Dendritic Learning-Incorporated Vision Transformer for Image Recognition

Dear Editor,This letter proposes to integrate dendritic learnable network architecture with Vision Transformer to improve the accuracy of image recognition.In this study,based on the theory of dendritic neurons in neuroscience,we design a network that is more practical for engineering to classify visual features.Based on this,we propose a dendritic learning-incorporated vision Transformer(DVT),which out-performs other state-of-the-art methods on three image recognition benchmarks.

Mapping Network-Coordinated Stacked Gated Recurrent Units for Turbulence Prediction

Accurately predicting fluid forces acting on the sur-face of a structure is crucial in engineering design.However,this task becomes particularly challenging in turbulent flow,due to the complex and irregular changes in the flow field.In this study,we propose a novel deep learning method,named mapping net-work-coordinated stacked gated recurrent units(MSU),for pre-dicting pressure on a circular cylinder from velocity data.Specifi-cally,our coordinated learning strategy is designed to extract the most critical velocity point for prediction,a process that has not been explored before.In our experiments,MSU extracts one point from a velocity field containing 121 points and utilizes this point to accurately predict 100 pressure points on the cylinder.This method significantly reduces the workload of data measure-ment in practical engineering applications.Our experimental results demonstrate that MSU predictions are highly similar to the real turbulent data in both spatio-temporal and individual aspects.Furthermore,the comparison results show that MSU predicts more precise results,even outperforming models that use all velocity field points.Compared with state-of-the-art methods,MSU has an average improvement of more than 45%in various indicators such as root mean square error(RMSE).Through comprehensive and authoritative physical verification,we estab-lished that MSU’s prediction results closely align with pressure field data obtained in real turbulence fields.This confirmation underscores the considerable potential of MSU for practical applications in real engineering scenarios.The code is available at https://github.com/zhangzm0128/MSU.

Dendritic Deep Learning for Medical Segmentation

Dear Editor,This letter presents a novel segmentation approach that leverages dendritic neurons to tackle the challenges of medical imaging segmentation.In this study,we enhance the segmentation accuracy based on a SegNet variant including an encoder-decoder structure,an upsampling index,and a deep supervision method.Furthermore,we introduce a dendritic neuron-based convolutional block to enable nonlinear feature mapping,thereby further improving the effectiveness of our approach.

Belowground Bud Bank Is Insensitive to Short-Term Nutrient Addition in the Meadow Steppe of Inner Mongolia

Human activities and industrialization have significantly increased soil nutrients,such as nitrogen(N)and phos-phorus(P),profoundly impacting the composition and structure of plant community,as well as the ecosystem functions,especially in nutrient-limited ecosystems.However,as the key propagule pool of perennial grasslands,how belowground bud bank and its relationship with aboveground vegetation respond to short-term changes in soil nutrients was still unclear.In this study,we conducted a short-term(2021–2022)soil fertilization experiment with N addition(10 g N m^(-2) yr^(-1))and P addition(5 g N m^(-2) yr^(-1))in the meadow steppe of Inner Mongolia,China,to explore the responses of belowground bud bank,aboveground shoot population and their relationships(represented by the ratio of bud to shoot density-meristem limitation index(MLI))for the whole community and three plant functional groups(perennial rhizomatous grasses-PR,perennial bunchgrasses-PB,and perennial forbs-PF)to nutrient addition.The short-term nutrient addition had no significant influences on belowground bud density,aboveground shoot density,and MLI of the whole plant community.Plant functional groups showed different responses to soil fertilization.Specifically,N addition significantly increased the bud density and shoot density of PR,especially in combination with P addition.N addition reduced the shoot density of PF but had no influence on its bud density and MLI.Nutrient addition had significant effects on the three indicators of PB.Our study indicates that the belowground bud bank and its relationship with aboveground vegetation in temperate meadow steppe are insensitive to short-term soil fertilization,but plant functional groups exhibit specific responses in terms of population regeneration,which implies that plant community composition and ecosystem functions will be changed under the ongoing global change.

