Black soils, which play an important role in agricultural production and food security, are well known for their relatively high content of soil organic matter (SOM). SOM has a significant impact on ...the sustainability of farmland and provides nutrients for plants. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) in the visible and near-infrared region has shown the potential to detect soil nutrient levels in the laboratory. However, using portable spectrometers directly in the field remains challenging due to variations in soil moisture (SM). The current study used spectral data captured by a handheld spectrometer outdoors to predict SOM, available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP) and available potassium (AK) with different SM levels. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) models were established to compare the predictive performance of air-dried soil samples with SMs around 20%, 30% and 40%. The results showed that the model established using dry sample data had the best performance (RMSE = 4.47 g/kg) for the prediction of SOM, followed by AN (RMSE = 20.92 mg/kg) and AK (RMSE = 22.67 mg/kg). The AP was better predicted by the model based on 30% SM (RMSE = 8.04 mg/kg). In general, model performance deteriorated with an increase in SM, except for the case of AP. Feature wavelengths for predicting four kinds of soil properties were recommended based on variable importance in the projection (VIP), which offered useful guidance for the development of portable hyperspectral sensors based on discrete wavebands to reduce cost and save time for on-site data collection.
Heavy metal pollution in mine wastelands is quite severe. Iris sibirica L., an emergent wetland plant, is characterized by an ability to survive under high stress of heavy metals. This study aimed to ...explore the phytoremediation ability of nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), and lead (Pb) by Iris sibirica L. under hydroponic conditions. A series of tests were conducted at different metal stress conditions to evaluate the phytoextraction and tolerance of Iris sibirica L. The concentrations of Ni, Co, and Pb in plant shoots reached their highest values in 500 mg L−1 treatments, where they were 6.55%, 23.64%, and 79.24% higher than those in 300 mg L−1, respectively. The same concentrations in roots also reached their peak in 500 mg L−1 treatments, where they were 5.52%, 33.02%, and 70.15% higher than those in 300 mg L−1, respectively. Bioconcentration factors (BCF) for Ni, Co, and Pb revealed the phytoextraction ability of Iris sibirica L., and the translocation factors (TCF) showed that Ni may be most easily translocated in the plant, followed by Co and Pb. This study indicates that, compared with Ni and Co, Iris sibirica L. is more suitable for the phytoremediation of Pb-contaminated metal mine wastelands.
► Spectroscopic characteristics of dissolved organic matter in anaerobic digestion. ► Co-digestion obtains remarkable organic matters removal rate. ► Tyrosine-like/fulvic-like fluorescence intensity ...indicates nitrogen form conversion. ► Tryptophan fluorescence intensity variations reflect microbial activity. ► Co-digestion corrects the limitation of single manure digestion.
In this study, the removal of volatile solids (VSs) and soluble chemical oxygen demand (SCOD) by co-digesting cattle dung (CD) and duck manure (DM) was determined and compared with the reduction achieved with CD or DM digestion alone. Moreover, fluorescence excitation–emission matrix spectroscopy was utilised to characterise the conversion mechanisms of organic nitrogen. It was found that the co-digestion provided 71% VS reduction compared with 58% for CD and 61% for DM. The amounts of COD removed were 28%, 23% and 31% for CD, DM and the mixture, respectively. Tyrosine-like/fulvic-like fluorescence intensity (FI) ratios increased during the initial 15days of co-digestion and were associated with an increase in total nitrogen in the supernatant. After 15days, CD and DM exhibited a lower tryptophan-like/fulvic-like FI ratio (0.8–1.6), whereas the co-digestion remained stable at a high level (3.0–3.6), rendering an improved microbial population and biochemical activity.
