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Castor fiber birulai is a subspecies of the Eurasian beaver that has a relatively small population size compared to other Castor subspecies. There is limited genetic research on this subspecies. In this study, mitochondrial cytochrome b (Cytb) and D-loop sequences were analysed in genetic samples obtained from 19 individuals residing in the Buergen River Basin, Xinjiang, China. The Cytb region presented a single haplotype, whereas three haplotypes were identified in the D-loop region. The genetic diversity within the Chinese population was low (D-loop Hd = 0.444; Pi = 0.0043), markedly lower than that observed in other geographical populations of C. fiber. Phylogenetic reconstructions and haplotype network analyses revealed substantial genetic differentiation between C. f. birulai and other Eurasian lineages (Fst > 0.95), supporting the status of C. f. birulai as a distinct evolutionary lineage. Although the genetic distance between the Chinese and Mongolian populations was relatively small (distance = 0.00269), significant genetic differentiation was detected (Fst = 0.67055), indicating that anthropogenic disturbances—such as hydraulic infrastructure and fencing along the cross-border Bulgan River—may have impeded gene flow and dispersal. Demographic analyses provided no evidence of recent population expansion (Fu’s Fs = 0.19152), suggesting a demographically stable population. In subsequent studies, we recommend increasing nuclear gene data to verify whether the C. f. birulai population meets the criteria for Evolutionarily Significant Unit classification, and strengthening cross-border protection and cooperation between China and Mongolia.

The settlement calculation model for soft clay foundation is established based on Hooke’s law and the Duncan-Chang model. By introducing the concept of damage ratio, the method for determining the deformation modulus of soil before and after damage under load is presented, and a nonlinear settlement calculation method which considers the structural characteristics of soft clay is proposed. In the end, a practical engineering example is analyzed with the proposed method and some current methods for soft clay settlement calculation. The results indicated that the proposed method is feasible and applicable in practical engineering.

This study investigated the impacts of light spectra on oxidative stress and nutrient quality of the fish Plectropomus leopardus in indoor recirculating aquaculture systems. The fish (100 g ± 0.45 g [wet weight]) were cultures in five different light spectra (full-spectrum (400–800 nm), blue (450 nm), green (530 nm), red (630 nm), and dark) for 60 days. After experimentation, blood and muscle tissue were collected and analyzed for biochemical variables and nutritional quality. We demonstrated that the total cholesterol, triglycerides activities of P. leopardus in the dark groups were substantially elevated, relative to other groups (p < 0.05). Glutathione and glutathione peroxidase activities were elevated in the green light group versus other red groups, and cortisol was drastically reduced in the red group relative to other groups (p < 0.05). The crude ash concentration in the blue and full-spectrum group was substantially more elevated than in other groups (p < 0.05). Thr, Glu, Cys, Val, Met, Ile, Leu, Phe, Lys, His, Arg were markedly higher in the blue light versus the red light group (p < 0.05). The muscle of P. leopardus was rich in lysine and its essential AA index was in the order of blue light, full-spectrum, green light, dark and red group. The content of total saturated fatty acids in the blue light group was drastically lower relative to the dark, green and red groups (p < 0.05), and the total polyunsaturated fatty acids and DHA + EPA contents in the blue light group were substantially elevated relative to the other groups (p < 0.05). These results revealed that different light environments had certain effects on blood biochemical, antioxidant capacity, nutrient composition and proportion of P. leopardus. A comprehensive evaluation found that the blue light environment had more positive effects on the physiological, biochemical and nutritional quality of P. leopardus. This result provides a theoretical reference for the lighting strategy of an indoor recirculating aquaculture system.

The giant triton snail, (Linnaeus, 1758), crucial for coral reef ecosystems as a primary predator of the crown-of-thorns sea star, is experiencing a significant decline due to overfishing for its ornamental shell, underscoring the urgent need for conservation and deeper understanding of its role within marine biodiversity. This study presents the first complete mitogenome sequence of . Spanning 15,346 bp, the mitogenome comprises 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis of 88 Littorinimorpha mitogenomes confirms and are grouped together within the family Charoniidae as a sister group to the remaining Tonnoidea families. This research not only enhances the taxonomic classification and conservation efforts for marine gastropods but also serves as a vital reference for future evolutionary and genetic studies within the Caenogastropoda.

Elevated expression of the mechanosensitive ion channel PIEZO1 in response to abnormal mechanical stimuli is implicated in many diseases, including myocardial infarction (MI). However, no effective strategy is currently available to normalize PIEZO1 expression for disease management. This study investigates the therapeutic potential of mechanically adapted cardiac patches in reversing PIEZO1 elevation and treating MI. Increased mechanical stress and PIEZO1 upregulation are observed in ischemic cardiomyopathy myocardium. Using finite element analysis, elastomeric patches are designed and applied on MI rats to reduce left ventricular (LV) wall stress and mitigate LV remodeling. Molecular analysis reveals that patch treatment suppresses stress‐induced chromatin opening of the Piezo1 promoter, reversing PIEZO1 elevation and restoring heart contraction gene expression. The patch's therapeutic benefits correlate with the reversal of PIEZO1 elevation is further validated in a porcine model. Notably, constant high expression of endogenous PIEZO1 partially blocks the patch's therapeutic effects, confirming that the mechanism of patch treatment involves reversing PIEZO1 expression, in addition to providing physical support. In conclusion, cardiac patches reduce LV wall stress, preserving cardiac function and geometry by both physically supporting and biologically reversing PIEZO1 expression, highlighting the potential of medical devices in normalizing PIEZO1 expression and treating related diseases. This work identifies fine‐tuning the expression of PIEZO1 as a critical molecular mechanism underlying the treatment of myocardial infarction by mechanically adapted cardiac patches, which can support the clinical translation of cardiac patch devices.