A Chaotic Local Search-Based Particle Swarm Optimizer for Large-Scale Complex Wind Farm Layout Optimization

Wind energy has been widely applied in power generation to alleviate climate problems.The wind turbine layout of a wind farm is a primary factor of impacting power conversion efficiency due to the wake effect that reduces the power outputs of wind turbines located in downstream.Wind farm layout optimization(WFLO)aims to reduce the wake effect for maximizing the power outputs of the wind farm.Nevertheless,the wake effect among wind turbines increases significantly as the number of wind turbines increases in the wind farm,which severely affect power conversion efficiency.Conventional heuristic algorithms suffer from issues of low solution quality and local optimum for large-scale WFLO under complex wind scenarios.Thus,a chaotic local search-based genetic learning particle swarm optimizer(CGPSO)is proposed to optimize large-scale WFLO problems.CGPSO is tested on four larger-scale wind farms under four complex wind scenarios and compares with eight state-of-the-art algorithms.The experiment results indicate that CGPSO significantly outperforms its competitors in terms of performance,stability,and robustness.To be specific,a success and failure memories-based selection is proposed to choose a chaotic map for chaotic search local.It improves the solution quality.The parameter and search pattern of chaotic local search are also analyzed for WFLO problems.

Soil Moisture Rather than Soil Nutrient Regulates the Belowground Bud Bank of Rhizomatous Species Psammochloa villosa in Arid Sand Dunes

In arid and semi-arid sand dune ecosystems,belowground bud bank plays an important role in population regeneration and vegetation restoration.However,the responses of belowground bud bank size and composition to sand burial and its induced changes in soil environmental factors have been rarely studied.In arid sand dunes of Northwestern China,we investigated belowground bud bank size and composition of the typical rhizomatous psammophyte Psammochloa villosa as well as three key soil environmental factors(soil moisture,total carbon and total nitrogen)under different depths of sand burial.Total buds and rhizome buds increased significantly with increasing burial depth,whereas tiller buds first increased and then decreased,with a peak value at the depth of 20-30 cm.Soil moisture increased significantly with sand burial depth,and was positively correlated with the number of all buds and rhizome buds.Soil total carbon concentration first increased and then decreased with sand burial depth,and total nitrogen concentration was significantly lower under deep sand burial than those at shallow depths,and only the number of tiller buds was positively correlated with soil total nitrogen concentration.These results indicate that soil moisture rather than soil nutrient might regulate the belowground bud bank of P.villosa,and that clonal psammophytes could regulate their belowground bud bank in response to sand burial and the most important environmental stress(i.e.,soil moisture).These responses,as the key adaptive strategy,may ensure clonal plant population regeneration and vegetation restoration in arid sand dunes.

壳聚糖表面接枝聚苯胺的防腐蚀性能

利用壳聚糖结构中氨基的特性,采用过硫酸铵为氧化剂,通过化学氧化聚合,合成了不同表面浸润性的3种壳聚糖接枝聚苯胺。掺杂酸分别为辛酸、十四酸和全氟辛酸。通过聚苯胺在壳聚糖上的接枝,改善了聚苯胺的可加工性,并保持了聚苯胺的导电性。Tafel极化曲线和电化学阻抗结果表明壳聚糖接枝聚苯胺在0.10 mol/L H_2SO_4中对A3碳钢表现出良好的防腐蚀性能,且其防腐效率随着壳聚糖接枝聚苯胺的疏水性增加而提高;疏水性最强的壳聚糖接枝全氟辛酸掺杂聚苯胺材料静态触角为142°,防腐效率为70.75%。研究表明不同接枝材料的疏水性能是受掺杂酸的影响,另外采用红外光谱和核磁共振证实了壳聚糖与聚苯胺的有效接枝。

The evolution of microstructure and texture of AZ80 Mg alloy cup-shaped pieces processed by rotating backward extrusion

This study proposed an effective plastic deformation technique,rotating backward extrusion(RBE),for producing high performance AZ80 magnesium alloy cup-shaped pieces.The RBE process was carried on the Gleeble-3500 test machine at 653 K,and the conventional backward extrusion(CBE)was also conducted for comparison.A detailed microstructure analysis was performed using the optical microscopy(OM)and electron back-scatter diffraction(EBSD).The results shown that the equivalent strain and deformation uniformity of the cup pieces could be substantially increased by the RBE process compared with the CBE process.Furthermore,the RBE process could significantly improve the grain refining capacity and the proportion of dynamic recrystallization(DRX),of which the maximum reduction of grain size was 88.60%,and the maximum increase of DRX proportion was 55.30%in the cup bottom.The main deformation mechanism of the RBE process was the discontinuous DRX(DDRX),while the continuous DRX(CDRX)was also occurred in the cup transition.Compared with the CBE sample,the texture of the cup bottom was weakened for the RBE sample.The microhardness value of the RBE sample was higher than that of the CBE sample,which can be attributed to the grain refinement strengthening.

