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Background and Objective: The effectiveness of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in improving long-term survival outcomes for patients with a solitary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) measuring 5 cm or less remains uncertain. This study was designed to elucidate the impact of RFA therapy on the survival outcomes of these patients and to construct a prognostic model for patients following RFA. Methods: This study was performed using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database from 2004 to 2017, focusing on patients diagnosed with a solitary HCC lesion ≤5 cm in size. We compared the overall survival (OS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) rates of these patients with those of patients who received hepatectomy, radiotherapy, or chemotherapy or who were part of a blank control group. To enhance the reliability of our findings, we employed stabilized inverse probability treatment weighting (sIPTW) and stratified analyses. Additionally, we conducted a Cox regression analysis to identify prognostic factors. XGBoost models were developed to predict 1-, 3-, and 5-year CSS. The XGBoost models were evaluated via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, calibration plots, decision curve analysis (DCA) curves and so on. Results: Regardless of whether the data were unadjusted or adjusted for the use of sIPTWs, the 5-year OS (46.7%) and CSS (58.9%) rates were greater in the RFA group than in the radiotherapy (27.1%/35.8%), chemotherapy (32.9%/43.7%), and blank control (18.6%/30.7%) groups, but these rates were lower than those in the hepatectomy group (69.4%/78.9%). Stratified analysis based on age and cirrhosis status revealed that RFA and hepatectomy yielded similar OS and CSS outcomes for patients with cirrhosis aged over 65 years. Age, race, marital status, grade, cirrhosis status, tumor size, and AFP level were selected to construct the XGBoost models based on the training cohort. The areas under the curve (AUCs) for 1, 3, and 5 years in the validation cohort were 0.88, 0.81, and 0.79, respectively. Calibration plots further demonstrated the consistency between the predicted and actual values in both the training and validation cohorts. Conclusion: RFA can improve the survival of patients diagnosed with a solitary HCC lesion ≤5 cm. In certain clinical scenarios, RFA achieves survival outcomes comparable to those of hepatectomy. The XGBoost models developed in this study performed admirably in predicting the CSS of patients with solitary HCC tumors smaller than 5 cm following RFA.

A practical and efficient synthetic route to construct a variety of 3-halochromones has been realized using Selectfluor reagent as a fluorine source, or Selectfluor-copper(I) halide combination as halogen source under mild conditions. This reaction proceeds via a sequence of electrophilic cation addition, and cyclization leading to a broad range of 3-halochromones in good to excellent yields in a short period of time. Additionally, the utilization of commercially available and cost-effective Selectfluor and copper(I) halide renders this system highly practical.

Orbital debris with equivalent size of 1∼10 cm is hard to be detected and its number is huge, which is the most harmful to on-orbit spacecraft while there is still no effective removal means. Inspired by vacuum cleaner, applying the conductive property of orbital debris and the physical law that variable magnetic flux would induce eddy current on the surface of a conductive material, this paper put forward a novel approach of ‘along orbit debris self-collecting with rotating constant magnetic dipole array’. Based on dynamic modeling, self-collecting feasibility and control capability analysis, evolution law of relative orbital motion with induced magnetic force derivation, and on-orbit debris magnetic collecting numerical simulation, this novel approach has been verified and the corresponding requirements of magnetic collector are put forward. In addition, this paper also gave how to use several key parameters to adjust the region of along orbit debris self-collecting, and pointed out several problems needing to be researched in-depth for actual application.

The surface microlayer film (SMF) has been observed worldwide in water environments and its environmental behavior plays a vital role in the migration and transformation of water pollutants. However, there has been little description and explanation of their characteristics in freshwater environments. Here, we investigate the characteristics of SMF under different freshwater trophic status. The results demonstrated that under sufficient nutrition, the interior characteristics of the SMF are densely arranged Fe3O4skeletal structures, and the enrichment concentration of Fe3+on the SMF reached 4.66 μg/mL, the dominant bacteria is Zoogloea. Under the constraint of nitrogen, the interior characteristics of the SMF is a tightly spherical encapsulated organic matter, the maximum enrichment concentration of Fe3+on the SMF was only 0.75 μg/mL, Limnobacterand Acidocellaare the dominant bacteria in the carbon and nitrogen constraint. Under iron constraint, the interior of the SMF is an entangled organic organism, and the coverage rate of the SMF was only 31.41 %, which decreased by 20.55 % and 8.58 %, compared with carbon and nitrogen constraint respectively, and the main microbial species is Cloacibacterium. These results reveal a strong correlation between water nutrient types and the formation of SMF, and established a connection between water pollution and SMF characteristics, provided a new approach for predicting water types using water surface microlayers, and have important implications for managing freshwater ecosystems.

