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Post-transcriptional regulation of cytokine/chemokine mRNA turnover is critical for immune processes and contributes to the mammalian cellular response to diverse inflammatory stimuli. The ubiquitous RNA-binding protein human antigen R (HuR) is an integral regulator of inflammation-associated mRNA fate. HuR function is regulated by various post-translational modifications that alter its subcellular localization and ability to stabilize target mRNAs. Both poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) have been reported to regulate the biological function of HuR, but their specific regulatory and crosstalk mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we show that PARP1 acts via p38 to synergistically promote cytoplasmic accumulation of HuR and stabilization of inflammation-associated mRNAs in cells under inflammatory conditions. Specifically, p38 binds to auto-poly ADP-ribosylated (PARylated) PARP1 resulting in the covalent PARylation of p38 by PARP1, thereby promoting the retention and activity of p38 in the nucleus. In addition, PARylation of HuR facilitates the phosphorylation of HuR at the serine 197 site mediated by p38, which then increases the translocation of HuR to the cytoplasm, ultimately stabilizing the inflammation-associated mRNA expression at the post-transcriptional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modification of BT ceramic particles was achieved using hydrogen peroxide and vinyltriethoxysilane, resulting in the production of core–shell-structured nano-materials (VTS@BT). Upon initiation, moderately cross-linked XL-VTS@BT/PVDF composites were prepared by reacting them with modified polyvinylidene fluoride (MDPVDF). As the amount of VTS@BT increased, the dielectric constant of the composite material increased from 7.89 to 19.1, while the dielectric loss increased only slightly from 0.058 to 0.075. Furthermore, as the filling amount of VTS@BT increased, the grain size gradually increased, the nucleation rate decreased, and the addition of crosslinking agents caused a minor transformation of the β-crystalline phase to the α-crystalline phase. The moderate cross-linking improved the breakdown strength and energy storage density of the composite material, with a cross-linked structure composite material at 10wt% addition achieving an energy storage density of 10.36 J/cm3 at an electric field strength of 340MV/m, which was nearly a 57% increase in energy storage density compared to PVDF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to study the Mode-I penny-shaped crack problem of an infinite body of one-dimensional hexagonal piezoelectric quasicrystal. The problem is transformed into a mixed-boundary value problem in the context of electro-elasticity of quasicrystals, and the corresponding integro-differential equations are analytically solved. Two extreme cases of electrically impermeable and permeable crack surface are considered. By virtue of the generalized potential theory method, the three-dimensional complete analytical solutions of three-dimensional crack problems under symmetric concentrated and uniform loads are expressed in terms of elementary functions. Important parameters in fracture mechanics are explicitly derived, such as crack surface displacements, the distributions of generalized stresses at the crack tip and the corresponding generalized stress intensity factors. The validity of the proposed solutions and the coupling effect of phonon-phason-electric fields are investigagted through numerical examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding urban human mobility, particularly trip purposes, is essential for optimizing traffic management, personalized recommendations, and urban planning. However, in real-world scenarios, trip purposes cannot be directly extracted from the trajectory data. To address this issue, we propose a geometry-driven neural topic model for trip purpose inference. We integrate trajectory data with nearby POI data using a geometry-driven technique to enhance the interpretability of the results. Furthermore, our model captures the semantics and relationships of the data in a high-dimensional space and identifies latent topics representing distinct trip purposes. These learned topics are analyzed using clustering algorithms to group similar trips, enabling trip purpose inference. And we evaluate our model using the trajectory data of Shenzhen and Chengdu, and compare it with baseline models. The results demonstrate that our model performs well. Furthermore, we analyze trajectory data containing trip purpose information to gain insight into human mobility patterns and the influence of trip purposes, paving the way for potential implications and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study compared short- and long-term outcomes of robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) versus video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) for lobectomy in young adults aged ≤ 35 years with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), aiming to assess the superiority of RATS over VATS for this special group of patients. Methods: A total of 1355 consecutive NSCLC cases aged 18–35 years undergoing RATS (n = 105) or VATS (n = 1250) between 2014 and 2021 were retrospectively identified from a prospectively maintained database. Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to establish a 1:3 RATS versus VATS ratio. Baseline clinicopathological characteristics, perioperative outcomes, lymph node (LN) assessment, and long-term survival were investigated. Results: Following PSM, 105 and 315 cases were in the RATS and VATS groups, respectively. RATS led to a shorter postoperative hospital stay than VATS (4.0 ± 1.5 vs 4.3 ± 1.7 days, p = 0.02). The two groups were comparable in other perioperative outcomes and postoperative complications (all p > 0.05). Moreover, RATS assessed more LNs (9.4 ± 4.4 vs 8.3 ± 3.6, p = 0.03), especially N1 LNs (4.2 ± 3.1 vs 3.5 ± 2.2, p = 0.02), than VATS. By comparison, no difference in 5-year recurrence-free survival (RFS), overall survival (OS), or recurrence or mortality patterns was found between the two groups (all p > 0.05). Further subgroup analyses also observed similar long-term outcomes between the two groups regarding age, gender, and smoking history. Finally, Cox's analyses found that the surgical approach was not independently correlated with RFS or OS. Conclusion: RATS shortened postoperative hospital stay, assessed more N1 and total LNs, and achieved comparable long-term outcomes to VATS for very young NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The abundance of nitrogen (N)-cycling genes is frequently used to indicate N cycling and predict N2O emissions. However, it remains difficult to clearly define how soil N-cycling genes in different ecosystems respond to anthropogenic N additions. Methods: We applied a meta-analysis approach to examine data about N-cycling genes (nifH, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nirK, nirS, and nosZ) in different ecosystems from 119 peer-reviewed articles. Results: In the ecosystems examined, the patterns of change in the abundances of the target genes, apart from AOA, varied considerably. This variation reflects the distinctive soil characteristics of ecosystems that develop when different forms of N are applied at different rates and over different durations. The nifH abundance decreased significantly, by 32.79%, in forests but did not change in grasslands and croplands. The AOB abundance increased in all three ecosystems, by 193.06% in grasslands, 73.26% in forests, and 151.86% in croplands, respectively. The denitrification gene abundances, namely the nirK, nirS, and nosZ, in croplands also increased significantly, by 60.74%, 47.42%, and 69.54%, respectively. Conclusion: In general, climate factors and long-term applications of organic N at high rates had significant effects on the gene abundances in different ecosystems, through their influence on soil properties. An enhanced understanding of how