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Background: Anemone shikokiana (Makino) Makino is a perennial herb of the genus Anemone in the family Ranunculaceae. Endemic to the Shandong Peninsula in China and Shikoku Island in Japan, it is a rare and endangered plant with a narrow, disjunct distribution. It is threatened with extinction and is in urgent need of conservation. Evaluating the genetic diversity of species, revealing the population genetic structure and gene flow, and inferring the population history are of great importance for species conservation, especially for rare and endangered plants. Results: In our study, 73 samples from eight wild populations in China were sequenced by Super-GBS, yielding a total of 40.59 G clean reads and 52,231 SNPs. Based on the obtained SNP data set, we evaluated the population genetic diversity, genetic structure, and gene flow of A. shikokiana. A low level of genetic diversity was found (He = 0.1925, Ho = 0.1422). The neighbor-joining (NJ) tree, principal component analysis and ADMIXTURE analysis suggested that these 73 A. shikokiana could be considered as two groups. Pairwise genetic differentiation coefficients (Fst) indicated that genetic differentiation was lower between adjacent populations and higher between geographically separated populations. The gene flow between Kunyu Mountain and Lao Mountain was very low. However, neither of the two regions showed evidence of Isolation by Distance. Conclusions: Here, we revealed the population genetic structure and gene flow of A. shikokiana from the Shandong Peninsula, China. This research provides valuable genetic resources for A. shikokiana and contributes to the scientific and effective conservation of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dense medium separation is one of the most widely used methods for coal beneficiation, and an accurate estimation of product coal ash is the prerequisites to maximize the resource value. In this work, data pre-cleaning and multi-layer feature learning process of deep learning are explored to predict the product quality more accurately. The research results show that, the deep learning model considering the time series characteristics of process variables can predict the change of product quality better, which could be attributed to the fact that the full considers time series relationship between process data and product quality. Specifically, the prediction value obtained by using a single-layer, multi-unit recurrent neural network model (GRU) is improved with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) at 0.061, and the RMSE for multi-step prediction (10 min) is 0.262. What's more, the prediction error gradually decreases and tends to be smooth with increasing time step. It is suggested that the time step used for data reconstruction should be the time of raw coal coming through to the clean coal belt. This work provides an innovative idea for improving online prediction of coal ash and is of significant importance for precise control of dense medium separation in application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Change of supraglacial lakes (SGLs) is an important hydrological activity on the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS), and storage and drainage of SGLs occur throughout the year. However, current studies tend to split SGL changes into melt/non-melt seasons, ignoring the effect of buried lakes in the exploration of drainage, and the existing threshold-based approach to SGL extraction in a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is influenced by the choice of the study area mask. In this study, a new method (Otsu–Canny–Otsu (OCO)), which accesses the features of SGLs on optical and SAR images objectively, is proposed for full-year SGL extraction with Google Earth Engine (GEE). The SGLs on the Petermann Glacier were monitored well by OCO throughout 2021, including buried lakes and more detailed rapid drainage events. Some SGLs' extent varied minimally in a year (area varying by 10–25%) while some had very rapid drainage (a rapid drainage event from July 26 to 30). The SGL extraction results were influenced by factors such as the mode of polarization, the surface environment, and the depth of the lake. The OCO method can provide a more comprehensive analysis for SGL changes throughout the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landfast ice has undergone a dramatic decline in recent decades, imposing potential effects on ice travel for coastal populations, habitats for marine biota, and ice use for industries. The mapping of landfast ice deformation and the investigation of corresponding causes of changes are urgent tasks that can provide substantial data to support the maintenance of the stability of the Arctic ecosystem and the development of human activities on ice. This work aims to investigate the time-series deformation characteristics of landfast ice at multi-year scales and the corresponding influence factors. For the landfast ice deformation monitoring technique, we first combined the small baseline subset approach with ascending and descending Sentinel-1 images to obtain the line-of-sight deformations for two flight directions, and then we derived the 2D deformation fields comprising the vertical and horizontal directions for the corresponding periods by introducing a transform model. The vertical deformation results were mostly within the interval [−65, 23] cm, while the horizontal displacement was largely within the range of [−26, 78] cm. Moreover, the magnitude of deformation observed in 2019 was evidently greater than those in 2020 and 2021. In accordance with the available data, we speculate that the westerly wind and eastward-flowing ocean currents are the dominant reasons for the variation in the horizontal direction in Cambridge Bay, while the factors causing spatial differences in the vertical direction are the sea-level tilt and ice growth. For the interannual variation, the leading cause is the difference in sea-level tilt. These results can assist in predicting the future deformation of landfast ice and provide a reference for on-ice activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Glehnia littoralis is an economic herb with both medicinal and edible uses. It also has important ecological value and special phylogenetic status as it is a monotypic genus species distributing around beach. Little information on its reproductive biology has been reported so far, which has hindered conservation and application of this species. In this study, we observed morphological changes from buds emergence to seeds formation and internal changes during sporogenesis, gametophyte development and embryo and endosperm development of G. littoralis using paraffin-embedded-sectioning and stereo microscope. Results: The results showed that the stages of internal development events of G. littoralis corresponded to obvious external morphological changes, most of developmental features were consistent with other Apiaceae species. The development of male and female gametophytes was not synchronized in the same flower, however, exhibited temporal overlap. From mid-late April to mid-May, the anther primordial and ovule primordial developed into the trinucleate pollen grain and eight-nuclear embryo sac, respectively. From late-May to mid-July, the zygote developed into mature embryo. In addition, some defects in gynoecium or ovule development and abnormal embryo and endosperm development were found. We induced that the possible causes of abortion in G. littoralis were as follows: nutrient limitation, poor pollination and fertilization, and bad weather. Conclusions: This study revealed the whole process and morphological characteristics of the development of reproductive organ in G. littoralis, which not only provided important data for the study of systematic and conservation biology, but also provided a theoretical basis for cross breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The right ventricle (RV) of children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), in which volume overload (VO) is inevitable, pumps blood into the systemic circulation. Understanding the molecular differences and their different responses to VO between the RV and left ventricle (LV) at the neonatal and highly plastic stages may improve the long-term management of children with HLHS. Using our newly developed neonatal ventricular VO model, we demonstrated that one of the major differences between a normal neonatal RV and LV is related to the insulin and thyroid hormone signaling pathways. In response to VO, the RV favored an arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) phenotypic change and the LV favored a reduction in microRNAs in cancer. Considering that a major cause of death in children with HLHS is arrhythmia, which is the hallmark of ARVC, the current study suggests that inhibiting ARVC may improve RV function. In addition, the current study also suggests that insulin, thyroid hormone, and cancer-associated microRNAs may be potential therapeutic targets that should be explored by basic science studies to improve the function of the RV to match that of the LV. Background: In children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), volume overload (VO) is inevitable, and the right ventricle (RV) pumps blood into the