This study discusses the application of fuzzy adaptive PID and improved genetic algorithm (IGA) in motion control and path optimization of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The fuzzy adaptive PID ...method is selected because it is considered to be a strongly nonlinear and coupled system. First, this study creates the basic coordinate system of the AUV, and then analyzes the spatial force from the AUV to obtain the control model of the heading angle, climb angle, and depth. Next, the knowledge of fuzzy adaptive PID and IGA technology on AVU are investigated, then fuzzy adaptive PID controllers and path optimization are established, and experimental simulations are carried out to compare and analyze the simulation results. The research results show that controllers and IGA can be used for the motion control and path optimization of AUV. The advantages of fuzzy adaptive PID control are less overload, enhanced system stability, and more suitable for motion control and path optimization of AUV.
Pesticides directly pollute the environment and contaminate foods ultimately being absorbed by the human body. Their residues contain highly toxic substances that have been found to cause serious ...problems to human health even at very low concentrations. The gold standard method, gas/liquid chromatography combined with mass spectroscopy, has been widely used for the detection of pesticide residues. However, these methods have some drawbacks such as complicated pretreatment and cleanup steps. Recent technological advancements of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) have promoted the creation of alternative detection techniques. SERS is a useful detection tool with ultrasensitivity and simpler protocols. Present SERS-based pesticide residue detection often uses standard solutions of target analytes in conjunction with theoretical Raman spectra calculated by density functional theory (DFT) and actual Raman spectra detected by SERS. SERS is quite a promising technique for the direct detection of pesticides at trace levels in liquid samples or on the surface of solid samples following simple extraction to increase the concentration of analytes. In this review, we highlight recent studies on SERS-based pesticide detection, including SERS for pesticide standard solution detection and for pesticides in/on food samples. Moreover, in-depth analysis of pesticide chemical structures, structural alteration during food processing, interaction with SERS substrates, and selection of SERS-active substrates is involved.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Membrane-based separation techniques are crucial for mitigating the pollution of aquatic environments and addressing challenges associated with water scarcity. Controlling the structure and chemical ...functionality of two-dimensional materials can enable the development of new classes of membranes that overcome the limitations of conventional membrane materials to optimize water purification performance. This work uses supramolecular cyclodextrins to decorate the exterior surface of MXene materials, thereby fabricating a series of hybrid membranes via vacuum-assisted self-assembly. These novel nanofiltration membranes can be used to efficiently separate dyes from wastewater. Compared with pristine MXene membranes, the permeability flux of the best-performing membrane increased 23.3 times, while its rejection of methylene blue exceeded 99.7%, most likely because of charge effects and size-selective molecular sieving features of the membranes. This study offers a promising approach for developing advanced membrane separation technologies for water purification by precisely controlling the two-dimensional membrane structure using supramolecular chemistry.
This work uses supramolecular cyclodextrins to decorate the exterior surface of MXene (Ti3C2Tx) materials, thereby fabricating a series of hybrid membranes via vacuum-assisted self-assembly. These novel nanofiltration membranes can be used to efficiently separate dyes from wastewater, with good selectivity and stability. Display omitted
•We prepared a series of hybrid membranes via the combination of MXene and CM-β-CD.•The hybrid membranes exhibited promising rejection effect toward dyes.•The permeability flux of hybrid membranes increased 23.3 times in contrast to that of the pristine MXene membrane.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most important apicomplexan parasites and infects one-third of the human population worldwide. Transformation between the tachyzoite and bradyzoite stages in the ...intermediate host is central to chronic infection and life-long risk. There have been some transcriptome studies on T. gondii; however, we are still early in our understanding of the kinds and levels of gene expression that occur during the conversion between stages.
We used high-throughput RNA-sequencing data to assemble transcripts using genome-based and de novo strategies. The expression-level analysis of 6996 T. gondii genes showed that over half (3986) were significantly differentially expressed during stage conversion, whereas 2205 genes were upregulated, and 1778 genes were downregulated in tachyzoites compared with bradyzoites. Several important gene families were expressed at relatively high levels. Comprehensive functional annotation and gene ontology analysis revealed that stress response-related genes are important for survival of bradyzoites in immune-competent hosts. We compared Trinity-based de novo and genome-based strategies, and found that the de novo assembly strategy compensated for the defects of the genome-based strategy by filtering out several transcripts with low expression or those unannotated on the genome. We also found some inaccuracies in the ToxoDB gene models. In addition, our analysis revealed that alternative splicing can be differentially regulated in response to life-cycle change. In depth analysis revealed a 20-nt, AG-rich sequence, alternative splicing locus from alt_acceptor motif search in tachyzoite.
