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Plant defense responses against microbial pathogens rely on the innate immune system. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are important secondary messengers that mediate downstream immune responses. Therefore, modification of ROS signaling contributes to crop plant breeding for broad-spectrum disease resistance. In plant immunity, ROS signaling is mainly mediated by NADPH oxidases, which use NADPH as a substrate to catalyze the reduction of oxygen to produce superoxide. NADPH generation is an important rate-limiting step in the ROS production pathway. Manipulation of the NADPH generation pathway may provide a novel strategy for regulating ROS signaling to improve broad-spectrum disease resistance of crop species. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling has an important role in plant innate immune responses and is primarily mediated by NADPH oxidase, also known as respiratory burst oxidase homologs (RBOHs) in plants. NADPH serves as a fuel for RBOHs and limits the rate or amount of ROS production. Molecular regulation of RBOHs has been extensively studied; however, the source of NADPH for RBOHs has received little attention. Here, we review ROS signaling and the regulation of RBOHs in the plant immune system with a focus on NADPH regulation to achieve ROS homeostasis. We propose an idea to regulate the levels of NADPH as part of a new strategy to control ROS signaling and the corresponding downstream defense responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several challenges exist in computer-supported collaborative learning environments, such as the potential for distraction and student boredom and isolation, which may adversely affect the quality of collaborative learning and knowledge construction. On the other hand, as an innovative learning tool, physical robots are seen as successful collaborative learning facilitators that can raise student engagement, strengthen social presence, and boost learning results. Meanwhile, tasks designed based on Bloom's taxonomy further ensure students' attention and cognitive growth in robot-supported collaborative learning (RSCL) environments. Although some researchers have explored how to maintain engagement in previous studies on robots, it is still difficult due to the lack of a commonly employed annotation method for evaluating engagement. Therefore, this study proposed the interactive, constructive, active, passive, and behavioral (ICAPB) engagement coding model, combining cognitive and behavioral engagement, to comprehensively analyze the relationship between pre-knowledge, student engagement, and learning achievement in the RSCL environment. An experiment was conducted in a first-aid course at a university to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach. The study involved a total of 36 students using a collaborative robotic system with Bloom's taxonomy. The results showed that pre-knowledge, whether at a high or low level, did not significantly affect students' posttest scores. Instead, student engagement significantly positively impacted their learning achievement. • A collaborative robotic system with Bloom taxonomy was used in first-aid courses. • An ICAPB coding model with cognitive and behavioral engagement was proposed. • An experiment using the two-way ANCOVA was conducted for 36 university students. • The results showed pre-knowledge did not significantly affect post-test scores. • Student engagement significantly impacted learning achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of existing multimodal event classification methods fuse the traditional hand-crafted features with some manually defined weights, which may be not suitable to the event classification task with large amounts of photos. Besides, the feature extraction and event classification model are always performed separately, which cannot capture the most useful features to describe the semantic concepts of complex events. To deal with these issues, we propose a novel discriminative multimodal embedding (DME) model for event classification in user generated photos by jointly learning the representation together with the classifier in a unified framework. In the proposed DME model, we can effectively resolve the multimodal, intra-class variation and inter-class confusion challenges by using the contrastive constraints on the multimodal event data. Extensive experimental results on two collected datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed DME model for event classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to determine the effects of l -arginine (L-Arg) supplementation on steroid hormone receptors in non-pregnant ovine endometrium. All experimental ewes were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 6), a nutrient-restricted group (n = 6), or an L-Arg supplemented nutrient-restricted group (n = 6). The effects of L-Arg on estrogen receptor α/β (ERα/β) and progesterone receptor (PGR) expression in the ovine endometrium were assessed. Our results showed that levels of ERβ and PGR expression were significantly increased by nutrient restriction, but L-Arg counteracted the effect of nutrient restriction on ERβ and PGR expression (p < 0.05). Also, expression of endometrial ERα was substantially increased (p < 0.05) by L-Arg supplementation. Furthermore, ERα/β and PGR were mainly detected in the endometrial luminal epithelium and glandular epithelium. Therefore, we isolated and identified endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) from sheep. Different concentrations of L-Arg were added to investigate the effects on ERα/β and PGR in EECs. The expression levels of endothelial nitric oxide synthase, ERβ, and PGR were significantly increased in response to low-concentration (200 μmol) L-Arg supplementation, which subsequently decreased with a high concentration (800 μmol) (p < 0.05). Otherwise, ERα expression was remarkably increased at both L-Arg concentrations in EECs (p < 0.05). Overall, the results indicated that L-Arg performed crucial roles in the regulation of ovine steroid hormone receptor expression in the endometrium. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis and technical means for the normal function of endometrium in response to low nutrient levels. • Nutrient restriction can increase ERβ and PGR expression in the ovine endometrium. • L-Arg supplementation counteracts the effect of nutrient restriction on endometrial steroid receptors in sheep. • L-Arg has important roles in steroid receptor expression in sheep EECs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design of green and low-cost S-scheme heterojunctions with strong interface interactions is critical to their photocatalytic performance and practical application. Here, novel S-scheme heterojunctions of 0D/2D carbon quantum dots/Bi 2 WO 6 (CQDs/Bi 2 WO 6) were successfully fabricated by an in-situ hydrothermal process, where the CQDs were derived from waste biomass. The Bi-O-C bonds were formed at their interface, providing an atomic-level interfacial channel for promoting charge separation. As supported by work function calculations, in-situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analyses, an S-scheme charge migration path was unveiled within the CQDs/Bi 2 WO 6 during the photocatalytic reaction. The 3 wt%CQDs/Bi 2 WO 6 S-scheme heterojunction displayed an optimal photocatalytic activity, which is 4.01 and 64.71 times higher than those of Bi 2 WO 6 and CQDs, respectively. Based on theoretical calculations and experimental results, the photocatalytic mechanism, possible intermediates, and degradation pathways were enunciated. Furthermore, the non-toxicity of the developed heterojunction and degraded tetracycline solution was testified by E.coli cultivation. [Display omitted] • A novel CQDs/Bi 2 WO 6 S-scheme heterojunction was first constructed by using CQDs derived from waste biomass. • Bi-O-C bonds were formed in the heterojunction, providing an atomic-level interfacial channel for facilitating charge separation. • Strong evidence of S-scheme charge transfer pathway was verified by theoretical calculations, in-situ XPS and EPR analysis. • The 3 wt%CQDs/Bi 2 WO 6 S-scheme heterojunction exhibited the optimal efficiency