systemic circulation. Understanding the molecular differences and their different responses to VO between the RV and left ventricle (LV) at the neonatal and highly plastic stages may improve the long-term management of children with HLHS. Methods and Results: A neonatal rat ventricular VO model was established by the creation of a fistula between the inferior vena cava and the abdominal aorta on postnatal day 1 (P1) and confirmed by echocardiographic and histopathological analyses. Transcriptomic analysis demonstrated that some of the major differences between a normal neonatal RV and LV were associated with the thyroid hormone and insulin signaling pathways. Under the influence of VO, the levels of insulin receptors and thyroid hormone receptors were significantly increased in the LV but decreased in the RV. The transcriptomic analysis also demonstrated that under the influence of VO, the top two common enriched pathways between the RV and LV were the insulin and thyroid hormone signaling pathways, whereas the RV-specific enriched pathways were primarily associated with lipid metabolism and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC); further, the LV-specific enriched pathways were primarily associated with nucleic acid metabolism and microRNAs in cancer. Conclusions: Insulin and thyroid hormones may play critical roles in the differences between a neonatal RV and LV as well as their common responses to VO. Regarding the isolated responses to VO, the RV favors an ARVC change and the LV favors a reduction in microRNAs in cancer. The current study suggests that insulin, thyroid hormone, and cancer-associated microRNAs are potential therapeutic targets that should be explored by basic science studies to improve the function of the RV to match that of the LV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The structure change of Myofibrillar protein through ultrasound assisted polyphenols addition was analyzed by the multispectral analysis. • Ultrasound assisted polyphenols addition reduced the Oil/Water interfacial tension of Myofibrillar protein. • Ultrasound assisted polyphenols addition improved the emulsification, foaming and antioxidant properties of Myofibrillar protein. In this study, the effect of ultrasound-assisted non-covalent binding of different polyphenols (tannins, quercetin, and resveratrol) on the structure and functional properties of myofibrillar proteins (MP) from the golden threadfin (Nemipterus virgatus) was investigated. The effect of ultrasound-assisted polyphenol incorporation on the structure and properties of MP was evaluated by multispectral analysis, interfacial properties, emulsification properties and antioxidant properties et al. The results revealed that the protein–polyphenol interaction led to a conformational change in the microenvironment around the hydrophobic amino acid residues, resulting in an increase in the equilibrium of the MP molecules in terms of affinity and hydrophobicity. Ultrasound assisted polyphenols addition also led to a significant decrease of the oil/water interfacial tension (from 21.22 mN/m of MP to 8.66 mN/m of UMP-TA sample) and a significant increase of the EAI (from 21.57 m2/g of MP to 28.79 m2/g of UMP-TA sample) and ES (from 84.76 min of MP to 124.25 min of UMP-TA). In addition, ultrasound-assisted polyphenol incorporation could enhance the antioxidant properties of MP, with the DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging rate of UMP-TA increase of 47.7 % and 55.2 % in comparison with MP, respectively. The results demonstrated that the noncovalent combination with polyphenols under ultrasound-assisted conditions endowed MP with better functional properties, including solubility, emulsification, foaming, and antioxidant properties through structure change. This study can provide innovative theoretical guidance for effectively preparing aquatic protein–polyphenol non-covalent complexes with multiple functions and improving the processing and utilization value of aquatic proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the umami peptides from wheat gluten hydrolysates (WGHs) with different degrees of hydrolysis (DH) after Corynebacterium glutamicum (C. glutamicum) fermentation, a high-throughput screening method for umami peptides was established based on machine learning. The results showed fermented WGHs with high DHs exhibited more favourable taste profile after 4 days of fermentation and produced more small molecule peptides. Fermentation increased the number of characteristic peptides in WGHs with DH10, DH15, and DH20. Among, fermented WGHs with DH15 were the important source of potential umami peptides. Six potential umami peptides were screened (QQLPQFEE, LSFE, EELR, YTCE, YTTD, EEDQ) and were demonstrated to form stable complex with the T1R1/T1R3 receptor through hydrogen bonding interactions, electrostatic interactions, and hydrophobic interactions forces. The affinity of peptides and receptor were in the range of −6.3 to −8.1 kcal/mol. GLU735, GLY755, SER734, SER757 and THR227 were the critical binding sites. Sensory evaluation and electronic tongue showed that six peptides exhibited umami profile and had the capacity to enhance umami and saltiness taste. EEDQ presented the strongest intensity of umami taste and QQLPQFEE had the lowest umami thresholds. This study provides reliable methods for effectively screening new microbial-derived umami peptides. [Display omitted] • Wheat gluten hydrolysates (WGHs) after 4 days of fermentation exhibited better taste. • Fermented WGHs with DH15 were the main source of potential umami peptides. • Six umami peptides were obtained and were capable of binding to T1R1/T1R3 receptor. • EEDQ and QQLPQFEE presented the stronger intensity of umami taste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. The prognosis and efficacy of laparoscopic surgery (LPS) and open surgery or robotic surgery (RS) on endometrial carcinoma (EC) patients were compared. Methods. Data as of May 2021 were retrieved from databases like PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The study involved randomized controlled trials (RCTs), cohort studies, or case-control studies for comparing the effects of LPS and open surgery or robotic surgery (RS) on EC treatment. The primary outcomes included duration of operation, blood loss, length of stay (LOS), postoperative complications, and recurrence rate. Secondary outcomes included 3-year progression-free survival (PFS) rate/disease-free survival (DFS) rate and 3-year overall survival (OS) rate. Results. A total of 24 studies were involved, and all of them were cohort studies except 1 RCT and 1 case-control study. There was no significant difference in duration of operation between LPS and open surgery (MD = − 0.06 , 95% CI: -0.37 to 0.25) or RS (MD = − 0.15 , 95% CI: -1.27 to 0.96). In comparison with the open surgery, LPS remarkably reduced blood loss (MD = − 0.43 , 95% CI: -0.58 to -0.29), LOS (MD = − 0.71 , 95% CI: -0.92 to -0.50), and the complication occurrence rate (RR = 0.83 , 95% CI: 0.73 to 0.95). However, LPS and RS saw no difference in blood loss (MD = 0.01 , 95% CI: -0.77 to 0.79). Besides, in comparison with RS, LPS prominently shortened the LOS (MD = 0.26 , 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.40) but increased the complication occurrence rate (RR = 1.74 , 95% CI: 1.57 to 1.92). In contrast to open surgery or RS, LPS saw no difference in occurrence rate (RR = 0.75 , 95% CI: 0.56 to 1.01; RR = 0.97 , 95% CI: 0.62 to 1.53), 3-year PFS/DFS (RR = 0.99 , 95% CI: 0.90 to 1.09; RR = 1.30 , 95% CI: 0.87 to 1.96), and 3-year OS (RR = 0.97 , 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.04; RR = 1.21 , 95% CI: 0.91 to 1.60). Conclusion. In sum, LPS was better than open surgery, which manifested in the aspects of less blood loss, shorter LOS, and fewer complications. LPS, therefore, was the most suitable option for EC patients. Nevertheless, LPS had no advantage over RS, and sufficient prospective RCTs are needed to further confirm its strengths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Tilapia protein isolate (TPI)-hyaluronic acid (HA) complexes were prepared using a pH-driven method. • The state of complexes was modulated by TPI: HA ratio. • Hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions were confirmed during complex formation. • The complexes have improved emulsifying properties compared to TPI. • HA significantly improved the stability of TPI emulsion. This study aimed to investigate the non-covalent complexation between hyaluronic acid (HA) and tilapia protein isolate (TPI) on the stability of oil-in-water (O/W) TPI emulsion. The results showed that HA binds to TPI through electrostatic, hydrophobic, and hydrogen bonding interactions, forming homogeneous hydrophilic TPI-HA complexes. The binding of HA promoted the structural folding of TPI and altered its secondary structure during pH neutralization. The TPI-HA complexes presented significantly improved EAI and ESI (P < 0.05) when the HA concentration was 0.8 % (w/v). Emulsion characterization showed that HA promoted the transfer of TPI to the O/W interface, forming an emulsion with excellent stability, which, combined with the high surface charge and strong spatial site resistance effect of HA, improved TPI emulsion stability. Therefore, non-covalent complexation with HA is an effective strategy to improve the stability of TPI emulsion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a magnetless differential microstrip circulator for high frequency operation. The differential design is obtained by pairing two single‐ended (SE) circulators, each based on three resonators connected in a wye topology with spatiotemporal modulation (STM). What is more, the STM biases of the two SE circulators are kept a fixed 180° phase difference. The resonance of the circuit is realized by varactor‐loaded microstrip line sections rather than conventional series of inductor and varactor. The design method of the proposed microstrip circulator has been presented by analyzing its equivalent circuit, which indicates the microstrip line sections cannot be simply equivalent to inductors with the conventional method. The analysis of the time‐varying circuit is verified by the simulated results of both the microstrip circulator and its equivalent circuit. A magnetless microstrip circulator was designed, fabricated and measured at center frequency of 1.99 GHz, showing maximum isolation (IX) of more than 50 dB, minimum insertion loss of 4.8 dB, and 1.4% 20 dB IX bandwidth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, which is essential for cell proliferation and differentiation, is noted to be aberrantly activated in tumor from increasing studies in recent years. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as an important non-coding RNA in cells have been proven to possess a regulatory role specific to the Hh signaling pathway. Here, in vitro and in vivo cellular/molecular experiments were adopted to clarify the regulatory mechanism linking miR-636 to the Hh signaling pathway in ovarian cancer (OVC). Methods: Protein–protein interaction analysis was performed to identify the hub gene in the Hh pathway. TargetScan database was used to predict the potential upstream regulators for Gli2. qRT-PCR was performed to test the expression of miR-636, while Western blot was conducted to detect the expression of proteins related to the Hh pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). For cell functional experiments, HO-8910PM OVC cell line was used. MTT assay and wound healing assay were used to measure the effect of miR-636 on cell proliferation and migration. Flow cytometry was carried out to examine the effect of miR-636 on cell cycle, and Western blot was used to identify the change in expression of Hh and EMT-related proteins. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay was implemented to detect the targeting relationship between miR-636 and Gli2. Xenotransplantation models were established for in vivo examination. Results: Gli2 was identified as the hub gene of the Hh pathway and it was validated to be regulated by miR-636 based on the data from TargetScan and GEO databases. In vitro experiments discovered that miR-636 was significantly lowly expressed in OVC cell lines, and overexpressing miR-636 significantly inhibited HO-8910PM cell proliferation, migration and induced cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, while the inhibition of miR-636 caused opposite results. Dual-luciferase reporter gene assay revealed that Gli2 was the target gene of miR-636 in OVC. Besides, overexpressed miR-636 decreased protein expression of Gli2, and affected the expression of proteins related to the Hh signaling pathway and EMT. Rescue experiments verified that overexpression of Gli2 reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-636 on HO-8910PM cell proliferation and migration, and attenuated the blocking effect of miR-636 on cell cycle. The xenotransplantation experiment suggested that miR-636 inhibited cell growth of OVC by decreasing Gli2 expression. Besides, overexpressing Gli2 potentiated the EMT process of OVC cells via decreasing E-cadherin protein expression and increasing Vimentin protein expression, and it reversed the inhibitory effect of miR-636 on OVC cell proliferation in vivo. Conclusion: miR-636 mediates the activation of the Hh pathway via binding to Gli2, thus inhibiting EMT, suppressing cell proliferation and migration of OVC. Trial registration: The experimental protocol was established, according to the ethical guidelines of the Helsinki Declaration and was approved by the Human Ethics Committee of The Second Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (IR2019001235). Written informed consent was obtained from individual or guardian participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface snowmelt in the pan-Antarctic region, including the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) and sea ice, is crucial to the mass and energy balance in polar regions and can serve as an indicator of climate change. In this study, we investigate the spatial and temporal variations in surface snowmelt over the entire pan-Antarctic region from 2002 to 2017 by using passive microwave remote sensing data. The stable orbits and appropriate acquisition times of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System (AMSR-E) and the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) enable us to take full advantage of daily brightness temperature (Tb) variations to detect surface snowmelt. The difference between AMSR-E/2 ascending and descending 36.5 GHz Tb values in vertical polarization (DAV36) was utilized to map the pan-Antarctic region snowmelt, as this method is unaffected by snow metamorphism. We evaluated the DAV36 algorithm against ground-based measurements and further improved the method over the marginal sea ice zone by excluding the effect of open water. Snowmelt detected by AMSR-E/2 data was more extensive and persistent than that detected by the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) data. Continuous melt onset (CMO) ranged from August in the marginal sea ice zone to January in the Antarctic inland, and the early transient melt events occurred several days to more than 2 months earlier. The pan-Antarctic region CMO was significantly correlated (R=0.54 , p<0.05) with the summer Southern Annular Mode (SAM). The decreased AIS melt extent was very likely linked (R=-0.82 , p<0.01) with the enhanced summer SAM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice in summer is one of the main factors that affect sea-ice albedo and hence the polar climate system. Due to the different spectral properties of open water, melt pond and sea ice, the melt pond fraction (MPF) can be retrieved using a fully constrained least-squares algorithm, which shows a high accuracy with root mean square error ~0.06 based on the validation experiment using WorldView-2 image. In this study, the evolution of ponds on first-year and multiyear ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was compared based on Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 images. The relationships of pond coverage with air temperature and albedo were analysed. The results show that the pond coverage on first-year ice changed dramatically with seasonal maximum of 54%, whereas that on multiyear ice changed relatively flat with only 30% during the entire melting period. During the stage of pond formation, the ponds expanded rapidly when the temperature increased to over 0°C for three consecutive days. Sea-ice albedo shows a significantly negative correlation (R = −1) with the MPF in melt season and increases gradually with the refreezing of ponds and sea ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compact planar substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) diplexers with wide‐stopband characteristics are presented for the first time based on collaborative multispurious mode suppression techniques including the harmonic staggered technique, centered coupling windows, and offset‐centered output ports. The coupling scheme using common dual‐mode resonator coupled with multiple single‐mode resonators is adopted here to eliminate the T‐junctions for size and loss reduction, and the dual‐mode coupling controlling technique we previously proposed is also employed to allocate the fractional bandwidths (FBWs) of the two channels flexibly based on the FBW design graph. Additionally, by combining the harmonic staggered technique, centered coupling windows, and offset‐centered output ports, good out‐of‐band rejections can be achieved and excellent wide‐stopband characteristics have been implemented intrinsically. Two prototypes including second‐order and third‐order SIW diplexers are synthesized, designed, fabricated, and tested as demonstrations, extending the stopbands to 1.78f1 and 2.04f1 with the rejection levels better than 17.5 and 20 dB, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of melt ponds on Arctic sea ice in summer is one of the main factors that affect sea-ice albedo and hence the polar climate system. Due to the different spectral properties of open water, melt pond and sea ice, the melt pond fraction (MPF) can be retrieved using a fully constrained least-squares algorithm, which shows a high accuracy with root mean square error ~0.06 based on the validation experiment using WorldView-2 image. In this study, the evolution of ponds on first-year and multiyear ice in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was compared based on Sentinel-2 and Landsat 8 images. The relationships of pond coverage with air temperature and albedo were analysed. The