N additions influence the abundance of other N-cycling functional genes can help us improve our ability to model the populations and activities of microbial functional communities and predict N fluxes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, wearable electronic devices and human–computer interaction are developing prosperously, which expands the requirement of flexible sensing materials. Graphene and its derivatives with extraordinary advantages are highly attractive precursors. However, it is difficult to assemble graphene into macroscopic cubes with good fatigue resistance performance. Here, we propose an efficient way to manufacture a lamellar-structural rGO aerogel with enhanced stiffness and deflection of lamellae, by using MXene as a rigidity additive. The addition of MXene (Ti3C2Tx) improves the mechanical and fatigue resistance properties of the aerogel, making it super compressible and elastic. The highly stable structure of the aerogel can withstand extremely high compressive strain of 90% and long-term compression at 50% strain for at least 10,000 cycles. The lamellar structure makes a great contribution to achieve good sensing performance including high linear sensitivity, low testing limit, wide testing strain range and quick response. These features make the MXene/rGO aerogel a promising sensing material for flexible wearable devices to monitor the subtle and obvious biosignals of the human body movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, research in the field of task offloading not only pays attention to the computing performance of computing nodes, but also pays attention to the impact of energy consumption on computing performance. The current multi-core frequency conversion processors mainly use dynamic voltage frequency scaling (DVFS) technology to reduce processor frequency and energy consumption. The most representative is ARM's big.LITTLE which is a heterogeneous processor architecture, with large cores having strong performance and small cores being more energy efficient. In this article, we aim to implement energy-saving task offloading based on the big.LITTLE processor. We regard multi-core and multi-edge clouds as multiple computing nodes with different computing capabilities and express the task offloading problem as a computing resource scheduling problem. We modeled the calculation time and energy consumption through a non-cooperative game and proved that the non-cooperative game is an accurate potential game. The theory proves that non-cooperative games have at least one pure strategy Nash equilibrium point (NEP). We designed an edge cloud multi-user computing resource scheduling algorithm based on big.LITTLE processor (MUCRS). The simulation experiment results show that the MUCRS algorithm can obtain a suitable task offloading scheme, and the time and energy cost are lower than several similar algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical properties of tritium (T) and deuterium (D) have been of great interest as a fuel for nuclear fusion. However, several kinds of the physical properties in a cryogenic environment have not been reported. Optical properties in liquid and solid phases are indispensable for the quality control of the DT fuel. We study the dependence of the refractive index of solid DT on temperature. A dedicated cryogenic system has been developed and forms a transparent solid DT in a prism cell. Refractive index measurements based on Snell's law were conducted. The refractive indexes of solid DT are from 1.1618 ± 0.0002 to 1.1628 ± 0.0002 in the temperature range of 19.40 K to 17.89 K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Grain size is one of the major determinants of cereal crop yield. As a class of plant polyhydroxysteroids, brassinosteroids (BRs) play essential roles in the regulation of grain size and plant architecture in rice. In a previous research, we cloned qGL3/OsPPKL1 encoding a protein phosphatase with Kelch-like repeat domains, which negatively regulates BR signaling and grain length in rice. Results: Here, we screened qGL3-interacting proteins (GIPs) via yeast two-hybrid assay and analyzed the phenotypes of the T-DNA insertion mutants of GIPs. Among these mutants, mutant osak3 presents shorter grain length and dwarfing phenotype. OsAK3 encodes an adenylate kinase, which regulates grain size by controlling cell expansion of rice spikelet glume. Overexpression of OsAK3 resulted in longer grain length. OsAK3 interacts with qGL3 in vivo and in vitro. Lamina inclination, coleoptile elongation and root inhibition experiments showed that the osak3 mutant was less sensitive to exogenous brassinolide (BL) treatment. The transcriptional level of OsAK3 was up-regulated under BL induction. In addition, RNA-Seq data indicate that OsAK3 is involved in a variety of biological processes that regulate BR signaling and grain development in rice. Conclusions: Our study reveals a novel BR signaling component OsAK3 in the regulation of grain length, and provides novel clues for uncovering the potential functions of OsAK3 in rice growth and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC) is a rare congenital cardiac malformation, and prenatal detection of TAPVC malformation remains a challenging. TAPVC can be easily missed or misdiagnosed in prenatal examinations. This study was aimed to use the modified vascular corrosion casting technique to prepare fetal cardiovascular casts with TAPVC and investigate the utility of cardiovascular casting for the demonstration of fetal TAPVC. The retrospective study enrolled twenty fetuses (22 to 29 + 4 gestational weeks) with TAPVC diagnosed by prenatal echocardiography and casting technique from May 2015 to May 2020. Pre- and postnatal medical records, including results obtained by prenatal ultrasound, postpartum computed tomography angiography, as well as anatomic and cardiovascular casting findings were carefully reviewed and analyzed. In twenty cases, 80% (16/20) had intra- or extracardiac malformations. The TAPVC types were supracardiac (n = 8), cardiac (n = 6), infracardiac (n = 4), and mixed (n = 2). The diagnosis of 1 case each of supracardiac and cardiac TAPVC was modified to partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection; additionally, 4 malformations were missed and 2 were misdiagnosed, including an anomalous left brachiocephalic vein in supracardiac TAPVC, abnormal inflow of the hepatic vein and a double inferior vena cava in infracardiac TAPVC; and bilateral ductus arteriosus in infracardiac TAPVC; a tetralogy of Fallot in cardiac TAPVC that was corrected to right ventricular double outlet; and an absence of ductus arteriosus that was misdiagnosed as slim ductus arteriosus. Comparing with ultrasound, casting technique has its own superiority in exhibiting TAPVC abnormalities, especially in certain types such as course, origin and absence abnormalities of ductus. Postpartum cardiovascular casts can accurately depict the branch structure of the heart's larger vessels, and may be used as a clinical assessment and teaching method in complex cardiac malformations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An efficient in vitro micropropagation system for Platanus × acerifolia 'F03', a radiation mutant that has not flowered for 19 yr, has been established. Axillary buds were used as explants. After sprouting on Murashige and Skoog medium (MS) supplemented with 0.3 mg·L−1 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) together with 0.05 mg·L−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA), the best medium for multiplication and elongation was MS basal medium supplemented with 0.1 mg·L−1 6-benzylaminopurine and with a multiplication rate of 3.43 ± 0.57. Plantlets over 1.5 cm could root on McCown Woody Plant Medium (WPM) supplemented with 0.01 mg·L−1 α-naphthaleneacetic acid and 7.0 g·L−1 agar with an ideal rooting rate and transplanting survival rate of 100 ± 0%. The optimum survival rate was possible when trays were covered with a thin plastic lid for more than 14 d. After transplanting, air humidity and