Recent experiments of dispersed bubbly flow (Ma et al., 2023) show that contamination of the carrier phase plays a considerable role in bubble-induced turbulence (BIT): although the bubbles rise slower with adding surfactants, the BIT increases. This trend, however, cannot be reproduced by any current BIT models in the framework of Euler–Euler Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes two-equation turbulence model, including the model proposed by Ma et al. (2017). The present work revisits this widely used model (Ma et al., 2017) as a representative, which considers the BIT with an additional source term in the k- and ɛ(or ω) - equation, respectively. We have systematically investigated the reason why such a BIT model is unable to capture the BIT modulation caused by different degrees of contamination and discuss the new possibility for the prefactor in the source term of the ɛ-equation that may improve the results.

The {K2,Cn}-factor of a graph is a spanning subgraph whose each component is either K2or Cn. In this paper, a sufficient condition with regard to tight toughness, isolated toughness and binding number bounds to guarantee the existence of the {K2,C2i+1|i⩾2}-factor for any graph is obtained, which answers a problem due to Gao and Wang (J Oper Res Soc China, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40305-021-00357-6).

Toxoplasma gondiiinfection in pregnant women may cause fetal anomalies; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The current study investigated whether T. gondiiinduces pyroptosis in human placental cells and the underlying mechanisms. Human placental trophoblast (BeWo and HTR-8/SVneo) and amniotic (WISH) cells were infected with T. gondii, and then reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, cathepsin B (CatB) release, inflammasome activation, and pyroptosis induction were evaluated. The molecular mechanisms of these effects were investigated by treating the cells with ROS scavengers, a CatB inhibitor, or inflammasome-specific siRNA. T. gondiiinfection induced ROS generation and CatB release into the cytosol in placental cells but decreased mitochondrial membrane potential. T. gondii–infected human placental cells and villi exhibited NLRP1, NLRP3, NLRC4, and AIM2 inflammasome activation and subsequent pyroptosis induction, as evidenced by increased expression of ASC, cleaved caspase-1, and mature IL-1β and gasdermin D cleavage. In addition to inflammasome activation and pyroptosis induction, adverse pregnancy outcome was shown in a T. gondii–infected pregnant mouse model. Administration of ROS scavengers, CatB inhibitor, or inflammasome-specific siRNA into T. gondii–infected cells reversed these effects. Collectively, these findings show that T. gondiiinduces NLRP1/NLRP3/NLRC4/AIM2 inflammasome-dependent caspase-1–mediated pyroptosis via induction of ROS production and CatB activation in placental cells. This mechanism may play an important role in inducing cell injury in congenital toxoplasmosis.

This article proposes a long-distance pipeline threat event identification method based on Gramian angular field (GAF) and deep learning networks for phase sensitive Rayleigh distributed fiber optic vibration system. The 11 types of threat events of vibration signals along a 28.9-km natural pipeline are collected and converted to 2-D images using GAF. The performance of five deep learning networks, such as GoogLeNet, visual geometry group (VGG), AlexNet, ShuffleNet, and DenseNet, is compared for events classification. The results show that DenseNet achieved the highest classification accuracy within the 11 types of threat events. Moreover, the false alarm rates of manual digging (MD) and mechanical excavation (ME) among the 11 events were 0.31% and 0.18%, respectively. The proposed method is suitable for complicated pipeline safety monitoring niche and offers fast and accurate recognition solution for long-distance pipeline safety monitoring.