results show that the pond coverage on first-year ice changed dramatically with seasonal maximum of 54%, whereas that on multiyear ice changed relatively flat with only 30% during the entire melting period. During the stage of pond formation, the ponds expanded rapidly when the temperature increased to over 0°C for three consecutive days. Sea-ice albedo shows a significantly negative correlation (R = −1) with the MPF in melt season and increases gradually with the refreezing of ponds and sea ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface snowmelt is of great importance to the ice sheet's mass and energy balance. Microwave sensors, including radiometer and scatterometer can be used to map snowmelt. Two new microwave sensors, including the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) and the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT), were compared in terms of their behaviours in snowmelt detection on the Shackleton Ice Shelf (SIS) in East Antarctica. Melt signals were determined by identifying the sharp changes in AMSR2 brightness temperature and ASCAT backscatter. The results suggest that the SIS began to melt in December, melt area shrank quickly in February after reaching the peak in January. Melt area mapped by the two sensors agreed with each other on the SIS, however, also shows local discrepancies in the places with complex terrains. ASCAT failed to recognized melt signals in the regions with blue ice and rock outcrops where extensive melt ponds were observed based on Landsat 8 images. Snowmelt detected by radiometer and scatterometer shows complementary nature, the combination of multisource remote sensing images is expected to provide a better view of the ice sheet surface melting conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lambert Glacier‐Amery Ice Shelf (AIS) System is the largest glacial system in East Antarctica. Accurate estimation of its mass balance is imperative for reducing the uncertainty in evaluating the sea‐level contribution from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation of the mass balance of the AIS basin. We measured the ice velocity with Sentinel‐1 synthetic‐aperture radar data acquired in 2016. The ice thickness data from the radio echo‐sounding measurements were combined with the surface mass balance data from the new Regional Atmospheric Climate Model, from which the mass balance of the AIS basin was estimated. Our estimates suggest a slight positive mass balance of 3.1 ± 9.4 Gt/year in 2016. We found that the short‐term fluctuations in the surface mass balance dramatically affect the AIS mass balance. A comparison with previous estimates confirms the long‐term positive mass balance trend. Key Points: We present a comprehensive mass balance estimate of the Amery Ice Shelf basinOur analysis demonstrates the importance of variability in the surface mass balance to understand mass balance calculationsThe long‐term positive mass balance trend from 2000 to 2016 has been confirmed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The surface radiation budget (SRB) of the Antarctic sea ice region (ASIR) is important for the climate change in Antarctica, which partly explains the global warming. Long-term (1982–2015) satellite-derived (EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring, CLARA-A2) and reanalysis (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, ERA-Interim) datasets provided high quality and global coverage surface radiation products, which enabled us to quantify the SRB of the ASIR and widen our understanding of the polar climate. The downwelling longwave (LW) and shortwave (SW) radiation from the two datasets were validated at two Baseline Surface Radiation Network Stations (i.e., Neumayer and Syowa). Cloud LW emission dominated over cloud SW reflection and absorption due to high-albedo over the sea ice surface, thereby leading to a positive all-wave cloud radiative forcing (CRF) within 0–100 W m−2. This result indicated a warming effect on the surface of the ASIR, except during the austral summer. Compared with the all sky, substantial solar radiation was absorbed by the surface which under the clear sky will result in the increasing of temperature and sea ice melting during the austral summer; hence, the SW CRF had a major influence on all-wave CRF and caused more than −150 W m−2 of cooling near the edge of the sea ice. The summer averages of all-wave CRF over the ASIR surface were − 43.02 and − 35.74 W m−2 for the ERA-Interim and CLARA-A2 datasets, respectively. Contrary to the effect of CRF, the surface net LW radiation (LWnet) exhibited a cooling effect over the ASIR surface throughout the year and peaks at −47.21 W m−2 for CLARA-A2 dataset in December. Meanwhile, a warming effect was caused by the surface net SW radiation (SWnet) peaks at 101.52 and 104.09 W m−2 for the ERA-Interim and CLARA-A2 datasets, respectively. In summer, the warming effect caused by the surface net all-wave radiation in East Antarctica was deeper than that in West Antarctica. The time series and trend analysis showed that the surface net radiation and CRF over the entire ASIR basically exhibited a decreasing trend. The descending speed of SWnet (−3.652 W m−2 decade−1) about five times faster than that of LWnet (−0.722 W m−2 decade−1). Although a significant trough appeared in 1993/1994 of the time series curves of All-wave CRF, it had a deeply negative trend with about −3.443 W m−2 decade−1. Detailed analysis on the five longitudinal sectors around Antarctica (the Weddell Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Ross Sea, and the Bellingshausen-Amundsen Sea) can further help us understand the SRB of the ASIR. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • The downwelling fluxes provided by the two datasets were slightly underestimated to the ground-based stations. • The maximum and minimum amounts of cloud appeared in December (88.14%) and June (64.67%), respectively. • The warming effect caused by the surface net all-wave radiation in East Antarctica was deeper than that in West Antarctica. • The all-wave cloud radiative forcing will cause more than −150 W m−2 of cooling near the edge of the sea ice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Widespread movement of meltwater has been found on the Amery Ice Shelf (AIS). Intensive surface snowmelt could accelerate ice loss and endanger the ice shelves under climate warming. In this study, the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) was used to study the detailed melt patterns on the AIS, which was confirmed by the wet snow mapped by Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images with a much higher spatial resolution. Melt seasons were longer than 50 days in the eastern part of AIS. Conversely, a large proportion of the western AIS only melted occasionally for several days with the exception of blue ice areas. Two obvious snowmelt patterns are found on the AIS. First, the opposing summer katabatic wind directions on the eastern and western sides of the AIS result in a warmer eastern AIS compared with the western side, which leads to the expansion of snowmelt from east to west on the AIS. Second, intense snowmelt was found in the grounding zone with low-albedo blue ice and rock outcrops. However, ASCAT fails to detect snowmelt in these places due to the dominated surface radar scattering. AIS melt patterns are determined by both meteorological conditions and the underlying surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substrate‐integrated waveguide triple‐band bandpass filter composed of two dual‐mode (TE101 and TE201) rectangular cavities coupled with two single‐mode (TE101) ones is synthesised and designed based on dual‐mode resonances and split‐type dual‐band symmetrical frequency response. By applying the dual‐mode frequency and coupling controlling techniques, the centre frequencies and fractional bandwidths (FBWs) of the three passbands can be allocated more flexibly. An experimental prototype centred at 11.578, 12.468 and 14.985 GHz with respective FBWs of 2.21, 2.21 and 2.3% is synthesised, designed, fabricated and measured for demonstration, showing good agreement between the measured and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A compact dual‐band filtering power divider (FPD) is presented based on substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) triangular cavities (TCs). By exploiting the first two modes in SIW TCs, the FPD is synthesised and designed with centre frequencies of 5.5 and 8.3 GHz and identical absolute bandwidths of 0.8 GHz. Two‐section 50‐Ω transmission lines loaded with two resistors are explored to achieve good isolation at two arbitrary frequency bands of the dual‐band PFD. Good agreements can be observed between the measured and simulated results and better than 20‐dB isolation within the two passbands has been successfully achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three pairs of Envisat ASAR images at a 35 days interval were utilized to map the ice velocity in the confluence zone of the Amery ice shelf in the East Antarctica using an offset-tracking method. Accuracy assessment and comparative analysis were conducted, which confirmed the reliability of our results. The ice velocity reached as high as 800 m/a at the confluence zone of the Lambert, Mel-lor, and Fisher Glaciers. There were certain