temperature were crucial for young plant survival. The system established here could serve as a pathway for commercial production of the line and provide sterile leaf explants for regeneration and further genetic improvement of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the challenges brought by the surge in the demand for mobile data traffic, many coexistence algorithms for long-term evolution (LTE) and WiFi networks in the unlicensed spectrum have been developed recently. In this article, we investigate, optimize, and compare several solutions to operate LTE in the unlicensed band, which include duty-cycle muting (DCM) mechanism, listen-before-talk (LBT) mechanism, and LTE and WLAN aggregation (LWA) algorithm. We first overview the architecture, working mechanism, coexistence problem with WiFi network, and overall cost of the three different coexistence mechanisms. Their advantages and disadvantages are also compared and analyzed in detail. Then, to maximize the spectrum efficiency of unlicensed band, we optimize the corresponding adjustable variables in the three algorithms. Furthermore, numerical simulations are conducted to compare the performances of DCM, LBT, and LWA explicitly. The results show that DCM can achieve the highest throughput for the LTE network while LBT and LWA have less impact on the WiFi system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to examine the concurrent validity of 2 Chinese versions of the short version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in patients with stroke, i.e., MoCA 5-minute protocol and National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Canadian Stroke Network (NINDS-CSN) 5-minute Protocol. A total of 54 patients and 27 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. In this study, the Neurobehavioural Cognitive Status Examination (NCSE) was used as an external criterion of cognitive impairment. We found that the 5-min protocol did not differ from the MoCA in differentiating patients with cognitive impairments from those without (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, AUC, of 0.948 for the MoCA 5-min protocol v.s. 0.984 for MoCA, P = 0.097). These three assessments demonstrated equal performance in differentiating patients with stroke from controls. The Chinese version of the MoCA 5-min protocol can be used as a valid screening for patients with stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifteen serious inrushing disasters caused by mud flow occurred in the excavation of Yonglian Tunnel with a length of 2500 m in the water-rich fault fracture zone. By taking Yonglian Tunnel as a case study, the causes of inrushing and catastrophic mechanisms were determined according to the hydrogeological features of mud inrush with a series of field tests. In addition, based on the fluid-solid coupling effect, the evolution laws of mud inrush were revealed with numerical simulations. The results show that the excavation disturbances and the F2 fault with abundant fault mud, which is easy to soften and disintegrate in groundwater, are the key triggering factors of the mud inrush. Also, its evolution process, which is facilitated by the coupled effects of damage and seepage, consists of three stages: prepared stage, latent stage and explosive stage. The latent stage has especially important significance for early warnings. The engineering case provides a reference for similar engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consistency limits, especially the liquid and plastic limits, are prominent parameters to be determined in geotechnical investigations for classification and identification of finegrained soil. An investigation of the soil suction stress characteristic curve (SSCC) for determination of consistency limits is conducted in this work. The typical SSCC can be divided into five zones according to the state of pore water retention and the mechanisms of solid-liquid interactions. The correspondences between consistency limits of fine-grained soils and characteristic points of every zone in the SSCC are investigated. A detailed discussion of the intrinsic relationships between zones in the SSCC and soil consistency reveals the physical nature of each zone and the critical moisture content. Using experimental data from soil-water characteristic tests of undisturbed loess and disturbed loess, and van Genuchten's soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) model, consistency limits are determined for SSCCs with different void ratios. The feasibility of the presented approach for determining consistency limits of fine-grained soils based on SSCC is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of computer architecture has long studied electricity consumption in depth. While energy acquisition as a machine learning metric is gaining traction, most experiments are still focused on achieving extremely high levels of accuracy with no computational constraints. This study discussed a novel technique for analysing power grid electricity consumption using a classification model and deep learning techniques. The dataset was collected and processed as part of a power grid-based electricity analysis. The processed data were then classified using a hierarchical combination model comprised of photovoltaic cell integrated spatio Gaussian markov convolutional neural networks. The experimental analysis included energy efficiency, power analysis, accuracy, mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and root mean square error (RMSE). After 10 epochs, deep learning also demonstrated competitive performance with accuracy in training and testing. Machine learning models could be useful in comparing firm energy usage and identifying areas for energy efficiency improvement. The proposed technique achieved 95% energy efficiency, 83% power analysis, 93% accuracy, 81% MAPE, 65% RMSE, and 93% specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various traditional gland dermal pedicle techniques for breast ptosis had disadvantages, such as inverted T or vertical scars and poor sensation function in the nipple and areola in most cases, or even an unesthetic shape in some cases. We felt that these disadvantages could be minimized by using a novel double-ring method with local tissue rearrangement, aiming to correct mastoptosis and preserve the firmness of the breast structure. We used a novel double-ring method with local tissue rearrangement in 35 patients with varying degrees of breast ptosis. Ten patients needed breast volume reduction simultaneously with correction of breast ptosis. Satisfaction with the results among all patients was assessed by a questionnaire. The clinical data, surgical outcome, and follow-up evaluation of the patients were analyzed from follow data and well maintained hospital records. All patients were followed up for at least 1 year. Most of the patients were very satisfied with the firmness of the breast structure, invisible scars, and good viability and sensation of the nipple-areola complex (NAC). The results were durable and stable, and the incidence of complications was low. Concealed areola scarring was the most important advantage of this technique over other techniques for Asians. This novel technique might be a valid option for traditional methods, especially for Asian breasts due to invisible scars. This method could also achieve a good result in patients who did not have adequate breast volume and did not accept prosthesis implantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to tremendous efforts in experimental explosion characterizations of combustible dust and better understanding of their influential factors, modern industry can design better safeguards to prevent and mitigate dust explosions. However, when it comes to nanomaterials, research on their explosion characterizations is still coming into focus despite ever-expanding production and applications. Engineered nanomaterials can have a variety of unique properties after various production and processing methods, making it difficult to analyze the reported experimental data and identify explosion factors. In this study, explosibility tests of nine commercially available carbon nanofibers (CNFs) were conducted in a customized 36-L dust explosion vessel. Test results demonstrated that a mechanical milling process commonly used on CNFs could increase the deflagration index, while another common process, annealing process, could decrease the explosion violence with significant influence on the deflagration index and modest influence on maximum overpressure. The effects of three influential factors-dust concentration, graphite perfection, and agglomerate size-were analyzed. In addition, this study proposed an improved method for estimating the maximum overpressure from dust explosion as well as a demonstration of influential factors on [d P/d t] V . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the frequency capture characteristic of four unbalanced rotors in multi-frequency ranges. First, using the average method, the synchronous condition of four unbalanced rotors in a vibration system is derived. Then, the stability condition of the vibration system is deduced, which meets the Routh-Hurwitz criterion. On the basis of the theoretical analysis, the phase difference in steady states and the resultant force on the rigid body at different excitation frequency regions are discussed numerically. Five sets of experiments are done to investigate synchronization and the Sommerfeld effect. The results prove that the vibration system has three motion states according to the excitation frequency in different frequency regions. Two stable states appear in the near-resonance region of the system. This study concludes that the synchronization of unbalanced rotors formed before and after the natural frequency is crucial for the occurrence of the Sommerfeld effect. This work can provide theoretical and experimental reference for the design of new vibration equipment in engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose : To explore perceptions towards embryo disposition among patients donating excess embryos to a research biobank. Methods: Cross-sectional study of survey responses collected as part of enrollment in a research biobank. Patients are asked questions regarding the difficulty of their disposition decision, their alternative disposition choice if donation to research was not available, quality of the counseling they received, and if additional counseling throughout their treatment would have been beneficial. Survey responses use 5-point Likert scales, with "1" being lowest/least and "5" being highest/most. Results: A total of 157 men and 163 women enrolled in the biobank. Median scores for difficulty of disposition decision were 3 for females and 2 for males, and for quality of counseling, the median scores were 4 for females and 3 for males. Seventy percent of patients would have chosen to discard their excess embryos had donation to research not been an option. Statistical analyses showed no significant difference in responses based on variations in race, religion, sexual orientation, and infertility diagnoses. Concordance of responses within heterosexual couples was tested and found to be poor to moderate. Conclusions: Assessing patients' perceptions towards embryo disposition after donation of their excess embryos to a research biobank affords a unique perspective. The difficulty of the disposition decision, the tendency to discard embryos in the absence of a means for donation to research, and the poor agreement between heterosexual partners highlight the importance of donation to research as an accessible disposition option and the need for a personalized approach to counseling and consenting for embryo disposition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

London plane tree ( Platanus acerifolia Willd.) is an important member of the Platanaceae family, being popular as an urban landscaping tree. Here, we report the isolation of five MADS-box genes from the basal angiosperm, Platanus acerifolia. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses identified FRUITFUL-like, APETELA3-like, AGAMOUS-like, SEPALLATA1-like and SEPALLATA3-like sequences and, hence, we term the respective Platanus acerifolia genes as PlacFUL, PlacAP3, PlacAG, PlacSEP1 and PlacSEP3. From these identities we infer that they represent candidate A-, B-, C-class and two E-class genes, respectively. The conserved MIK or MIKC domains from the nucleotide and protein sequences of PlacFUL, PlacAP3, PlacAG, PlacSEP1 and PlacSEP3 were analyzed using the maximum-likelihood, MrBayes and neighbor-joining methods. The results confirmed P. acerifolia as a basal eudicot. Expression pattern was determined by reverse transcriptase PCR, which showed all paralogous genes have distinct expression patterns, suggesting that they had undergone functional divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qin opera culture has a long history in China for thousands of years. It is the ancestor of Chinese opera. However, with the development of modern technology and the rise of new media, the protection and inheritance of traditional Qin opera culture is facing a new challenge and opportunity, its costume culture is the same. This paper analyzes the style and structure of Qin opera costumes, extracts the colors of the costumes, summarizes the costume patterns, and then uses the three-dimensional (3D) virtual visualization technology to virtually restore the Qin opera costume, and innovates the Qin opera costume. In this paper, twelve sets of traditional Qin opera costumes are virtually restored, and on this basis, the digital protection and innovative design of Qin opera series costumes are carried out, and all the restored costumes are displayed digitally in an all-round way. The combination of Qin opera costume and digital protection extends the application scope of virtual visualization technology and enriches the transmission mode of Qin opera costume. This study inherits and protects the traditional Qin opera costume culture better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qin opera culture has a long history in China for thousands of years. It is the ancestor of Chinese opera. However, with the development of modern technology and the rise of new media, the protection and inheritance of traditional Qin opera culture is facing a new challenge and opportunity, its costume culture is the same. This paper analyzes the style and structure of Qin opera costumes, extracts the colors of the costumes, summarizes the costume patterns, and then uses the three-dimensional (3D) virtual visualization technology to virtually restore the Qin opera costume, and innovates the Qin opera costume. In this paper, twelve sets of traditional Qin opera costumes are virtually restored, and on this basis, the digital protection and innovative design of Qin opera series costumes are carried out, and all the restored costumes are displayed digitally in an all-round way. The combination of Qin opera costume and digital protection extends the application scope of virtual visualization technology and enriches the transmission mode of Qin opera costume. This study inherits and protects the traditional Qin opera costume culture better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anatomy of ductus arteriosus (DA) can be varied in different congenital heart defects (CHDs), and it is difficult to fully discover the DA and other associated cardiac anomalies by prenatal ultrasound. This study was aimed to use the modified vascular corrosion casting technique to prepare fetal cardiovascular casts with DA anomalies, assess the casting effectiveness in evaluating the great vessels of the fetal heart and investigate the utility of cardiovascular casting for the demonstration of fetal DA abnormalities. This retrospective study enrolled fourteen fetuses (23 to 28+2 gestational weeks) with severe CHDs diagnosed by prenatal echocardiography and casting technique from January 2013 to July 2019. The sonographic features of DAs were carefully observed and other associated cardiovascular anomalies