Free transverse vibrations of orthotropic thin rectangular plates with arbitrary elastic edge supports

A so-called Spectro-Geometric Method (SGM) is presented for the free transverse vibration analysis of orthotropic thin rectangular plates with arbitrary elastic supports along each of its edges, a class of problems which are rarely attempted in the literature. Regardless of boundary conditions, the displacement function is invariably and simply expressed, in spectral form, as a trigonometric series expansion with an accelerated polynomial rate of convergence as compared with the conventional Fourier series. All the unknown expansion coefficients are treated as the generalized coordinates, and determined using the Rayleigh-Ritz technique. This work allows a capability of modeling a wide spectrum of orthotropic thin rectangular plate under a variety of boundary conditions, and changing the boundary conditions as easily as modifying the material properties or dimensions of the plates. The accuracy and reliability of the SGM prediction are demonstrated though numerical examples. The SGM prediction can be readily and directly extended to other more complicated boundary conditions involving non-uniform restraints, point supports, partial supports and their combinations

HGT: A Hierarchical GCN-Based Transformer for Multimodal Periprosthetic Joint Infection Diagnosis Using CT Images and Text

Prosthetic Joint Infection (PJI) is a prevalent and severe complication characterized by high diagnostic challenges. Currently, a unified diagnostic standard incorporating both computed tomography (CT) images and numerical text data for PJI remains unestablished, owing to the substantial noise in CT images and the disparity in data volume between CT images and text data. This study introduces a diagnostic method, HGT, based on deep learning and multimodal techniques. It effectively merges features from CT scan images and patients' numerical text data via a Unidirectional Selective Attention (USA) mechanism and a graph convolutional network (GCN)-based feature fusion network. We evaluated the proposed method on a custom-built multimodal PJI dataset, assessing its performance through ablation experiments and interpretability evaluations. Our method achieved an accuracy (ACC) of 91.4\% and an area under the curve (AUC) of 95.9\%, outperforming recent multimodal approaches by 2.9\% in ACC and 2.2\% in AUC, with a parameter count of only 68M. Notably, the interpretability results highlighted our model's strong focus and localization capabilities at lesion sites. This proposed method could provide clinicians with additional diagnostic tools to enhance accuracy and efficiency in clinical practice

The Mechanism of Downregulated Interstitial Fluid Drainage Following Neuronal Excitation.

The drainage of brain interstitial fluid (ISF) has been observed to slow down following neuronal excitation, although the mechanism underlying this phenomenon is yet to be elucidated. In searching for the changes in the brain extracellular space (ECS) induced by electrical pain stimuli in the rat thalamus, significantly decreased effective diffusion coefficient (DECS) and volume fraction (α) of the brain ECS were shown, accompanied by the slowdown of ISF drainage. The morphological basis for structural changes in the brain ECS was local spatial deformation of astrocyte foot processes following neuronal excitation. We further studied aquaporin-4 gene (APQ4) knockout rats in which the changes of the brain ECS structure were reversed and found that the slowed DECS and ISF drainage persisted, confirming that the down-regulation of ISF drainage following neuronal excitation was mainly attributable to the release of neurotransmitters rather than to structural changes of the brain ECS. Meanwhile, the dynamic changes in the DECS were synchronized with the release and elimination processes of neurotransmitters following neuronal excitation. In conclusion, the downregulation of ISF drainage following neuronal excitation was found to be caused by the restricted diffusion in the brain ECS, and DECS mapping may be used to track the neuronal activity in the deep brain

