The versatile video coding (VVC) is the latest video coding standard, which uses a Multi-Type Tree (MTT) coding structure. Compared with existing video coding standards, this structure can flexibly ...split coding blocks according to the complex texture features of the image. As MTT structure introduces binary tree (BT) and ternary tree (TT) splitting, it will lead to a sharp increase in computational complexity. In the paper, a fast Coding Unit (CU) size decision method for intra prediction of VVC is proposed, which can significantly reduce the calculation in the intra encoding of VVC. The proposed method consists of two steps: 1) determine whether CU is divided and 2) select the best CU splitting mode. In the intra prediction process, the CU texture complexity is firstly calculated, which judges whether the CU is divided into sub-CUs. Then, the unnecessary splitting mode candidates are discarded according to the relationship between the texture direction and the CU splitting mode. The experimental results show that our proposed fast CU partition method reduces about 48.58% the computational complexity, while the BDBR only increases by 0.91%.
Layered nickel-rich oxides, Li(Ni
x
Co
y
Mn
1
–x–y
)O
2
(
x
≥ 0.6), exhibit a high reversible capacity of over 200 mAh/g, ranking as one of the greatest attractive cathode materials for lithium-ion ...batteries. Nevertheless, their performance stability decreases with increasing Ni content, and conventional synthesis methods are difficult to control the lattice order, resulting in poor cyclic performance. To address above issues, this study aims skillfully to utilize CH
3
COOLi as the secondary lithium source combining with LiOH obtaining high-performance Li(Ni
0.8
Co
0.1
Mn
0.1
)O
2
single crystalline cathode material by a comparatively lower temperature solid-state route. The synthesized single crystal materials are represented by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, and electrochemical means to analyze physicochemical characteristics, along with benefits of CH
3
COOLi, are discussed. The research findings demonstrate that uniform particle size distribution with regular morphology, intact crystal structure, and relatively high level of crystallinity can be achieved without damage after sintering under the described conditions. The material exhibits a specific capacity of 205 mAh/g at a rate of 0.2 C, as well as retention of 92.68% after 100 cycles at 25 °C. This investigation offers new perspectives into the synthesis and application of single-crystal Ni-rich cathode materials, revealing valuable references for enhancing the performance of lithium-ion batteries.
With the development of the Cyber-Physical-Social Systems(CPSS), a large number of multidimensional time series have been generated in today's world, such as: sensor data for industrial equipment ...operation, vehicle driving data, and cloud server operation and maintenance data and so on. The key task of Cloud-Fog-Edge Computing in managing these systems is how to detect anomalous data in a specific time series to facilitate operator action to solve potential system problems. So multidimensional time series outlier detection become an important direction of CPSS data mining and Cloud-Fog-Edge Computing research, and it has a wide range of applications in industry, finance, medicine and other fields. This paper proposes a framework called Multidimensional time series Outlier detection based on a Time Convolutional Network AutoEncoder (MOTCN-AE), which can detect outliers in time series data, such as identifying equipment failures, dangerous driving behaviors of cars, etc. Specifically, this paper first uses a feature extraction method to transform the original time series into a feature-rich time series. Second, the proposed TCN-AE is used to reconstruct the feature-rich time series data, and the reconstruction error is used to calculate outlier scores. Finally, the MOTCN-AE framework is validated by multiple time series datasets to demonstrate its effectiveness in detecting time series outliers.
Premise
Exploring how functional traits vary and covary is important to understand plant responses to environmental change. However, we have limited understanding of the ways multiple functional ...traits vary and covary within invasive species.
Methods
We measured 12 leaf traits of an invasive plant Chromolaena odorata, associated with plant or leaf economics, herbivore defense, and drought resistance on 10 introduced populations from Asia and 12 native populations from South and Central America, selected across a broad range of climatic conditions, and grown in a common garden.
Results
Species' range and climatic conditions influenced leaf traits, but trait variation across climate space differed between the introduced and native ranges. Traits that confer defense against herbivores and drought resistance were associated with economic strategy, but the patterns differed by range. Plants from introduced populations that were at the fast‐return end of the spectrum (high photosynthetic capacity) had high physical defense traits (high trichome density), whereas plants from native populations that were at the fast‐return end of the spectrum had high drought escape traits (early leaf senescence and high percentage of withered shoots).
Conclusions
Our results indicate that invasive plants can rapidly adapt to novel environmental conditions. Chromolaena odorata showed multiple different functional trait covariation patterns and clines in the native and introduced ranges. Our results emphasize that interaction between multiple traits or functions should be considered when investigating the adaptive evolution of invasive plants.