were also evaluated during the screening. The architectures of DAs and the whole cardiovascular system were observed and analyzed, and then the cast findings were compared with prenatal ultrasonic results. In fourteen cases, 18 ductal abnormities were indicated by prenatal echocardiography in fourteen cases, while 25 were revealed by casting. Cast findings included 4 cases of ductal stenosis, 1 case of ductal dilation, 6 cases of ductal circuity, 3 cases of right-sided ductus, 5 cases of anomalous ductal connection, 1 case of bilateral ductus and 5 cases of absent ductus. Cast findings consisted with ultrasound in 10 ductal abnormalities, revealed additional 15 ductal abnormalities miss-diagnosed by sonography, and corrected 6 abnormalities misdiagnosed prenatally. Meanwhile, 3 ductal abnormalities (reversed flow) could not be demonstrated by casts but only by ultrasound. Cast models can visually display the anatomical characteristics of ductus arteriosus, and could be successfully used in the demonstration of ductus abnormalities in fetuses with severe CHDs. Comparing with ultrasound, casting technique has its own superiority in exhibiting ductus abnormalities, especially in certain types such as course, origin and absence abnormalities of ductus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have been rapidly developed and are favored by the public as a future large-scale energy storage system. Manganese-based compounds with multiple valence states and high electrochemical activity have been extensively investigated as cathodes for AZIBs due to their abundant reserves and high theoretical capacity. However, some problems hinder their application in AZIBs, such as low conductivity and sluggish kinetics. Defect engineering has been verified as an effective method to alleviate the above limitations. In this work, manganese oxide with oxygen defects (Od-MnO2) was successfully constructed and characterized by XRD, SEM, XPS, and TEM. Surface oxygen defects increase ion active transfer sites and improve electronic conductivity. Compared with MnO2, Od-MnO2 produced more localized electrons which could improve the electrochemical performance as cathodes for AZIBs. The discharge specific capacity of Od-MnO2 reaches 307.9 mAh g−1 in the first cycle at a current density of 0.1 A g−1 and maintains at 100.5 mAh g−1 at a current density of 10.0 A g−1. After 1000 cycles, the discharge specific capacity can still reach 82.5 mAh g−1 and the capacity retention rate is 82.1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance transfer printing method using a new soluble tape which can be dissolved in acetone is proposed to be used in heterogeneous integration. Si inks array was transferred from SOI wafers onto various substrates without adhesion promoter by this new method which we refer to as the acetone soluble tape (AST) method to compare with other transfer printing methods by using thermal release tape (TRT), water soluble tape (WST) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). By using the AST method, the transfer printing process does not involve interface contention between stamp/inks and inks/receiver substrate so that it maximizes the transfer printing efficiency. Experimental results present the AST method has good performances, and various alien substrates, even curvilinear surfaces, can be selected as receiver substrates by the AST method. To examine the quality of the transferred Si inks, the Si TFTs were fabricated by using the Si membrane transferred by the AST method on sapphire substrate and the devices show the good performance. All the results confirm that the AST method is an effective method in heterogeneous integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ZnSnO thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition in different oxygen partial pressures. It is found that the oxygen vacancy (VO) contents in ZnSnO films can be readily modified by the oxygen pressures in the growth process. The dependence of behaviors of ZnSnO films and TFTs on relative VO concentration was studied in detail. The relative VO concentration was determined by XPS spectra. The optical band-gap energies of ZnSnO films showed a negative correlation with VO concentration. The strong relation can also be identified for the electrical performances of ZnSnO TFTs. The threshold voltage, subthreshold swing, and density of interfacial trap states increased with the VO concentration in general. The field-effect mobility had a maximum value of 23.6 cm2 V−1 s−1 at oxygen pressure of 6 Pa, which is ascribed to the competitive factors of VO at different chemical states. It is expected that this work would gain a better understanding of oxygen vacancy in ZnSnO TFTs for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically review the modulatory effects of bilateral arm training (BAT) on the brain of stroke patients in contrast to unilateral arm training (UAT) or regular motor training.Methods: We conducted a literature search using PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Science Citation Index Expanded databases from the inception to March 2019 for identifying any relevant studies. Two authors independently screened the literature, extracted data, and qualitatively described the included studies.Results: Eleven studies with a total of 225 stroke patients were included in this review. 156 out of those participants received neuroimaging or neurophysiological examinations. Six studies reported enhanced activation of the ipsilesional primary motor area (M1) induced by BAT, as measured by MEP and fMRI. Beyond the M1, three studies showed that supplementary motor area (SMA) was activated, and three studies found the primary sensory cortex area (S1) was activated by BAT in stroke patients, as measured by fMRI. One article showed that the inter-/intra-hemispheric functional connections of the sensorimotor network were more highly strengthened after BAT than regular motor training, in particular the functional connectivity between the SMA and the M1 in the bi-hemispheres. Three studies reported that BAT increased the inhibitory flow from the ipsilesional hemisphere to the contralesional hemisphere, as measured by interhemispheric transcallosal inhibition (IHI). However, the superiority of BAT in inducing a symmetric IHI than UAT was controversial.Conclusion: BAT is potentially more effective than UAT in improving upper limb recovery after stroke by activating the ipsilesional primary motor area (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and primary sensory cortex (S1) and enhancing the intra-hemispheric and interhemispheric connectivity within the sensorimotor network and the cortical motor system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pile penetration is a very important engineering parameter in pile sinking operation of jacket platform. Insufficient penetration may lead to insufficient bearing capacity of pile foundation, resulting in platform instability and extremely serious safety accidents. In the process of actual pile sinking operation, the penetration is affected by many factors. In this paper, through relevant calculation and analysis, the influencing factors such as internal friction angle, pile diameter, hammer distance and hammer quality are studied, and the influence law of pile penetration is obtained. Finally, relevant suggestions are given in order to provide reference for engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: TRP channels have been implicated in cancer progression. Our study seeks to establish a prognostic model for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by utilizing genes related to TRP channels. Methods: We used the TCGA and ICGC databases as training and validation cohorts, respectively. We calculated the risk scores using Lasso–Cox regression analysis based on the expression levels of prognostic genes and performed survival analysis to compare overall survival between high- and low-risk groups. Then we compared the clinicopathologic characteristics and conducted biological functional analysis. We also