of 89% for TC degradation within 40 min under-visible light. • Degradation pathways of TC, and the non-toxicity of the developed heterojunction and treated TC solution were elucidated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A complete reconstruction scheme for synthetic aperture in-line digital holograms with seams is proposed. The width of seams and the stitching error are first estimated by an algorithm combined image matching with phase factor. Then a method based on the shift theorem of the Fourier transform is presented to correct the stitching error of the adjacent sub-holograms. After being correct synthesis, means prefilled synthetic aperture digital holograms are reconstructed by using improved phase retrieval algorithm. The particle detection experiment is conducted. The result shows lost particle in seams are recovered and the correlation coefficient between the reconstructed image and the particles target image tripled in contrast to the traditional method. The feasibility of the scheme is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvesting energy from ambient vibrations via piezoelectric effect has been considered as a promising solution for implementing self-sustained low-power electronic devices. Most of the proposed piezoelectric energy harvesters (PEHs) are focused on the energy harvesting from uni-directional vibration. This is a strong limitation because the vibration may come from various directions in practical applications. To address this issue, this paper presents a design and experimental verification of a compact bi-directional nonlinear PEH that is sensitive to two orthogonal directions. This nonlinear PEH is composed of two magnetically coupled piezoelectric cantilever beams with orthogonal directions of deflection. Theoretical analysis and experiments reveal that the proposed PEH can not only harvest vibration energy from various directions but also provide an enhanced output voltage as compared to its linear counterpart. The introduction of magnetic coupling also enables the energy transfer between the two beams, which helps to restrain the excessive deflection of the two beams. Moreover, the advantage of nonlinear PEH is found to be highlighted at low-level excitation, whereas the resonant frequency of the nonlinear PEH drops as the excitation level reduces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The P3HT nanosheets decorated TiO 2 nanorod arrays is fabricated. • The photoelectrode shows good charge separation performance. • The photoelectrode shows enhanced photoelectrocatalytic degradation for organic pollutant. TiO 2 /P3HT photoelectrodes were prepared by hydrothermal method followed with a dip-coating method. The solar response range of TiO 2 /P3HT is broadened from 410 nm to 650 nm. The photocurrent of TiO 2 /P3HT-3 photoelectrode is 2 times of TiO 2. The degradation of bisphenol A (BPA) over TiO 2 /P3HT-3 photoelectrode is 15% higher than TiO 2. Besides, A synergetic effect of photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) was attained over TiO 2 /P3HT composite photoelectrode. Moreover, the composite photoelectrode has good stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper investigates the online scheduling on three uniform machines problem. Denote by the speed of each machine, . Assume , and let and be two speed ratios. We show the greedy algorithm is an optimal online algorithm when the speed ratios , where and . The competitive ratio of is when and when . Moreover, for the general speed ratios, we show the competitive ratio of is no more than and its overall competitive ratio is which matches the overall lower bound of the problem. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Aims: We proved the feasibility of radical transurethral resection in selected patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer with a minimum follow-up of >5 years. A follow-up schedule was developed based on progression and recurrence during this period. Methods: The study included 93 patients with invasive bladder cancer treated by radical transurethral resection. Student t test was used for continuous variables to establish clinical progression predictive factors. VEGF-C protein expressions were tested by immunohistochemistry postsurgery. Results: The overall survival and disease-specific survival rates for all 93 patients were 59.1% and 65.2%, respectively. The clinical stage of the tumor influenced overall survival (p = 0.024) and disease-specific survival (p = 0.047). A significantly higher overall survival and disease-specific survival rate for patients with low levels of VEGF-C was 69.6% and 75.0%, respectively, than for those with high levels of VEGF-C (45.9 and 54.1%, respectively, p <0.05).The presence of bladder Tis reduced the survival rate (41.2 vs. 65.3%) and disease-specific survival (45.4 vs. 72.1%). Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of VEGF-C in the evaluation of disease progression were 76.7, 77.8, 77.4%, respectively. Conclusions: Patients with T2 stage, low level of VEGF-C and absence of bladder Tis were associated with high overall survival and disease-specific survival rate. VEGF-C level can evaluate disease progression and assist in choosing the appropriate treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Aims: Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) has been demonstrated to stimulate the growth of lymphatic vascular endothelium. The purpose of this study is to determine whether VEGF-C associated with computed tomography (CT) has a relationship with lymph node metastasis in bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC). Methods: One hundred twenty seven cases of BTCC were studied: first, both plain and enhanced CT scans of abdomen and pelvis were performed preoperatively; second, VEGF-C protein expressions in tumor cells were tested by immunohistochemistry postoperatively; and finally, detailed pathological findings for lymph node metastasis were recorded. Results: VEGF-C expressions in tumor bladder cells were significantly higher than those in normal bladder epithelium. In the group of BTCC-positive, VEGF-C was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (p <0.01). Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of VEGF-C in the diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of bladder carcinoma were 87.0, 67.9, and 74.8%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of CT were 47.8, 80.2, and 68.5%, respectively. When VEGF-C visually correlated with CT scan in the detection of lymph node metastasis, sensitivity was 91.3%; specificity was 84.0% and accuracy was 86.6%. Conclusions: Positive VEGF-C was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis of bladder carcinoma. VEGF-C expression in biopsy specimens may be beneficial in predicting pelvic lymph nodes. It can improve accuracy when combined with CT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To investigate the effects of losartan, a specific angiotensin II receptor blocker, on slowing progression of renal insufficiency in patients with biopsy-proven chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN) and the molecular mechanism of the therapy. Methods Twenty-two renal transplant recipients with biopsy-proven CAN (group A) were treated with losartan within two months after renal dysfunction for at least one year. Losartan was administered at a dose of 50 mg/d. Twenty-four recipients in the same fashion (group B) who never received angiotensin II receptor antagonist were studied as control. The investigation time for each patient lasted one year. Renal functions and concentrations of plasma and urine transforming growth factor-betal (TGF-betal) were compared between the two groups at the initiation and end of the study. In group A, expressions of TGF-betal mRNA and immunofluorescence intensity of TGF-betal protein and pathological alterations in renal biopsy specimens were compared between before losartan therapy and after one year of the therapy. Results At the initiation of the investigation, no significant differences were found between group A and group B in clinical data such as donor age, cold-ischemia time, HLA mismatch, levels of creatinine clearance (Ccr), plasma and urine TGF-betal concentrations. One year later, 14 of 22 (63.6%) patients showed stable or improved graft functions in group A, and 4 of 24 (16.7%) in group B. The difference was significant (P < 0.05). At the end of the study, urine TGF-betal concentration was 273.8 ± 84.1 pg/mg·Cr in group A and 457.2 ± 78.9 pg/mg·Cr in group B. During one year study period, loss of Ccr was 6.6 ± 5.4 mL/min in group A and 16.2 ± 9.1 mL/min in group B. Both of the differences were significant between the two groups (P < 0.01). No significant differences were found in plasma TGF-betal concentrations between the four values determined at the initiation and end of the study in the two groups (F = 2.56, P > 0.05). After one year losartan therapy, group A showed a significant decrease in expressions of TGF-betal mRNA and TGF-betal protein in renal biopsy specimens [from 1.59 ± 0.35 to 0.96 ± 0.27 and from (10.83 ± 2.33)×106 to (6.41 ± 1.53)×106, respectively; both P < 0.01], but in light microscopy the histological changes were similar to the first renal biopsy. Losartan was excellently tolerated in all patients in group A. No cases with losartan therapy showed too low blood pressure and other side effects. Conclusion This study suggests that losartan have an effect on slowing progression of CAN. Reducing production of intrarenal TGF-betal may play a decisive role in the efficacy of losartan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partial substitution of certain cations for manganese is an attractive route to improve the electrochemical property of LiMn2O4. In this paper, we focus on the effect of chromium substitution. LiCryMn2−yO4 (y=0.00, 0.03, 0.05, 0.08, 0.12, 0.16, 0.20) has been prepared and their structure and electrochemical characteristics have been investigated. Rietveld refinements of the XRD patterns indicated that with increasing Cr content, the occupation of Mn3+ (or Cr3+) in octahedral 16d sites increased and the crystal structure improved. At the same time, in the 32e (z, z, z) sites, which are occupied by oxygen, the value of z also increases and result in decreasing the bond lengths of O–M (Mn, Cr) and Mn–Mn and increasing the bond length of O–Li. The optimal composition was LiCryMn2−yO4 (y=0.05), whose initial discharge capacity was 121.6 mAh g−1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Four new types of zinc porphyrins with different side chain groups were designed and synthesized, and they were assembled with the antenna porphyrin through zinc-ligand axial coordination. Then these assemblies were immobilized on TiO 2 electrode surface for impressive improvement of photovoltaic performance in supramolecular solar cell. • There are very few document on anchoring porphyrins with different side chain groups. • Four different side chain zinc porphyrins have been studied in photoelectric devices. • ZnPA2 with tert-butyl side chain showed higher conversion efficiency. • Self-assemblies devices improve efficiency of DSSC by assembling antenna porphyrin. In this work, four anchored zinc porphyrins ZnPAi (i = 1–4) with different side chain substituent groups and antenna porphyrin ZnP1 have been designed, synthesized, and characterized. Anchored porphyrin ZnPAi (i = 1–4) and its self-assemblies formed by axial coordination with antenna porphyrin have been used as sensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells. Our results indicate that cells based on self-assemblies exhibited obviously enhanced power conversion efficiency. In particular, the solar cells based on the zinc porphyrin (ZnPA2) with t-butyl side chain groups show higher conversion efficiency than that of other side chain porphyrin based devices. These results were also verified by optical performance, photocurrent conversion efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. In addition, the energy level and ground state geometric configuration of the dye were calculated, and the ultraviolet-visible absorption spectrum was simulated through density functional theory to further verify its photoelectric behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federated Learning (FL) is a machine learning setting that separates data and protects user privacy. Clients learn global models together without data interaction. However, due to the lack of high-quality labeled data collected from the real world, most of the existing FL methods still rely on single-modal data. In this paper, we consider a new problem of multimodal federated learning. Although multimodal data always benefits from the complementarity of different modalities, it is difficult to solve the multimodal FL problem with traditional FL methods due to the modality discrepancy. Therefore, we propose a unified framework to solve it. In our framework, we use the co-attention mechanism to fuse the complementary information of different modalities. Our enhanced FL algorithm can learn useful global features of different modalities to jointly train common models for all clients. In addition, we use a personalization method based on Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning(MAML) to adapt the final model for each client. Extensive experimental results on multimodal activity recognition tasks demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• (E)−1-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)−4-(3-isopropylphenyl)thiosemicarbazone was synthesized. • The experimental and theoretical researches on the structure, FT-IR spectra, FT-Raman spectra and UV–Visible absorption spectra about the synthetized compound were explored. • The intramolecular weak interactions were studied by reduced density gradient (RDG) function and atoms in molecules (AIM) theory. • The UV-Visible spectra, HOMO-LUMO orbitals and electrostatic potential (ESP) surfaces of the synthetized compound were investigated. • Molecular docking was used to explore the interactions of the synthetized compound with the antifungal receptor protein (1NMT) at active pocket. A novel (E)-1-(4-hydroxybenzylidene)-4-(3-isopropylphenyl)thiosemicarbazone was synthesized and the most stable optimized structure was obtained by using B3LYP/6–31+ G (d,p) basis set. The experimental and theoretical researches on the structure, FT-IR spectra, FT-Raman spectra and UV–Visible absorption spectra about the synthetized compound were explored. Reduced density gradient (RDG) function and atoms in molecules (AIM) theory from qualitative and quantitative analysis, respectively, indicated that the intramolecular weak interactions maintained molecular structure stability. The combination of UV-Visible spectra and HOMO-LUMO analysis confirmed the electronic transitions among orbitals. The possible reaction sites of the synthetized compound were predicted by electrostatic potential (ESP) analysis. Molecular docking was used to explore the interactions of the synthetized compound with the antifungal receptor protein (1NMT) at active pocket. Eventually, in vitro antifungal activity of the synthetized compound was evaluated by the disk diffusion method. Image, graphical abstract The experimental and theoretical researches on the structure, spectrum, weak interactions, electronic properties and biological activity about the synthesized compound were explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Instead of learning in a passive learning mode or aimlessly exploring VR scenarios, a collaborative design-based VR learning environment has great potential for developing classrooms. Through personal knowledge construction in a collaborative design-based learning (CDBL) environment, this study combines CDBL and VR technology to motivate students to build VR projects and practice speaking English in rich contexts through learning by design; students gradually generate knowledge from design experience and sufficient practice. Peer assessment was further introduced to enhance timely evaluation and reflection. Therefore, this study proposed a VR-supported collaborative design-assessing activity. 