Vision-based methods for relative sag measurement of suspension bridge cables

Main cables, comprising a number of wire strands, constitute a vital element in long-span suspension bridges. The determination of their alignment during construction is of great importance, and relative sag is commonly measured for the efficient sag adjustment of general strands. The conventional approach uses the caterpillar method, which is inconvenient, difficult-to-implement, and potentially dangerous. In order to realize the high-precision measurement of cable alignment in a strong wind environment, a vision-based method for relative sag measurement of the general cable strands is proposed in this paper. In the proposed measurement system, images of pre-installed optical targets are collected and analyzed to realize the remote, automatic, and real-time measurement of the relative sag. The influences of wind-induced cable shaking and camera shaking on the accuracy of the height difference measurement are also theoretically analyzed. The results show that cable strand torsion and camera roll have a great impact on the measurement accuracy, while the impacts of the cable strand swing and vibration, camera swing and vibration, and camera pitch and yaw are insignificant. The vision-based measurement system tested in the field experiment also shows a measurement error within 3 mm, which meets the requirements for cable adjustment construction. At the same time, the vision-based measurement method proposed and validated in this paper can improve the measurement accuracy and efficiency of strand alignment in a strong wind environment. Potential risks involved in the manual measurement, e.g., working at heights and in strong wind environments, can be eliminated, facilitating the automation of the cable erection process

Screening for pathogenic variants in obese cohort using whole-exome sequencing

Objective·To screen mutations of key genes in the leptin-melanocyte stimulating hormone (LEP-MSH) pathway by whole-exome sequencing (WES) in the obese cohort.Methods·A total of 119 obese patients aged 17－65 years old with body mass index (BMI)≥34 kg/m2, who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy from January 2011 to July 2019 at Shanghai Sixth People′s Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine were collected. The peripheral blood samples of the research subjects were collected, and whole genome DNA was extracted to perform WES. Bioinformatic methods were applied to detect the mutations in 16 genes in the LEP-MSH pathway (ADCY3, AGRP, BDNF, KSR2, LEP, LEPR, MC3R, MC4R, MCHR1, MRAP2, NTRK2, PCSK1, PHIP, POMC, SH2B1, and SIM1). Rare variants with the minor allele frequency in the total population less than 0.02 and in the East Asian population less than 0.01 in the 1000 Genome (1000G), Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC) and Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) were selected for subsequent analysis. Six pieces of prediction software were used to evaluate the deleteriousness of the mutations. Finally, based on the clinical information of each patient, the pathogenicity of all variants was determined according to the guidelines of America College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG), and only the "pathogenic", "likely pathogenic", and "uncertain significance" variants were retained.Results·A total of 26 variants, 22 kinds of variants were detected in 24 patients from 119 subjects, all of which were heterozygous mutations. The detected variants included 7 in SH2B1 gene (accounting for 26.92% of the total variants), 4 in MCHR1 gene (accounting for 15.38%), 3 in PHIP gene (accounting for 11.53%), 2 in ADCY3 and LEPR genes (accounting for 7.69%, respectively), and 1 in LEP, NTRK2, AGRP, KSR2, MC3R, MC4R, BDNF, and PCSK1 genes, respectively (accounting for 3.85%, respectively). There were 3 patients having the same mutation site in SH2B1 gene, and 2 patients having the same mutation sites in LEPR gene and MCHR1 gene, respectively. In addition, among these mutations, there were 12 ones not included in the East Asian population in 3 public databases, which were novel mutations in the East Asian population, located in SH2B1 (p.V209I, p.R67C, and p.L149F), KSR2 (p.P155T), LEP (p.D106N), LEPR (p.W132R), PHIP (p.K1461R), BDNF (p.N84S), PCSK1 (p.R282W), NTRK2 (p.T732M), MC3R (p.S71P), and MC4R (p.W174X).Conclusion·A total of 22 kinds of rare variations possibly associated with obesity in the LEP-MSH pathway are detected, 12 of which are novel in the East Asian population

Minute-cadence Observations of the LAMOST Fields with the TMTS: III. Statistic Study of the Flare Stars from the First Two Years