variation characteristics of ice velocity near the grounding line, which provided important references when determining the position of the grounding line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice dynamics is closely related to climate change. However, a lack of digital elevation models (DEMs) of sufficient horizontal resolution and vertical precision has been a major issue in dynamic studies for years. Existing Antarctic DEMs are derived from satellite radar and laser altimetry as well as limited terrestrial data; these sparse datasets result in poor spatial resolution (hundreds of metres to 1 km). In this paper, we propose a method for generating high-accuracy and high-resolution DEMs using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) laser altimetry by reducing the influence of ice motion, satellite orbital errors and topographically correlated atmospheric delays. A case study in the Grove Mountains area shows that the InSAR DEM has a root-mean-square (RMS) error of 5.9 m, which is better than the Radarsat Antarctic Mapping Project (RAMP) (21.1 m) and Bamber (8.5 m) DEMs. The new DEM is used to calculate ice velocity over the Grove Mountains area where GPS measurements have been collected for comparison. Compared to the NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) InSAR-Based Antarctica Ice Velocity Map, ice velocity estimates from long-baseline interferogram and the new DEM have a smaller RMS error; this suggests that with the new DEM, baseline length is no longer a limiting factor for the accuracy of InSAR-based ice velocity mapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first substrate integrated waveguide dual‐band bandpass filter with wide‐stopband performance is presented. This filter is synthesised and designed with fourth‐order Chebyshev responses and identical fractional bandwidths for the two passbands centred at 12 and 16 GHz. Multiple spurious resonances have been intrinsically suppressed by introducing the harmonics‐staggered technique and the centred coupling windows. Good agreements can be observed between the measured and simulated results, and better than 25‐dB rejection level up to 2.05f1 has been successfully achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In consideration of the Antarctic special environment, a new sea-ice extraction method of u-sing the 0.86 µm. and 1.24 µm wave bands of MODIS is proposed, based on the Normalize Difference Snow Index (NDSI). It can extract the sea ice under the clear sky and thin cloud condition respectively, which largely improve the efficiency and spatial resolution of Antarctic sea-ice monitoring. The new method is used to obtain the monthly sea ice images in the whole Antarctica of recent years. Then, combining the AMSR-E data, the change monitoring of Antarctic sea ice is executed. It indicates that, from 2002 to 2010, both the Antarctic sea-ice extent and sea-ice area reach the minimums in February, with the averages are 3.17 x 106 km² and 2.42 x 106 km² respectively. And the maxi-mums appear in September, with the averages are 18.440 x 106 km² and 16. 60 x 106 km². The inter annual change of Antarctic sea ice can be divided to three periods: the flat period of the year from 2002 to 2004, the reduced period of 2005 to 2007, and the increased period of 2008 to 2010. It verifies the 20 years cycle of Antarctic sea ice in the inter annual change. The change trend of the whole Antarctic sea ice is not obvious in the recent nine years [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Haploidentical lymphocytes could induce tumor specific CTL against recipient tumor by MHC identical molecules. [•] Haploidentical lymphocyte mismatched molecules can play a role of adjuvant. [•] Inactivated haploidentical CTL can be accumulated to the tumor tissue to take effect. [•] Host innate, adoptive and memory immune responses to tumor could be induced by transfer of inactivated haploidentical CTL. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Meteorites are extremely valuable in providing clues about the origin, evolution, and composition of the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, other planets, and asteroids. Since the first discovery of a meteorite in Antarctica, more and more meteorite concentrations on bare ice stranding sites were discovered. Antarctica is identified as a prolific source of extraterrestrial materials. The Grove Mountains area, covered by ice, snow, and nunataks, is located in the Antarctic inland area. It is about 380km away from the Chinese Zhongshan Antarctic Research Station in East Antarctica. Since 1998, 11,452 meteorites have been collected from the Grove Mountains by the Chinese National Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE). It is confirmed that the Grove Mountains area is a productive search area for meteorites in Antarctica. More and more meteorite recoveries led to the recognition that unique mechanisms relating to meteorite concentrations exist in Antarctica. Besides meteorite field collections, the extraction of blue ice based on satellite images, meteorite concentration mechanisms, and meteorite data distribution service are discussed in this paper. Wide distribution of blue ice indicates the enrichment of meteorites. Based on the different spectrum characteristics and coherence of snow, blue ice, and bare rocks, blue ice areas are extracted from optical images and coherence maps. According to meteorite field collections and optical images, moraines are also identified as meteorite concentration sites in the Grove Mountains area. The meteorite concentration theories should be further analyzed by taking into account ice-flow dynamics, mountains'' blocking effect, katabatic wind and ice ablation, and others. Moreover, in order to strengthen the visualization and network sharing of the valuable meteorite data, desktop software based on ArcObjects and web software based on ArcIMS are developed within this study. The desktop software also enables further analysis of the meteorite concentration mechanisms in the Grove Mountains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A synthesized design method is proposed to design microstrip band-pass filters. The impact of the box structure to the filter performance is considered besides the structure of microstrip. An X-band high temperature superconducting (HTS) microstrip filter for deep space network is designed using this method. The six-pole microstrip band-pass filter at frequency of 9500±500 MHz is realized using TBCCO HTS thin film grown on 0.5 mm thick LaAlO3 substrate. The filter shows very high rejection of 90 dB in the stopband and extremely low loss less than 0.2 dB. The measured results are close to the simulated results without any post-production tuning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper represents the development of a high temperature superconducting (HTS) filter, the highest operating temperature of which is up to 93 K. The filter is designed for S band with 4% fractional bandwidth and fabricated using thallium-barium-calcium-copper oxide (Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8) thin films. At 93 K, the measurements of the filter show that the insertion loss in the passband is less than 0.22 dB, the return loss is better than 20 dB, and the out-of-band rejection is more than 80 dB. The analysis on the characteristics of the filter operating at different temperatures shows that the filter can work well at temperatures around 90 K. The temperature of 93 K is the highest among the previous reports for HTS filters. The result reported in this paper is significant for HTS filters to be used in the field of microwave communication requiring high sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using clonal and population analysis, we found that the MCF7 and SK-OV3 were composed mainly of cancer stem cells. Together with SP analysis, we found that both SP and NSP cells of MCF7 and SK-OV3 contained different proportions of cancer stem cells. In addition, we discovered that MCF7 SP cells were able to generate non-SP cells, and conversely non-SP cells generated SP cells; Moreover, we showed that Hoechst 33342 and FACS were harmful to the clonogenicity of MCF7 and SK-OV3 cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The loss of immunogenic epitopes by tumors has urged the development of vaccines against multiple epitopes. Recombinant DNA technologies have opened the possibility to develop multiepitope vaccines in a relatively rapid and efficient way. In this study, several DNA fragments encoding multiple cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and T helper (Th) cell epitopes were selected from human prostate-specific membrane antigen (hPSM), mouse prostatic acid phosphatase (mPAP), and human prostate-specific antigen (hPSA), These DNA fragments were ligated together to form a novel fusion gene, termed 3P gene. The 3P gene and human IgG Fc gene were inserted into pcDNA3.1 to construct a DNA vaccine designated psig-3P-Fc. Vaccination with psig-3P-Fc by gene gun inoculation induced strong antitumor response in a mouse tumor model, which significantly inhibited tumor growth and prolonged survival time of the tumor-bearing mice. In vitro, when lymphocytes were stimulated by psig-3P-Fc-transfected autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), CTLs were induced which could specifically kill hPSM-, hPAP-, or hPSA-expressing tumor cells. These observations provide a new vaccine strategy for cancer therapy through concomitant enhancement of antigen specific CD4+ helper and CD8+ cytotoxic T-cell responses against tumors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The effects of sintering parameters and microstructure features on magnetic properties of Fe-3 wt.