This study represents the first large-scale effort to sequence the transcriptome of bradyzoites from T. gondii tissue cysts. Our data provide a comparative view of the tachyzoite and bradyzoite transcriptomes to allow a more complete dissection of all the molecular regulation mechanisms during stage conversions. A better understanding of the processes regulating stage conversion may guide targeted interventions to disrupt the transmission of T. gondii.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper investigates the multi-antenna covert communications assisted by a simultaneously transmitting and reflecting reconfigurable intelligent surface (STAR-RIS). In particular, to shelter the ...existence of covert communications between a multi-antenna transmitter and a single-antenna receiver from a warden, a friendly full-duplex receiver with two antennas is leveraged to make contributions where one antenna is responsible for receiving the transmitted signals and the other one transmits the jamming signals with a varying power to confuse the warden. Considering the worst case, the closed-form expression of the minimum detection error probability (DEP) at the warden is derived and utilized in a covert constraint to guarantee the system performance. Then, we formulate an optimization problem maximizing the covert rate of the system under the covertness constraint and quality of service (QoS) constraint with communication outage analysis. To jointly design the active and passive beamforming of the transmitter and STAR-RIS, an iterative algorithm based on semi-definite relaxation (SDR) method and Dinkelbach's algorithm is proposed to effectively solve the non-convex optimization problem. Simulation results show that the proposed STAR-RIS-assisted scheme highly outperforms the case with conventional RIS, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm as well as the superiority of STAR-RIS in guaranteeing the covertness of wireless communications.
Conjugated polymers have been widely adopted as active materials in hydrogel‐based stretchable supercapacitors, but the relatively low conductivity and poor structural stability limit their ...applications. Herein, highly conductive graphene was incorporated as a substrate to anchor polyaniline (PANI) in a hydrogel‐based stretchable electrode. Graphene not only provided an effective conducting network in the electrode, but also stabilized PANI during repeating charge‐discharge processes due to strong π‐π interaction between graphene and PANI. The obtained electrode showed high capacitance of 500.13 mF cm−2 and 100 % capacitance retention after 10000 charge‐discharge cycles. The symmetrical supercapacitor using this novel stretchable electrode showed a high capacitance of 218.26 mF cm−2, high capacitance retention of 43 % even when stretched at 150 % strain, and no capacitance decay when stretched to 100 % and then released to 0 % repeatedly for 2000 cycles, all of which were much better than the device based on the electrode without adding graphene. Such outstanding electrochemical performance shows the great application potential of highly conductive graphene in conjugated polymer‐based stretchable energy storage devices.
A bit of a stretch: As an effective conductivity enhancer and immobilizing substrate, highly conductive graphene promotes the property of conjugated polymers in hydrogel‐based stretchable supercapacitors. The electrode shows high capacitance of 500.13 mF cm−2 and 100 % capacitance retention after 10000 charge‐discharge cycles. The assembled symmetrical supercapacitor shows a high capacitance of 218.26 mF cm−2, and no capacitance decay during stretch‐releasing cycles.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Air pollution caused by particulate matter has significantly improved in China in recent years since the implementation of a series of stringent clean-air regulations. However, surface ozone ...concentrations have increased, especially in developed city clusters, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Sichuan Basin regions. Due to the complexity and nonlinearity of the ozone formation, accurately locating major sources of ozone and its precursors is an important basis for the formulation of cost-effective pollution control strategies. In this paper, the authors systematically summarize the reported results and outcomes of the methods and main conclusions of ozone source apportionment (regions and categories) in China from the published literature, based on observation-based methods and emission-based methods, respectively. The authors aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of ozone pollution and reliable references for the formulation of air pollution prevention policies in China.
Purpose
This report presents the methods and results of the Thoracic Auto‐Segmentation Challenge organized at the 2017 Annual Meeting of American Association of Physicists in Medicine. The purpose of ...the challenge was to provide a benchmark dataset and platform for evaluating performance of autosegmentation methods of organs at risk (OARs) in thoracic CT images.
Methods
Sixty thoracic CT scans provided by three different institutions were separated into 36 training, 12 offline testing, and 12 online testing scans. Eleven participants completed the offline challenge, and seven completed the online challenge. The OARs were left and right lungs, heart, esophagus, and spinal cord. Clinical contours used for treatment planning were quality checked and edited to adhere to the RTOG 1106 contouring guidelines. Algorithms were evaluated using the Dice coefficient, Hausdorff distance, and mean surface distance. A consolidated score was computed by normalizing the metrics against interrater variability and averaging over all patients and structures.