Tsinghua University-Ma Huateng Telescopes for Survey (TMTS) aims to detect fast-evolving transients in the Universe, which has led to the discovery of thousands of short-period variables and eclipsing binaries since 2020. In this paper, we present the observed properties of 125 flare stars identified by the TMTS within the first two years, with an attempt to constrain their eruption physics. As expected, most of these flares were recorded in late-type red stars with $G_{\rm BP}-G_{\rm RP}$ > 2.0 mag, however, the flares associated with bluer stars tend to be on average more energetic and have broader profiles. The peak flux (F_peak) of the flare is found to depend strongly on the equivalent duration (ED) of the energy release, i.e., $F_{{\rm peak}} \propto {\rm ED}^{0.72\pm0.04}$, which is consistent with results derived from the Kepler and Evryscope samples. This relation is likely related to the magnetic loop emission, while -- for the more popular non-thermal electron heating model -- a specific time evolution may be required to generate this relation. We notice that flares produced by hotter stars have a flatter $F_{{\rm peak}} \propto {\rm ED}$ relation compared to that from cooler stars. This is related to the statistical discrepancy in light-curve shape of flare events with different colors. In spectra from LAMOST, we find that flare stars have apparently stronger H alpha emission than inactive stars, especially at the low temperature end, suggesting that chromospheric activity plays an important role in producing flares. On the other hand, the subclass having frequent flares are found to show H alpha emission of similar strength in their spectra to that recorded with only a single flare but similar effective temperature, implying that the chromospheric activity may not be the only trigger for eruptions.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables, refereed version. For associated data files, see https://cdsarc.cds.unistra.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/MNRAS/523/219

In-situ secondary growth of nanocube-based Prussian-blue film as an ultrasensitive biosensor

A regular nanostructure has been widely confirmed to result ina marked improvement in material performance in biosensing applications. In the present study, a regular nanostructured Prussian blue (PB) film with two heterogeneous crystal layers was synthesized in-situ using a secondary growth method. A PB seed layer was first controlled to form uniform cube-like crystal nuclei through an ultrasonic reaction with a single reactant. Then, well-defined 100 nm PB nanocubes were further crystallized on this seed layer using a self-assembly approach. In order to accelerate the electron transfer rate during the enzyme reaction for glucose detection, the graphene was used as the main cross-linker to immobilize glucose oxidase on the PB film. The as-prepared biosensor exhibited high electrocatalysis and electron conductivity for the detection of trace glucose with a sensitivity of 141.5 µA mM-1 cm-2, as well as excellent anti-interference ability in the presence of ascorbic acid and uric acid under a low operation potential of -0.05 V

Thermal induced spin-polarized current protected by spin-momentum locking in nanowires

Spin-momentum locking arising from strong spin-orbit coupling is one of the key natures of topological materials. Since charge can induce a spin polarization due to spin-momentum locking, the search for materials that exhibit this feature has become one of the top priorities in the field of spintronics. In this paper, we report the electrical detection of the spin-transport properties of nanowires, using a nonlocal geometry measurement. A clear hysteresis voltage signal, which depends on the relative orientations between the magnetization of the ferromagnetic electrodes and the carrier spin polarization, has been observed. The hysteresis voltage states can be reversed by altering the electron movement direction, providing direct evidence of the spin-momentum locking feature of nanowires and revealing its topological nature. Furthermore, the current-dependent measurement suggests that the charge (spin) current is induced by thermal effect, which utilizes the thermoelectric properties of . Using the thermal effect to control the spin-polarized current protected by spin-momentum locking offers possibilities for small-sized devices based on the topological materials

The genetics of the mood disorder spectrum:genome-wide association analyses of over 185,000 cases and 439,000 controls