Potential tradeoffs between intraspecific and interspecific trait variations along an environmental gradient in a subtropical forest

There has been growing attention to intraspecific variation in trait-based plant ecology. However, studies on these changes across ontogenetic stages and the potential trade-offs with interspecific traits along environmental gradients are rare. In this study, we measured six wood and bark traits of 1030 trees of six species(Castanopsis nigrescens; C. carlesii; Lithocarpus polystachyus; L. synbalanos; Ormosia glaberrima; O. pachycarpa) from a10-ha plot in a subtropical forest. Mean intraspecific variation in bark thickness and bark percentage to DBH was more than twice that for wood density and bark density.Bark thickness and bark percentage showed a consistent trend with increasing tree size. Small-tree traits were more variable than the same traits in larger trees. Altitude,convexity and soil nutrients explained the majority of the variations in the six traits, while sibling species had similar relationships between traits and environmental variables.Trees with dense wood and thin bark were usually found on steep slopes at lower altitudes. Our findings show intraspecific trait variability has different spatial patterns compared with interspecific variabilities along an environmental gradient.

Metal-Oxo Cluster Catalysts for Photocatalytic Water Splitting and Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Photocatalytic water splitting and carbon dioxide photoreduction are considered eff ective strategies for alleviating the energy crisis and environmental pollution.Polynuclear metal-oxo clusters possess excellent electron storage/release ability and unique catalytic properties via intermetallic synergy,which enables them with great potential in environmentally friendly photosynthesis.Importantly,metal-oxo clusters with precise structure can not only act as high-effi ciency catalysts but also provide well-defi ned structural models for exploring structure-activity relationships.In this review,we systematically sum-marize recent progress in the catalytic application of polynuclear metal-oxo clusters,including polyoxometalate clusters,low-cost transition metal clusters,and metal-oxo-cluster-based metal-organic frameworks for water splitting and CO_(2)reduction.Furthermore,we discuss the challenges and solutions to the problems of polynuclear metal-oxo clusters in photocatalysis.

Transcriptomic responses in resistant and susceptible maize infected with Fusarium graminearum

Gibberella ear rot(GER)caused by Fusarium graminearum(teleomorph Gibberella zeae)is a common maize disease that not only severely reduces grain yield but also contaminates maize grain with mycotoxins.We investigated the molecular mechanism underlying the host defense responses against pathogen infection using comparative transcriptomic analysis.We injected F.graminearum spore suspensions into plants of resistant(IBM-81)and a susceptible(IBM-85)maize inbred line after pollination and performed RNA-seq 48,72,and 96 h after inoculation.Respectively 487 and 410 differentially expressed genes(DEGs)were induced in the resistant and susceptible lines across three time points,indicating that a stronger defense response was activated in the resistant than in the susceptible line.Among them,198 genes commonly induced in the two lines were subjected to pathway analysis,revealing that most of the DEGs were closely associated with defense and a wide range of metabolic activities.DEGs associated with pathogenesis-related protein 1(PR1)and regulation of salicylic acid were significantly enriched during F.graminearum infection,suggesting that these DEGs play dominant roles in maize resistance to GER.Our results provide a resource for future gene discovery and facilitate elucidation of the complex defense mechanisms involved in resistance to GER.

Effects of Nano-Cerium Oxide on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Vitex negundo

Cerium oxide nanoparticles(CeO_(2) NPs)are likely to have dramatic impacts on plant performances,yet the effects of CeO_(2) NPs on seed germination and seedling growth have not been fully explored.In this study,the seed germination and seedling growth of subshrub species Vitex negundo under different concentrations of CeO_(2) NPs(low-1 mg/L,medium-100 mg/L,high-500 mg/L)have been discussed.Results showed that:(1)The seed germination rate reduces by 11.25%and 2.5%under the low and medium concentrations of CeO_(2) NPs,respectively,but increased by 7.08%under the high concentration;(2)CeO_(2) NPs had significant effects on the growth traits(root length,shoot height and biomass)of seedlings,being the highest under the medium concentration and the lowest under the highest concentration;(3)The superoxide dismutase activity was the maximum(355.91 U/g),but the protein concentration was the minimum(3.85 ug/mL)under the high concentration of CeO_(2) NPs.Our results indicated that the effects of CeO_(2) NPs on seed germination and seedling growth are concentration-dependency,i.e.,low and medium concentrations inhibited while high concentration promoted seed germination,however,seedling growth showed opposite responses.Therefore,appropriate CeO_(2) NPs concentrations are beneficial to the seed germination and seedling growth of Vitex negundo and improve the physiological performance of seedlings and enhance their adaptability to environmental adversity.