Results
The interrater study revealed highest variability in Dice for the esophagus and spinal cord, and in surface distances for lungs and heart. Five out of seven algorithms that participated in the online challenge employed deep‐learning methods. Although the top three participants using deep learning produced the best segmentation for all structures, there was no significant difference in the performance among them. The fourth place participant used a multi‐atlas‐based approach. The highest Dice scores were produced for lungs, with averages ranging from 0.95 to 0.98, while the lowest Dice scores were produced for esophagus, with a range of 0.55–0.72.
Conclusion
The results of the challenge showed that the lungs and heart can be segmented fairly accurately by various algorithms, while deep‐learning methods performed better on the esophagus. Our dataset together with the manual contours for all training cases continues to be available publicly as an ongoing benchmarking resource.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Cytidine nucleotide triphosphate synthase 1 (CTPS1) is a CTP synthase which play critical roles in DNA synthesis. However, its biological regulation and mechanism in triple-negative breast cancer ...(TNBC) has not been reported yet.
The expression of CTPS1 in TNBC tissues was determined by GEO, TCGA databases and immunohistochemistry (IHC). The effect of CTPS1 on TNBC cell proliferation, migration, invasion, apoptosis and tumorigenesis were explored in vivo and in vitro. In addition, the transcription factor Y-box binding protein 1 (YBX1) was identified by bioinformatics methods, dual luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation (CHIP) assays. Pearson correlation analysis was utilized to assess the association between YBX1 and CTPS1 expression.
CTPS1 expression was significantly upregulated in TNBC tissues and cell lines. Higher CTPS1 expression was correlated with a poorer disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in TNBC patients. Silencing of CTPS1 dramatically inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion ability and induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-231 and HCC1937 cells. Xenograft tumor model also indicated that CTPS1 knockdown remarkably reduced tumor growth in mice. Mechanically, YBX1 could bind to the promoter of CTPS1 to promote its transcription. Furthermore, the expression of YBX1 was positively correlated with CTPS1 in TNBC tissues. Rescue experiments confirmed that the enhanced cell proliferation and invasion ability induced by YBX1 overexpression could be reversed by CTPS1 knockdown.
Our data demonstrate that YBX1/CTPS1 axis plays an important role in the progression of TNBC. CTPS1 might be a promising prognosis biomarker and potential therapeutic target for patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Low temperatures limit the denitrification wastewater in activated sludge systems, but this can be mitigated by addition of redox mediators (RMs). Here, the effects of chlorophyll (Chl), ...1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic acid (NQS), humic acid (HA), and riboflavin (RF), each tested at three concentrations, were compared for denitrification performance at low temperature, by monitoring the produced extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and characterizing microbial communities and their metabolic potential. Chl increased the denitrification rate most, namely 4.12-fold compared to the control, followed by NQS (2.62-fold increase) and HA (1.35-fold increase), but RF had an inhibitory effect. Chl promoted the secretion of tryptophan-like and tyrosine-like proteins in the EPS and aided the conversion of protein from tightly bound EPS into loosely bound EPS, which improved the material transfer efficiency. NQS, HA, and RF also altered the EPS components. The four RMs affected the microbial community structure, whereby both conditionally abundant taxa (CAT) and conditionally rare or abundant taxa (CRAT) were key taxa. Among them, CRAT members interacted most with the other taxa. Chl promoted Flavobacterium enrichment in low-temperature activated sludge systems. In addition, Chl promoted the abundance of nitrate reduction genes narGHI and napAB and of nitrite reduction genes nirKS, norBC, and nosZ. Moreover, Chl increased abundance of genes involved in acetate metabolism and in the TCA cycle, thereby improving carbon source utilization. This study increases our understanding of the enhancement of low-temperature activated sludge by RMs, and demonstrates positive effects, in particular by Chl.
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•Chl enhanced denitrification performance of low-temperature activated sludge.•Chl altered EPS components to promote denitrification in activated sludge systems.•CRAT had a key role in the four RMs-enhanced systems, especially Chl.•Chl promoted Flavobacterium enrichment in low-temperature activated sludge systems.•Chl enhanced sodium acetate metabolism to produce more NADH for denitrification.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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