explored immune cell infiltration and compared the drug sensitivity. Results: Using bioinformatics algorithms, we identified 11 TRP-related genes and calculated the risk scores. Patients in the high-risk group demonstrated worse overall survival, as well as more advanced T stage and pathologic stage. The risk score showed a significant association with the cell cycle. The high-risk group had more ICI and RTK targets with elevated expression and showed better therapeutic effect to chemotherapy including 5-fluorouracil, camptothecin, docetaxel, doxorubicin, gemcitabine, and paclitaxel. Overall, an individualized nomogram was constructed by integrating the risk score and requisite clinicopathologic parameters to predict the overall survival of HCC patients. Conclusions: We successfully established a highly accurate prognostic model for predicting overall survival and therapeutic effects using TRP channel-related genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Apple growth and development can be impacted by abiotic factors, including low temperature and dryness. Plant responses to stressors are heavily influenced by inducer of CBF expression (ICE) transcription factors (TFs). Malus baccata (L.) Borkh (M. baccata) was used in this investigation to isolate the MbICE3 new ICE gene. The molecular weight of MbICE3 was anticipated to be 56.47 kDa, and its open reading frame (ORF) had 519 amino acids (aa) and 1560 base pairs (bp). Subcellular localization revealed that MbICE3 was concentrated in the nucleus. Cold and drought stresses significantly affected the expression levels of MbICE3, and the first heterologous expression of MbICE3 in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) could significantly improve its tolerance to cold and drought stresses. In comparison to wild-type (WT) and unloaded lines (UL) lettuce, the transgenic plants had increased proline and chlorophyll concentrations as well as higher superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activity when subjected to cold and drought. However, compared to WT and UL, transgenic lettuce had lower levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and O2− content. Furthermore, it was found that under drought and low temperature stress, MbICE3 positively regulated the expression of LsCBFs genes. These results suggest that MbICE3 actively contributes to plant tolerance to cold and drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethyl 3-methyl-3-phenyl-glycidylate (EMP) was used as an electrolyte additive that can effectively improve the performance of LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 (NCM811) as the cathode of lithium-ion battery. The electrolyte containing 1.5% EMP can effectively improve the discharge-specific capacity of NCM811, which has an initial discharge-specific capacity of 171.2 mAh/g (at 20 mA/g,0.1C), which is 30% higher than that of blank electrolyte, and the cyclic performance of the battery is also improved. Mechanism study shows that EMP can decompose and form polymers before the decomposition of electrolyte solvent and generate stable cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) layer at high voltage stage, which can improve the stability of cathode electrode structure and performance of battery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is a malignant tumor arising in bone or soft tissue that occurs in adolescent and young adult patients as well as adults later in life. Although non-metastatic EWS is typically responsive to treatment when newly diagnosed, relapsed cases have an unmet need for which no standard treatment approach exists. Recent phase III clinical trials for EWS comparing 7 vs 5 chemotherapy drugs have failed to improve survival. To extend the durability of remission for EWS, we investigated 3 non-chemotherapy adjuvant therapy drug candidates to be combined with chemotherapy. The efficacy of these adjuvant drugs was investigated via anchorage-dependent growth assays, anchorage-independent soft-agar colony formation assays and EWS xenograft mouse models. Enoxacin and entinostat were the most effective adjuvant drug in both long-term in vitro and in vivo adjuvant studies. In the context that enoxacin is an FDA-approved antibiotic, and that entinostat is an investigational agent not yet FDA-approved, we propose enoxacin as an adjuvant drug for further preclinical and clinical investigation in EWS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Chinese wrinkle studies continue to use non-Chinese scales because few Chinese-based wrinkle scales have been developed. The study aims to develop a crow's feet grading scale for Chinese individuals. We enrolled 608 healthy Chinese subjects and measured data through the DermaTOP system. We chose exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to reduce the dimensions of the data. A three-factor structure was obtained by using EFA, and it explained a cumulative total of 89.551% of the variance. A computational formula was obtained by calculating the total factor tilt scores and taking the variance contribution rate of three factors as the weight. Based on the computational formula, a grading map was designed and tested. The model validation was conducted using both subjective assessments from the expert panel and objective results from the model calculations. The results showed that our grading scale model is stable. This study developed a Chinese crow's feet (CCF) grading scale, which included a parameter, a grading map, and literal descriptions. The CCF grading scale is a validated tool for evaluating the effects of cosmetics or specific therapies. More importantly, the CCF scale was developed based on objective data, which may inspire new ideas for wrinkle grading scale development in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dysfunction of placenta is common in somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) cloned cattle and would cause aberrant fetal development and even abortion, which occurred with highest rate at the mid- to late gestation. However, the mechanism of abnormal placentas was unclear. To analyze the transcriptome-wide characteristics of abnormal placentas in SCNT cloned cattle, the mRNA, lncRNA and miRNA of placental cotyledon tissue at day 180 after gestation were sequenced. A total of 19,055 mRNAs, 30,141 lncRNAs and 684 miRNAs were identified. Compared with control group, 362 mRNAs, 1,272 lncRNAs and nine miRNAs (six known and three novel miRNAs) were differentially expressed (fold change ≥ 2 and P-value < 0.05). The differentially expressed genes were functionally enriched in urea and ions transmembrane transport, which indicated that the maternal-fetal interactions were disturbed in impaired placentas. Furthermore, the competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) networks were identified to illustrate their roles in abnormal placental morphology. The present research would be helpful to discover the mechanism of late gestational abnormality of SCNT cattle by provides important genomic information and insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ewing sarcoma (EWS) is a malignant tumor arising in bone or soft tissue that occurs in adolescent and young adult patients as well as adults later in life. Although non-metastatic EWS is typically responsive to treatment when newly diagnosed, relapsed cases have an unmet need for which no standard treatment approach exists. Recent phase III clinical trials for EWS comparing 7 vs 5 chemotherapy drugs have failed to improve survival. To extend the durability of remission for EWS, we investigated 3 non-chemotherapy adjuvant therapy drug candidates to be combined with chemotherapy. The efficacy of these adjuvant drugs was investigated via anchorage-dependent growth assays, anchorage-independent soft-agar colony formation assays and EWS xenograft mouse models. Enoxacin and entinostat were the most effective adjuvant drug in both long-term in vitro and in vivo adjuvant studies. In the context that enoxacin is an FDA-approved antibiotic, and that entinostat is an investigational