Research status and prospects of the fractal analysis of metal material surfaces and interfaces

As a mathematical analysis method,fractal analysis can be used to quantitatively describe irregular shapes with self-similar or self-affine properties.Fractal analysis has been used to characterize the shapes of metal materials at various scales and dimensions.Conventional methods make it difficult to quantitatively describe the relationship between the regular characteristics and properties of metal material surfaces and interfaces.However,fractal analysis can be used to quantitatively describe the shape characteristics of metal materials and to establish the quantitative relationships between the shape characteristics and various properties of metal materials.From the perspective of two-dimensional planes and three-dimensional curved surfaces,this paper reviews the current research status of the fractal analysis of metal precipitate interfaces,metal grain boundary interfaces,metal-deposited film surfaces,metal fracture surfaces,metal machined surfaces,and metal wear surfaces.The relationship between the fractal dimensions and properties of metal material surfaces and interfaces is summarized.Starting from three perspectives of fractal analysis,namely,research scope,image acquisition methods,and calculation methods,this paper identifies the direction of research on fractal analysis of metal material surfaces and interfaces that need to be developed.It is believed that revealing the deep influence mechanism between the fractal dimensions and properties of metal material surfaces and interfaces will be the key research direction of the fractal analysis of metal materials in the future.

Multilevel analysis of the central-peripheral-target organ pathway:contributing to recovery after peripheral nerve injury

Peripheral nerve injury is a common neurological condition that often leads to severe functional limitations and disabilities.Research on the pathogenesis of peripheral nerve injury has focused on pathological changes at individual injury sites,neglecting multilevel pathological analysis of the overall nervous system and target organs.This has led to restrictions on current therapeutic approaches.In this paper,we first summarize the potential mechanisms of peripheral nerve injury from a holistic perspective,covering the central nervous system,peripheral nervous system,and target organs.After peripheral nerve injury,the cortical plasticity of the brain is altered due to damage to and regeneration of peripheral nerves;changes such as neuronal apoptosis and axonal demyelination occur in the spinal cord.The nerve will undergo axonal regeneration,activation of Schwann cells,inflammatory response,and vascular system regeneration at the injury site.Corresponding damage to target organs can occur,including skeletal muscle atrophy and sensory receptor disruption.We then provide a brief review of the research advances in therapeutic approaches to peripheral nerve injury.The main current treatments are conducted passively and include physical factor rehabilitation,pharmacological treatments,cell-based therapies,and physical exercise.However,most treatments only partially address the problem and cannot complete the systematic recovery of the entire central nervous system-peripheral nervous system-target organ pathway.Therefore,we should further explore multilevel treatment options that produce effective,long-lasting results,perhaps requiring a combination of passive(traditional)and active(novel)treatment methods to stimulate rehabilitation at the central-peripheral-target organ levels to achieve better functional recovery.

Security Risk Analysis on the Nutrients and Heavy Metals of Biogas Slurry in Agricultural Application

[Objective] This study was to provide scientific basis for the security application of biogas slurry in agriculture through the analysis on the security risk of nu- trients and heavy metals of biogas slurry in agricultural application. [Method] The components of the slurry produced by the anaerobic digestion of straws and manures were systematically analyzed. Different types of biogas slurry with different concentrations were used to conduct the germination test. [Result] The types and proportions of raw materials, and alkali pretreatment affected the compositions and nature of the biogas slurry. Alkali pretreatment could reduce the contents of heavy metals and improved the contents of nitrogen, phosphorous, organic matter and available components. The contents of heavy metals in the biogas slurry were as follows： Cd of 8.76 μg/kg, Cr of 52μg/kg, Pb of 210 μg/kg, Hg of 0.512 μg/kg, As of 140μg/kg, and the contents of Cu and Zn were the highest among the heavy metals, respectively, 279 and 680 μg/kg. All the contents were under the limit standards of the urban wastes for agricultural use. The germination tests of the seeds verified that the slurry with the concentration of lower than 5% could accelerate the germination, while the salt stress could inhibit the growth of seedlings in the slurry. [Conclusion] When the dung are uses as the raw materials for fermentation, appropriate control should be conducted on the feeding proportion or the heavy metals should be pre-removed; when the slurry is used as the liquid fertilizer to apply in the farmland, the dilution or desalting treatment should be conducted at first.