Chiral metasurfaces with enhanced chiroptical effects have drawn extensive attentions due to their potential applications from chiral molecule detection to low-threshold chiral emission. However, pursuing strong circular dichroism (CD) and high quality (Q) factors of chiroptical resonances simultaneously still remains problematic. Here, we present a novel design of all-dielectric chiral metasurface which supports enhanced chiroptical responses driven by toroidal dipole (TD) resonances. By introducing geometrical perturbations and breaking the in-plane mirror symmetry, the proposed chiral metasurface can excite high-Q factor ( $\sim 2938$ ) chiroptical resonance with maximal CD ( $\sim -0.995$ ) at terahertz frequencies. Interestingly, the magnitude of CD signals can be freely modulated via tuning geometrical parameters, while the value of Q factor almost remains stable. These results may pave a new avenue for manipulating chiroptical responses for potential applications which require strong CDs accompanied by enhanced light-matter interaction.

Vitamin B5, also called d-pantothenic acid, is an essential vitamin in the human body and is widely used in pharmaceuticals, nutritional supplements, food, and cosmetics. However, few studies have investigated the microbial production of d-pantothenic acid, especially in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. By employing a systematic optimization strategy, we screened seven key genes in d-pantothenic acid biosynthesis from diverse species, including bacteria, yeast, fungi, algae, plants, animals, etc., and constructed an efficient heterologous d-pantothenic acid pathway in S. cerevisiae. By adjusting the copy number of the pathway modules, knocking out the endogenous bypass gene, balancing NADPH utilization, and regulating the GALinducible system, a high-yield d-pantothenic acid-producing strain, DPA171, which can regulate gene expression using glucose, was constructed. By optimizing fed-batch fermentation, DPA171 produced 4.1 g/L d-pantothenic acid, which is the highest titer in S. cerevisiaeto date. This study provides guidance for the development of vitamin B5 microbial cell factories.

To improve the power performance and fuel economy and reduce the online computation time of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) in off-road driving environments, a real-time energy management strategy based on the expected state-action-reward-state’-action’ (SARSA) algorithm is proposed. This strategy achieves the control effect through coordinated control of the engine generator set (EGS) and the energy distribution between the battery and the EGS. The driving environment is expressed as a transition probability matrix (TPM) of the electric power demand, and the optimal control problem of energy management is solved offline by the expected SARSA algorithm to obtain the control laws. Then, the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence rate is used as the evaluation index of the switching control strategy, and these control laws are used online to realize real-time control. Control strategies based on traditional reinforcement learning (RL), stochastic dynamic programming (SDP), and dynamic programming (DP) are considered benchmark strategies to verify the effectiveness of the proposed energy management strategy based on the expected SARSA. The fuel economy is improved by a maximum of 13.2%, and the elapsed time is reduced by more than 99.8% compared with the values achieved with the benchmark algorithms. These results show that the proposed strategy has flexible adaptability to complex and changeable off-road conditions without prior knowledge of the whole driving cycle.

Engineering chem-/sono-/photo-multimodal antitumor therapies has become an efficient strategy to combat malignant tumors. However, the existence of hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment (TME) leads to limited sonodynamic or photodynamic efficiency because O2is the key reactant during the process of generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here, to design a desirable platform that can simultaneously convert H2O2in the TME into ROS and O2for efficient chem-/sono-/photo-multimodal tumor therapies, we have created ultrasmall Cu2O-coordinated carbon nitride on a biocompatible ceria substrate (denoted as Cu2O-CNx@CeO2) viaa self-assisted catalytic growth strategy. The chemical and morphological structures, ROS and O2generation activities, and chemo-/photo-/sono-dynamic specificities of Cu2O-CNx@CeO2when serving as multifunctional biocatalytic agents were systematically disclosed. The experimental studies validated that Cu2O-CNx@CeO2presents state-of-the-art peroxidase-like and catalase-like activities. Moreover, the light excitation and ultrasound irradiation were also demonstrated to boost ROS production. The in vitroand in vivoexperiments suggest that Cu2O-CNx@CeO2can efficiently inhibit the growth of malignant melanoma viachem-/sono-/photo-multimodal antitumor ability. We believe that applying these new biocatalysts with dual catalytic activities of producing ROS and O2will offer a new path for engineering multimodal nanoagents to combat malignant tumors.

