JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Introduction. The subject matter of this paper is best explained by an example, such as that of the relation between a vector space L and its "dual"
Introduction: Heavy metal pollution including lead (Pb) has become one of the serious global issues threatening food security, human health, and the ecosystem. Exogenous application of astaxanthin (ATX), a potent natural antioxidant, has been shown to enhance plant tolerance to various abiotic stresses. However, the role of endogenous ATX in alleviating Pb stress and the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Objectives: This study aimed to systematically investigate the effects and mechanism of endogenous ATX in biofortified tobacco (T-ATX) in promoting plant growth, particularly enhancing plant tolerance to Pb toxicity and blocking Pb pollution. Methods: Pot experiments were employed to investigate plant growth and Pb tolerance as well as Pb absorption and translocation in T-ATX and wild-type (SNN) tobacco seedlings subjected to various doses of Pb stress. Multiple physiological and cellular examinations were conducted, followed by integrated omics approaches in this study. Results: T-ATX plants exhibited an increased plant height, root length, leaf area, and biomass compared to SNN under Pb stress. T-ATX displayed higher levels of chlorophyll, photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant enzyme activities, and non-enzymatic antioxidants, with improved integrity of subcellular structures. Remarkably, Pb content in various organs and Pb translocation coefficient were significantly reduced in T-ATX. Multiple genes and metabolites associated with antioxidant defense mechanisms, detoxification pathways, carotenoid metabolism, Pb ion transport, and plant hormone signal transduction were significantly upregulated in T-ATX tobacco plants. Conclusion: Endogenous ATX enriched in the T-ATX genotype significantly confers plant healthy performance and high tolerance to Pb stress by enhancing the antioxidant defense system, maintaining cellular structural integrity, reducing Pb absorption and translocation, upregulating detoxification and the related signaling pathways. These findings provide new insights into the endogenous ATX-mediated molecular mechanisms to promote plant growth and mitigate Pb toxicity, establishing a foundation for using ATX-fortified crops for green control technology of heavy metal pollution.
In high-speed hydraulic machinery, its efficiency and reliability are affected by the cavitation in the bearing. Due to the confined effect of the bearing clearance, cavitation bubbles grow in a two-dimensional way. To uncover the cavitation process with confined and high speed shearing effect, the high-speed cavitation flowing of different refrigerants is researched experimentally based on the high-speed shearing test rig with micro-clearance. The influence of thermophysical properties on growth of cavitation bubble is evaluated and analyzed. The confined effect of micro-clearance and high-speed shearing effect has a significant influence on the cavitation bubbles evolution. The high-speed camera is used to record the morphology of cavitation bubbles for various refrigerants with different thermalphysical properties. Furthermore, the thermal-sensitive cavitation model is used to analyze the bubble-foam alternation from cavitation flow inside micro-clearance. For different refrigerants, the growth process of cavitation bubble area is exponential. Inside the micro-clearance, the cavitation inducing pressure drops of different refrigerants are analogous due to the similar thermodynamic properties. According to pressure drop during cavitation, different refrigerants are classified by introducing dimensionless numbers, σ·Re (Jie et al., 2009) [2] and σ·We. The pressure and temperature drop increase with the dimensionless numbers. The refrigerants with similar thermodynamic properties have a similar relationship between dimensionless number and supercooling degree.
Nobumitsu Hirai, Yuhei Miwa, Shunta Hattori
et al.
Biofilms cause a variety of problems, such as food spoilage, food poisoning, infection, tooth decay, periodontal disease, and metal corrosion, so knowledge on biofilm prevention and removal is important. A detailed observation of the three-dimensional structure of biofilms on the nanoscale is expected to provide insight into this. In this study, we report on the successful in situ nanoscale observations of a marine bacterial biofilm on glass in phosphate buffer solution (PBS) using both scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) over the same area. By observing the same area by SICM and CLSM, we were able to clarify the three-dimensional morphology of the biofilm, the arrangement of bacteria within the biofilm, and the difference in local ion conductivity within the biofilm simultaneously, which could not be achieved by observation using a microscope alone.