Analysis on the Several Nutrient Elements Demanded for the Growth of Wolffia globosa

[Objective] This study was to analyze the several nutrient elements de- manded for the growth of Wolffia globosa with the aim to provide references for the improvement on the formula of nutrient solution for the cultivation of Wolffia globosa. [Method] The basic conditions of the pond were simulated in the greenhouse, and nutrient solution was added to cultivate Wolffia globosa. The main element composi- tions of the experimental water, wild water and dried Wolffia globosa were detected by inductively coupled plasma spectrometer （ICP） and element analyzer, in order to study the nutrient demand for Wolffia globosa growth. And the absorption of N, P, K and consumption of P for the growth of Wolffia globosa were also analyzed. [Re- suit] The Wolffia globosa biomass of the experimental group which cultivated by adding nutrient solution increased over time, and after 2 weeks, the average capacity was significantly more than initial capacity; and the average capacity of the control group without nutrient solution was significantly lower than initial capacity, indicating that the addition of nutrient solution has obvious effect on the growth of Wolffia glo- bosa. However, the biomass of the experimental group was no longer increase after 2 weeks, indicating that there are some inhibitory factors in the incubators of the experimental group. The element detection results were as follows： the content pro- portions of N, P and K were 3.8：1：2.8, 11.5：1：17 and 5.2：1：6.8 in the experimental water, wild water and drying Wolffia globosa, respectively. The N, P, K in the water of experimental group was not exhausted, while the contents of Ca and Zn in three experimental incubators were below the limit of detection （ND）. And the contents of Mn in incubators No.l-No.3 were ND, 0.05 and 0.38 mg/L, respectively, presenting positive correlation with the biomass of Wolffia globosa. The inhibitory growth of Wolffia globosa is closely related with the absence of Ca, Mn and Zn in the nutrient solution. [Conclusion] The experimental results provided valuable parameters for the improvement on the formula of the original nutrient solution.

Screening biomarkers for spinal cord injury using weighted gene co-expression network analysis and machine learning

Immune changes and inflammatory responses have been identified as central events in the pathological process of spinal co rd injury.They can greatly affect nerve regeneration and functional recovery.However,there is still limited understanding of the peripheral immune inflammato ry response in spinal cord inju ry.In this study.we obtained microRNA expression profiles from the peripheral blood of patients with spinal co rd injury using high-throughput sequencing.We also obtained the mRNA expression profile of spinal cord injury patients from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database(GSE151371).We identified 54 differentially expressed microRNAs and 1656 diffe rentially expressed genes using bioinformatics approaches.Functional enrichment analysis revealed that various common immune and inflammation-related signaling pathways,such as neutrophil extracellular trap formation pathway,T cell receptor signaling pathway,and nuclear factor-κB signal pathway,we re abnormally activated or inhibited in spinal cord inju ry patient samples.We applied an integrated strategy that combines weighted gene co-expression network analysis,LASSO logistic regression,and SVM-RFE algorithm and identified three biomarke rs associated with spinal cord injury:ANO10,BST1,and ZFP36L2.We verified the expression levels and diagnostic perfo rmance of these three genes in the original training dataset and clinical samples through the receiver operating characteristic curve.Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that ANO20 and BST1 mRNA levels were increased and ZFP36L2 mRNA was decreased in the peripheral blood of spinal cord injury patients.We also constructed a small RNA-mRNA interaction network using Cytoscape.Additionally,we evaluated the proportion of 22 types of immune cells in the peripheral blood of spinal co rd injury patients using the CIBERSORT tool.The proportions of naive B cells,plasma cells,monocytes,and neutrophils were increased while the proportions of memory B cells,CD8^(+)T cells,resting natural killer cells,resting dendritic cells,and eosinophils were markedly decreased in spinal cord injury patients increased compared with healthy subjects,and ANO10,BST1 and ZFP26L2we re closely related to the proportion of certain immune cell types.The findings from this study provide new directions for the development of treatment strategies related to immune inflammation in spinal co rd inju ry and suggest that ANO10,BST2,and ZFP36L2 are potential biomarkers for spinal cord injury.The study was registe red in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry(registration No.ChiCTR2200066985,December 12,2022).