Deep learning models, such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs), have made significant progress in hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. However, these models require a large number of parameters, which occupy a lot of storage space and suffer from overfitting, thus resulting in performance loss. To solve the above problems, in this article, we propose a new compression network [namely, a Hybrid Fully Connected Tensorized Compression Network (HybridFCTCN)] by considering the high dimensionality of HSI data. First, using the low-rank fully connected tensor network decomposition (FCTND), three novel units, i.e., FCTN-FC, FCTNConv2D, and FCTNConv3D, are designed to compress the weight tensor of standard fully connected (FC) layer and kernel tensor of convolutional layer, reducing their parameters. In the novel units, the intrinsic correlation of the decomposed factors is adequately exploited by the FC structures, which enhances their feature extraction and classification abilities. Then, benefiting from the hybrid network backbone composed of the FCTNConv3D and FCTNConv2D units, HybridFCTCN can extract more discriminative features with fewer parameters, while it has great generalization capability and robustness, enabling better HSI classification. Finally, the rank of above-designed units is defined, and its determination is discussed to facilitate the application of the proposed model. Extensive experiments on three widely used HSI datasets reveal that the proposed model achieves state-of-the-art classification performance for different training sample sizes with a very small number of parameters.

Exploring multifaceted and highly sensitive biosensors is a major challenge in biotechnology and medical diagnosis. Here, we create a new iridium (Ir) cluster-anchored metal–organic framework (MOF, namely, IrNCs@Ti-MOF viaa coordination-assisted strategy) as a peroxidase (POD)-mimetic nanoreactor for colorimetrically diagnosing hydrogen peroxide-related biomarkers. Owing to the IrNCs–N/O coordination of Ti-MOF and unique enzymatic properties of Ir clusters, the IrNCs@Ti-MOF exhibits exceptional and exclusive POD-mimetic activities (Km= 3.94 mM, Vmax= 1.70 μM s–1, and turnover number = 39.64 × 10–3s–1for H2O2), thus demonstrating excellent POD-mimetic detecting activity and also super substrate selectivity, which is considerably more efficient than recently reported POD mimetics. Colorimetric studies disclose that this IrNCs@Ti-MOF-based nanoreactor shows multifaceted and efficient diagnosing activities and substrate selectivity, such as a limit of detection (LOD): 14.12 μM for H2O2at a range of 0–900 μM, LOD: 3.41 μM for l-cysteine at a range of 0–50 μM, and LOD: 20.0 μM for glucose at a range of 0–600 μM, which enables an ultrasensitive and visual determination of abundant H2O2-related biomarkers. The proposed design will not only provide highly sensitive and cheap colorimetric biosensors in medical resource-limited areas but also offer a new path to engineering customizable enzyme-mimetic nanoreactors as a powerful tool for accurate and rapid diagnosis.