agent not yet FDA-approved, we propose enoxacin as an adjuvant drug for further preclinical and clinical investigation in EWS patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control.The TiO2 supported on tourmaline composite catalyst was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method and was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis. The results showed that the addition of tourmaline increased crystallite sizes of TiO2. Furthermore, the photocatalytic activity of the tourmaline–TiO2 composites obtained was evaluated by the degradation of tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA). Compared with bare TiO2, the tourmaline–TiO2 composites exhibited the excellent photocatalytic activity for the degradation of TBBPA and this degradation enhanced was correlated with the tourmaline dosages and the optimum photocatalyst is found to be T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst. It implied that the higher dosage of tourmaline facilitated migration of charge carriers and higher photon-to-electron conversion efficiency. The photocatalytic reaction followed pseudo-first-order kinetics and the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model. The photodegradation efficiency of TBBPA enhanced with the increase in pH value. Additionally, metal ions influenced the photocatalytic degradation of TBBPA by T(20%)-TiO2 catalyst, Cu2+ could accelerate TBBPA degradation, whereas inhibited by Mn2+ and Fe3+. Importantly, five intermediate products of TBBPA at m/z 463, 355, 293, 255 and 137 were observed by HPLC–MS/MS. The possible photodegradation pathway of TBBPA by tourmaline–TiO2 composite catalyst was proposed. Generally, the incorporation of mineral with spontaneous permanent poles to TiO2 with photocatalytic activity offers a promising technology to the practical application of TiO2 in contamination control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese apricot (Prunus mume Sieb. et Zucc.) is a traditional woody flower and fruit tree restrictedly cultivated in northern area due to its inability to survive harsh winters and early springs. In the current study, RNA-seq and physiological assay were used to study the cold response of P. mume 'Xuemei'. A total of 4705 genes were identified as differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the 21 pairwise comparisons among seven time points under 0 °C cold treatment, and 3678 of them showed differential levels compared with control at normal temperature. The gene expression profiles indicated that the number of upregulated genes increased with prolongation of treatment time throughout the whole 48 h. Hierarchical clustering suggested three obvious phases of the gene expression profiles. Gene ontology (GO) analysis of the 4705 DEGs resulted in 102 significantly enriched GO items in which the transcription activity was dominant. 225 DEGs were predicted to encode transcription factor (TF) genes. Some important TFs (ERF, CBF, WRKY, NAC, MYB, bHLH) were strongly induced during the whole cold treatment. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis suggested that plant signal transduction pathways such as plant hormone and calcium (Ca2+) were notable. Metabolic pathways such as sugar metabolism, especially RFOs (raffinose family oligosaccharides) were activated, which was accompanied by the accumulation of soluble sugars. SOD and POD enzyme activities coupled with reactive oxygen species (ROS)-related gene expression profile implied a gradually induced ROS scavenging system under cold treatment. These results might shed light on the sensitivity to cold stress in Japanese apricot and provide new insights into hardiness studies in P. mume and its related species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipal solid waste could potentially transmit human pathogens during the collection, transport, handling, and disposal of waste. Workers and residents living in the vicinity of municipal solid waste collection or disposal sites are particularly susceptible, especially unprotected workers and waste pickers. Recent evidence suggests that municipal solid waste-mediated transmission can spread the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to humans. Such risks, however, have received little attention from public health authorities so far and may present an under-investigated transmission route for SARS-CoV-2 and other infectious agents during pandemics. In this review, we provide a retrospective analysis of the challenges, practices, and policies on municipal solid waste management during the current pandemic, and scrutinize the recent case reports on the municipal solid waste-mediated transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We found abrupt changes in quantity and composition of municipal solid wastes during the COVID-19. We detail pathways of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens carried on municipal solid wastes. We disclose evidence of pathogenic transmission by municipal solid waste to humans and animals. Assessments of current policies, gaps, and voluntary actions taken on municipal solid waste handling and disposal in the current pandemic are presented. We propose risk mitigation strategies and research priorities to alleviate the risk for humans and vectors exposed to municipal solid wastes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: Critical strategies for converting wastes to catalysts are summarized. Applications of waste-derived catalysts in hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, and overall water electrolysis are comprehensively reviewed. Perspectives in the development of waste-derived catalysts are analyzed.The sustainable production of green hydrogen via water electrolysis necessitates cost-effective electrocatalysts. By following the circular economy principle, the utilization of waste-derived catalysts significantly promotes the sustainable development of green hydrogen energy. Currently, diverse waste-derived catalysts have exhibited excellent catalytic performance toward hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and overall water electrolysis (OWE). Herein, we systematically examine recent achievements in waste-derived electrocatalysts for water electrolysis. The general principles of water electrolysis and design principles of efficient electrocatalysts are discussed, followed by the illustration of current strategies for transforming wastes into electrocatalysts. Then, applications of waste-derived catalysts (i.e., carbon-based catalysts, transitional metal-based catalysts, and carbon-based heterostructure catalysts) in HER, OER, and OWE are reviewed successively. An emphasis is put on correlating the catalysts’ structure–performance relationship. Also, challenges and research directions in this booming field are finally highlighted. This review would provide useful insights into the design, synthesis, and applications of waste-derived electrocatalysts, and thus accelerate the development of the circular economy-driven green hydrogen energy scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer dielectric materials possess advantages of high breakdown strength, low dielectric loss and easily to processing, etc., thus attract wide attention and play a crucial role in modern electronic industry and advanced energy storage applications. However, at high temperature, the energy storage density and efficiency of polymer dielectric decrease significantly and cannot meet practical application requirements. Crosslinking strategy is considered as one of the most feasible methods for polymer dielectric to meet high temperature requirements. This article mainly reviews the research progress in recent years on the preparation of PVDF dielectric polymers with crosslinking structure using physical crosslinking methods (hydrogen bonding crosslinking), chemical crosslinking methods (photo-crosslinking, thermal crosslinking, self-crosslinking), and physical–chemical dual crosslinking methods. The different principles and process methods for obtaining PVDF dielectric polymers with