% Si alloy prepared by metal injection molding (MIM) was investigated in this study. The sample with high density, the saturation induction (Bs) of 2.0 T, maximum permeability (μ max) of 25 mH/m, coercivity of 22.4 A/m was obtained at 1300 °C for 4 h in hydrogen atmosphere, and the properties of which are close to that of high silicon steel. The microstructure, impurities of C and O, distribution of grain boundary angles and magnetic domain of the sintered alloys were analyzed in correlation with the magnetic properties. It is found that a suitable large grain size of about 300 μm and large grain boundary angles distributed in the range of 30°–60° are beneficial to soft magnetic properties. Moreover, uniform and broad magnetic domains also play an important role in preparation of high performance soft magnetic materials. [Display omitted] • The Fe-3 wt.% Si alloys were prepared by metal injection molding. • Great properties of 2.0 T (Bs) and 25 mH/m (μ max) were achieved. • Magnetic properties improved with the increasing of large grain boundary angles. • Make an exploration of the microscopic mechanism of magnetic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Red algal polysaccharide is a good potential medical resource. Different red algal polysaccharides have different structural characteristics and rich biological activities. Previous studies have identified some structural information of sulfated polysaccharide (GNP, 25.8 kDa) from red algae, Gelidium crinale and found that GNP has excellent anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-tumor activities. On this basis, this study investigated the effect of GNP on atherosclerosis, which is closely related to antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanisms and usually coexists and interacts with hypertension. This study investigated the inhibitory activity of GNP on angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and its mechanism on oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)-induced HUVEC atherosclerosis. The results showed that GNP inhibits the up-regulation of cell adhesion molecules and oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1). GNP can regulate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and PI3K/AKT signal pathways, inhibit apoptosis, invasion and migration. Meanwhile, GNP (IC 50 = 269.2 μg/mL) antagonizes ACE by competitive binding mode, and it can reduce systolic blood pressure (SBP) of spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). It provides a theoretical basis for GNP as a potential substance for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface snowmelt affects the energy balance through melt-albedo feedback and may endanger the ice shelves in the Antarctic Peninsula (AP) through hydrofracture. Here, we introduce an automatic snowmelt identification algorithm based on Quick Scatterometer and Advanced Scatterometer. The proposed method can provide self-adaptive thresholds for snowmelt detection based on Rosin thresholding, and is able to detect weak melt signals with a wavelet denoising procedure. Results suggest the AP surface snowmelt has slightly declined during 1999–2018 in the context of recent cooling. However, winter melt index (i.e., melt days times the area of melting) has significantly increased (above the 99% confidence level) with a rate of 83% decade−1. Unprecedented winter snowmelt was found in 2015/2016 when about one-third of the AP experienced snowmelt in late May. This may be attributed to the intrusions of marine air and the enhanced föhn-driven warming resulted from the abnormal northwesterly flow driven by a significant deepening of the Amundsen Sea Low. Unlabelled Image • An automatic snowmelt detection algorithm is proposed to detect snowmelt. • Antarctic Peninsula winter snowmelt has significantly increased over 1999–2018. • Intense winter snowmelt in 2016 was driven by a deepening of Amundsen Sea Low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring variability in outlet glaciers can improve the understanding of feedbacks associated with calving, ocean thermal forcing, and climate change. In this study, we present a remote-sensing investigation of Dalk Glacier in East Antarctica to analyze its dynamic changes. Terminus positions and surface ice velocities were estimated from Landsat and Sentinel-1 data, and the high-precision Worldview digital elevation model (DEM) was generated to determine the location of the potential ice rumple. We detected the cyclic behavior of glacier terminus changes and similar periodic increases in surface velocity since 2000. The terminus retreated in 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2016 and advanced in other years. The surface velocity of Dalk Glacier has a 5-year cycle with interannual speed-ups in 2007, 2012, and 2017. Our observations show the relationship between velocity changes and terminus variations, as well as the driving role of the ice rumple. Ice velocity often increases after calving events and continuous retreats. The loss of buttressing provided by an ice rumple may be a primary factor for increases in ice velocity. Given the restriction of the ice rumple, the surface velocity remains relatively stable when the glacier advances. The calving events may be linked to the unstable terminus caused by the ice rumple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To analyse the risk factors and incidence of falls in geriatric outpatients in a university hospital ward in Hangzhou, China. Methods: From May 2020 to August 2022, 1712 geriatric outpatients in a university hospital ward in Hangzhou, China, were screened using a socio‐demographic questionnaire (e.g. gender, age, living arrangement, etc.) and assessment scales. The correlation between each factor and falls was preliminarily analysed by chi‐squared tests. Finally, binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to further analyse the risk factors of falls. The STROBE checklist was used in reporting this study. Results: Of the 1712 geriatric outpatients recruited, 1626 participants (60–79 and ≥ 80 years old) with complete questionnaire and assessment data were included. The occurrence of falls for those in the 60–79 age group was 8.4%, and for those in the ≥80 age group it was 13.4%. Age (p =.007), use of a walking assistance device (p <.001), the Stay Independent Brochure Questionnaire (SIB) (OR = 7.751, 95% CI = 5.089–11.806, p <.001), living arrangement (p =.004), timed up and go test (TUGT) (p =.007) and three diseases or above (OR = 2.496, 95% CI = 1.358–11.4.586, p =.003) reached statistical significance. Conclusions: Older people have a high incidence of falls. In this study, age, disease history, SIB scores (≥4 points), living arrangement, TUGT and walking assistance device increased the probability of falls in older Chinese adults. Personalised interventions should be carried out according to the specific situation of older people to effectively reduce their incidence of falls and improve their quality of life. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The basic characteristics and fall risk factors of the older can help nurses identify fall risk, and early intervention by caregivers can reduce fall‐related injuries, which has practical significance for promoting healthy aging. Patient or Public Contribution: The subjects of this study were older patients ≥60 years old, and the demographic characteristics and fall‐related information of patients were obtained by questionnaire. The team worked closely with a team of experts in the field of health care. Some researchers collect data and rewrite them, while other researchers analyse the information and write a paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigated the modification of low-methoxy pectin with stearic anhydride through microwave action with 4-dimethylaminopyridine as catalyst. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses indicated that stearic acid was grafted on the pectin through esterification reaction, with the maximum stearic acid grafting ratio (SGR) of 10.7% for the modified pectin. The introduction of stearic acid was shown to significantly improve the emulsifying activity and stability of pectin. Composite films were prepared by blending the modified pectins and chitosan, and compared with the contact angle of 65.3° for the film with native low-methoxy pectin (PC0), the films with modified pectins showed a significant angle increase, with the highest contact angle reaching 101.9°, indicating a hydrophobic surface. Moreover, an appropriate amount of aliphatic chains could improve the tensile strength and elongation at break of the composite films due to the "anchoring effect". • The -OH of the stearic acid was bonded to the -COOH of the pectin through esterification reaction. • The introduction of the stearic enhanced membranes hydrophobicity, made contact angle from 65.3° to 101.9°. • The aliphatic chains could improve the tensile strength and elongation at break of the composite films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) has recorded one of the strongest warming rates on the Earth since the 1950s, which, however, turned into a cooling trend since 1999. Snow liquid water emerges in the snowpacks in the AP during melt seasons. Monitoring snow liquid water on the AP is critical for evaluating its impacts on the stability, surface mass and energy balances of ice shelves. Most of our knowledge about the occurrence of snow liquid water (OLW) stems from satellite observations and model simulations. However, the relative performances of OLW products derived from these measurements have never been evaluated due to the lack of in-situ snow wetness measurements. We ranked the OLW determined by the radiometer (i.e., Special Sensor Microwave Imager), scatterometer (i.e., Quick Scatterometer and Advanced Scatterometer) and the Regional Atmospheric Circulation Model (RACMO2) based on categorical triple collocation (CTC) which can identify the most accurate observation with unknown true values. The CTC fusion product was generated by adopting the best source for each pixel during 1999–2017. The cumulative liquid water volume simulated by RACMO2 has significantly declined (at the 99% confidence level) by 210 Gt decade−1, while the decreasing trends in CTC-fused liquid water days (−1.18 days decade−1) and cumulative wet surface (−1.69 × 106 days km2 decade−1) were not statistically significant. The significantly negative trend in eastern AP snow liquid water agreed well with the simultaneous cooling, and may be linked with the increased adjacent sea ice. Unlabelled Image • Occurrence of snow liquid water (OLW) in Antarctic Peninsula (AP) was investigated. • OLW derived from radiometer, scatterometer and climate model was ranked. • A fusion OLW product was generated based on Categorical Triple Collocation. • The negative trend in OLW in eastern AP agreed well with the simultaneous cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a long-time series (1982–2015) of remote sensing data, we analyzed the change in surface albedo (SAL) during summer (from December to the following February) for the entire Antarctic Sea Ice Region (ASIR) and five longitudinal sectors around Antarctica: (1). the Weddell Sea (WS), (2). Indian Ocean, (3). Pacific Ocean (PO), (4). Ross Sea, and (5). Bellingshausen–Amundsen Sea (BS). Empirical mode decomposition was used to extract the trend of the original signal, and then a slope test method was utilized to identify a transition point. The SAL provided by the CM SAF cloud, Albedo, and Surface Radiation dataset from AVHRR data-Second Edition was validated at Neumayer station. Sea ice concentration (SIC) and sea surface temperature (SST) were also analyzed. The trend of the SAL/SIC was positive during summer over the ASIR and five longitudinal sectors, except for the BS (−2.926% and −4.596% per decade for SAL and SIC, correspondingly). Moreover, the largest increasing trend of SAL and SIC appeared in the PO at approximately 3.781% and 3.358% per decade, respectively. However, the decreasing trend of SAL/SIC in the BS slowed down, and the increasing trend of SAL/SIC in the PO accelerated. The trend curves of the SST exhibited a crest around 2000–2005; thus, the slope lines of the SST showed an increasing–decreasing type for the ASIR and the five longitudinal sectors. The evolution of summer albedo decreased rapidly in the early summer and then maintained a relatively stable level for the whole ASIR. The change of it mainly depended on the early melt of sea ice during the entire summer. The change of sea ice albedo had a narrow range when compared with composite albedo and SIC over the five longitudinal sectors and reached a stable level earlier. The transition point of SAL/SIC in several sectors appeared around the year 2000, whereas that of the SST for the entire ASIR occurred in 2003–2005. A high value of SAL/SIC and a low value of the SST existed in the WS which can be displayed by the spatial distribution of pixel average. In addition, the lower the latitude was, the lower the SAL/SIC and the higher the SST would be. A transition point of SAL appeared in 2001 in most areas of West Antarctica. This transition point could be illustrated by anomaly maps. The spatial distribution of the pixel-based trend of SAL demonstrated that the change in SAL in East Antarctica has exhibited a positive trend in recent decades. However, in West Antarctica, the change of SAL presented a decreasing trend before 2001 and transformed into an increasing trend afterward, especially in the east of the Antarctic Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring variability in outlet glaciers can improve understanding of feedbacks associated with glacier calving, ocean thermal and climate changes. In this study, a comprehensive overview of dynamic changes in Dalk Glacier since 2004 was performed using multisource satellite data. Detailed measurements of the glacier extent, velocity and elevation were conducted. During 2004-2017, periodic advances and retreats of calving margins, anomalous interannual accelerations and seasonal fluctuations in surface velocity were monitored. For the front region, there were significant velocity increases (25-30 m/a) in 2007, 2012 and 2017, and velocities in the austral winter of 2016 were ~ 30 m/a lower than the velocities during the austral summer in 2017. Our study indicates that there is a significant link between disintegrations and interannual speed variations. Different levels of disintegration and margin retreat contributed to different degrees of loss in ice-shelf buttressing and caused corresponding increases in the velocities of different regions. Simultaneous speedup of the Dalk Glacier front driven by large calving events was detected in 2007. However, the time of upstream ice flow acceleration was two years later (2009). For sporadic disintegrations between 2010 and 2012, surface velocities in all regions increased correspondingly in 2012. Although the surface elevation of the ice shelf was in a relatively stable condition from 2004 to 2016, the front ice rumple of Dalk Glacier provides significant constraining effects for upstream regions and greatly destabilizes the ice tongue. We found that disintegrations occurred when the glacier front crossed the whole ice rumple (2006 and 2016) or when the atmosphere and ocean temperatures changed significantly (2009 and 2010), triggered by ocean warming and current erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diseased animal models play an extremely important role in preclinical research. Lacking the corresponding animal models, many basic research studies cannot be carried out, and the conclusions obtained are incomplete or even incorrect. Right ventricular (RV) outflow tract (RVOT) obstruction leads to RV pressure overload (PO) and reduced pulmonary blood flow (RPF), which are 2 of the most important pathophysiological characteristics in pediatric cardiovascular diseases and seriously affect the survival rate and long-term quality of life of many children. Due to the lack of a neonatal mouse model for RVOT obstruction, it is largely unknown how RV PO and RPF regulate postnatal RV and pulmonary development. The aim of this study was to construct a neonatal RVOT obstruction mouse model. Here, we first introduced a neonatal mouse model of RVOT obstruction by pulmonary artery banding (PAB) on postnatal day 1. PAB induced neonatal RVOT obstruction, RV PO, and RPF. Neonatal RV PO induced cardiomyocyte proliferation, and neonatal RPF induced pulmonary dysplasia, the 2 features that are not observed in adult RVOT obstruction. As a result, PAB neonates exhibited overall developmental dysplasia, a sign similar to that of children with RVOT obstruction. Because many pediatric cardiovascular diseases are associated with RV PO and RPF, the introduction of a neonatal mouse model of RVOT obstruction may greatly enhance our understanding of these diseases and eventually improve or save the lives of many children. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Substrate‐integrated waveguide (SIW) sext‐band bandpass filter (BPF) composed of two dual‐mode cavities coupled with multiple single‐mode ones is synthesized and designed for the first time by combining split‐type triple‐band symmetrical frequency responses for two virtual wide passbands dominated by TE101 and TE201 modes in SIW rectangular cavities. By applying our previously proposed dual‐mode frequency and coupling controlling techniques, the center frequencies and fractional bandwidths of the two virtual passbands can be allocated flexibly. An experimental prototype with the two virtual wide bands centered at 11.993 and 14.336 GHz is synthesized, designed, fabricated, and tested to demonstrate and validate the collaborative design concept, showing excellent agreement between the measured and simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antarctic surface snowmelt is sensitive to the polar climate. The ascending and descending passes of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for Earth Observing System Sensor (AMSR-E) observed the Antarctic ice sheet in the afternoon (the warmest period) and at midnight (a cold period), enabling us to make full use of the diurnal amplitude variations (DAV) in brightness temperature (Tb) to detect snowmelt. The DAV in vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (DAV36V) is extremely sensitive to liquid water and can reduce the effects of the structural changes in snowpacks during melt seasons. A set of controlled experiments based on the microwave emission model of layered snow (MEMLS) were conducted to study the changes of the vertically polarized 36.5 GHz Tb (Δ36V) during the transitions from dry to wet snow regimes. Results of the experiments suggest that 9 K can be used as a DAV36V threshold to recognize snowmelt. The analyses of snowmelt suggest that the Antarctic ice sheet began to melt in November and became almost completely frozen in late March of the following year. The total cumulative melt area from 2002 to 2011 was 2.44 × 106 km2, i.e., 17.58% of the Antarctic ice sheet. The annual cumulative melt area showed considerable fluctuations, with a significant (above 90% confidence level) drop of 5.24 × 104 km2/year in the short term. Persistent snowmelt (i.e., melt that continues for at least three days) detected by AMSR-E and hourly air temperatures (Tair) were very consistent. Though melt seasons became longer in the western Antarctic Peninsula and the Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica was subjected to considerable decreases in duration and melting days in stable melt areas, i.e., −0.64 and −0.81 days/year, respectively. Surface snowmelt in Antarctica decreased temporally and spatially from 2002 to 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In coal preparation plant, the control strategy of the separation process is made mainly based on the timely feedback of the clean coal ash. But the results of commonly used gamma-ray coal ash monitor only could reflect the trends of coal quality and fail to satisfy the dynamic amendment of operation parameter. The actual ash remains to be obtained by a complex process, consisting of the manual sampling, sample preparation, and laboratory analysis. To solve the above problem, this paper first analyzed the working principle of ash monitor and its influence factors. Then, mass of data relevant to the obtain of online ash were collected, and the correlation analysis showed that the on-line ash deviation was highly related to the coal flux on the conveying belt. Aiming to improve the accuracy of the online measurement of coal ash, different mathematical curve models and machine learning Least Squares Support Vector Machine (LS-SVM) models are used for the on-line ash correction. The results of prediction simulation indicate that the LS-SVM algorithm (root-mean-square error [RMSE] = 0.3335) is better than the conventional regression model (RMSE = 0.1747) in predicting the ash content. Therefore, the coal flux data could be used for the correction of online ash with LS-SVM algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Seahorse has been used as a traditional medicine in Southeast Asian countries for a long time. A compound, 2'-Hydroxy-5′-Methoxyacetophenone (2H5M) isolated from seahorse, Hippocampus kuda , was tested for its anti-inflammatory effect in lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-stimulated BV-2 cells and RAW264.7 cells. MTT assay indicated that 2H5M has no cytotoxicity on two kinds of cells. The concentration of nitric oxide (NO) measured by Griess Reaction System showed that 2H5M could significantly inhibit the NO concentration. The ELISA results showed that 2H5M could suppress the secretion of TNF-α in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, western blot analysis was utilized to measure the protein levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathways. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) demonstrated that 2H5M reduced NF-κB DNA binding activity. Furthermore, the molecular docking study showed that 2H5M can form active sites with NF-κB. Collectively, these results indicated that 2H5M possesses anti-inflammatory effects and may have a potential application in inflammatory disorders in the future. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • 2H5M isolated from seahorse. • 2H5M could significantly inhibit the NO concentration. • 2H5M reduced NF-κB DNA binding activity • 2H5M can form active sites with NF-κB. • 2H5M have a potential application in inflammatory disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial magnetosomes (BMs) are used as carriers for antibodies, enzymes, and nucleic acids. This study aimed to demonstrate the clinical utility of BMs derived from Magnetospirillum gryphiswaldense for use in anti‐tumor immunotherapy. Bis(sulfosuccinimidyl) suberate (BS3) was used to prepare BM–anti‐4‐1BB antibody complexes. We used syngeneic TC‐1 mouse models of cancer to investigate whether BMs combined with an anti‐4‐1BB agonistic antibodies could enhance the therapeutic effects of anti‐4‐1BB antibodies in localized disease settings. Anti‐4‐1BB antibodies were combined with purified BMs at a concentration of 168 mg antibody per milligram BM (mg IgG/mg BM) using BS3. The anti‐4‐1BB antibody‐coupled BMs (BM–Ab complexes) and control BMs displayed similar morphologies and measurements when examined by transmission electron microscope (TEM). In a mouse tumor model, intravenous injection of BM–Abs combined with magnetic treatment resulted in greater tumor protection than did other treatment methods (P < 0.05). These results demonstrate the in vivo anti‐tumor properties of BM–Abs complexes. The coupling of anti‐4‐1BB antibodies to magnetosomes may have potential for clinical application to antitumor antibody therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the digestion and fermentation processes of lactoferrin (LF) glycated with chitooligosaccharide (COS) under a controlled Maillard reaction, utilizing the in vitro digestion and fermentation model, and to compare the results of these processes to LF undertaken without glycation. After gastrointestinal digestion, the products of the LF-COS conjugate were found to have more fragments with lower molecular weight than LF, and the antioxidant capabilities (via ABTS and ORAC assay) of the LF-COS conjugate digesta also increased. In addition, the undigested fractions could be further fermented by the intestinal microbiota. Compared with LF, more short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) were generated (from 2397.40 to 2623.10 μg/g), and more species of microbiota (from 451.78 to 568.10) were observed in LF-COS conjugate treatment. Furthermore, the relative abundance of Bacteroides and Faecalibacterium that could utilize carbohydrates and metabolic intermediates to produce SCFAs also increased in LF-COS conjugate than that of LF. Our results demonstrated that glycation with COS under the controlled wet-heat treatment Maillard reaction could modify the digestion of LF and have a potentially positive influence on the intestinal microbiota community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluorescence of Au nanoclusters can be quenched at the presence of ferrous and hydrogen peroxide and recovered as ascorbic acid added. • Au Nanoclusters is synthetized through chemical reduction. • It can be used for qualitative analysis of ascorbic acid. • The detection limit is 200 μM and linear range is 350–700 μM. Au nanoclusters were synthetized through chemical reduction based on glutathione template. The fluorescence excitation and emission wavelength is 375 nm and 565 nm, respectively. The fluorescence would be quenched at the presence of ferrous and hydrogen peroxide and recovered as ascorbic acid added. It can be used for qualitative analysis of ascorbic acid according to fluorescence recovery. The fluorescence intensity is positive correlation with the concentration of ascorbic acid. The detection limit is 200 μM and linear range is 350–700 μM. It offers an easy and convenient method to detect of ascorbic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease, is the most common cause of dementia in humans worldwide. Although more in-depth research has been carried out on AD, the therapeutic effect of AD is not as expected, and natural active substances are increasingly sought after by scientists. In the present study, we evaluated two benzaldehydes from a coral-derived Aspergillus terreus strain C23-3, their anti-neuroinflammatory activity in microglia (BV-2), and their neuroprotective activity and mechanisms in hippocampal neuronal cells (HT-22). These include the protein expression of iNOS, COX-2, MAPKs pathways, Tau protein-related pathways, caspases family-related signaling pathways. They also include the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-18 and ROS, as well as the level of mitochondrial oxidative stress and neuronal cell apoptosis. The results showed that both benzaldehydes were effective in reducing the secretion of various inflammatory mediators, as well as pro-inflammatory factors. Among these, benzaldehyde 2 inhibited mitochondrial oxidative stress and blocked neuronal cell apoptosis through Tau protein-related pathways and caspases family-related signaling pathways, thereby inhibiting β-amyloid (Aβ)-induced neurological damage. This study reveals that benzaldehyde 2 has potential as a therapeutic agent for Alzheimer's disease, and offers a new approach to the high-value use of marine natural products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]