Dünyada yer kabuğundaki en bol bulunan yedinci element olan sodyum (Na), ayrıştırıcılar, hayvanlar ve bitkiler için önemli ve temel elementlerdendir. Aynı zamanda yaygın olarak bulunan metallerdendir. Bundan dolayı özellikle uzun ömürlü ve büyük biyokütleye sahip ağaçların en büyük organı olan odun kısmında Na birikiminin belirlenmesi önem taşımaktadır. Bu çalışmada özellikle peyzaj çalışmalarında yaygın olarak kullanılan dişbudak (Fraxinus excelsior) gövde organlarında Na’nın organ, yön ve dönem bazında değişimi değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda dış kabuktaki Na konsantrasyonlarının iç kabuk ve odundakinden daha yüksek seviyede olduğu belirlenmiştir. Dış kabuktaki en yüksek değerler ise kentleşme ve trafiğin yoğun olduğu kuzey yönde elde edilirken, özellikle odunlarda Na konsantrasyonlarının genel olarak dar bir aralıkta değişim gösterdiği tespit edilmiştir. Bu sonuçlar havadaki Na kirliliğinin muhtemelen kentsel alanlar ve trafik kaynaklı olduğu ve çalışmaya konu Fraxinus excelsior’un havadaki Na kirliliğinin değişiminin izlenmesi için uygun bir biyomonitor olmadığı şeklinde yorumlanabilir.
Background Emotional disorders are common in children and young people and can significantly impair their quality of life. Evidence-based treatments require a timely and appropriate diagnosis. The utility of standardised diagnostic assessment tools may aid the detection of emotional disorders, but there is limited evidence of their clinical value. Objectives To assess the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of a standardised diagnostic assessment for children and young people with emotional difficulties referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. A nested qualitative process evaluation aimed to identify the barriers and facilitators to using a standardised diagnostic assessment tool in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Design A United Kingdom, multicentre, two-arm, parallel-group randomised controlled trial with a nested qualitative process evaluation. Setting Eight National Health Service Trusts providing multidisciplinary specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Participants Children and young people aged 5–17 years with emotional difficulties referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, excluding emergency/urgent referrals that required an expedited assessment. In the qualitative process evaluation, 15 young people aged 16–17 years, 38 parents/carers and 56 healthcare professionals participated in semistructured interviews. Interventions Participants were randomly assigned (1 : 1) following referral receipt to intervention (the development and well-being assessment) and usual care, or usual care only. Main outcome measures Primary outcome was a clinician-made diagnosis decision about the presence of an emotional disorder within 12 months of randomisation, collected from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services clinical records. Secondary outcomes collected from clinical records included referral acceptance, time to offer and start treatment/interventions and discharge. Data were also self-reported from participants through online questionnaires at baseline, 6 and 12 months post randomisation, and the cost effectiveness of the intervention was investigated. Results One thousand two hundred and twenty-five (1225) children and young people were randomly assigned (1 : 1) to study groups between 27 August 2019 and 17 October 2021; 615 were assigned to the intervention and 610 were assigned to the control group. Adherence to the intervention (full/partial completion of the development and well-being assessment) was 80% (494/615). At 12 months, 68 (11%) participants in the intervention group received an emotional disorder diagnosis versus 72 (12%) in the control group [adjusted risk ratio 0.94 (95% confidence interval 0.70 to 1.28); p = 0.71]. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services acceptance of the index referral [intervention 277 (45%) vs. control 262 (43%); risk ratio: 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 0.94 to 1.19)] or any referral by 18 months [intervention 374 (61%) vs. control 352 (58%); risk ratio: 1.06 (95% confidence interval: 0.97 to 1.16)] was similar between groups. There was no evidence of any differences between groups for any other secondary outcomes. The qualitative nested process evaluation identified a number of barriers and facilitators to the use of the development and well-being assessment during the trial, particularly at the assessment and diagnosis stages of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services pathway. Limitations It was not possible to mask participants, clinicians or site researchers collecting source data to treatment allocation. Conclusions We found no evidence that completion of the development and well-being assessment aided the detection of emotional disorders in this study. Using the development and well-being assessment in this way cannot be recommended for clinical practice. Future research To determine longer-term service use outcomes and to investigate whether receipt of a clinical diagnosis makes a difference to clinical outcomes and care/intervention receipt. Funding This synopsis presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme as award number 16/96/09.
