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Understanding the dynamic fracturing and deformation behaviour of geomaterials, such as concrete and rock, is essential for underground infrastructure safety. This study integrates experimental techniques, including the Triaxial Hopkinson Bar (Tri-HB) system, digital image correlation (DIC), digital volume correlation (DVC), acoustic emission (AE), and high-speed X-ray phase contrast imaging (XPCI), to analyse the mechanical and fracturing properties of geomaterials under high strain rates. The findings reveal the interplay between stress confinement, strain rates, and microcrack evolution. A machine learning-based crack classification method is proposed to distinguish crack types and their evolution. This study provides a foundation for numerical modelling and further engineering applications.

Alternative splicing (AS) serves as a pivotal mechanism in transcriptional regulation, engendering transcript diversity, and modifications in protein structure and functionality. Across varying tissues, developmental stages, or under specific conditions, AS gives rise to distinct splice isoforms. This implies that these isoforms possess unique temporal and spatial roles, thereby associating AS with standard biological activities and diseases. Among these, AS-related RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play an instrumental role in regulating alternative splicing events. Under physiological conditions, the diversity of proteins mediated by AS influences the structure, function, interaction, and localization of proteins, thereby participating in the differentiation and development of an array of tissues and organs. Under pathological conditions, alterations in AS are linked with various diseases, particularly cancer. These changes can lead to modifications in gene splicing patterns, culminating in changes or loss of protein functionality. For instance, in cancer, abnormalities in AS and RBPs may result in aberrant expression of cancer-associated genes, thereby promoting the onset and progression of tumors. AS and RBPs are also associated with numerous neurodegenerative diseases and autoimmune diseases. Consequently, the study of AS across different tissues holds significant value. This review provides a detailed account of the recent advancements in the study of alternative splicing and AS-related RNA-binding proteins in tissue development and diseases, which aids in deepening the understanding of gene expression complexity and offers new insights and methodologies for precision medicine.

Keeping railway tracks in good operational condition is one of the most important tasks for railway owners. As a result, railway companies have to conduct track inspections periodically, which is costly and time-consuming. Due to the rapid development in computer science, many prediction models using machine learning methods have been developed. It is possible to discover the degradation pattern and develop accurate prediction models. The paper reviews the existing prediction methods for railway track degradation, including traditional methods and prediction methods based on machine learning methods, including probabilistic methods, Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Grey Model (GM). The advantages, shortage, and applicability of methods are discussed, and recommendations for further research are provided.

Implanted scaffolds with inductive niches can facilitate the recruitment and differentiation of host cells, thereby enhancing endogenous tissue regeneration. Extracellular matrix (ECM) scaffolds derived from cultured cells or natural tissues exhibit superior biocompatibility and trigger favourable immune responses. However, the lack of hierarchical porous structure fails to provide cells with guidance cues for directional migration and spatial organization, and consequently limit the morpho-functional integration for oriented tissues. Here, we engineer ECM scaffolds with parallel microchannels (ECM-C) by subcutaneous implantation of sacrificial templates, followed by template removal and decellularization. The advantages of such ECM-C scaffolds are evidenced by close regulation of in vitro cell activities, and enhanced cell infiltration and vascularization upon in vivo implantation. We demonstrate the versatility and flexibility of these scaffolds by regenerating vascularized and innervated neo-muscle, vascularized neo-nerve and pulsatile neo-artery with functional integration. This strategy has potential to yield inducible biomaterials with applications across tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Extracellular matrix (ECM) is an ideal scaffold for tissue engineering but tends to lack hierarchical structure. Here the authors implant sacrificial templates subcutaneously to build an organised ECM scaffold, and following template removal and decellularisation use these scaffolds to create functionally integrated muscle, nerve and artery in vivo.

Spatial clustering is an essential method for the comprehensive understanding of a region. Spatial clustering divides all spatial units into different clusters. The attributes of each cluster of the spatial units are similar, and simultaneously, they are as continuous as spatially possible. In spatial clustering, the handling of spatial outliers is important. It is necessary to improve spatial integration so that each cluster is connected as much as possible, while protecting spatial outliers can help avoid the excessive masking of attribute differences This paper proposes a new spatial clustering method for raster data robust to spatial outliers. The method employs a sliding window to scan the entire region to determine spatial outliers. Additionally, a mechanism based on the range and standard deviation of the spatial units in each window is designed to judge whether the spatial integration should be further improved or the spatial outliers should be protected. To demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method, we applied it in two case study areas, namely, Changping District and Pinggu District in Beijing. The results show that the proposed method can retain the spatial outliers while ensuring that the clusters are roughly contiguous. This method can be used as a simple but powerful and easy-to-interpret alternative to existing geographical spatial clustering methods.

The coastal zone represents a unique interface between land and sea, and addressing the ecological crisis it faces is of global significance. One of the most fundamental and effective measures is to extract the coastline’s location on a large scale, dynamically, and accurately. Remote sensing technology has been widely employed in coastline extraction due to its temporal, spatial, and sensor diversity advantages. Substantial progress has been made in coastline extraction with diversifying data types and information extraction methods. This paper focuses on discussing the research progress related to data sources and extraction methods for remote sensing-based coastline extraction. We summarize the suitability of data and some extraction algorithms for several specific coastline types, including rocky coastlines, sandy coastlines, muddy coastlines, biological coastlines, and artificial coastlines. We also discuss the significant challenges and prospects of coastline dataset construction, remotely sensed data selection, and the applicability of the extraction method. In particular, we propose the idea of extracting coastlines based on the coastline scene knowledge map (CSKG) semantic segmentation method. This review serves as a comprehensive reference for future development and research pertaining to coastal exploitation and management.