Acanthamoeba spp. are opportunistic human pathogens that cause granulomatous amoebic encephalitis and keratitis, and their accurate detection and enumeration in environmental samples is a challenge. ...In addition, information regarding the genotyping of Acanthamoeba spp. using various PCR methods is equally critical. Therefore, considering the diverse niches of habitats, it is necessary to develop an even more efficient genotyping method for Acanthamoeba spp. detection. This study improved the sensitivity of detection to avoid underestimation of Acanthamoeba spp. occurrence in aquatic environmental samples, and to accurately define the pathogenic risk by developing an efficient PCR method. In this study, a new nested genotyping method was established and compared with various PCR-based methods using in silico, lab, and empirical tests. The in silico test showed that many PCR-based methods could not successfully align specific genotypes of Acanthamoeba, except for the newly designed nested PCR and real-time PCR method. Furthermore, 52 water samples from rivers, reservoirs, and a river basin in Taiwan were analysed by six different PCR methods and compared for genotyping and detection efficiency of Acanthamoeba. The newly developed nested-PCR-based method of genotyping was found to be significantly sensitive as it could effectively detect the occurrence of Acanthamoeba spp., which was underestimated by the JDP-PCR method. Additionally, the present results are consistent with previous studies indicating that the high prevalence of Acanthamoeba in the aquatic environment of Taiwan is attributed to the commonly found T4 genotype. Ultimately, we report the development of a small volume procedure, which is a combination of recent genotyping PCR and conventional real-time PCR for enumeration of aquatic Acanthamoeba and acquirement of biologically meaningful genotyping information. We anticipate that the newly developed detection method will contribute to the precise estimation, evaluation, and reduction of the contamination risk of pathogenic Acanthamoeba spp., which is regularly found in the water resources utilised for domestic purposes.
A series of 4-aminoquinazoline derivatives were designed and synthesized as epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors in our group. The bioassay results showed all the target compounds ...possessed potential anti-tumor activities against on A549 and H1975 cell lines. The IC50 values of 8.35 (for A549) and 19.18 μM (for H1975) exhibited remarkable inhibitory activity of compound 7d, which were better compared to the positive control Afatinib (IC50 = 10.41 μM for A549, IC50 = 24.96 μM for H1975). In addition, the molecular docking and ADME prediction of compound 7d was carried out. The experimental results show the compound 7d is worth to further research and discuss.
This present study examined excess copper (Cu) effects on seedling growth, leaf Cu concentration, gas exchange, and protein profiles identified by a two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) based mass ...spectrometry (MS) approach after
and
seedlings were treated for six months with 0.5 (control), 200, 300, or 400 μM CuCl
. Forty-one and 37 differentially abundant protein (DAP) spots were identified in Cu-treated
and
leaves, respectively, including some novel DAPs that were not reported in leaves and/or roots. Most of these DAPs were identified only in
or
leaves. More DAPs increased in abundances than DAPs decreased in abundances were observed in Cu-treated
leaves, but the opposite was true in Cu-treated
leaves. Over 50% of DAPs were associated with photosynthesis, carbohydrate, and energy metabolism. Cu-toxicity-induced reduction in leaf CO
assimilation might be caused by decreased abundances of proteins related to photosynthetic electron transport chain (PETC) and CO
assimilation. Cu-effects on PETC were more pronounced in
leaves than in
leaves. DAPs related to antioxidation and detoxification, protein folding and assembly (viz., chaperones and folding catalysts), and signal transduction might be involved in
Cu-toxicity and Cu-tolerance.
A novel injectable cement composed of chitosan-bonded borate bioactive glass (BG) particles was evaluated as a carrier for local delivery of vancomycin in the treatment of osteomyelitis in a rabbit ...tibial model.
The setting time, injectability, and compressive strength of the borate BG cement, and the release profile of vancomycin from the cement were measured in vitro. The capacity of the vancomycin-loaded BG cement to eradicate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)-induced osteomyelitis in rabbit tibiae in vivo was evaluated and compared with that for a vancomycin-loaded calcium sulfate (CS) cement and for intravenous injection of vancomycin.