Genetic Dissection of Root Angle of Brassica napus in Response to Low Phosphorus

Plant root angle determines the vertical and horizontal distribution of roots in the soil layer, which further influences the acquisition of phosphorus (P) in topsoil. Large genetic variability for the lateral root angle (root angle) was observed in a linkage mapping population (BnaTNDH population) and an association panel of Brassica napus whether at a low P (LP) or at an optimal P (OP). At LP, the average root angle of both populations became smaller. Nine quantitative trait loci (QTLs) at LP and three QTLs at OP for the root angle and five QTLs for the relative root angle (RRA) were identified by the linkage mapping analysis in the BnaTNDH population. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) revealed 11 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with the root angle at LP (LPRA). The interval of a QTL for LPRA on A06 (qLPRA-A06c) overlapped with the confidence region of the leading SNP (Bn-A06-p14439400) significantly associated with LPRA. In addition, a QTL cluster on chromosome C01 associated with the root angle and the primary root length (PRL) in the “pouch and wick” high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) system, the root P concentration in the agar system, and the seed yield in the field was identified in the BnaTNDH population at LP. A total of 87 genes on A06 and 192 genes on C01 were identified within the confidence interval, and 14 genes related to auxin asymmetric redistribution and root developmental process were predicted to be candidate genes. The identification and functional analyses of these genes affecting LPRA are of benefit to the cultivar selection with optimal root system architecture (RSA) under P deficiency in Brassica napus

Novi VP2/VP3 rekombinantni senekavirus A izoliran u sjevernoj Kini

Senecavirus A (SVA), previously called the Seneca Valley virus, is the only member of the genus Senecavirus within the family Picornaviridae. This virus was discovered as a serendipitous finding in 2002 and named Seneca Valley virus 001 (SVV-001). SVA is an emerging pathogen that can cause vesicular lesions and epidemic transient neonatal a sharp decline in swine. In this study, an SVA strain was isolated from a pig herd in Shandong Province in China and identified as SVA-CH-SDFX-2022. The full-length genome was 7282 nucleotides (nt) in length and contained a single open reading frame (ORF), excluding the poly (A) tails of the SVA isolates. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolate shares its genomic organization, resembling and sharing high nucleotide identities of 90.5% to 99.6%, with other previously reported SVA isolates. The strain was proved by in vitro characterization and the results demonstrate that the virus has robust growth ability in vitro. The recombination event of the SVA-CH-SDFX-2022 isolate was found and occurred between nts 1836 and 2710, which included the region of the VP2 (partial), and VP3 (partial) genes. It shows the importance of faster vaccine development and a better understanding of virus infection and spread because of increased infection rates and huge economic losses. This novel incursion has substantial implications for the regional control of vesicular transboundary diseases, and will be available for further study of the epidemiology of porcine SVA. Our findings provide useful data for studying SVA in pigs.Senekavirus A (SVA), prije nazivan virusom doline Seneca Valley, jedini je pripadnik roda senekavirusa u porodici Picornaviridae. Virus je slučajno otkriven 2002. i nazvan virusom doline Seneca 001 (SVV-001). SVA je novi patogen koji može uzrokovati vezikularne lezije i prolaznu epidemiju novorođene prasadi s naglim gubicima u proizvodnji. U ovom je istraživanju soj SVA izoliran u populaciji svinja iz provincije Shandong u Kini i identificiran kao SVA-CHSDFX-2022. Kompletni genom izolata SVA imao je 7282 nukleotida (nt) u dužini i sadržavao je jedan otvoreni okvir za očitavanje (ORF), bez poli-A repova. Filogenetska je analiza pokazala da izolat u velikoj mjeri sadržava genomsku organizaciju i nukleotidne identitete, od 90,5 % do 99,6 %, s drugim poznatim SVA izolatima. Karakterizacija virusa je pokazala da ima veliku sposobnost rasta in vitro. Pronađena je rekombinacija izolata SVA-CH-SDFX-između nukleotida 1836 i 2710 što je uključilo regiju gena VP2 (parcijalno) i gena VP3 (parcijalno). Zbog visoke stope infektivnosti i golemih ekonomskih gubitaka važan je brži razvoj cjepiva i bolje razumijevanje zaraze. Rezultati ovog istraživanja pružaju korisne podatke za proučavanje SVA virusa, posebno s obzirom na njegovu epidemiologiju u svinja i regionalnu prekograničnu kontrolu vezikularnih bolesti

Analiza genskih varijacija rekombinantnog soja dobivenog iz triju linija virusa-2 reproduktivnog i respiratornog sindroma svinja