Survey on Early-bearing High-yielding Model Plantation of Camellia oleifera

[Objective] This study was conducted to screen the best variety and optimum planting density for constructing early-bearing high-yielding model plantation of Camellia oleifera. [Methed] This survey was carried out in two demonstration bases, one for investigating the relationship between different cultivated varieties with growth and production, the other for investigating the relationship between different planting densities with growth and production. [Result] For different cultivated varieties, Cenruan 2 showed tree height, ground diameter and crown product significantly higher than other two varieties, besides, the per unit area fruit yield of Cenruan 2 was also significantly higher than other two varieties. From flower bud differentiation,the best variety was Changlin 4, which showed number of differentiated flower buds significantly higher than Changlin 27, but there were no significant differences between Cenruan 2 with Changlin 4 and Changlin 27. For different planting densities, plant height and crown product at planting density of 1.5 m×2 m were significantly higher than those of other two planting densities, but from ground diam- eter, the best planting density was 1.5 m×1.0 m, with a ground diameter significantly higher than other two planting densities. From per unit area fruit yield, the best planting density was 1.5 m×2.0 m, under which early plant growth and fruit production were better. Therefore, the best planting density is 2.0 m ×3.0 m when constructing early-bearing high-yielding model plantations. For variety Cenruan 3, it＇s fruit production is high in the early pedod, and the best planting density is 1.5 m× 2.0 m or 1.0 m×1.5 m when constructing early-bearing high-yielding model plantations, and after 4-6 years when it put into production, the plants could be transplanted.

Identification and functional analysis of miRNAs in developing kernels of a viviparous mutant in maize

Given the important roles of miRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation, identification of differentially expressed miRNAs will facilitate the elucidation of molecular mechanisms underlying kernel development. In this study, we constructed a small RNA library to comprehensively represent the full complement of individual small RNAs and to characterize miRNA expression profiles in pooled ears of maize(Zea mays L.) at 10, 15,20, 22, 25 and 30 days after pollination(DAP). At least 21 miRNAs were differentially expressed. The differential expression of three of these miRNAs, i.e., miR528a, miR167a and miR160b, at each stage was verified by qRT-PCR. The results indicated that these miRNAs might be involved in kernel development. In addition, the predicted functions of target genes indicated that most of the target genes are involved in signal transduction and cell communication pathways, particularly the auxin signaling pathway. The expression of candidate germination-associated miRNAs was analyzed by hybridization to a maize genome microarray, and revealed differential expression of genes involved in plant hormone signaling pathways. This finding suggests that phytohormones play a critical role in the development of maize kernels. We found that in combination with other miRNAs, miR528a regulated a putative laccase, a Ring-H2 zinc finger protein and a MADS box-like protein, whereas miR167a and miR160b regulated multiple target genes,including ARF(auxin response factor), a member of the B3 transcription factor family. All three miRNAs are important for ear germination, development and physiology. The small RNA transcriptomes and mRNA obtained in this study will help us gain a betterunderstanding of the expression and function of small RNAs in the development of maize kernel.

The Effects of Environmental Materials on Pb and Cd Solidification

The leaching experiments of soils contaminated by heavy metal Pb or Cd were conducted with four kinds of environmental materials, polymer absorbent material （PAM）, coal-based nutrient （CBN）, mineral adsorption material （MAM） and mineral chemical material （MCM） to explore Pb and Cd solidification effects. Then the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer （FTIR） analysis was used to explain the solidification mechanism of the effective environmental materials, and the Scanning Electron Microscope （SEM） test was applied to demonstrate their solidifi- cation morphology. The results showed that MCM was the best material for Pb solidification, and Pb concentration in the leachate accounted for 68.6% of that in CK; MAM was the best material for Cd solidification, and the Cd concentration accounted for 74.6% of that in CK. The FTIR analysis showed the functional groups, such as C-OH in MCM and COOH in MAM, could explain the adsorption mechanism by ion exchange and chemical bond force. The SEM images indicated there were obvious adsorption morphological changes in MCM and MAM after adsorbing Pb and Cd respectively.

Analysis on Growth and Development Laws of Different Mink Varieties

This study was conducted to investigate the growth and development laws of different mink varieties. The weights of six mink varieties were determined at different growth and development stages, respectively. The growth curves were drawn, and the differences in 150-day-old weight were analyzed. The results showed that the weight of each mink variety grew rapidly after weaning to adult weight; the weight of sliver blue mink was significantly higher than those of imported regal white mink and imported palomino mink; and there were no significant differences between other varieties.