The BG cement had an injectability of >90% during the first 3 minutes after mixing, hardened within 30 minutes and, after hardening, had a compressive strength of 18 ± 2 MPa. Vancomycin was released from the BG cement into phosphate-buffered saline for up to 36 days, and the cumulative amount of vancomycin released was 86% of the amount initially loaded into the cement. In comparison, vancomycin was released from the CS cement for up 28 days and the cumulative amount released was 89%. Two months post-surgery, radiography and microbiological tests showed that the BG and CS cements had a better ability to eradicate osteomyelitis when compared to intravenous injection of vancomycin, but there was no significant difference between the BG and CS cements in eradicating the infection. Histological examination showed that the BG cement was biocompatible and had a good capacity for regenerating bone in the tibial defects.
These results indicate that borate BG cement is a promising material both as an injectable carrier for vancomycin in the eradication of osteomyelitis and as an osteoconductive matrix to regenerate bone after the infection is cured.
In recent years, many cities in the Chinese loess plateau (especially in Shanxi province) have encountered ground subsidence problems due to the construction of underground projects and the ...exploitation of underground resources. With the completion of the world’s largest geotechnical project, called “mountain excavation and city construction,” in a collapsible loess area, the Yan’an city also appeared to have uneven ground subsidence. To obtain the spatial distribution characteristics and the time-series evolution trend of the subsidence, we selected Yan’an New District (YAND) as the specific study area and presented an improved time-series InSAR (TS-InSAR) method for experimental research. Based on 89 Sentinel-1A images collected between December 2017 to December 2020, we conducted comprehensive research and analysis on the spatial and temporal evolution of surface subsidence in YAND. The monitoring results showed that the YAND is relatively stable in general, with deformation rates mainly in the range of −10 to 10 mm/yr. However, three significant subsidence funnels existed in the fill area, with a maximum subsidence rate of 100 mm/yr. From 2017 to 2020, the subsidence funnels enlarged, and their subsidence rates accelerated. Further analysis proved that the main factors induced the severe ground subsidence in the study area, including the compressibility and collapsibility of loess, rapid urban construction, geological environment change, traffic circulation load, and dynamic change of groundwater. The experimental results indicated that the improved TS-InSAR method is adaptive to monitoring uneven subsidence of deep loess area. Moreover, related data and information would provide reference to the large-scale ground deformation monitoring and in similar loess areas.
‘Xuegan’ (Citrus sinensis) seedlings were fertilized 6 times weekly for 24 weeks with 0.5 or 350 μM CuCl2 and 2.5, 10 or 25 μM H3BO3. Cu-toxicity increased Cu uptake per plant (UPP) and Cu ...concentrations in leaves, stems and roots, decreased water uptake and phosphorus, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, boron and iron UPP, and increased the ratios of magnesium, potassium, calcium and sulfur UPP to phosphorus UPP and the ratios of leaf magnesium, potassium and calcium concentrations to leaf phosphorus concentration. Many decaying and dead fibrous roots occurred in Cu-toxic seedlings. Cu-toxicity-induced alterations of these parameters and root damage decreased with the increase of boron supply. These results demonstrated that B supplementation lowered Cu uptake and its concentrations in leaves, stems and roots and subsequently alleviated Cu-toxicity-induced damage to root growth and function, thus improving plant nutrient (decreased Cu uptake and efficient maintenance of the other nutrient homeostasis and balance) and water status. Further analysis indicated that the improved nutrition and water status contributed to the boron-mediated amelioration of Cu-toxicity-induced inhibition of seedlings, decline of leaf pigments, large reduction of leaf CO2 assimilation and impairment of leaf photosynthetic electron transport chain revealed by greatly altered chlorophyll a fluorescence (OJIP) transients, reduced maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry (Fv/Fm), quantum yield for electron transport (ETo/ABS) and total performance index (PIabs,total), and elevated dissipated energy per reaction center (DIo/RC). To conclude, our findings corroborate the hypothesis that B-mediated amelioration of Cu-toxicity involved reduced damage to roots and improved nutrient and water status. Principal component analysis showed that Cu-toxicity-induced changes of above physiological parameters generally decreased with the increase of B supply and that B supply-induced alterations of above physiological parameters was greater in 350 μM Cu-treated than in 0.5 μM Cu-treated seedlings. B and Cu had a significant interactive influence on C. sinensis seedlings.
•B supply lowered Cu uptake and Cu level in C. sinensis leaves, stems and roots.•Cu-toxicity-induced root damage decreased with the increase of B supply.•B supply improved nutrition and water status of Cu-toxic seedlings.•B and Cu had a significant and interactive influence on C. sinensis seedlings.
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