The treatment of expansive soil is always a difficult problem in engineering. Using coal gangue, fly ash, and other solid waste to treat expansive soil has gradually become a new way of energy saving and environmental protection. Most of the existing studies focus on using one or two kinds of admixtures to improve expansive soil, but there are few studies on improving expansive soil with multiple admixtures. In this paper, the expansion and shrinkage deformation and strength characteristics of expansive soil modified by coal gangue, fly ash, and lime are studied experimentally. Nine groups of different mixing schemes were designed through orthogonal tests, and the physical and mechanical properties of the improved expansive soil under different mixing ratios were tested. The sensitivity analysis of the test results was carried out to study the effect of each admixture on the improved expansive soil under different mixing ratios, and the optimal mix ratio under different conditions was obtained. The optimal mix ratio is 8% for coal gangue, 11% for fly ash, and 6% for lime. Further scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests were carried out to analyze the microstructure of the improved expansive soil and explore the improvement mechanism of the multiadmixture. The results show that the optimal moisture content and the maximum dry density of the expansive soil with ash are decreased, and the properties of liquid plastic limit, free expansion rate, shear strength, and unconfined compressive strength of the expansive soil are improved obviously. Through the analysis of the comprehensive balance method, it is found that the content of lime has the greatest influence on the improvement effect of expansive soil, followed by that of coal gangue, and the least is that of fly ash. SEM structure analysis reveals that the particles of improved expansive soil are mainly aggregates, the soil structure is dense, particle agglomeration increases, and the overall structure is stronger. The research results can provide reference for the improvement of expansive soil with various admixtures and the resource utilization of coal gangue, fly ash, and other solid wastes.

The analysis of the bearing characteristics and deformation mechanism of composite foundation reinforced with geogrid-encased stone columns is presented in order to obtain its settlement calculation method. The settlement of composite foundation is divided into three sections which are the reinforced section, unreinforced section, and underlying stratum. Based on Hooke’s law of space problem and the thoughts of the layer-wise summation method, the relative slip displacement between pile and soil of reinforced section without plastic zone is analyzed. The settlement of reinforced section is calculated by the layered iteration method based on the pile element model. The compatibility of vertical and radial deformations of unreinforced section is analyzed based on the pile-soil element model. The settlement of underlying stratum is still calculated by the layer-wise summation method. Finally, two engineering examples are analyzed and the results show that the settlement calculated by the presented method is close to the measured one. The method overcomes the defect that the calculated results by the other existing methods are more dangerous and it is more feasible and can be applied in engineering practice.

Objectives Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) often requires repeated enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging to detect fibrosis. We aimed to develop a practical model based on cine imaging to help identify patients with high risk of fibrosis and screen out patients without fibrosis to avoid unnecessary injection of contrast. Methods A total of 273 patients with HCM were divided into training and test sets at a ratio of 7:3. Logistic regression analysis was used to find predictive image features to construct CMR model. Radiomic features were derived from the maximal wall thickness (MWT) slice and entire left ventricular (LV) myocardium. Extreme gradient boosting was used to build radiomic models. Integrated models were established by fusing image features and radiomic models. The model performance was validated in the test set and assessed by ROC and calibration curve and decision curve analysis (DCA). Results We established five prediction models, including CMR, R1 (based on the MWT slice), R2 (based on the entire LV myocardium), and two integrated models (I CMR+R1 and I CMR+R2 ). In the test set, I CMR+R2 model had an excellent AUC value (0.898), diagnostic accuracy (89.02%), sensitivity (92.54%), and F1 score (93.23%) in identifying patients with positive late gadolinium enhancement. The calibration plots and DCA indicated that I CMR+R2 model was well-calibrated and presented a better net benefit than other models. Conclusions A predictive model that fused image and radiomic features from the entire LV myocardium had good diagnostic performance, robustness, and clinical utility. Key Points • Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is prone to fibrosis, requiring patients to undergo repeated enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to detect fibrosis over their lifetime follow-up. • A predictive model based on the entire left ventricular myocardium outperformed a model based on a slice of the maximal wall thickness. • A predictive model that fused image and radiomic features from the entire left ventricular myocardium had excellent diagnostic performance, robustness, and clinical utility.

Time dependency of chloride transport has been studied and an improving chloride penetration model has been established. Based on reliability theory, a durability analysis model has been build up and sensitivity analysis of steel corrosion probability has been performed. The analytical results show that age factor, cover depth and diffusion coefficient are key influence factors for corrosion probability of steel bar. Furthermore, influences on corrosion probability of temperature and relative humidity are significant quietly and must be considered in practical engineering.

To provide molecular level evidence for the genetics and evolution of bats belonging to the genusMyotis, this study used high-throughput sequencing to determine and analyze the mitochondrial genome sequence of M.blythii, a species inhabiting at the Buergen Beaver National Nature Reserve of Xinjiang, China. Results showed that the total length of the mitochondrial genome of M.blythii was 16, 752 bp, and the total base groups were 33.8% A, 30.4% T, 22.7% C, and 13.1% G. The mitochondrial genome consisted of 13 protein coding genes, 2 rRNAs (12S and 16S RNA) genes, 22 tRNA genes, and a noncoding control region. The length of the control region gene was 948 bp, which was much shorter than that of sister species such as M.myotis. Based upon mitochondrial genome sequences collected from NCBI for phylogenetic analysis of other bat species belonging to the genus Myotis, the analysis showed that M.blythii and M.myotis had the closest genetic relationship. The research findings of this study have enriched the mitochond