crosslinking structure were summarized, and the dielectric properties of crosslinked and uncrosslinked PVDF polymers were compared. It was found that PVDF dielectric polymers with a crosslinking structure have good energy storage density and charge–discharge efficiency, and have excellent dielectric properties at high temperatures. This provides a strategy and process method for exploring high-performance polymer dielectric materials suitable for new electronic devices under high-temperature conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slurry–soil interface direct shear (IDS) tests and the triaxial compression (TC) tests are currently used to determine the shear strength of grouted soil. However, many previous studies focused on sandy soils, and limited attention has been paid to clayey soil. This study introduces two grouting test methods designed to fabricate the grouted clay specimen suitable for TC and IDS testing. A group of grouting orthogonal tests is designed, and the shear strength parameters are calculated and compared based on the Mohr–Coulomb (MC) criterion. Findings showed that outcomes obtained from the IDS test are unreliable. The test results showed that the shear strength obtained from IDS test yields more serious deviations and lower MC criterion fitness. The test also showed that shear strength parameters under IDS test are unreliable compared with TC tests. Additionally, the cohesion measured by the IDS test was always larger than that associated with the TC test, which is caused by the extension of the shear surface in the shearing process according to the failure pattern. The overestimation of shear strength in the case of the IDS test decreased the predicted surface settlement, as proved by numerical simulations. The conclusions indicate that using TC tests to obtain accurate shear strengths of grouted clay is crucial for predicting the soil deformation and developing rational construction schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SiCf/SiC composites have been applied in numerous fields owing to their outstanding properties including high specific strength and high specific modulus. However, defects can be produced during grinding because the composites are hard and brittle. Moreover, the fabrication process of laminated SiCf/SiC composites is complex and unstable, resulting in large differences in their elastic properties. Therefore, the effective elastic properties of composites must be obtained through theoretical analysis. In this study, the anisotropy of orthogonal laminated SiCf/SiC composites and the fracture removal mechanism of the brittle material were both considered to develop a more accurate model. The effective elastic constants of the laminated composites were calculated using a macromechanical analysis. The grinding process was divided into the ductile, ductile-to-brittle transition, and brittle stages for analysis by the critical cutting depth. The modelling development was based on the interaction between the diamond grains and the workpiece. Substituting the effective elastic constants into the model, the predicted value is in agreement with the experimental value. The cutting force value exhibits a non-linear decreasing trend with increasing spindle speed but increases linearly with increasing feed rate and cutting width. The spindle speed and cutting width have more influence on the cutting force than the feed rate. Increasing the spindle speed and decreasing the feed rate and cutting width can reduce the cutting force. The model can be applied to adequately evaluate the effective elastic properties of laminated SiCf/SiC composites and effectively improve the grinding processes and machining efficiency in future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amodiaquine (AQ) is a commonly used antimalarial drug, and N-desethyl-AQ (N-DEAQ) is an active metabolite of AQ. Given the significance of drug quality in the management of malaria cases, this study aims to develop antibody-based assays for the detection and quantitation of AQ without the need for sophisticated equipment. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against AQ, designated as JUN7 and TE7, were selected, which showed 72.7% and 9.5% cross-reactivity to N-DEAQ, respectively. These mAbs showed <0.1% cross-reactivity to other commonly used antimalarial drugs. An indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (icELISA) based on JUN7 showed a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 0.16 ng/mL and a working range of 0.06–0.46 ng/mL. A lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) based on JUN7 was also developed with a working range of 2.58–30.86 ng/mL. The icELISA and LFIA were applied for the quantification of AQ in commercial drugs, and the results were comparable to those determined using high-performance liquid chromatography. In addition, a combination dipstick for simultaneous, qualitative analysis of AQ and artesunate was developed. All immunoassays based on JUN7 can be applied for quality control of AQ-containing artemisinin-based combination therapies. As TE7 showed low cross-reactivity to N-DEAQ, an icELISA based on TE7 was developed with an IC50 of 0.38 ng/mL and a working range of 0.14–1.67 ng/mL. The TE7 icELISA was applied for the study of pharmacokinetics of AQ in rat serum after intragastric administration, and the results were consistent with those of previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will provide the exact formulas for the regularity and projective dimension of edge ideals of three types of vertex-weighted oriented m-partite graphs. We also give some examples to show that the restrictions on orientations of edges and weights of vertices can not be removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The LEAFY/FLORICAULA ( LFY/FLO) homologous genes are necessary for normal flower development in diverse angiosperm species. To understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying floral initiation and development in Platanaceae, an early divergent eudicot family consisting of large monoecious trees, we isolated a homolog of LFY/FLO, PlacLFY, and its promoter from London plane ( Platanus acerifolia). PlacLFY is 1,419 bp in length, with an ORF of 1,122 bp encoding a predicted polypeptide of 374 amino acids and 5′/3′-UTR of 54 and 213 bp, respectively. The putative PlacLFY protein showed a high degree of identity (56-84 %) with LFY/FLO homologs from other species, including two highly conserved regions, the N and C domains, and a less conserved amino-terminal proline-rich region. Real-time PCR analysis showed that PlacLFY was expressed mainly in male inflorescences from May of the first year to March of next year, with the highest expression level in December, and in female inflorescences from June to April of next year. PlacLFY mRNA was also detected strongly in subpetiolar buds of December from 4-year-old and adult trees, and slightly in stem of young seedling and young leaf of adult plant. Additionally, we cloned 1,138 bp promoter sequence of PlacLFY and we drove GUS expression in transgenic tobacco by the chimerical pPlacLFY::GUS construction. Histological GUS staining analysis indicated that PlacLFY promoter can drive GUS gene expression in shoot apex, stem, young leaf and petiole, flower stalk, petal tip, and young/semi-mature fruits of transgenic tobacco, which is almost identical to the expression pattern of PlacLFY in London plane. The results revealed that the PlacLFY gene isolated from London plane is expressed not only in reproductive organ but also in vegetative organs. Moreover, this expression pattern is consistent with the expression pattern in tobacco of a GUS reporter gene under the control of the potential promoter region of PlacLFY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide some exact formulas for the projective dimension and regularity of powers of edge ideals of some vertex-weighted rooted forests. These formulas are functions of the weight of vertices and the number of edges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]