113 Chinese seventh-graders participated in a quasi-experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of this method. Compared to the collaborative design-assessing (CDA) activity, the results demonstrated that students in the VR-supported collaborative design-assessing (VR- CDA) activity greatly enhanced their English-speaking performance, collaboration tendency, and critical thinking awareness while lowering their English learning anxiety. In contrast to the VR-supported collaborative design (VR- CD) activity, however, the VR- CDA group activity did not significantly improve students' English-speaking performance. The interview results proved that the students in the VR-CDA group were highly motivated to learn English because of the innovative classroom instruction. They also enjoyed designing the projects collaboratively, posting assessments, and self-reflection. • A virtual reality-supported collaborative design-assessing activity was proposed. • A three-group experiment was conducted in Chinese middle school English courses. • The approach promoted English-speaking performance and reduced learning anxiety. • The approach boosted collaboration tendency, and critical thinking awareness. • Students who took the approach tended to be more motivated to learn English. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital game-based language learning promotes motivation and enables learners to immerse themselves in learning. However, some gaming elements (e.g., competition and challenge) or learning content (e.g., difficulty levels) may have different influences on different learners, especially those with low self-efficacy or academic achievement, as competitive games may lead to frustration. It is therefore important to take students' cognitive capacities into consideration when designing a competitive learning environment, and to provide them with learning content of appropriate cognitive complexity. In the current study, a game-based situational vocabulary learning system that integrated a cognitive complexity-based competition strategy was developed to provide learners with appropriate tasks. A quasi-experiment was conducted in a high school English course to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. It was found that, compared to the conventional situational gaming approach, the situational game with the cognitive complexity-based competition strategy significantly improved the participants' learning performance (in particular, that of the low-achieving students), but it also increased their anxiety. Furthermore, the behavioral analysis showed that the students who learned with the proposed approach accomplished the tasks more smoothly, because the system could take into account players' learning performance and adjust the cognitive complexity of the following tasks through upgrading or downgrading the learners' gaming levels to ensure that individual students learned with tasks at appropriate levels for them. On the other hand, the participants who learned with the conventional game-based learning approach had a greater tendency to fail the game repeatedly. Based on the findings and relevant studies, we also discuss suggestions for future research. • A cognitive level-based situational English vocabulary gaming approach is proposed. • An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the new approach. • The approach has been applied to a high school English course. • The approach improved the students' learning achievement. • Behavioral patterns were analyzed to explain the students' outcomes and perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We reported a novel TiO 2-x /g-C 3 N 4 nanorod arrays photoelectrode by urea drop-calcined and NaBH 4 reduction. Due to synergistic effect of the oxygen vacancies and the g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets, the TiO 2-x /g-C 3 N 4 photoelectrode exhibited excellent photoelectrochemical property and photoelectrocatalytic activity. The photocurrent density of TiO 2-x /g-C 3 N 4 was 6-fold and 1.5-fold higher than TiO 2 and TiO 2 /g-C 3 N 4 , respectively. Meanwhile, the phenol degradation rate of TiO 2-x /g-C 3 N 4 photoelectrodes was as high as 83% under the stimulated solar light. Besides, the oxygen vacancies could promote the formation of the Z-scheme heterojunction between the TiO 2 nanorods and g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel thiosemicarbazone derivatives (E)- N -(4-ethylphenyl)-2-(2-methylbenzylidene)t-hiosemicarbazone, 1 , (E)- N -(4-ethylphenyl)-2-(3-methylbenzylidene)thiosemicarbazone, 2 , and (E)- N -(4-et- hylp-henyl)-2-(4-methylbenzylidene)thiosemicarbazone, 3 , have been synthesized and characterized by FT-IR, NMR spectroscopy and elemental analyses. Three dimensional molecular structures of two compounds (2 and 3) were also determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 2 and 3 crystallized with two unique molecules in the asymmetric unit, respectively. The crystal structures revealed that both compounds adopt an S -type conformation, and are mostly planar due to the formation of intramolecular C–H⋯S C hydrogen bonds that generate S (6) rings. Hirshfeld surfaces and their associated two-dimensional fingerprint plots were performed to analyze the differences of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and their contributions to the crystal packing. In silico ADME evaluation was carried out to estimate and predict drug-likeness. Furthermore, antioxidant activity of the prepared compounds was analyzed by in vitro DPPH free radical scavenging method. Novel (E)- N -(4-ethylphenyl)-2-(isomeric methylbenzylidene)thiosemicarbazone derivatives have been synthesized and characterized. Hirshfeld surfaces and 2D fingerprint plots analyzed the differences of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and their contributions to the crystal packing. All compounds exhibited favorable ADME properties and acceptable pharmacokinetic properties. In vitro studies of all synthesized compounds revealed good antioxidant activity. Image 1 1. Three novel (E)- N -(4-ethylphenyl)-2-(isomeric methylbenzylidene)thiosemicarbazone derivatives were firstly prepared and characterized. 2. The quantum chemical calculations were performed by DFT method. 3. Intermolecular contacts were explored using Hirshfeld surface and 2D fingerprint plots. 4. All synthesized compounds had good drug-likeness properties. 5. All prepared thiosemicarbazone derivatives showed excellent antioxidant activity by DPPH assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility services including carsharing and transportation network company (TNC) services have been growing rapidly in North America and around the world. Measuring the effects of these services on traveler behavior is challenging because the results of any such analysis are sensitive to how (1) outcomes are measured and (2) counterfactuals are constructed. The lack of good control groups or randomization of assignment leaves lingering uncertainty over the contributions of selection bias and treatment effects to reported differences in travel behavior between users and non-users of these services. This paper reports on two approaches for measuring the effects of mobility service adoption on travel rate and car ownership. We first tried a pretest-posttest randomized encouragement experiment to deal with the shortcomings of poor control groups. Then, we turned to the approach of self-reported effects based on hypothetical controls to investigate whether variations in survey question presentation could influence respondents' answers and thus lead to changes in estimated effects. The data to conduct this study came from two sources: a panel survey administered by the authors at the University of Washington (UW), and a survey by Populus Technologies, Inc. (Populus). Various statistical tests were applied to analyze the data, and the results highlight the pivotal role that the research design plays in influencing the outcomes, and manifest the fundamental challenge of establishing credible estimates of the causal effects of adopting mobility services on travel behaviors. • Establishing valid estimates of causal effects of mobility services is challenging. • A randomized encouragement experiment in a pretest-posttest format offers promise. • Question framing is shown to influence self-reported effects of mobility services. • Research design plays a pivotal role in influencing estimated outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Proposed a knowledge transfer method to promote the utilization of emergency experience and get it reused. • Adaptively combined policy distillation with actor-critic structured multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm. • Developed a fast emergency decision making method for freeway accident optimal onsite disposal. • Established an MDP model to simulate task-level accident disposal, modelled commonality among different freeway accidents. A large number of freeway accident disposals are well-recorded by accident reports and surveillance videos, but it is not easy to get the emergency experience reused from past recorded accidents. To reuse emergency experience for better emergency decision-making, this paper proposed a knowledge-based experience transfer method to transfer task-level freeway accident disposal experience via multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm with policy distillation. First, the Markov decision process is used to simulate the emergency decision-making process of multi-type freeway accident scene at the task level. Then, an adaptive knowledge transfer method named policy distilled multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (PD-MADDPG) algorithm is proposed to reuse experience from past freeway accident records to current accidents for fast decision-making and optimal onsite disposal. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on instantiated cases of freeway accidents that occurred on the freeway in Shaanxi Province, China. Aside from achieving better emergency decisions performance than various typical decision-making methods, the result shows decision maker with transferred knowledge owns 65.22%, 11.37%, 9.23%, 7.76% and 1.71% higher average reward than those without in the five studied cases, respectively. Indicating that the emergency experience transferred from past accidents contributes to fast emergency decision-making and optimal accident onsite disposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient deficiency in ruminants can lead to estrus cycle disorders, a decreased pregnancy rate, and reduce birth weight. l -arginine (L-Arg), an important amino acid, can improve uterine homeostasis in pregnant sheep and prevent intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). However, most studies of L-Arg have been conducted on pregnant sheep and few have reported the effects of L-Arg on microvessel density (MVD) in the non-pregnant ovine endometrium. The processes of normal uterine cyclical development and implantation are dependent on a balanced of endometrial MVD. In this study, female Hu sheep were randomly assigned to either a control group (n = 6), a nutrient-restricted group (n = 6), or an L-Arg supplemented nutrient-restricted group (n = 6). The effects of L-Arg on MVD in ovine endometrium were then studied. Our results showed that ovine endometrial MVD was significantly increased by nutrient restriction, but L-Arg counteracted the effect of nutrient restriction on MVD ( P  < 0.05). Levels of angiogenic growth factors (including VEGFA, VEGFR2, and FGF2) had significant increases ( P  < 0.05) in endometrium of nutrient restriction on sheep, but that L-Arg supplementation substantially decreased ( P  < 0.05) their expressions in nutrient restriction sheep. Furthermore, oxidative stress caused by nutrient restriction was also alleviated by L-Arg supplementation in the ovine endometrium. Overall, the results suggested that L-Arg has crucial roles in maintaining the balance of endometrial MVD and angiogenic growth factors, and increasing anti-oxidation capability in the endometrium of nutrient-restricted sheep. This study will provide a theoretical basis and technical means for the normal development of endometrial microvessels in low nutrition level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are currently under both of intense academic and industrial investigations. Here, two dimethoxyphenylamine-substituted carbazole derivatives (SYN1 and PARA1), as hole-transporting materials (HTMs) for PSCs, have been synthesized via two-step synthesis with low cost and simple operation. PSCs devices based on SYN1 and PARA1 showed power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 11.4% and 13.1%, respectively, outperforming that of Spiro-OMeTAD (12.0%), demonstrating the dimethoxyphenylamine-substituted carbazole derivatives are good candidates as HTMs for perovskite solar cells. Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and J-V test under dark indicate that the hole injecting efficiency and dark current affect the cell performance seriously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • This study used sesquiterpenoids with 97 carbon skeletons for model construction. • The scheme based on the DFT method combined with triple correction can accurately calculate Δ c H of sesquiterpenoid HEDFs. • We developed the MLR equation with only 4 features for predicting Δ c H for sesquiterpenoid HEDFs. • The proposed DFT-QSPR scheme can effectively guide the design of novel sesquiterpenoid HDEFs. Sesquiterpenoids that are renewable and have high energy density and low freezing point are promising biomass high-energy–density fuels (HEDFs). The enthalpy of combustion (Δ c H) is the key characteristic to measure the heat energy content of HEDFs. Its accurate theoretical prediction and evaluation is essential for designing novel sesquiterpenoid HEDFs. Combining the screened and optimized density functional theory (DFT) method with triple computational correction, we presented a standardized calculation scheme for Δ c H with an average absolute error of only 2.6 % by 295 structurally diverse sesquiterpenoid HEDFs. Then, the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithm was used to determine the correlation between the calculated Δ c H and 54 quantum chemical (QC) descriptors and the shapley additive explanation (SHAP) method to elucidate the key factors affecting Δ c H. Lastly, a quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) prediction model with only four QC features was constructed by using the SHAP results via the multiple linear regression (MLR) algorithms. Notably, the model has excellent prediction performance, decreased complexity, and improved applicability. The coefficient of determination (R 2) of the internal training set and external test set of the model are 0.957 and 0.956, while the root mean square error (RMSE) are 8.626 kcal/mol and 9.012 kcal/mol, respectively. The proposed DFT-QSPR (the ingenious combination of DFT and QSPR) scheme can effectively guide the design of Δ c H of novel sesquiterpenoid HDEFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three Stemona alkaloids named stemotuberines A–C (1 – 3) with unique C 17 N frameworks, presumably formed by elimination of the C-11–C-15 lactone ring of the stichoneurine skeleton, were isolated from the roots of Stemona tuberosa. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction, and computational methods. Compounds 2 and 3 showed inhibition (IC 50 values of 37.1 and 23.2 μM, respectively) against LPS-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, concern was expressed about the reported plant origin (S. sessilifolia) of the recently described alkaloids tuberostemonols O–R (4–7), which should be S. tuberosa. NMR calculations indicated structural misassignment of these compounds except for 6. Isolation of tuberostemonol P (5) from our material of S. tuberosa allowed for a close examination of the spectroscopic data leading to the revised structure 5a. Tuberostemonol R (7) was found to have identical 1H and 13C NMR data to the well-known alkaloid croomine, and therefore its structure including relative stereochemistry must be revised as 7a. [Display omitted] • Three previously undescribed Stemona alkaloids were isolated from Stemona tuberosa. • Compounds 1 – 3 possess unprecedented C 17 N skeletons. • Nitric oxide inhibitory activities of isolated compounds were evaluated. • Putative structures of tuberostemonols P and R were revised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel D-A compound, [Cu(L)2Cl2]·2CH2Cl2 ML, has been synthesized based on 4′,5′-diaza-9′-(4,5-bis(benzylthio)-1,3-dithiole-2-ylidene)-fluorene ((C11N2H6)(C3S2)(SCH2C6H5)2, L). Both ML and L are further characterized by elemental analysis, IR, 1H and 13C NMR. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction shows ML displays a 3-D supramolecular network built by the neutral mononuclear unit [Cu(L)2Cl2] via hydrogen bonds, π–π stacking and S⋯S interactions. The UV–Vis spectra show the lowest-energy absorption band (431nm) of ML is red-shifted compared to that of L (415nm). The electrochemistry behavior shows that while the HOMO level of the ML is lowered by L coordinating with the Cu2+ ion, the oxidative potentials are increased (1.19 to 1.37V). Photocurrent measurements show the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of L should be easier than that of ML. The results of the reorganization energy obtained from DFT calculations (λ i: 0.25eV for L, 0.82eV for ML) reveal the lower reorganization energy is of great benefit to carrier transport within L. These results are in good agreement with those experimentally obtained by CV, UV–Vis, fluorescence and photocurrent measurements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Y3+- and Co2+-substituted Sr 1- x Y x Fe 12- x Co x O 19 (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.50) M-type hexaferrites were synthesized using a traditional oxide ceramic process to study their structural and static magnetic properties. The well-defined M-type phase structures of the pure and Y–Co co-substituted strontium ferrites were verified via XRD analysis. When the Y–Co substitution amount (x) exceeded 0.20, the Fe 2 O 3 , Y 3 Fe 5 O 12 , SrFe 2 O 4 , and CoFe 2 O 4 impurity phases coexisted in the M-type strontium hexaferrite structure. The lattice parameters a and c increased when x ≤ 0.20; however, a further increase in the Y–Co substitution caused them to decrease. The X-ray density d x initially decreased when x ≤ 0.20, and subsequently increased with a further increase in Y–Co substitution. The density of the sintered samples d s exhibited a decreasing trend with the increasing Y–Co substitution, inducing the porosity to increase. The saturation magnetization M s monotonously decreased with the increasing Y–Co substitution amount. The in-plane and out-of-plane coercivities, H c (ip) and H c (op), initially increased as x increased from 0 to 0.20. When x > 0.20, however, H c (ip) exhibited a decreasing trend; particularly, a linear decrease was observed as x increased from 0.30 to 0.50. The squareness ratio S reached its maximum (79.6%) at x = 0.20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Natural nano-structural attapulgite clay was purified by mechanical stirring with the aid of ultrasonic wave and its structure and morphology was investigated by XRD and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cytochrome c was immobilized on attapulgite modified glassy carbon electrode. The interaction between Cytochrome c and attapulgite clay was examined by using UV–vis spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. The direct electron transfer of the immobilized Cytochrome c exhibited a pair of redox peaks with formal potential of about 17mV (versus SCE) in 0.1mol/L, pH 7.0, PBS. The electrode reaction showed a surface-controlled process with the apparent heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant (k s) of 7.05s−1 and charge-transfer coefficient (α) of 0.49. Cytochrome c immobilized on the attapulgite modified electrode exhibits a remarkable electrocatalytic activity for the reduction of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The calculated apparent Michaelis–Menten constant was 470μmol/L, indicating a high catalytic activity of Cytochrome c immobilized on attapulgite modified electrode to the reduction of H2O2. Based on these, a third generation of reagentless biosensor can be constructed for the determination of H2O2. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The meat production of broilers is crucial to economic benefits of broiler industries, while the slaughter performance of broilers is directly determined by skeletal muscle development. Hence, the broiler breeding for growth traits shows a great importance. As a kind of small noncoding RNA, microRNA (miRNA) can regulate the expression of multiple genes and perform a wide range of regulation in organisms. Currently, more and more studies have confirmed that miRNAs are closely associated with skeletal muscle development of chickens. Based on our previous miR-seq analysis (accession number: PRJNA668199), miR-460b-5p was screened as one of the key miRNAs probably involved in the growth regulation of chickens. However, the regulatory effect of miR-460b-5p on the development of chicken skeletal muscles is still unclear. Therefore, miR-460b-5p was further used for functional validation at the cellular level in this study. The expression pattern of miR-460b-5p was investigated in proliferation and differentiation stages of chicken primary myoblasts. It was showed that the expression level of miR-460b-5p gradually decreased from the proliferation stage (GM 50%) to the lowest at 24 h of differentiation. As differentiation proceeded, miR-460b-5p expression increased significantly, reaching the highest and stabilizing at 72 h and 96 h of differentiation. Through mRNA quantitative analysis of proliferation marker genes, CCK-8 and Edu assays, miR-460b-5p was found to significantly facilitate the transition of myoblasts from G1 to S phase and promote chicken myoblast proliferation. mRNA and protein quantitative analysis of differentiation marker genes, as well as the indirect immunofluorescence results of myotubes, revealed that miR-460b-5p significantly stimulated myotube development and promote chicken myoblast differentiation. In addition, the target relationship was validated for miR-460b-5p according to the dual-luciferase reporter assay and mRNA quantitative analysis, which indicates that miR-460b-5p was able to regulate RBM19 expression by specifically binding to the 3′ UTR of RBM19. In summary, miR-460b-5p has positive regulatory effects on the proliferation and differentiation of chicken myoblasts, and RBM19 is a target gene of miR-460b-5p. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The microbiome-gut-brain axis, especially the microbial tryptophan biosynthesis and metabolism pathway (MiTBamp), is closely connected to bipolar disorder with current major depressive episode (BPD).Methods: We performed shotgun metagenomics sequencing (SMS) of faecal samples from 25 BPD patients and 28 healthy controls (HCs). Except for the microbiota taxa and MiTBamp analyses, we also built a classification model using the Random Forests (RF) and Boruta algorithm to find the microbial biomarkers for BPD.Results: Compared to HCs, the phylum Bacteroidetes abundance was significantly reduced, whereas that of the Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were significantly increased in BPD patients. We also identified 38 species increased and 6 species decreased significantly in the BPD group. In the MiTBamp, we identified that two Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) orthologies (KOs) (K00658 and K00837) were significantly lower in the BPD, and five KOs (K01696, K00382, K00626, K01667, and K03781) were significantly higher in the BPD group. We also identified significant genera and species which were closely related to these KOs. Finally, RF classification based on gut microbiota at the genus level can achieve an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.997.Limitations: The features of cross-sectional design, limited sample size, the heterogeneity of bipolar disorders, and a lack of serum/plasma tryptophan concentration measurements.Conclusions: The present findings enable a better understanding of changes in gastrointestinal microbiome and MiTBamp in BPD. Alterations of microbes may have potential as biomarkers for distinguishing the BPD patients form HCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a cytotoxic heavy metal pollutant that adversely affects all life forms. Interestingly, the crustacean Procambarus clarkii exhibits a relatively high tolerance to heavy metals. The underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of symbiotic bacteria in P. clarkii in alleviating Cr(VI)-induced damage and explored their potential mechanisms of action. Through transcriptomic analysis, we observed that Cr(VI) activated P. clarkii 's antimicrobial immune responses and altered the bacterial composition