• Phosphorus modulated porous cerium oxide (P-CeO 2) nanocrystallines was constructed through a fine phosphorization for advanced LSBs. • P-CeO 2 cathode present stronger adsorption of Li 2 S 6 , faster oxidation-reduction kinetics of LiPS, and quicker diffusion of Li+ ions than the bare CeO 2 , thus exhibited an improved initial capacity and stable cycling behavior. • P-modulation of metal oxide surface can simultaneously promote the catalytic reaction kinetics and chemical interaction of LiPS. The insulating nature of sulfur species, sluggish reaction kinetics, and uncontrolled dissolution of lithium polysulfide (LiPS) intermediates during the complex and multiphase sulfur redox process, have severely inhibited the applications of Li-S batteries. In this study, we report a rational strategy to accelerate the polysulfide catalysis via constructing phosphorus modulated porous CeO 2 (P-CeO 2) for advanced Li-S batteries. The morphology and surface analysis demonstrate that the P-CeO 2 consists of abundant P-modulated porous CeO 2 nanocrystallines. The battery performance reveals that the introduction of P will lead to an improved initial capacity of 1027 mA h g−1 than that of bare CeO 2 (895.7 mA h g−1) at 0.2 C. In addition, the P-CeO 2 cathode can maintain a low capacity decay ratio of 0.10% per cycle after 500 cycles at 1.0 C. The coin battery tests suggest that the P-CeO 2 cathode presents faster oxidation-reduction kinetics of LiPS and quick diffusion of Li+ ions. Meanwhile, the studies of redox processes and chemical interactions of LiPS have demonstrated the P-CeO 2 cathode displays stronger adsorption of Li 2 S 6 , higher redox peak current, and earlier precipitation of Li 2 S than the bare CeO 2. This study demonstrates for the first time that the P-modulation of metal oxide surface can simultaneously promote the catalytic reaction kinetics and chemical interaction of LiPS. We anticipate that this P-modulation method can be extended to many other nanostructured metal catalytic sites for developing affordable advanced Li-S batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To solve air pollution problems and reduce energy costs, hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are applied for larger scale as a superior solution and their energy management strategies (EMS) are essential for achieving higher fuel efficiency. This paper proposes a reinforcement learning (RL) based real-time EMS for a HEV, which requires no prior knowledge of the future driving conditions. First, considering that the practical driving conditions are mutative, an online recursive Markov Chain model is constructed, which can depict the stochastic environment more accurately. Then, a novel RL framework, heuristic search, is introduced, which means using extra knowledge in the search process. It aims to find an optimal action for a specific state rather than learn a policy for an entire driving cycle like traditional RL algorithms. Consequently, the learning process is significantly efficient and real-time optimization can be realized. Moreover, a Q-table is learned offline, and is used online as a heuristic function to direct the search process, which can accelerate the convergence rate and improve the real-time performance further. In the simulation, the effectiveness of the recursive Markov Chain model and the superiority of the heuristic function are verified. Then, a comparative simulation of heuristic search, Q-learning, dynamic programming (DP) and equivalent consumption minimization strategy is conducted and evaluated. The proposed method consumes 1.63% more fuel compared with DP in a totally unknown cycle, which demonstrates its control performance and real-time capability.

The homeobox gene family encodes transcription factors that are essential for cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation, and its dysfunction is linked to tumor initiation and progression. Sine oculis homeobox (SIX) belongs to the homeobox gene family, with SIX3 being a core member. Recent studies indicate that SXI3 functions as a cancer suppressor or promoter, which is mainly dependent on SIX3’s influence on the signal pathways that promote or inhibit cancer in cells. The low expression of SIX3 in most malignant tumors was confirmed by detailed studies, which could promote the cell cycle, proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis. The recovery or upregulation of SIX3 expression to suppress cancer is closely related to the direct or indirect inhibition of the Wnt pathway. However, in some malignancies, such as esophageal cancer and gastric cancer, SIX3 is a tumor-promoting factor, and repressing SIX3 improves patients’ prognosis. This review introduces the research progress of SIX3 in tumors and gives a comprehensive analysis, intending to explain why SIX3 plays different roles in different cancers and provide new cancer therapy strategies.

Currently, FeNi nanoalloys have received considerable attention for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in rechargeable aqueous zinc (Zn)-air batteries (ZABs) because of their high content and good chemical stability. However, their poor electronic conductivity, small surface area, and sluggish activity seriously hinder their catalytic performance. Herein, S-modulated FeNi nanoalloys supported by hierarchically porous carbon (S-FeNi/PC) are synthesized through the thermal treatment of metal-organic precursors for efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysis. S decoration endows S-FeNi/PC with a superior OER performance while maintaining an ORR performance that is comparable to that of Pt/C. Hence, S-FeNi/PC exhibits excellent bifunctional oxygen catalytic activity, outperforming the noble-metal-based composite catalysts of Pt/C and RuO2. Notably, the ZABs assembled with S-FeNi/PC exhibit high specific capacity (792 mA h g−1), high peak power density (123.5 mW cm−2), and remarkable durability for 700 charge/discharge cycles at 10 mA cm−2, which surpasses the performance of commercially available Pt/C-RuO2and other catalysts in previously reported studies. This study will provide not only new bifunctional oxygen electrodes for efficient ZAB devices but also new insights into the design of FeNi-based materials for a wide range of catalytic applications.

