile, MPs concentrations in fish guts differed significantly among various feeding groups, with none significant difference detected in fish gills. In addition, fish guts exhibit more distinct foraging preferences for specific featured MPs in contrast with fish gills. These results indicate selective MPs accumulation in fish guts whereas random MPs accumulation in fish gills. Fish gills, adhering MPs by non-selective water exchange, may be more related to the real-time MPs abundance in water. To some extent, fish gills may be employed as important instruments to reflect MPs contamination in aquatic environments. Influenced by diverse feeding behaviors such as visual cues and sensory systems, MPs accumulation in fish guts reflect intrinsic differences, thus making fish guts sensitive organ in monitoring MPs' ecological risk for their health.

Seasonal variation and ecological risk assessment of microplastics ingested by economic fishes in Lake Chaohu, China.

Microplastic (MP) contaminations in freshwater organisms have attracted substantial attention worldwide. However, seasonal field studies of MPs concentrations in aquatic life are scarce. In this study, we analyzed the seasonal variation and ecological risk of MPs concentrations in economic fish species from Lake Chaohu in China between wet and dry seasons. Within both seasons, MPs in fish were systematically analyzed using methods of KOH digestion, NaCl density floatation and raman spectroscopy. MPs abundance in economic fishes were significantly higher in dry season than that in wet season, which can be ascribed to the MPs' amplification effects in lacustrine ecosystems during dry season. Whereas, our results recorded similar and homogenized characteristic composition of MPs in economic fishes between wet and dry seasons. In both seasons, fiber was the main morphological type, black and blue were the most common MPs color, and MPs ranging from <0.5 mm accounting for the most abundant size. In addition, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) accounted for the most abundant polymer type detected by economic fishes in both seasons. In terms of feeding groups and habitat preferences, planktivorous and pelagic fish species exhibited sensitive variations of MPs concentrations between wet and dry seasons, thus being highlighted as good bioindicators of MPs contaminants in freshwater ecosystems. Our results revealed higher ecological risks of MPs in wet season than that in dry season when indicating from polymer risk index (H). By providing detailed and direct toxicity information, our study highlights the usage of polymer risk index for ecological risk assessment in aquatic organisms.

Motion error analysis of a shield machine tool-changing robot based on a screw-vector method.

Industrial robots are widely used in various industrial fields, such as handling and welding, due to their good repeat positioning accuracy. The motion error determines the absolute accuracy. For robot design, dimensional parameter errors and drive parameter errors, a mathematical model of a kinematic exponential product with error screws was proposed. The influence of different rod lengths and transmission errors on the accuracy of the end motion was analysed. A composite analysis method based on screw theory and vector method is proposed for the spatial deflection error of robot rotating joints with clearance. By using screw theory, a mathematical error model of the axial movement and spatial deflection of the joint gap was established. A mathematical model of joint space radial movement was established by using the three-dimensional vector method. Through numerical simulation, the position distribution law of the random error of the robot terminal in the workspace and the distribution of the plane projection density were obtained. By solving the attitude matrix, the distribution of each Euler angle error was obtained. A simulation test was carried out to verify the model's correctness. The calculation showed that the method is simple and correct, and the obtained error distribution characteristics are of great significance to improving robotic kinematic calibration accuracy and optimising the spatial position error distribution.

Novel variants of NEK9 associated with neonatal arthrogryposis: Two case reports and a literature review.

Objective: Pathogenic variants in NEK9 (MIM: 609798) have been identified in patients with lethal congenital contracture syndrome 10 (OMIM: 617022) and arthrogryposis, Perthes disease, and upward gaze palsy (APUG and OMIM: 614262). The shared core phenotype is multiple joint contractures or arthrogryposis. In the present study, three novel variants of NEK9 associated with neonatal arthrogryposis were reported. Methods: The clinical data of two premature infants and their parents were collected. The genomic DNA was extracted from their peripheral blood samples and subjected to trio-whole-exome sequencing (trio-WES) and copy number variation analysis. Results: Using trio-WES, a total of three novel pathogenic variants of NEK9 were detected in the two families. Patient 1 carried compound heterozygous variations of c.717C > A (p. C239*741) and c.2824delA (p.M942Cfs*21), which were inherited from his father and mother, respectively. Patient 2 also carried compound heterozygous variations of c.61G > T (p. E21*959) and c. 2824delA (p. M942Cfs*21), which were inherited from his father and mother, respectively. These variants have not been previously reported in the ClinVar, HGMD, or gnomAD databases. Conclusion: This is the first report about NEK9-related arthrogryposis in neonatal patients. The findings from this study suggest that different types of mutations in NEK9 lead to different phenotypes. Our study expanded the clinical phenotype spectrum and gene spectrum of NEK9-associated arthrogryposis.