Leshan Normal University

With inner and outer filter parts having the advantage of a more compact structure and a larger area of a single filter cartridge, a three-dimensional numerical simulation model of annular filter cartridge was constructed, and the pulsed-jet performance of annular filter cartridge with array nozzle was investigated. The spatial and temporal distribution of injection pressure in filter core was analyzed; the injection flow field, the induced ratio, and the eddy current under different number (N) of nozzles were compared. The effects of jet angle (α) and jet distance (H) on the pulsed-jet intensity and pulsed-jet uniformity were examined. The results showed that the appropriate number of outlet openings for array nozzles is 4, which corresponds to the induced ratio of 310.4%. With the increase in jet angle, the pulsed-jet intensity first increases and then decreases (the optimal jet angle is α=0°), and the pulsed-jet uniformity first decreases and then increases. With the increase of the jet distance, the pulsed-jet intensity increases first and then decreases (the optimal jet distance is H=250 mm); and the pulsed-jet uniformity was improved. Compared with N=2, the array nozzle can improve the pulsed-jet intensity by 15.5% and the pulsed-jet uniformity by 4.8 times (reducing the coefficient of variation from 0.52 to 0.09) under the optimal parameters (N=4, α=0°, H=250 mm). The research provides a reference for optimizing the performance of the dust collector with annular filter cartridges in space-constrained working environments.

IntroductionCyathula capitata (Wall.) Moq., a widely used medicinal herb in Yi medicine, is often combined with other herbs to treat traumatic injuries, rheumatism, and rheumatoid arthritis. This study aims to characterize the chloroplast genomes, assess variation levels, and elucidate the phylogenetic relationships among Cyathula capitata, Cyathula officinalis, and their hybrid (Cyathula officinalis × Cyathula capitata). The findings provide valuable references for species identification, genetic background analysis, and quality control of Cyathula medicinal materials.MethodsWe employed second-generation high-throughput sequencing technology to sequence the chloroplast genomes of Cyathula capitata, Cyathula officinalis, and their hybrid (Cyathula officinalis × Cyathula capitata). Comparative genomic analyses were conducted to examine their genomic structures, simple sequence repeats (SSRs), codon usage preferences, and inverted repeat (IR) regions. Additionally, a phylogenetic tree based on chloroplast genome sequences was constructed to clarify their evolutionary relationships.ResultsThe chloroplast genomes of all three taxa displayed the typical quadripartite structure, comprising a large single-copy region, a small single-copy region, and two IR regions (IRa and IRb). The Cyathula capitata genomes ranged from 151,428 to 151,436 bp, showing notable intraspecific diversity likely influenced by geographic factors. However, two C. capitata samples shared an identical genome length of 151,518 bp and exhibited consistent genotypes across locations, indicating relative genomic conservation. Repeat sequence analysis identified hexanucleotide SSRs, a unique 16-bp single nucleotide insertion in the rpl22 gene, and a 30–40 bp forward repeat within the rps16_1-trnQ-UUG intergenic region as distinguishing markers for Cyathula officinalis and its hybrids. Codon usage analysis revealed no strong bias at the third codon position among the three species, although codons ending with thymine (T) were used more frequently. IR boundary analysis showed variation only among isolated C. capitata samples. Comparative genomics highlighted psbI-trnS-GCU and rps16_1-trnQ-UUG as highly variable regions. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the hybrid (Z4) grouped within C. capitata, consistent with the maternal inheritance pattern of chloroplast genomes. Given the potential for variations in maternal parents among different hybrid batches, the positions of these elements in the phylogenetic tree may accordingly vary.ConclusionThis study elucidated the chloroplast genome features and phylogenetic relationships of C. capitata, C. officinalis, and their hybrid. The findings offer significant molecular insights that facilitate species identification, genetic analysis, and quality assessment of Cyathula medicinal resources. These insights support the sustainable utilization and conservation of these resources.