This paper applies the Narrative-based Energy General Index (NEG) to forecast stock returns in the energy industry. The index is constructed using natural language processing (NLP) techniques applied to news topics from The Wall Street Journal. The results indicate that NEG outperforms in predicting future returns of the energy industry in both in-sample and out-of-sample, and the predictive power surpasses that of other macroeconomic variables. The asset allocation exercise demonstrates the substantial economic value of NEG. Furthermore, we document that NEG not only exhibits superior predictive power for energy sector returns but also provides valuable insights for the whole stock market.

Compared with traditional freshwater electrolysis, the seawater electrolysis process is confronted with low activity and poor stability problems due to the deposition of insoluble hydroxides and corrosion of chloride species; thus, engineering efficient catalysts for seawater electrolysis are extremely desirable but remain challenging. Herein, we have developed an efficient and robust electrocatalyst by engineering oxophilic vanadium and deprotonated ruthenium atoms on tungsten carbide (WC-RuV) as a highly active and anti-poisoning cathode material for superior seawater electrolysis. Benefiting from the high oxophilicity and electron transfer ability of V, the interaction between the OH* generated via water dissociation and Ru sites is weakened, which facilitates the OH* transfer process and consequently attenuates the formation of insoluble hydroxides. Notably, when working in simulated seawater electrolytes, the WC-RuV requires an ultralow overpotential, and the WC-RuV@carbon cloth can maintain high activity and stability even at 200 mA cm−2. The assembled WC-RuV||RuO2anion exchange membrane (AEM) electrolyzer realizes long-term stability at the current of 100 mA cm−2and achieves continuous operation powered by commercially available solar panels. This work provides an efficient strategy for modulating the water dissociation process and offers a new perspective for designing high-performance catalysts for the forthcoming application of seawater electrolysis.

The research of LEFP (linear explosive forming projectile) is of great value to the development of new warhead due to its excellent performance. To further improve the damage ability of the shaped charge warhead, a special shell overhanging structure was designed to increase the charge based on the traditional spherical charge, in which case the crushing energy of LEFP could be guaranteed. LS-DYNA was used to simulate different charge structures obtained by changing the number of detonation points, the length of shell platform, the radius of curvature and the thickness of liner. The RSM (response surface model) between the molding parameters of LEFP and the structural parameters of charge was established. Based on RSM model, the structure of shaped charge was optimized by using multi-objective genetic algorithm. Meanwhile, the formation process of jet was analyzed by pulsed X-ray photography. The results show that the velocity, length-diameter ratio and specific kinetic energy of the LEFP were closely related to the structural parameters of the shaped charge. After the optimization of charge structure, the forming effect and penetration ability of LEPP had been significantly improved. The experimental data of jet velocity and length were consistent with the numerical results, which verifies the reliability of the numerical results.

To accurately and efficiently complete tooth segmentation from a large amount of oral medical data, the burden of doctors should be reduced. An automatic seed picking method based on 2D projection of the occlusal plane was proposed. First, the authors establish a two-dimensional seed data set for tooth segmentation. Then, this article built a prediction network of teeth seeds based on YOLOv4 to realize the prediction of teeth position as well as the recognition of teeth categories. Finally, according to the statistical optimal seed position, the two-dimensional seeds are calculated and mapped back to the three-dimensional space by the reverse projection transformation method to realize the final picking up of the three-dimensional seeds. Furthermore, combined with the previous work of division line detection, the automatic segmentation of the 3D dental model was realized. The experimental results show that the proposed method has high accuracy and real-time performance, which significantly reduces the burden of human-computer interaction in dental model segmentation.

Graphical abstract:

The nucleic acid G-quadruplex (G4) has emerged as a promising therapeutic target for a variety of diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Among small-molecule G4-binders, pyridostatin (PDS) and its derivatives (e.g., PyPDS) exhibit high specificity to G4s, but the structural basis for their specific recognition of G4s remains unknown. Here, we presented two solution structures of PyPDS and PDS with a quadruplex–duplex hybrid. The structures indicate that the rigid aromatic rings of PyPDS/PDS linked by flexible amide bonds match adaptively with G-tetrad planes, enhancing π–π stacking and achieving specific recognition of G4s. The aliphatic amine side chains of PyPDS/PDS adjust conformation to interact with the phosphate backbone viahydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, increasing affinity for G4s. Moreover, the N–H of PyPDS/PDS amide bonds interacts with two O6s of G-tetrad guanines viahydrogen bonding, achieving a further increase in affinity for G4s, which is different from most G4 ligands. Our findings reveal from structural perspectives that the rational assembly of rigid and flexible structural units in a ligand can synergistically improve the selectivity and affinity for G4s through spatial selective and adaptive matching.