Social-ecological perspective on the suicidal behaviour factors of early adolescents in China:a network analysis

Background In early adolescence,youth are highly prone to suicidal behaviours.Identifying modifiable risk factors during this critical phase is a priority to inform effective suicide prevention strategies.Aims To explore the risk and protective factors of suicidal behaviours(ie,suicidal ideation,plans and attempts)in early adolescence in China using a social-ecological perspective.Methods Using data from the cross-sectional project‘Healthy and Risky Behaviours Among Middle School Students in Anhui Province,China',stratified random cluster sampling was used to select 5724 middle school students who had completed self-report questionnaires in November 2020.Network analysis was employed to examine the correlates of suicidal ideation,plans and attempts at four levels,namely individual(sex,academic performance,serious physical llness/disability,history of self-harm,depression,impulsivity,sleep problems,resilience),family(family economic status,relationship with mother,relationship with father,family violence,childhood abuse,parental mental illness),school(relationship with teachers,relationship with classmates,school-bullying victimisation and perpetration)and social(social support,satisfaction with society).Results In total,37.9%,19.0%and 5.5%of the students reported suicidal ideation,plans and attempts in the past 6 months,respectively.The estimated network revealed that suicidal ideation,plans and attempts were collectively associated with a history of self-harm,sleep problems,childhood abuse,school bullying and victimisation.Centrality analysis indicated that the most influential nodes in the network were history of self-harm and childhood abuse.Notably,the network also showed unique correlates of suicidal ideation(sex,weight=0.60;impulsivity,weight=0.24;family violence,weight=0.17;relationship with teachers,weight=-0.03;school-bullying perpetration,weight=0.22),suicidal plans(social support,weight=-0.15)and suicidal attempts(relationship with mother,weight=-0.10;parental mental llness,weight=0.61).Conclusions This study identified the correlates of suicidal ideation,plans and attempts,and provided practical implications for suicide prevention for young adolescents in China.Firstly,this study highlighted the importance of joint interventions across multiple departments.Secondly,the common risk factors of suicidal ideation,plans and attempts were elucidated.Thirdly,this study proposed target interventions to address the unique influencing factors of suicidal ideation,plans and attempts.

Comparative Analysis of Nutrient Composition of Caulerpa lentillifera from Different Regions

This study investigated the difference of nutrient composition in Caulerpa lentillifera collected from different regions.The nutrient compositions of C.lentillifera from China's Hainan and Shandong provinces were determined and compared with those from Semporna(Malaysia),Sabah(Malaysia),Petchburi(Thailand),and two other species of seaweeds(Malaysia).The results showed that the polysaccharide and protein contents of C.lentillifera from Hainan(44.82%±0.98%and 12.5%±0.70%),Shandong(43.22%±1.42%and 14.7%±0.72%),Petchburi(59.27%±2.31%and 12.49%±0.30%),and Sabah(44.02%±2.01%and 19.38%±1.48%)were higher than those of Eucheuma cottonii(26.49%±3.01%and 9.76%±1.33%)and Sargassum polycystum(33.49%±1.70%and 5.40%±0.07%),respectively.The polyunsaturated fatty acid contents in C.lentillifera from Hainan(29.98%)and Shandong(22.11%)were higher than that in Semporna(16.76%±0.27%),Sabah(9.49%),and S.polycystum(20.34%±0.43%),but lower than that in E.cottonii(51.55%±0.57%).In Caulerpa lentillifera of Hainan and Shandong provinces,the essential amino acid(EAA)/total amino acid(TAA)ratios were 35.22%and 38.78%,respectively;and the EAA/ETAA ratios were 54.36%and 63.35%,respectively.The EAA composition of C.lentillifera was close to the ideal model of Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization.C.lentillifera was rich in mineral elements,including calcium((3315.85±127.55)mg(100 g)^-1 and(3728.35±92.38)mg(100 g)^-1),magnesium((6715.74±82.58)mg(100 g)^-1 and(8128.59±242.72)mg(100 g)^-1),and trace elements,including iron((510.65±5.47)mg(100 g)^-1 and(1972.97±183.35)mg(100 g)^-1),selenium((1.04±0.08)mg(100 g)^-1 and(0.83±0.15)mg(100 g)^-1),and zinc((33.90±0.13)mg(100 g)^-1 and(11.75±2.05)mg(100 g)^-1).These results showed that C.lentillifera was more nutritious than S.polycystum or E.cottonii in terms of polysaccharide,protein,and fatty acid contents.Furthermore,both C.lentillifera species collected from Hainan and Shandong provinces show more basic nutrients.Therefore,C.lentillifera has important development and application prospects.