Plain language summary Emotional difficulties are common in children and young people, and many may be referred to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Referrals are sometimes rejected because of insufficient information. Even if the referral is accepted, a clinical diagnosis is often not reached. A correct diagnosis is vital so that the right help can be offered. We investigated whether a standardised online information-gathering package (development and well-being assessment) helps with the assessment and diagnosis process in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. We invited children and young people and their families, following a routine (non-urgent) referral into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, from eight National Health Services Trusts across England. One thousand two hundred and twenty-five (1225) families took part – half received usual care (control group), and half received usual care and were also asked to complete the development and well-being assessment (development and well-being assessment group). Families also completed questionnaires about the child’s/young person’s mental health at the beginning of the study and then 6 and 12 months later. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services clinical records were reviewed 12 and 18 months after joining the study to look at what care was offered and received through Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. We also interviewed a range of young people, family members and staff in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services about their views and experience of using the development and well-being assessment and the summary development and well-being assessment report. At 12-month follow-up, there was no difference in the number receiving an emotional disorder diagnosis; 11% in the development and well-being assessment group and 12% in the control group. The same was found at 18 months (14% vs. 15%). There was no difference between the groups in the time taken to reach a diagnosis or to offer or start treatment, nor was there any significant impact on whether Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services accepted the referral. The interviews showed that young people and families found the development and well-being assessment and report to be useful; however, the development and well-being assessment report was not used consistently, as intended, by clinicians during assessments to aid diagnosis. These findings show that completing the development and well-being assessment after referral into Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services did not have any impact on whether a diagnosis was made by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services or on the care received.
Defects in pipes adversely affect both the jacking construction process and long-term operational safety, yet their specific impacts on mechanical properties remain unclear. This study investigates pipe jacking segments under deflection, using the Changsha Meixi Lake project as a case study. Similar model tests combined with digital image correlation were employed to examine the evolution of stress and deformation under various deflection angles and defect conditions. The reliability of the laboratory tests was verified through theoretical stress calculations under the non-deflection condition. The credibility of the laboratory test results was further enhanced by employing a numerical model and normalized parameters. Key findings reveal that stress distribution characteristics are jointly determined by the deflection mode and load. Co-directional deflection exhibits a more significant stress concentration effect; under identical load and angle conditions, it results in higher stress levels due to a superposition effect, whereas diagonal deflection shows a weakening effect. Joint deformation progresses through three distinct stages. The linear growth stage exhibits an initial linear strain–load relationship under stable deflection (load < 2 kN). The accelerated deformation stage is characterized by nonlinear strain growth with a slowing deformation rate (2–4 kN). The deformation deceleration stage finally shows a slow linear strain increment (load > 4 kN). Increasing load and deflection angle significantly amplify axial deformation, particularly revealing a “thick-in-the-middle, thin-at-the-sides” compression characteristic in the 45° vault zones. Furthermore, segment defects markedly exacerbate stress non-uniformity. Defect angles ≥ 60° substantially increase the frequency and amplitude of compressive stress in the vault, accelerate the decay of tensile stress at the bottom, and critically reduce structural stability. These new findings provide significant insights for deflection control and structural safety assessment in pipe jacking engineering. The experimental framework provides fundamental insights into construction operations in upper-soft and lower-hard strata tunneling.
Kim-Marie A. Dam, Harry B. Gristick, Yancheng E. Li
et al.
Summary: HIV-1 broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) targeting the CD4-binding site (CD4bs) contain rare features that pose challenges to elicit these bNAbs through vaccination. The IOMA class of CD4bs bNAbs includes fewer rare features and somatic hypermutations (SHMs) to achieve broad neutralization, thus presenting a potentially accessible pathway for vaccine-induced bNAb development. Here, we created a library of IOMA variants in which each SHM was individually reverted to the inferred germline counterpart to investigate the roles of SHMs in conferring IOMA’s neutralization potency and breadth. Impacts on neutralization for each variant were evaluated, and this information was used to design minimally mutated IOMA-class variants (IOMAmin) that incorporated the fewest SHMs required for achieving IOMA’s neutralization breadth. A cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of an IOMAmin variant bound to Env was used to further interpret characteristics of IOMA variants to elucidate how IOMA’s structural features correlate with its neutralization mechanism, informing the design of IOMA-targeting immunogens.