Wide Single instruction multiple data(SIMD) architectures are very important in the computeintensive applications. The SIMD execution model is inefficient when it suffers from the divergent control ...flow.The divergent execution paths across loop iterations take place sequentially on SIMD, which defeats part of the efficiency advantage of SIMD execution. This paper proposes a mechanism to compact the divergent branch threads to mitigate the impact of branch thread divergence on SIMD architectures. It relaxes the SIMD execution model by allowing the distinct instruction flows to be scheduled independently, instead of one single instruction flow. It increases flexibility and mitigates the synchronization cost of co-issuing instructions from different divergent branch threads by giving the Vector processing elements(VPEs)the ability to direct their own control flow. The proposed divergent branch threads compaction mechanism improves performance by 2.56 x over traditional SIMD architecture for a wide variety of general purpose parallel applications while the area overhead only increases 6.48%.
We systematically investigate dynamic separation of Xe and Kr at room temperature using four representative porous materials （Cu-BTC, ZIF-8, COP-4 and activated carbon （AC））. Results indicate that ...among the four materials, Cu-BTC not only shows the highest retention volume per gram （Vg=788 mL g-1, which is 1.8 times of activated carbon （436 mL g-1）） under flowing condition, but also can separate 350 ppm Xe from 35 ppm Kr mixture in air with a high Xe/Kr selectivity of 8.6 at room tem- perature and 200 kPa, due to its suitable pore morphology, open metal sites, small side pockets in the framework. Moreover, the Cu-BTC also performs well on individual separation of Xe, Kr, CO2 from five-component gas mixture （Xe：Kr：CO2：Ar：N2= 1：1：1：1：0.5, V/V） and has the longest retention time for Xe （20 min） in gas chromatographic separation, suggesting that it is a good candidate for potential applications as polymeric sieves.
A chromatic confocal measurement method based on a phase Fresnel zone plate (FZP) is described. Strong dispersion of FZP results in significant axial focal shift. The axial dispersion curve is close ...to linear within a certain wavelength range determined by the quantitative calculation using the vectorial angular spectrum theory. A 11.27 mm diameter phase FZP with a primary focal length of 50 mm was processed using standard photolithography technology and used as the dispersive objective in a homemade chromatic confocal measurement system. The calibrated axial measurement range exceeds 16 mm, the axial resolution reaches 0.8 µm, and the measurement accuracy of displacement is better than 0.4%. This chromatic confocal sensor has been practically used in the measurement of step height, glass thickness, and 3D surface profile. The proposed method has the obvious characteristics of simplicity, greatly reduced cost and superior performance. It is believed that this sensing method has broad application prospects in glass, coating, machinery, electronics, optics and other industries.
A comorbidity of chronic pain is sleep disturbance. Here, we identify a dual-functional ensemble that regulates both pain-like behaviour induced by chronic constrictive injury or complete Freund's ...adjuvant, and sleep wakefulness, in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) in mice. Specifically, a select population of NAc neurons exhibits increased activity either upon nociceptive stimulation or during wakefulness. Experimental activation of the ensemble neurons exacerbates pain-like (nociceptive) responses and reduces NREM sleep, while inactivation of these neurons produces the opposite effects. Furthermore, NAc ensemble primarily consists of D1 neurons and projects divergently to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and preoptic area (POA). Silencing an ensemble innervating VTA neurons selectively increases nociceptive responses without affecting sleep, whereas inhibiting ensemble-innervating POA neurons decreases NREM sleep without affecting nociception. These results suggest a common NAc ensemble that encodes chronic pain and controls sleep, and achieves the modality specificity through its divergent downstream circuit targets.
Long-term limb nerve injury often leads to mirror-image pain (MIP), an abnormal pain sensation in the limb contralateral to the injury. Although it is clear that MIP is mediated in part by central ...nociception processing, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a key brain region that receives relayed peripheral nociceptive information from the contralateral limb. In this study, we induced MIP in male mice, in which a unilateral chronic constrictive injury of the sciatic nerve (CCI) induced a decreased nociceptive threshold in both hind limbs and an increased number of c-Fos-expressing neurons in the ACC both contralateral and ipsilateral to the injured limb. Using viral-mediated projection mapping, we observed that a portion of ACC neurons formed monosynaptic connections with contralateral ACC neurons. Furthermore, the number of cross-callosal projection ACC neurons that exhibited c-Fos signal was increased in MIP-expressing mice, suggesting enhanced transmission between ACC neurons of the two hemispheres. Moreover, selective inhibition of the cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injured limb normalized the nociceptive sensation of the uninjured limb without affecting the increased nociceptive sensation of the injured limb in CCI mice. In contrast, inhibition of the non-cross-callosal projection ACC neurons contralateral to the injury normalized the nociceptive sensation of the injured limb without affecting the MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. These results reveal a circuit mechanism, namely, the cross-callosal projection of ACC between two hemispheres, that contributes to MIP and possibly other forms of contralateral migration of pain sensation.