Advances in microfluidic-based DNA methylation analysis

DNA methylation has been extensively investigated in recent years,not least because of its known relationship with various diseases.Progress in analytical methods can greatly increase the relevance of DNA methylation studies to both clinical medicine and scientific research.Microflu-idic chips are excellent carriers for molecular analysis,and their use can provide improvements from multiple aspects.On-chip molecular analysis has received extensive attention owing to its advantages of portability,high throughput,low cost,and high efficiency.In recent years,the use of novel microfluidic chips for DNA methylation analysis has been widely reported and has shown obvious superiority to conventional methods.In this review,wefirst focus on DNA methylation and its applications.Then,we discuss advanced microfluidic-based methods for DNA methylation analysis and describe the great progress that has been made in recent years.Finally,we summarize the advantages that microfluidic technology brings to DNA methylation analysis and describe several challenges and perspectives for on-chip DNA methylation analysis.This review should help researchers improve their understanding and make progress in developing microfluidic-based methods for DNA methylation analysis.

A Review on Sources,Extractions and Analysis Methods of a Sustainable Biomaterial:Tannins

Condensed and hydrolysable tannins are non-toxic natural polyphenols that are a commercial commodity industrialized for tanning hides to obtain leather and for a growing number of other industrial applications mainly to substitute petroleum-based products.They are a definite class of sustainable materials of the forestry industry.They have been in operation for hundreds of years to manufacture leather and now for a growing number of applications in a variety of other industries,such as wood adhesives,metal coating,pharmaceutical/medical applications and several others.This review presents the main sources,either already or potentially commercial of this forestry by-materials,their industrial and laboratory extraction systems,their systems of analysis with their advantages and drawbacks,be these methods so simple to even appear primitive but nonetheless of proven effectiveness,or very modern and instrumental.It constitutes a basic but essential summary of what is necessary to know of these sustainable materials.In doing so,the review highlights some of the main challenges that remain to be addressed to deliver the quality and economics of tannin supply necessary to fulfill the industrial production requirements for some materials-based uses.

Telomerase-related advances in hepatocellular carcinoma:A bibliometric and visual analysis