in the hemolymph. After antibiotic treatment to reduce bacterial populations, Cr(VI)-induced intestinal and liver damage worsened, and crayfish exhibited lower levels of GSH/CAT/SOD activity. The Exiguobacterium, the symbiotic bacteria in the hemolymph of P. clarkii, were proved to be primary contributor to Cr(VI) tolerance. Further investigation suggested that it resists Cr(VI) through the activation of the ABC transporter system and the reduction of Cr(VI) via the reductase gene nfsA. To validate the role of Exiguobacterium in Cr(VI) tolerance, crayfish treated with antibiotics then supplemented with Exiguobacterium H6 and recombinant E. coli (with the nfsA gene), reduced Cr(VI)-induced ovarian damage. Overall, this study revealed that the symbiotic bacteria Exiguobacterium can absorb and reduce hexavalent chromium, mitigating Cr(VI)-induced damage in P. clarkii. These findings provide new insights into hexavalent chromium tolerance mechanisms in crustaceans. [Display omitted] • Procambarus clarkii exhibits a relatively high tolerance to hexavalent chromium. • Hexavalent chromium activated antimicrobial immune responses in Procambarus clarkii. • Hexavalent chromium altered hemolymph bacteria composition. • Symbiotic hemolymph bacteria help crayfish resist chromium-induced damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe a novel technique of double-J stenting in laparoscopic pyeloplasty. Methods: Between January 2008 and July 2009, 22 patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction underwent retroperitoneal laparoscopic dismembered pyeloplasty. A ureteral catheter was inserted into the midureter cystoscopically. During pyeloplasty, the ureteral catheter was pushed up and grasped outside the body through the laparoscopic port. Its proximal end was extracorporeally sutured to the distal end of the double-J stent with a silk. The length of the silk was about that of the urethra. The ureteral catheter was then pulled down until its proximal end exited the external orifice of the urethra, while the stent was pulled smoothly and antegrade into the ureter and bladder. After the proximal end of the stent was positioned in the renal pelvis, the silk was cut and the ureteral catheter was removed. Results: The stent was correctly placed in all these patients without any stent-related complications. The mean time for cystoscopy to place the ureteral catheter was 5 minutes, 10 seconds, and the mean time for the stent placement was 2 minutes, 45 seconds. The mean time for a total of 2 parts was 9 minutes, 15 seconds. Conclusions: Our new method of laparoscopic double-J stenting is reliable and easily reproducible with the combined advantages of the antegrade and retrograde approaches to eliminate the risk of the stenting failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background To probe the differences of gut microbiota among major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder with current major depressive episode (BPD) and health participants. Methods Thirty one MDD patients, thirty BPD patients, and thirty healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. All the faecal samples were analyzed by shotgun metagenomics sequencing. Except for routine analyses of alpha diversity, we specially designed a new indicator, the G m coefficient, to evaluate the inequality of relative abundances of microbiota for each participant. Results The G m coefficients are significant decreased in both MDD and BPD groups. The relative abundances of increased phyla Firmicutes and Actinobacteria and decreased Bacteroidetes were significantly in the MDD and BPD groups. At genus level, four of top five enriched genera (Bacteroides, Clostridium, Bifidobacterium, Oscillibacter and Streptococcus) were found increased significantly in the MDD and BPD groups compared with HCs. The genera Escherichia and Klebsiella showed significant changes in abundances only between the BPD and HC groups. At the species level, compared with BPD patients, MDD patients had a higher abundance of Prevotellaceae including Prevotella denticola F0289 , Prevotella intermedia 17 , Prevotella ruminicola , and Prevotella intermedia. Furthermore, the abundance of Fusobacteriaceae, Escherichia blattae DSM 4481 and Klebsiella oxytoca were significantly increased, whereas the Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis ATCC 15697 = JCM 1222 was significantly reduced in BPD group compared with MDD group. Conclusions Our study suggested that gut microbiota may be involved in the pathogenesis of both MDD and BPD patients, and the nuances of bacteria may have the potentiality of being the biomarkers of MDD and BPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • This is a first double-blinded, randomised, controlled study to assess the low-charge electrotherapy (approximately 2.8 Joules per session) for schizophrenia patients. • Patients in the LCE group showed significant improvements in clinical measures after treatment. • The number of adverse events in the LCE group was significantly lower than that in the traditional ECT group. • LCE may be a safe and effective treatment for schizophrenia patients. Abstract A double-blind, randomised controlled pilot clinical trial was conducted to assess the potential effectiveness and safety of low-charge electrotherapy (LCE) for patients with schizophrenia. Bitemporal LCE (approximately 2.8 Joules) was administered three times a week. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale score was set as the outcome measure. Any adverse event (AE) was recorded. Three visits occurred at baseline, post-treatment, and after one month of follow-up. Twelve patients were randomised to the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) group or LCE group (6 patients in each group). No patient withdrew during the study. The LCE group did not experience seizures during the trial. Patients in both groups showed significant improvements in clinical measures after treatment, and the reduction of all scale scores between the two groups was nonsignificant. The LCE group experienced significantly fewer AEs than the ECT group. Compared with ECT, LCE exerts similar antipsychotic effects while causing fewer AEs. Thus, LCE has the potential to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with schizophrenia, but further research is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a usual practice for improving spectrum quality by the mean of designing a good shaping filter to improve signal-noise ratio in development of nuclear spectroscopy. Another method is proposed in the paper based on discriminating pulse-shape and discarding the bad pulse whose shape is distorted as a result of abnormal noise, unusual ballistic deficit or bad pulse pile-up. An Exponentially Decaying Pulse (EDP) generated in nuclear particle detectors can be transformed into a Mexican Hat Wavelet Pulse (MHWP) and the derivation process of the transform is given. After the transform is performed, the baseline drift is removed in the new MHWP. Moreover, the MHWP-shape can be discriminated with the three parameters: the time difference between the two minima of the MHWP, and the two ratios which are from the amplitude of the two minima respectively divided by the amplitude of the maximum in the MHWP. A new type of nuclear spectroscopy was implemented based on the new digital shaping filter and the Gamma-ray spectra were acquired with a variety of pulse-shape discrimination levels. It had manifested that the energy resolution and the peak-Compton ratio were both improved after the pulse-shape discrimination method was used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterobacter infections pose a huge threat to animals, including humans. It is particularly important to develop drugs that specifically inhibit Enterobacter. In the present study, a C-type lectin named Pc LecE, which was widely distributed in Procambarus clarkii , could specifically reduce the proportions of Enterobacter and Mycoplasma in the hemolymph. Pc LecE showed specific antibacterial activity to Enterobacter in vitro and bacterial clearance activity to Enterobacter in vivo. Pc LecE alleviated the intestine damage in crayfish caused by Enterobacter cloacae. Pc LecE inhibits its proliferation, promotes its phagocytosis