Mirror-image pain (MIP) refers to the increased pain sensitivity of the contralateral body part in patients with chronic pain. This pathology requires central processing, yet the mechanisms are less known. Here, we demonstrate that the cross-callosal projection neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) contralateral to the injury contribute to MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb, but do not affect nociceptive sensation of the injured limb. In contrast, the non-cross-callosal projection neurons in the ACC contralateral to the injury contribute to nociceptive sensation of the injured limb, but do not affect MIP exhibited in the uninjured limb. Our study depicts a novel cross-callosal projection of ACC that contributes to MIP, providing a central mechanism for MIP in chronic pain state.
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The development of highly active and durable nonprecious metal-based bifunctional electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER) is important for rechargeable ...zinc-air batteries. Herein, a three-dimensional conductive niobium-doped TiO-TiO2 heterostructure supported ZIF-67-derived Co-NC bifunctional catalyst was fabricated. In the Co-NC@Nb-TiOx catalyst, the Nb doping promoted the formation of TiO-TiO2 heterojunction support, enhanced its conductivity and stability and provided strong electron metal-support interaction between Co-NC and Nb-TiOx. Also, the supported Co-NC nanoparticles provided abundant active sites with excellent ORR/OER activity. Experimental analysis reveals that the high OER activity of Co-NC@Nb-TiOx can be attributed to the in-situ generated CoOOH species. It exhibits excellent ORR activity, as shown by its onset potential (0.95 V vs. RHE) and half-wave potential (0.86 V vs. RHE). Its OER overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 is 480 mV. The zinc-air battery realizes outstanding cycling stability over 225 h cycles tested at 10 mA cm−2. This work demonstrates the importance of designing highly stable metal oxide-supported catalysts in electrochemical energy conversion devices.
Patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA)/HLA-B27-associated acute anterior uveitis (AAU) experience recurring acute flares, which pose significant visual and financial challenges. Despite established ...links between SpA and HLA-B27-associated AAU, the exact mechanism involved remains unclear, and further understanding is needed for effective prevention and treatment.
To investigate the acute pathogenesis of SpA/HLA-B27-associated AAU, Mendelian randomization (MR) and single-cell transcriptomic analyses were employed. The MR incorporated publicly available protein quantitative trait locus data from previous studies, along with genome-wide association study data from public databases. Causal relationships between plasma proteins and anterior uveitis were assessed using two-sample MR. Additionally, colocalization analysis was performed using Bayesian colocalization. Single-cell transcriptome analysis utilized the anterior uveitis dataset from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. Dimensionality reduction, clustering, transcription factor analysis, pseudotime analysis, and cell communication analysis were subsequently conducted to explore the underlying mechanisms involved.
Mendelian randomization analysis revealed that circulating levels of AIF1 and VARS were significantly associated with a reduced risk of developing SpA/HLA-B27-associated AAU, with AIF1 showing a robust correlation with anterior uveitis onset. Colocalization analysis supported these findings. Single-cell transcriptome analysis showed predominant AIF1 expression in myeloid cells, which was notably lower in the HLA-B27-positive group. Pseudotime analysis revealed dendritic cell terminal positions in differentiation branches, accompanied by gradual decreases in AIF1 expression. Based on cell communication analysis, CD141
CLEC9A
classic dendritic cells (cDCs) and the APP pathway play crucial roles in cellular communication in the Spa/HLA-B27 group.
AIF1 is essential for the pathogenesis of SpA/HLA-B27-associated AAU. Myeloid cell differentiation into DCs and decreased AIF1 levels are also pivotal in this process.
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