BACKGROUND As a critical early event in hepatocellular carcinogenesis,telomerase activation might be a promising and critical biomarker for hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)patients,and its function in the genesis and treatment of HCC has gained much attention over the past two decades.AIM To perform a bibliometric analysis to systematically assess the current state of research on HCC-related telomerase.METHODS The Web of Science Core Collection and PubMed were systematically searched to retrieve publications pertaining to HCC/telomerase limited to“articles”and“reviews”published in English.A total of 873 relevant publications related to HCC and telomerase were identified.We employed the Bibliometrix package in R to extract and analyze the fundamental information of the publications,such as the trends in the publications,citation counts,most prolific or influential writers,and most popular journals;to screen for keywords occurring at high frequency;and to draw collaboration and cluster analysis charts on the basis of coauthorship and co-occurrences.VOSviewer was utilized to compile and visualize the bibliometric data.RESULTS A surge of 51 publications on HCC/telomerase research occurred in 2016,the most productive year from 1996 to 2023,accompanied by the peak citation count recorded in 2016.Up to December 2023,35226 citations were made to all publications,an average of 46.6 citations to each paper.The United States received the most citations(n=13531),followed by China(n=7427)and Japan(n=5754).In terms of national cooperation,China presented the highest centrality,its strongest bonds being to the United States and Japan.Among the 20 academic institutions with the most publications,ten came from China and the rest of Asia,though the University of Paris Cité,Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris,and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research(INSERM)were the most prolific.As for individual contributions,Hisatomi H,Kaneko S,and Ide T were the three most prolific authors.Kaneko S ranked first by H-index,G-index,and overall publication count,while Zucman-Rossi J ranked first in citation count.The five most popular journals were the World Journal of Gastroenterology,Hepatology,Journal of Hepatology,Oncotarget,and Oncogene,while Nature Genetics,Hepatology,and Nature Reviews Disease Primers had the most citations.We extracted 2293 keywords from the publications,120 of which appeared more than ten times.The most frequent were HCC,telomerase and human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT).Keywords such as mutational landscape,TERT promoter mutations,landscape,risk,and prognosis were among the most common issues in this field in the last three years and may be topics for research in the coming years.CONCLUSION Our bibliometric analysis provides a comprehensive overview of HCC/telomerase research and insights into promising upcoming research.

Leaf nitrogen and phosphorus resorption of woody species in response to climatic conditions and soil nutrients： a meta-analysis

Nutrient resorption before abscission is an important nutrient conservation mechanism regulated by climatic conditions and soil nutrients. However, our current understanding of leaf nutrient resorption is primarily derived from site-specific studies or from the use of greenleaf nutrient concentrations to represent those in soils. It remains unknown how nutrient resorption responds to natural soil-nutrient concentrations at a global scale. The effects of plant functional groups, climatic conditions, and soil nutrients and their interactions on leaf nutrient resorption are also unknown. In this study, we established a global database derived from 85 published papers, including 547 reports of nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiency （NRE and PRE）, climatic factors （LAT, latitude; MAT, mean annual temperature; MAP, mean annual precipitation） and soil-nutrient data （STN, soil total nitrogen; STP, soil total phosphorus） across 111 research sites. The results demonstrated that mean NRE and PRE were 48.4 and 53.3%, respectively. NRE of trees was lower than those of shrubs. NRE and PRE of coniferous species were both higher than those of broad-leaved species. Evergreen species had higher PRE than did deciduous species. NRE was negatively related to STN, but PRE and STP were not related. Both NRE and PRE decreased with increasing MAT and MAP but increased with increasing LAT. Plant functional groups, climate and soil nutrients jointly explained 22 and 32% of the variations in NRE and PRE, respectively. It is important to note that climate （especially MAT） explained 12 and 29% of the variations in NRE and PRE, respectively, implying that continuing global warming will exert an increasingly profound influence on plant nutrient cycles.

Micro segment analysis of supercritical methane thermal-hydraulic performance and pseudo-boiling in a PCHE straight channel

The printed circuit heat exchanger(PCHE) is receiving wide attention as a new kind of compact heat exchanger and is considered as a promising vaporizer in the LNG process. In this paper, a PCHE straight channel in the length of 500 mm is established, with a semicircular cross section in a diameter of 1.2 mm.Numerical simulation is employed to investigate the flow and heat transfer performance of supercritical methane in the channel. The pseudo-boiling theory is adopted and the liquid-like, two-phase-like, and vapor-like regimes are divided for supercritical methane to analyze the heat transfer and flow features.The results are presented in micro segment to show the local convective heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. It shows that the convective heat transfer coefficient in segments along the channel has a significant peak feature near the pseudo-critical point and a heat transfer deterioration when the average fluid temperature in the segment is higher than the pseudo-critical point. The reason is explained with the generation of vapor-like film near the channel wall that the peak feature related to a nucleateboiling-like state and heat transfer deterioration related to a film-boiling-like state. The effects of parameters, including mass flow rate, pressure, and wall heat flux on flow and heat transfer were analyzed.In calculating of the averaged heat transfer coefficient of the whole channel, the traditional method shows significant deviation and the micro segment weighted average method is adopted. The pressure drop can mainly be affected by the mass flux and pressure and little affected by the wall heat flux. The peak of the convective heat transfer coefficient can only form at high mass flux, low wall heat flux, and near critical pressure, in which condition the nucleate-boiling-like state is easier to appear. Moreover,heat transfer deterioration will always appear, since the supercritical flow will finally develop into a filmboiling-like state. So heat transfer deterioration should be taken seriously in the design and safe operation of vaporizer PCHE. The study of this work clarified the local heat transfer and flow feature of supercritical methane in microchannel and contributed to the deep understanding of supercritical methane flow of the vaporization process in PCHE.