This study examines high school students' acceptance of Arduino technology in a student-led, inquiry-based science class, using the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) as a guiding framework. Through qualitative analysis of interviews and classroom observations, we explored how students perceived Arduino's usefulness and ease of use. Going beyond traditional quantitative TAM studies, this qualitative TAM research provides a nuanced, in-depth understanding of the contextual factors shaping technology acceptance. Key findings reveal that acceptance was driven not only by instrumental factors like job relevance and output quality but also by the unique sociocultural context of the Korean education system, where technology use was perceived as valuable for university admissions (subjective norm and image). Critically, unlike earlier research that emphasized programming challenges, participants in this study found Arduino accessible and intuitive, thanks to integrated visual block-coding tools. These findings highlight the importance of both technological design and pedagogical support in shaping students' experiences. Implications for science curriculum design, teacher preparation, and equitable technology integration in secondary education are discussed.
Large language models (LLMs) are now an integral part of software development workflows and are reshaping the whole process. Traditional technology stack selection has not caught up. Most of the existing selection methods focus solely on the inherent attributes of the technology, overlooking whether the LLM can effectively leverage the chosen technology. For example, when generating code snippets using popular libraries like Selenium (one of the most widely used test automation tools with over 33k GitHub stars), existing LLMs frequently generate low-quality code snippets (e.g., using deprecated APIs and methods, or containing syntax errors). As such, teams using LLM assistants risk choosing technologies that cannot be used effectively by LLMs, yielding high debugging effort and mounting technical debt. We foresee a practical question in the LLM era, is a technology ready for AI-assisted development? In this paper, we first propose the concept, AI coding proficiency, the degree to which LLMs can utilize a given technology to generate high-quality code snippets. We conduct the first comprehensive empirical study examining AI proficiency across 170 third-party libraries and 61 task scenarios, evaluating six widely used LLMs. Our findings reveal that libraries with similar functionalities can exhibit up to 84% differences in the quality score of LLM-generated code, while different models also exhibit quality gaps among their generation results using the same library. These gaps translate into real engineering costs and can steer developer choices toward a narrow set of libraries with high AI coding proficiency, threatening technological diversity in the ecosystem. We call on the community to integrate AI proficiency assessments into technology selection frameworks and develop mitigation strategies, preserving competitive balance in AI-driven development.
Background The widespread use of sustainable energy technologies is a key element in the transformation of the energy system from fossil-based to zero-carbon. In line with this, technology acceptance is of great importance as resistance from the public can slow down or hinder the construction of energy technology projects. The current study assesses the social acceptance of three energy technologies relevant for the German energy transition: stationary battery storage, biofuel production plants and hydrogen fuel station. Methods An online survey was conducted to examine the public’s general and local acceptance of energy technologies. Explored factors included general and local acceptance, public concerns, trust in relevant stakeholders and attitudes towards financial support. Results The results indicate that general acceptance for all technologies is slightly higher than local acceptance. In addition, we discuss which public concerns exist with regard to the respective technologies and how they are more strongly associated with local than general acceptance. Further, we show that trust in stakeholders and attitudes towards financial support is relatively high across the technologies discussed. Conclusions Taken together, the study provides evidence for the existence of a “general–local” gap, despite measuring general and local acceptance at the same level of specificity using a public sample. In addition, the collected data can provide stakeholders with an overview of worries that might need to be addressed when planning to implement a certain energy project.
Mao‐Hsuan Huang, Chih‐Ming Cheng, Ju‐Wei Hsu
et al.
AimBipolar disorder (BD) and major depression have been associated with an increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease (PD); however, few studies have directly compared the risk of PD development between patients with BD and major depression while considering relevant risk factors and psychotropic medications.MethodsUsing the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database, 21,186 patients with BD, 21,188 patients with major depression, and 42,374 controls were enrolled between 2001 and 2009, and followed until the end of 2011. Individuals who developed PD during the follow‐up period were identified. Cox regression models were used to analyze the hazard ratio (HR) of developing PD, adjusting for demographic factors, comorbidities, and psychotropic medication usage.ResultsBoth patients with BD [HR 8.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.35–11.72] and those with major depression (HR 5.68, 95% CI 4.15–7.78) had an elevated risk of subsequent PD compared to the controls. Patients with BD were associated with a 51% increased risk of subsequent PD compared with patients with major depression. Long‐term treatment with antiepileptic mood stabilizers was associated with increased PD risk among patients with late‐onset BD and high Charlson comorbidity index scores. Lithium was not associated with an increased PD risk.ConclusionsThe study highlights an elevated PD risk in patients with BD and major depression compared to the controls, with BD patients at highest risk. Further research is needed to elucidate the complex interplay between psychotropic medications and neurodegenerative processes in BD, aiming to optimize therapeutic strategies and improve patient outcomes.