In the context of increasing competition, the phenomenon of individuals experiencing guilt or anxiety at rest has become more pronounced, particularly among Chinese university students. While previous research has primarily explained this phenomenon from the perspective of collectivist cultures, this study posits that vertical individualism may offer a more compelling explanation. A sample of 550 Chinese university students was surveyed to collect data on vertical/horizontal individualism-collectivism, status anxiety, and rest intolerance. A partial correlation network analysis, controlling for demographic covariates, was conducted to explore the psychological structure of these constructs. The results identified Vertical Individualism (VI) and Status Anxiety (SA) as the core bridge nodes connecting the community of cultural values to the dimensions of rest intolerance. Subsequent mediation analyses confirmed that SA partially mediated the relationship between VI and overall rest intolerance. This indirect effect was particularly pronounced for the affective and social-comparative components of the phenomenon. These findings challenge traditional collectivist frameworks and reveal a nuanced psychological mechanism: competitive cultural values exacerbate rest intolerance through the pathway of status anxiety. This provides novel theoretical insights for psychological interventions and cultural adaptation education in higher education settings.

To evaluate the relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) and the risk of miscarriage before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Literature databases were searched, including the PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Cochrane databases, from January 1, 1980, to December 31, 2015. The following search terms were used: subclinical hypothyroidism, hypothyroidism, thyroid dysfunction, thyroid hypofunction, subclinical thyroid disease, thyroid dysfunction, pregnancy loss, abortion and miscarriage. Studies comparing the prevalence of miscarriage in pregnant women with SCH with those who were euthyroid were selected. From the studies matched, the relative risk (RR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated to yield outcomes. All the statistical analyses were performed using Review Manager (Revman) Version 5.3 and Stata Version 12.0 software. The publication bias of the studies was assessed by forest plot and Begg's test, while the stability of the results was evaluated by sensitivity analysis. Nine articles satisfying the inclusion criteria were analysed. Compared to euthyroid pregnant women, patients with non-treated SCH had a higher prevalence of miscarriage (RR = 1.90, 95% CI1.59-2.27, P<0.01). Additionally, SCH patients in the international diagnostic criteria group were more likely to suffer miscarriages than those in the ATA diagnostic criteria group (χ2 = 11.493, P<0.01). Moreover, there was no difference between patients with treated SCH and euthyroid women (RR = 1.14, 95% CI0.82-1.58, P = 0.43). Compared to isolated SCH women, the miscarriage risk of SCH patients with thyroid autoimmunity (TAI) was obviously higher (RR = 2.47, 95% CI1.77-3.45, P<0.01), and isolated SCH patients also had a higher prevalence of miscarriages than euthyroid women (RR = 1.45, 95% CI1.07-1.96, P = 0.02).A heterogeneity test, forest plot and Begg's test suggested that there was no significant heterogeneity or publication bias among the included articles, while the result of sensitivity analysis showed that our study exhibited high stability. SCH is a risk factor for miscarriage in women before 20 weeks of pregnancy, and early treatments can reduce the miscarriage rate. Regardless of the diagnostic criteria used, the miscarriage rate increased as long as a pregnant woman was confirmed to have SCH. The results show that the omission diagnostic rate may increase when the ATA diagnostic criteria are used. In addition, SCH patients with TAI have a higher prevalence of miscarriage, while isolated SCH patients also have a higher miscarriage rate than euthyroid women. Thus, we recommend early treatments to avoid adverse pregnancy outcomes and complications.

Zoning texture in sphalerite has been described in many studies, although its genesis and ore formation process are poorly constrained. In this investigation, we compare the in situ trace element and isotopic composition of colour-zoned sphalerites from Nayongzhi, South China, to explain the zoning growth process. Petrographic observations identified two broad types of zoned sphalerite, core-rim (CR) and core-mantle-rim (CMR) textures. Each zoned sphalerite displays two or three colour zones, including brown core, light colour bands and/or pale-yellow zones. In situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry trace-element analyses show that the three colour zones display variable trace-element compositions. Brown cores exhibit distinctly high Mn, Fe, Co, Ge, Tl and Pb concentrations, whereas pale-yellow and light colour zones have elevated Ga, Cd, Sn, In and Sb concentrations. Copper, Sb, In and Sn show slight variations between pale-yellow and light zones, the latter having higher In and Sn, but lower Cu and Sb abundances. Given the low concentration range of Pb, Ge, Tl, Mn Sb, Cd, etc., the colour of sphalerite is attributed mainly to Fe compositional variation. The δ34S values of sphalerite from Nayongzhi range from +22.3 to +27.9 ppm, suggesting reduced sulfur was generated by thermochemical sulfate reduction of marine sulfate in ore-hosted strata. Single-crystal colour-zoned sphalerite exhibits intracrystalline δ34S variation (up to 4.3 ppm), which is attributed to the δ34S composition of H2S in the original fluid. The lack of correlation between trace elements and δ34S values indicates episodic ore solution influxes and mixes with the reduced sulfur-rich fluid derived from the aquifers of the ore-hosted strata, which play a key role in the formation of the zoned Nayongzhi sphalerite. In conclusion, in situ trace element and S isotope studies of zoned sphalerite crystals might provide insight into the ore-forming process of MVT deposits.

The system-in-package (SiP) has gained much interest in the current rapid development of integrated circuits (ICs) due to its advantages of integration, shrinking, and high density. This review examined the SiP as its focus, provides a list of the most-recent SiP innovations based on market needs, and discusses how the SiP is used in various fields. Reliability issues must be resolved if the SiP is to operate normally. Three factors—thermal management, mechanical stress and electrical properties—can be paired with specific examples in order to detect and improve package reliability. This review provides a thorough overview of SiP technology, serves as a guide and foundation for the SiP in package reliability design, and addresses the challenges and potential for further development of this kind of package.