The value of toxicological analysis in acute poisoning patients with uncertain exposure histories:a retrospective and descriptive study from an institute of poisoning

BACKGROUND:In clinical practice,some patients might not be able or unwilling to provide a thorough history of medication and poison exposure.The aim of this study was to use toxicological analysis to examine the clinical characteristics of patients with acute poisoning whose exposure history was uncertain from a toxicological analysis perspective.METHODS:This was a retrospective and descriptive study from an institute of poisoning.Patient registration information and test reports spanning the period from April 1,2020 to March 31,2022,were obtained.Patients with uncertain exposure histories and who underwent toxicological analysis were included.Clinical manifestations and categories of toxics were analyzed.RESULTS:Among the 195 patients with positive toxicological analysis results,the main causes of uncertain exposure history was disturbance of consciousness(62.6%),unawareness(23.6%)and unwillingness or lack of cooperation(13.8%).The predominant clinical manifestations were disturbed consciousness(62.6%),followed by vomiting and nausea(14.4%)and liver function abnormalities(8.7%).A comparison of clinical manifestations between patients with positive and negative(n=99)toxicological analyses results revealed significantly different proportions of disturbances in consciousness(63%vs.21%),dizziness(1.5%vs.5.1%),multi-organ failure(1.5%vs.7.1%),and local pain(0 vs 4%).The main categories of substances involved were psychiatric medications(23.1%),sedatives(20.5%),insecticides(13.8%),and herbicides(12.8%).CONCLUSION:The clinical manifestations of acute poisoning in patients with an uncertain exposure history are diverse and nonspecific,and toxicological analysis plays a pivotal role in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of such patients.

Causal Analysis Between Rice Growth and Cadmium Accumulation and Transfer under Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Inoculation

Cadmium(Cd)contamination in rice has been a serious threat to human health.To investigate the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi(AMF)on the Cd translocation in rice,a controlled pot experiment was conducted.The results indicated that AMF significantly increased rice biomass,with an increase of up to 40.0%,particularly in root biomass by up to 68.4%.Notably,the number of prominent rice individuals also increased,and their plasticity was enhanced following AMF inoculation.AMF led to an increase in the net photosynthetic rate and antioxidant enzyme activity of rice.In the AMF treatment group,the Cd concentration in the rice roots was significantly higher(19.1%‒68.0%)compared with that in the control group.Conversely,the Cd concentration in the rice seeds was lower in the AMF treatment group,indicating that AMF facilitated the sequestration of Cd in rice roots and reduced Cd accumulation in the seeds.Path coefficients varied across different treatments,suggesting that AMF inoculation reduced the direct impact of soil Cd concentration on the total Cd accumulation in seeds.The translocation of Cd was consistently associated with simultaneous growth dilution and compensatory accumulation as a result of mycorrhizal effects.Our study quantitatively analyzed this process through path analysis and clarified the causal relationship between rice growth and Cd transfer under the influence of AMF.