IntroductionObtaining clean-catch urine (CCU) samples from non-continent infants is a common clinical challenge due to low urine volume and irregular urination. Non-invasive stimulation techniques, such as the bladder stimulation technique (BST) and the Quick-Wee method, have been proposed to improve success rates and reduce contamination. However, the supporting evidence remains inconsistent, and no multicentre randomised trials have directly compared the effectiveness and safety of Quick-Wee, BST and standard CCU.Methods and analysisThe study will enrol 342 infants aged 1–12 months requiring urinalysis, recruited from paediatric wards across three tertiary hospitals in China. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of three intervention groups: BST, Quick-Wee or standard CCU. The primary endpoint is the success rate of urine collection within 5 min of intervention. Secondary endpoints include time to urination, 5 min urination rate, infant discomfort scores, parental and clinician satisfaction, and urine contamination rates. Safety will be evaluated by monitoring the incidence of adverse events.Ethics and disseminationThis study was approved by the Biomedical Ethics Review Committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University (No. 114/2025). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants’ parents prior to enrolment. Study findings will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at relevant conferences. Individual participant data will be kept strictly confidential and securely stored in compliance with data protection regulations.Trial registration numberChiCTR2500098691.

The influence of forest type on soil aggregates distribution, stability, and the contribution of aggregate-associated carbon (C) to bulk soil organic carbon (SOC) remains poorly understood. This may be crucial for the accumulation and persistence of SOC in subtropical ecosystems. In this study, we examined soil aggregate distribution and stability at two depths (0–15 and 15–30 cm) in 10-, 20-, and 30-year-old Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar) and Chimonobambusa quadrangularis (square bamboo) plantations. We further assessed the contribution of carbon (C) associated with distinct aggregate fractions to bulk SOC. Across all stand ages and soil depths, macroaggregates accounted for 19%–56% of total soil aggregates in Japanese cedar plantations, whereas their proportion was 30%–337% higher in square bamboo plantations. In contrast, fine aggregates constituted 3%–67% of total aggregates in Japanese cedar plantations, but were 29%–94% lower in square bamboo plantations than in Japanese cedar plantations. Compared with Japanese cedar plantations, aggregate mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD) increased by 17%–88% and 35%–152%, respectively, in square bamboo plantations. In Japanese cedar soils, C and nitrogen (N) were primarily concentrated in coarse macroaggregates and fine macroaggregates, whereas in square bamboo plantations, C and N were mainly associated with coarse macroaggregates only. Both aggregate-associated soil C and N varied significantly with aggregate size and forest type, and Japanese cedar soils exhibited higher aggregate C/N ratios, particularly in older stands. Bulk SOC was positively correlated with macroaggregate-associated C in both forest types and with the silt and clay fractions in Japanese cedar plantations. MWD increased with higher macroaggregate C content and declined as the proportion of C in smaller aggregate fractions increased. These findings indicate that forest type plays a critical role in regulating soil aggregation and SOC stabilization pathways, with square bamboo plantations enhancing C sequestration by promoting macroaggregate formation and stability.

Abstract Background University students' emotional regulation abilities are not yet fully developed. Influenced by factors such as academic pressure, interpersonal relationships, and social adaptation, the incidence of affective disorders is rising year by year, mainly manifested as depressed mood, anxiety, and behavioral withdrawal. Existing research shows that regular exercise can improve mood by regulating the activation mechanism of the hypothalamus-pituitary–adrenal axis, but the effectiveness of school-organized sports activities in the intervention of affective disorders lacks systematic validation. School sports activities are characterized by strong group participation, frequent emotional interaction, and high controllability, which helps to build positive social connections and thus promote emotional recovery. This study aims to explore the effect of on-campus sports activities on improving affective disorders in university students and to verify its intervention feasibility and rehabilitation value. Methods This study selected 120 university students who met the diagnostic criteria for mild to moderate affective disorder and randomly divided them into an intervention group (n = 60) and a control group (n = 60). The intervention group participated in school sports activities three times a week for 60 minutes each time, for 10 weeks. The activities included a combination of team and individual events such as basketball, badminton, and running. Affective state was assessed using the Mood Disorder Scale (MDS) and the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS); social adaptation was assessed using the Social Adaptation Scale (SAS). Repeated measures ANOVA was used, and t-tests were employed for inter-group comparisons. Results After the intervention, the intervention group's MDS score decreased from an average of 38.7 ± 4.5 to 24.5 ± 3.8, an improvement of 36.7%, which was superior to the control group's score, which decreased from 39.1 ± 4.6 to 31.8 ± 4.2, an improvement of 18.6% (p<.01). The SDS score decreased from 62.3 ± 5.4 to 47.9 ± 4.9, while the control group's score decreased to 54.6 ± 5.2 (p<.05). The SAS score increased from 42.8 ± 4.7 to 55.1 ± 4.3, with an improvement of approximately 28.7% in social interaction ability, compared to only approximately 12.4% in the control group. The adherence to physical activity participation was 90.4%, higher than the 71.6% in the control group (p<.05), indicating that school physical activity can effectively improve emotional symptoms and enhance social adaptation. Discussion Studies have shown that school physical activities play a positive role in the intervention of affective disorders by enhancing emotional interaction, improving intrinsic vitality, and reducing behavioral withdrawal. The nature of group activities helps to form a positive social feedback mechanism, improving the mental state of college students. It is recommended that future research combine physiological monitoring data with emotion recognition models to explore intervention mechanisms and develop sports rehabilitation programs that integrate with psychological counseling. Simultaneously, the varying degrees of adaptation to affective disorders based on different exercise intensities and types should be considered to optimize individualized intervention strategies. Long-term follow-up to explore sustainable effects and control the risk of relapse is also a key direction for future research. Funding No. RC2025049.