by hemocytes, and improves the survival rate of crayfish under E. cloacae infection. The specific inhibition of Enterobacter by Pc LecE might provide new insight into the regulation of immune homeostasis by C-type lectins and the preparation of Enterobacter -specific drugs. • Pc LecE could specifically reduce the proportions of Enterobacter and Mycoplasma in the hemolymph. • Pc LecE was upregulated after Enterobacter cloacae infection. • Pc LecE could specifically inhibiting the proliferation of Enterobacter in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wavelet analysis is commonly used to detect and localize peaks within a signal，such as in Gamma-ray energy spectra. This paper presents a peak area estimation method based on a new wavelet analysis. Another Mexican Hat Wavelet Signal (MHWS) named after the new MHWS is obtained with the convolution of a Gaussian signal and a MHWS. During the transform, the overlapping background on the Gaussian signal caused by Compton scattering can be subtracted because the impulse response function MHWS is a second-order smooth function, and the amplitude of the maximum within the new MHWS is the net height corresponding to the Gaussian signal height, which can be used to estimate the Gaussian peak area. Moreover, the zero-crossing points within the new MHWS contain the information of the Gaussian variance whose valve should be obtained when the Gaussian peak area is estimated. Further, the new MHWS center is also the Gaussian peak center. With that distinguishing feature, the channel address of a characteristic peak center can be accurately obtained which is very useful in the stabilization of airborne Gamma energy spectra. In particular, a method for determining the correction coefficient k is given, where the peak area is calculated inaccurately because the value of the scale factor in wavelet transform is too small. The simulation and practical applications show the feasibility of the proposed peak center and area estimation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the relation between vitamin D status in early life and neurodevelopment outcomes. Objective: This study was designed to examine the association of cord blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] at birth with neurocognitive development in toddlers. Methods: As part of the China-Anhui Birth Cohort Study, 363 mother-infant pairs with complete data were selected. Concentrations of 25(OH)D in cord blood were measured by radioimmunoassay. Mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) in toddlers were assessed at age 16-18 mo by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. The data on maternal sociodemographic characteristics and other confounding factors were also prospectively collected. Results: Toddlers in the lowest quintile of cord blood 25(OH)D exhibited a deficit of 7.60 (95% CI: 212.4, 22.82; P = 0.002) and 8.04 (95% CI: 212.9, 23.11; P= 0.001) points in the MDI and PDI scores, respectively, compared with the reference category. Unexpectedly, toddlers in the highest quintile of cord blood 25(OH)D also had a significant deficit of 12.3 (95% CI: 217.9, 26.67; P < 0.001) points in PDI scores compared with the reference category. Conclusions: This prospective study suggested that there was an inverted-U-shaped relation between neonatal vitamin D status and neurocognitive development in toddlers. Additional studies on the optimal 25(OH)D concentrations in early life are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims The alterations of histone modification may serve as a promising diagnostic biomarker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the clinical and mechanistic relatedness of the histone H3 lysine 27 and 4 trimethylation (H3K27me3 and H3K4me3) in HCC remains poorly understood. Here we propose that the combination of H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 is a more precise predictive/prognostic value for outcome of HCC patients. Methods We used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays and a ChIP-on-chip screen to analyse HCC. Results We found that the EZH2 occupancy coincides with the H3K27me3 at promoters and directly silences the transcription of target genes in HCC. The H3K27me3-related gene network of EZH2 contains well-established genes, such as CDKN2A , as well as previously unappreciated genes, including FOXO3 , E2F1 , and NOTCH2 , among others. We further observed independently increasing profiles of H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 at the promoters of certain target genes in HCC specimens. Importantly, Kaplan-Meier analysis reveals that 3-year overall and tumour-free survival rates are dramatically reduced in patients that simultaneously express EZH2 and menin, compared to rates in the EZH2 or menin under expressing patients. Furthermore, an inhibitor of H3K27me3 alone, or in combination with an H3K4me3 inhibitor, effectively blocked the aggressive phenotype of HCC cells. Conclusions Our results indicate that a combined analysis of both H3K27me3 and H3K4me3 may serve as powerful diagnostic biomarkers of HCC, and targeting both might benefit anti-HCC therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Three novel (E)-N-(3-methyl, 5-fluorinephenyl)-2-(4-substituted benzylidene)thiosemicarbazone derivatives were firstly prepared and described by X-ray diffraction, FT-IR and UV–visible absorption. • Intermolecular contacts were investigated using 3D Hirshfeld surface and 2D fingerprint plots. And the intramolecular and intermolecular weak interactions were explored by RDG function, IGM function and AIM theory. • The frontier orbitals related to electron transitions were measured to research of the stability of the titled compounds. The global descriptions about molecular characters and parameters were inferred by LUMO-HUMO analysis. In addition, the FMO analysis correspond to that the UV-visble absorption spectra of the targeted compounds dissolved in ethanol were mapped using the method of the comparison of experiment and theory. • The reaction sites of the compound were predicted by MEP analysis and Fukui function. • Combining hyper-conjugative interactions with electron delocalization, Natural bond orbital (NBO) were performed. Three novel thiosemicarbazone compounds (E)-N-(3-methyl, 5-fluorine phenyl)-2-(4-benzylidene)thiosemicarbazone (1), (E)-N-(3-methyl, 5-fluorine phenyl)-2-(4-methylbenzylidene)thiosemi-carbazone (2) and (E)-N-(3-methyl, 5-fluorine phenyl)-2-(4-chlorobenzylidene)thiosemicarbazone (3) were synthesized and characterized. UV-visble absorption spectra of the targeted compounds were described using the method of combing the experiment and theory. The single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to obtain these crystal structure data. The experimental values from X-ray diffraction studies were consistent with ones calculated from the quantum chemical theory. Under the B3LYP/6-31+G (d, p) basis set, the properties and types of intermolecular interaction were discussed by Hirshfeld surface analysis. Reduced density (RDG) theory, atom in molecules (AIM) method and independent gradient model (IGM) indicated that the intramolecular weak interactions maintained molecular structure stability. The quantum molecular descriptions such as molecular electrostatic potential (ESP) and Fukui functions were used to explore possible reactive sites. Combining hyper-conjugative interactions theory with electron delocalization theory, Natural bond orbital (NBO) was used to predict the stability of the three compounds. The electronic transitions among orbitals within the molecules were confirmed by the combination of UV-visble spectra and HUMO- LUMO analysis. Molecular docking was used to simulate the interactions of the synthetized compounds with the antifungal receptor protein (1NMT) at active pocket. Eventually, in vitro antifungal activity of the synthetized compounds was evaluated by the disk diffusion method. Three types of thiosemicarbazones were synthesized and characterized. There were experimental and theoretical researches for the most stable structures on the intermolecular and intramolecular interactions, electronic properties, local reaction sites, absorption spectrums. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]