Lagrangian coherent structure analysis on transport of Acetes chinensis along coast of Lianyungang,China

Spatial heterogeneity or“patchiness”of plankton distributions in the ocean has always been an attractive and challenging scientific issue to oceanographers.We focused on the accumulation and dynamic mechanism of the Acetes chinensis in the Lianyungang nearshore licensed fishing area.The Lagrangian frame approaches including the Lagrangian coherent structures theory,Lagrangian residual current,and Lagrangian particle-tracking model were applied to find the transport pathways and aggregation characteristics of Acetes chinensis.There exist some material transport pathways for Acetes chinensis passing through the licensed fishing area,and Acetes chinensis is easy to accumulate in the licensed fishing area.The main mechanism forming this distribution pattern is the local circulation induced by the nonlinear interaction of topography and tidal flow.Both the Lagrangian coherent structure analysis and the particle trajectory tracking indicate that Acetes chinensis in the licensed fishing area come from the nearshore estuary.This work contributed to the adjustment of licensed fishing area and the efficient utilization of fishery resources.

Iron and ferritin effects on intensive care unit mortality:A metaanalysis

BACKGROUND The effect of serum iron or ferritin parameters on mortality among critically ill patients is not well characterized.AIM To determine the association between serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients.METHODS Web of Science,Embase,PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases were searched for studies on serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients.Two reviewers independently assessed,selected,and abstracted data from studies reporting on serum iron or ferritin parameters and mortality among critically ill patients.Data on serum iron or ferritin levels,mortality,and demographics were extracted.RESULTS Nineteen studies comprising 125490 patients were eligible for inclusion.We observed a slight negative effect of serum ferritin on mortality in the United States population[relative risk(RR)1.002;95%CI:1.002-1.004].In patients with sepsis,serum iron had a significant negative effect on mortality(RR=1.567;95%CI:1.208-1.925).CONCLUSION This systematic review presents evidence of a negative correlation between serum iron levels and mortality among patients with sepsis.Furthermore,it reveals a minor yet adverse impact of serum ferritin on mortality among the United States population.

Evaluation of slope stability through rock mass classification and kinematic analysis of some major slopes along NH-1A from Ramban to Banihal, North Western Himalayas

The network of Himalayan roadways and highways connects some remote regions of valleys or hill slopes,which is vital for India’s socio-economic growth.Due to natural and artificial factors,frequency of slope instabilities along the networks has been increasing over last few decades.Assessment of stability of natural and artificial slopes due to construction of these connecting road networks is significant in safely executing these roads throughout the year.Several rock mass classification methods are generally used to assess the strength and deformability of rock mass.This study assesses slope stability along the NH-1A of Ramban district of North Western Himalayas.Various structurally and non-structurally controlled rock mass classification systems have been applied to assess the stability conditions of 14 slopes.For evaluating the stability of these slopes,kinematic analysis was performed along with geological strength index(GSI),rock mass rating(RMR),continuous slope mass rating(CoSMR),slope mass rating(SMR),and Q-slope in the present study.The SMR gives three slopes as completely unstable while CoSMR suggests four slopes as completely unstable.The stability of all slopes was also analyzed using a design chart under dynamic and static conditions by slope stability rating(SSR)for the factor of safety(FoS)of 1.2 and 1 respectively.Q-slope with probability of failure(PoF)1%gives two slopes as stable slopes.Stable slope angle has been determined based on the Q-slope safe angle equation and SSR design chart based on the FoS.The value ranges given by different empirical classifications were RMR(37-74),GSI(27.3-58.5),SMR(11-59),and CoSMR(3.39-74.56).Good relationship was found among RMR&SSR and RMR&GSI with correlation coefficient(R 2)value of 0.815 and 0.6866,respectively.Lastly,a comparative stability of all these slopes based on the above classification has been performed to identify the most critical slope along this road.