Cloning and Expression of the Serine Carboxypeptidase Gene in Zea mays and Its Antifungal Activity against Rhizoctonia solani

The authors cloned and identified a new maize serine carboxypeptidase gene named ZmSCP from R15 inbred lines seedlings which were induced by Rhizoctonia solani AGI-IA. ZmSCP encodes a 332 amino acid protein with a predicted molecular mass of 36.5 kDa and pI of 4.75. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that ZmSCP showed closer kinship with Oryza sativa and sorghum, which belong to the same evolutionary branch. Amino acid sequence analysis revealed that there are four types of amino acids in ZmSCP, the percentages of them are 43.1%, 26.9%, 13.9% and 13.1%. The authors subsequently purified the recombinant protein which expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 and analyzed its antimicrobial activities in vitro. Results showed that the recombinant protein inhibited hyphal growth of Rhizoctonia solani. The study suggests that the expression of ZmSCP is closely related to maize sheath blight resistance caused by Rhizoctonia solani. Further, the antifungal activity showed that ZmSCP may play at role in the disease resistance response.

桩基础检测方法研究

中国现代化建设的加速发展对建筑行业施工过程的质量和安全提出了更高的要求。桩基础检测是一项十分重要的工作,桩基检测方法的研究成为重要内容,论文旨在研究桩基础在施工中发生的各种问题,从而提前将安全隐患问题消除,对于保证后续施工的正常开展具有重要意义。

云南鸡足山亚热带半湿润常绿阔叶林20 ha动态监测样地木本植物生境关联与群落数量分类

亚热带半湿润常绿阔叶林是中国西部中亚热带地区的地带性植被,大理鸡足山是其连续分布面积最大的区域之一。本研究以云南鸡足山亚热带半湿润常绿阔叶林20 ha动态监测样地为研究对象,分析了木本植物分布与生境的关联性,并对其进行群落数量分类。结果表明:该样地中共有43,424个DBH≥1 cm的独立生长的木本植物个体,分属31科57属92种。科的区系成分以热带为主,占67.7%;属的区系成分以温带为主,占50.9%;种的区系成分以中国特有种为主,占42.4%。物种–生境关联分析的结果表明,在52个目标物种中,有44个物种至少与一种生境具有显著正关联,有35个物种至少与一种生境具有显著负关联,说明生境过滤在该样地的木本植物分布中具有重要作用。低海拔山谷是具有显著关联物种最多的生境,反映了该生境对物种具有强烈的过滤作用。该样地的群落分类主要受凹凸度和海拔这两个地形因素的影响,可分为3个群丛:(1)紫药女贞+五柱滇山茶–白柯+银木荷群丛(Ligustrumdelavayanum+Camelliayunnanensis–Lithocarpusdealbatus+Schimaargentea Association);(2)珍珠花+美丽马醉木–银木荷+白柯群丛(Lyoniaovalifolia+PierisFormosa–Schimaargentea+Lithocarpus dealbatusAssociation);(3)云南金叶子+云南越桔–白柯+银木荷群丛(Craibiodendronyunnanense+Vacciniumduclouxii–Lithocarpus dealbatus+Schima argentea Association)。本研究可为进一步开展亚热带半湿润常绿阔叶林的群落构建与物种共存研究提供科学基础。

A novel engineered IL-21 receptor arms T-cell receptor-engineered T cells(TCR-T cells)against hepatocellular carcinoma

Strategies to improve T cell therapy efficacy in solid tumors such as hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)are urgently needed.The common cytokine receptorγchain(γc)family cytokines such as IL-2,IL-7,IL-15 and IL-21 play fundamental roles in T cell development,differentiation and effector phases.This study aims to determine the combination effects of IL-21 in T cell therapy against HCC and investigate optimized strategies to utilize the effect of IL-21 signal in T cell therapy.The antitumor function of AFP-specific T cell receptor-engineered T cells(TCR-T)was augmented by exogenous IL-21 in vitro and in vivo.IL-21 enhanced proliferation capacity,promoted memory differentiation,downregulated PD-1 expression and alleviated apoptosis in TCR-T after activation.A novel engineered IL-21 receptor was established,and TCR-T armed with the novel engineered IL-21 receptors(IL-21R-TCR-T)showed upregulated phosphorylated STAT3 expression without exogenous IL-21 ligand.IL-21R-TCR-T showed better proliferation upon activation and superior antitumor function in vitro and in vivo.IL-21R-TCR-T exhibited a less differentiated,exhausted and apoptotic phenotype than conventional TCR-T upon repetitive tumor antigen stimulation.The novel IL-21 receptor in our study programs powerful TCR-T and can avoid side effects induced by IL-21 systemic utilization.The novel IL-21 receptor creates new opportunities for next-generation TCR-T against HCC.