Background Mood disorders (including major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder) affect 10-20% of the population. They range from brief, mild episodes to severe, incapacitating conditions that markedly impact lives. Despite their diagnostic distinction, multiple approaches have shown considerable sharing of risk factors across the mood disorders. Methods To clarify their shared molecular genetic basis, and to highlight disorder-specific associations, we meta-analysed data from the latest Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) genome-wide association studies of major depression (including data from 23andMe) and bipolar disorder, and an additional major depressive disorder cohort from UK Biobank (total: 185,285 cases, 439,741 controls; non-overlapping N = 609,424). Results Seventy-three loci reached genome-wide significance in the meta-analysis, including 15 that are novel for mood disorders. More genome-wide significant loci from the PGC analysis of major depression than bipolar disorder reached genome-wide significance. Genetic correlations revealed that type 2 bipolar disorder correlates strongly with recurrent and single episode major depressive disorder. Systems biology analyses highlight both similarities and differences between the mood disorders, particularly in the mouse brain cell-types implicated by the expression patterns of associated genes. The mood disorders also differ in their genetic correlation with educational attainment – positive in bipolar disorder but negative in major depressive disorder. Conclusions The mood disorders share several genetic associations, and can be combined effectively to increase variant discovery. However, we demonstrate several differences between these disorders. Analysing subtypes of major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder provides evidence for a genetic mood disorders spectrum

Genetic Overlap Between Alzheimer’s Disease and Bipolar Disorder Implicates the MARK2 and VAC14 Genes

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and bipolar disorder (BIP) are complex traits influenced by numerous common genetic variants, most of which remain to be detected. Clinical and epidemiological evidence suggest that AD and BIP are related. However, it is not established if this relation is of genetic origin. Here, we applied statistical methods based on the conditional false discovery rate (FDR) framework to detect genetic overlap between AD and BIP and utilized this overlap to increase the power to identify common genetic variants associated with either or both traits. Methods: We obtained genome wide association studies data from the International Genomics of Alzheimer's Project part 1 (17,008 AD cases and 37,154 controls) and the Psychiatric Genetic Consortium Bipolar Disorder Working Group (20,352 BIP cases and 31,358 controls). We used conditional QQ-plots to assess overlap in common genetic variants between AD and BIP. We exploited the genetic overlap to re-rank test-statistics for AD and BIP and improve detection of genetic variants using the conditional FDR framework. Results: Conditional QQ-plots demonstrated a polygenic overlap between AD and BIP. Using conditional FDR, we identified one novel genomic locus associated with AD, and nine novel loci associated with BIP. Further, we identified two novel loci jointly associated with AD and BIP implicating the MARK2 gene (lead SNP rs10792421, conjunctional FDR=0.030, same direction of effect) and the VAC14 gene (lead SNP rs11649476, conjunctional FDR=0.022, opposite direction of effect). Conclusions: We found polygenic overlap between AD and BIP and identified novel loci for each trait and two jointly associated loci. Further studies should examine if the shared loci implicating the MARK2 and VAC14 genes could explain parts of the shared and distinct features of AD and BIP

Bipolar multiplex families have an increased burden of common risk variants for psychiatric disorders.

Multiplex families with a high prevalence of a psychiatric disorder are often examined to identify rare genetic variants with large effect sizes. In the present study, we analysed whether the risk for bipolar disorder (BD) in BD multiplex families is influenced by common genetic variants. Furthermore, we investigated whether this risk is conferred mainly by BD-specific risk variants or by variants also associated with the susceptibility to schizophrenia or major depression. In total, 395 individuals from 33 Andalusian BD multiplex families (166 BD, 78 major depressive disorder, 151 unaffected) as well as 438 subjects from an independent, BD case/control cohort (161 unrelated BD, 277 unrelated controls) were analysed. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for BD, schizophrenia (SCZ), and major depression were calculated and compared between the cohorts. Both the familial BD cases and unaffected family members had higher PRS for all three psychiatric disorders than the independent controls, with BD and SCZ being significant after correction for multiple testing, suggesting a high baseline risk for several psychiatric disorders in the families. Moreover, familial BD cases showed significantly higher BD PRS than unaffected family members and unrelated BD cases. A plausible hypothesis is that, in multiplex families with a general increase in risk for psychiatric disease, BD development is attributable to a high burden of common variants that confer a specific risk for BD. The present analyses demonstrated that common genetic risk variants for psychiatric disorders are likely to contribute to the high incidence of affective psychiatric disorders in the multiplex families. However, the PRS explained only part of the observed phenotypic variance, and rare variants might have also contributed to disease development