Uncertainty quantification of inverse analysis for geomaterials using probabilistic programming

Uncertainty is an essentially challenging for safe construction and long-term stability of geotechnical engineering.The inverse analysis is commonly utilized to determine the physico-mechanical parameters.However,conventional inverse analysis cannot deal with uncertainty in geotechnical and geological systems.In this study,a framework was developed to evaluate and quantify uncertainty in inverse analysis based on the reduced-order model(ROM)and probabilistic programming.The ROM was utilized to capture the mechanical and deformation properties of surrounding rock mass in geomechanical problems.Probabilistic programming was employed to evaluate uncertainty during construction in geotechnical engineering.A circular tunnel was then used to illustrate the proposed framework using analytical and numerical solution.The results show that the geomechanical parameters and associated uncertainty can be properly obtained and the proposed framework can capture the mechanical behaviors under uncertainty.Then,a slope case was employed to demonstrate the performance of the developed framework.The results prove that the proposed framework provides a scientific,feasible,and effective tool to characterize the properties and physical mechanism of geomaterials under uncertainty in geotechnical engineering problems.

Identification of an Aux/IAA regulator for flesh firmness using combined GWAS and bulked segregant RNA-Seq analysis in watermelon

Watermelon is a highly cultivated fruit crop renowned for its quality properties of fruit flesh.Among various quality factors,fruit flesh firmness is a crucial quality parameter influencing the fruit texture,shelf life and its commercial value.The auxin/indole-3-acetic acid(Aux/IAA)plays a significant role in fruit development and ripening of non-climacteric fruits.However,the regulatory mechanism of Aux/IAA in controlling fruit flesh firmness and ripening in watermelon remains unknown.In this study,we employed an integrative approach combining genome-wide association study(GWAS)and bulked segregant RNA-Seq analysis(BSR-Seq)to identify an overlapping candidate region between 12776310 and 12968331 bp on chromosome 6,underlying an auxin-responsive gene(Aux/IAA)associated with flesh firmness in watermelon.Transcriptome analysis,followed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR(qRT-PCR),confirmed that the expression of Aux/IAA was consistently higher in fruits with high flesh firmness.The sequence alignment revealed a single base mutation in the coding region of Aux/IAA.Furthermore,the concomitant Kompetitive/Competitive allele-specific PCR(KASP)genotyping data sets for F2 population and germplasm accessions identified Aux/IAA as a strong candidate gene associated with flesh firmness.Aux/IAA was enriched in the plant hormone signal transduction pathway,involving cell enlargement and leading to low flesh firmness.We determined the higher accumulation of abscisic acid(ABA)in fruits with low flesh firmness than hard flesh.Moreover,overexpression of Aux/IAA induced higher flesh firmness with an increased number of fruit flesh cells while reducing ABA content and flesh cell sizes.Additionally,the allelic variation in Aux/IAA for soft flesh firmness was found to exist in Citrullus mucosospermus and gradually fixed into Citrullus lanatus during domestication,indicating that soft flesh firmness was a domesticated trait.These findings significantly enhanced our understanding of watermelon fruit flesh firmness and consequently the watermelon fruit quality.

Probabilistic back-analysis of rainfall-induced landslides for slope reliability prediction with multi-source information

Probabilistic back-analysis is an important means to infer the statistics of uncertain soil parameters,making the slope reliability assessment closer to the engineering reality.However,multi-source information(including test data,monitored data,field observation and slope survival records)is rarely used in current probabilistic back-analysis.Conducting the probabilistic back-analysis of spatially varying soil parameters and slope reliability prediction under rainfalls by integrating multi-source information is a challenging task since thousands of random variables and high-dimensional likelihood function are usually involved.In this paper,a framework by integrating a modified Bayesian Updating with Subset simulation(mBUS)method with adaptive Conditional Sampling(aCS)algorithm is established for the probabilistic back-analysis of spatially varying soil parameters and slope reliability prediction.Within this framework,the high-dimensional probabilistic back-analysis problem can be easily tackled,and the multi-source information(e.g.monitored pressure heads and slope survival records)can be fully used in the back-analysis.A real Taoyuan landslide case in Taiwan,China is investigated to illustrate the effectiveness and performance of the established framework.The findings show that the posterior knowledge of soil parameters obtained from the established framework is in good agreement with the field observations.Furthermore,the updated knowledge of soil parameters can be utilized to reliably predict the occurrence probability of a landslide caused by the heavy rainfall event on September 12,2004 or forecast the potential landslides under future rainfalls in the Fuhsing District of Taoyuan City,Taiwan,China.