The foundation of an automatic sign language training (ASLT) system lies in word-level sign language recognition (WSLR), which refers to the translation of captured sign language signals into sign words. However, two key issues need to be addressed in this field: (1) the number of sign words in all public sign language datasets is too small, and the words do not match real-world scenarios, and (2) only single-view sign videos are typically provided, which makes solving the problem of hand occlusion difficult. In this work, we design an efficient algorithm for WSLR which is trained on our recently released NationalCSL-DP dataset. The algorithm first performs frame-level alignment of dual-view sign videos. A two-stage deep neural network is then employed to extract the spatiotemporal features of the signers, including hand motions and body gestures. Furthermore, a front-view guided early fusion (FvGEF) strategy is proposed for effective fusion of features from different views. Extensive experiments were carried out to evaluate the algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm significantly outperformed existing dual-view sign language recognition algorithms. Compared with several state-of-the-art methods, the proposed algorithm achieves Top-1 accuracy on the NationalCSL6707 dataset that is 10.29 and 11.38 higher than MViT and CNN + Transformer, respectively.

Background: Emotions—including joy, sadness, fear, and anger—are fundamental expressions of human experience. For children and adults who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, emotional experiences and communication can differ due to linguistic and communication-related factors. Methods: This scoping review identifies instruments that are suitable for assessing emotional intelligence in the context of the lived and cultural experiences of individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. A comprehensive search was conducted in April 2024 following the JBI methodology. Results: Out of 3091 articles, 21 studies were included. Two adapted methods were identified: the Meadow/Kendall Social–Emotional Assessment Inventory and ISEAR-D. Assessments supported by sign language revealed no significant differences in age or gender. Conclusions: The authors recommend further development of screening instruments that reflect the specific experiences of the population who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.

Honeybees are key pollinators, and their overwintering period represents a critical bottleneck for colony survival. We investigated how host species and husbandry practices influence the composition of gut bacterial and archaeal communities of overwintering honeybees, as well as the potential functional consequences for energy metabolism and resilience. Using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing combined with marker-gene functional inference, we observed that wild Apis cerana (wAc) harbors the most diverse gut microbiome across both bacterial and archaeal domains. Notably, wAc exhibited a significant enrichment of methanogenic archaea (e.g., Methanocorpusculaceae and Methanosarcinaceae), a pattern potentially consistent with bacterial-archaeal metabolic coupling that may improve fermentation thermodynamics and energy extraction under winter resource limitation. In contrast, the gut communities of managed Apis cerana (mAc) and Apis mellifera (Am) were dominated by Lactobacillus, and mAc exhibited a relative increase in predicted carbohydrate metabolism and replication/repair pathways based on marker-gene inference. Most archaeal sequences from Am and mAc remained unclassified, underscoring gaps in primer coverage and reference databases. Because each experimental group in this study was represented by a single pooled sample, the analyses are descriptive and hypothesis-generating rather than definitive; functional inferences should be treated as provisional and validated in future work. Overall, the results generate testable hypotheses that dietary diversification, reduced antibiotic exposure, and targeted microbial interventions might help support overwintering resilience, but targeted validation is required before making management recommendations.