Since the rise of the porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in China, gene mutations have frequently occurred. To understand the current prevalence and evolution of PRRSV in Shandong Province, 1,528 samples suspected of PRRSV were collected from local pig farms of different sizes. The complete genome sequence of the PRRSV strain SDLY-27 was determined by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The genomic sequence of SDLY-27 was 15,363 nucleotides (nt) in length, comparative analysis of the whole genome sequence suggested that the homology between SDLY 27 and 81 PRRSV strains from China and other countries in genbank was 61.9 ~ 96.4%. This study is the first to detect recombinants from multiple recombination events among the Lineage 8 (JXA1-like strains), Lineage 5 (RespPRRSV-MLV and VR2332 strains) and Sublineage 1.5 (NADC34-like strains) in Shandong, China, and provides new data for the epidemiological study of PRRSV in China. This study enriches the epidemiological data on PRRSV in Shandong Province, China. It provides an important reference for the development of new vaccines and for the prevention and control of PRRSV in China.Usporedno sa širenjem virusa reproduktivnog i respiratornog sindroma svinja (PRRSV) u Kini, sve su češće bile i njegove genske mutacije. Kako bi se ustanovila trenutačna prevalencija i evolucija PRRSV-a u pokrajini Shandong, s lokalnih farmi prikupljeno je 1528 uzoraka svinja različitih kategorija za koje je postojala sumnja na zarazu PRRSVom. Kompletan genomski slijed soja SDLY-27 PRRSV-a određen je tehnologijom sekvenciranja sljedeće generacije (NGS). Slijed je imao dužinu od 15 363 nukleotida (nt), a komparativna analiza cijeloga genomskog slijeda uputila je na to da je homolognost između sojeva SDLY 27 i 81 PRRSV-a iz Kine i uzoraka u banci gena iz drugih zemalja 61,9~96,4%. Ovo je prvo istraživanje koje je otkrilo rekombinantne sojeve iz višestrukih rekombinacija među linijama 8 (sojevi nalik na JXA1), 5 (sojevi RespPRRSV-MLV i VR2332) i podlinije 1,5 (sojevi nalik na NADC34) u Shandongu, Kina.Kao takvo, istraživanje pruža nove podatke o epidemiologiji PRRSV-a u Kini, posebno u pokrajini Shandong, a ujedno predstavlja i važnu referenciju za razvoj novih cjepiva te prevenciju i kontrolu bolesti uzrokovane navedenim virusom

Aerosol vertical distribution and optical properties over China from long-term satellite and ground-based remote sensing

The seasonal and spatial variations of vertical distribution and optical properties of aerosols over China are studied using long-term satellite observations from the Cloud–Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) and ground-based lidar observations and Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) data. The CALIOP products are validated using the ground-based lidar measurements at the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University (SACOL). The Taklamakan Desert and Tibetan Plateau regions exhibit the highest depolarization and color ratios because of the natural dust origin, whereas the North China Plain, Sichuan Basin and Yangtze River Delta show the lowest depolarization and color ratios because of aerosols from secondary formation of the anthropogenic origin. Certain regions, such as the North China Plain in spring and the Loess Plateau in winter, show intermediate depolarization and color ratios because of mixed dust and anthropogenic aerosols. In the Pearl River Delta region, the depolarization and color ratios are similar to but higher than those of the other polluted regions because of combined anthropogenic and marine aerosols. Long-range transport of dust in the middle and upper troposphere in spring is well captured by the CALIOP observations. The seasonal variations in the aerosol vertical distributions reveal efficient transport of aerosols from the atmospheric boundary layer to the free troposphere because of summertime convective mixing. The aerosol extinction lapse rates in autumn and winter are more positive than those in spring and summer, indicating trapped aerosols within the boundary layer because of stabler meteorological conditions. More than 80 % of the column aerosols are distributed within 1.5 km above the ground in winter, when the aerosol extinction lapse rate exhibits a maximum seasonal average in all study regions except for the Tibetan Plateau. The aerosol extinction lapse rates in the polluted regions are higher than those of the less polluted regions, indicating a stabilized atmosphere due to absorptive aerosols in the polluted regions. Our results reveal that the satellite and ground-based remote-sensing measurements provide the key information on the long-term seasonal and spatial variations in the aerosol vertical distribution and optical properties, regional aerosol types, long-range transport and atmospheric stability, which can be utilized to more precisely assess the direct and indirect aerosol effects on weather and climate