Dambar Bahadur Khadka, Tikaram Pahadi, Sunil Aryal
et al.
Proteases are large group of highly demanded enzymes having huge application in food and pharmaceutical industries. Numerous sources, including plants, microorganisms, and animals, can be used to obtain protease. Due to its affordability and safety consideration, fermented foods have recently attracted more attention as a source of microbial protease. The present study aimed to extract protease from kinema, partially purify the extracted protease following dialysis after precipitation with ammonium sulfate, and determine general characteristics of protease. The kinema having highest proteolysis activity after three days of control fermentation (Temperature 30±2 °C, RH 66 ± 2%) was taken for the study. About 2.45 fold of purification with overall recovery of 63.21% was achieved after precipitation with ammonium sulfate at 30–70% saturation level followed by dialysis of crude extracted protease. The dialysed kinema protease had specific activity of 7.90 U/mg. The enzyme remained actively functional across a wider pH (5–9) and temperature (40-60 °C) range. SDS-PAGE and Zymogram confirmed the presence of three major active bands respectively of 29.04 kDa, 36.09 kDa and 46.35 kDa in the kinema protease extract. The enzyme kinetics data on casein, fitted to Mechaelis Mentens’ plots showed the protease had Vmax of 1.001 U/ml with corresponding Km value of 0.825 mg/ml. Metal ions such as iron, mercury and aluminium showed the inhibition effect whereas presence of sodium, zinc, and calcium shows the activation effect on protease performance. The enzyme was active over various natural substrates; showing maximal activity on casein, and subsequent to bovine serum albumin, gelatin, hemoglobin and whey protein respectively. Furthermore, molecular weight distribution of the protease extract and activity inhibition with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, suggesting the protease from kinema could be a metal dependent serine protease or mixture of them.
Objectives: Surrogate endpoints, used to substitute for and predict final clinical outcomes, are increasingly being used to support submissions to health technology assessment agencies. The increase in use of surrogate endpoints has been accompanied by literature describing frameworks and statistical methods to ensure their robust validation. The aim of this review was to assess how surrogate endpoints have recently been used in oncology technology appraisals by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England and Wales. Methods: This paper identified technology appraisals in oncology published by NICE between February 2022 and May 2023. Data are extracted on methods for the use and validation of surrogate endpoints. Results: Of the 47 technology appraisals in oncology available for review, 18 (38 percent) utilised surrogate endpoints, with 37 separate surrogate endpoints being discussed. However, the evidence supporting the validity of the surrogate relationship varied significantly across putative surrogate relationships with 11 providing RCT evidence, 7 providing evidence from observational studies, 12 based on clinical opinion and 7 providing no evidence for the use of surrogate endpoints. Conclusions: This review supports the assertion that surrogate endpoints are frequently used in oncology technology appraisals in England and Wales. Despite increasing availability of statistical methods and guidance on appropriate validation of surrogate endpoints, this review highlights that use and validation of surrogate endpoints can vary between technology appraisals which can lead to uncertainty in decision-making.
Human emotion synthesis is a crucial aspect of affective computing. It involves using computational methods to mimic and convey human emotions through various modalities, with the goal of enabling more natural and effective human-computer interactions. Recent advancements in generative models, such as Autoencoders, Generative Adversarial Networks, Diffusion Models, Large Language Models, and Sequence-to-Sequence Models, have significantly contributed to the development of this field. However, there is a notable lack of comprehensive reviews in this field. To address this problem, this paper aims to address this gap by providing a thorough and systematic overview of recent advancements in human emotion synthesis based on generative models. Specifically, this review will first present the review methodology, the emotion models involved, the mathematical principles of generative models, and the datasets used. Then, the review covers the application of different generative models to emotion synthesis based on a variety of modalities, including facial images, speech, and text. It also examines mainstream evaluation metrics. Additionally, the review presents some major findings and suggests future research directions, providing a comprehensive understanding of the role of generative technology in the nuanced domain of emotion synthesis.