Canopy cover (CC) quantifies the proportion of canopy materials projected vertically onto the ground surface. CC is a crucial canopy structural variable and is commonly used in many ecological and climatic models. The vertical CC profile product is currently available from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI). However, detailed information about the accuracy and uncertainty of the GEDI vertical CC profile product remains limited. The objective of this study is to validate the GEDI CC product over selected forest sites using reference values derived from digital hemispherical photography (DHP), airborne laser scanning (ALS) point clouds, and simulated waveforms. The accuracy of CC was quantified and analyzed regarding GEDI observation conditions, waveform processing, and estimation methods. The results show that the GEDI total CC correlates well with those estimated from DHP, ALS, and simulated waveform data (r2 = 0.65, 0.71, and 0.71, respectively) but is systematically underestimated (bias = −0.05, −0.11, and −0.07, respectively) based on reference data. Compared with the ALS-estimated CC, needleleaf forest shows the highest correlation for vertical CC (r2 ≥ 0.65) and shrubland shows the lowest bias for total CC (bias = −0.13). The mean absolute error (MAE) of the GEDI CC decreases from 0.15 to 0.09 as the estimation height increases from ground to 35 m. The GEDI total CCs derived from the waveform interpretation algorithms A2 and A6 display the highest r2(≥ 0.6) and smallest RMSE (≤ 0.23) compared to those of the other algorithms. The CC accuracy increases with beam sensitivity and decreases with increasing canopy cover. The GEDI CC was improved at moderate CC values using a canopy-to-ground backscattering coefficient ratio (ρv/ρg) determined with the regression method. The partial difference between GEDI CC and ALS CC is attributed to definitional discrepancies. Further improvement of the CC algorithm can be made by using vegetation-specific waveform processing algorithms and realistic ρv/ρgvalues.

Covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) with photoinduced donor-acceptor (D-A) radical pairs show enhanced photocatalytic activity in principle. However, achieving long-lived charge separation in COFs proves challenging due to the rapid charge recombination. Here, we develop a novel strategy by combining [6 + 4] nodes to construct zyg-type 3D COFs, first reported in COF chemistry. This structure type exhibits a fused Olympic-rings-like shape, which provides a platform for stabilizing the photoinduced D-A radical pairs. The zyg-type COFs containing catalytically active moieties such as triphenylamine and phenothiazine (PTZ) show superior photocatalytic production rates of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Significantly, the photochromic radical states of these COFs show up to 400% enhancement in photocatalytic activity compared to the parent states, achieving a remarkable H2O2synthesis rate of 3324 μmol g−1h−1, which makes the PTZ-COF one of the best crystalline porous photocatalysts in H2O2production. This work will shed light on the synthesis of efficient 3D COF photocatalysts built on topologies that can facilitate photogenerating D-A radical pairs for enhanced photocatalysis.Three-dimensional donor-acceptor covalent organic frameworks (COFs) with zyg topology featuring Olympic rings-shaped pores were constructed, showing metastable photoinduced charge-separated states which significantly enhanced the photocatalytic synthesis of hydrogen peroxide.

We propose that domain walls formed in a classical Ginzburg–Landau model can exhibit topologically stable but thermodynamically metastable states. This proposal relies on Allen–Cahn's assertion that the velocity of domain wall is proportional to the mean curvature at each point. From this assertion we speculate that domain wall behaves like a rubber band that can winds the background geometry in a nontrivial way and can exist permanently. We numerically verify our proposal in two and three spatial dimensions by using various boundary conditions. It is found that there are possibilities to form topologically stable domain walls in the final equilibrium states. However, these states have higher free energies, thus are thermodynamically metastable. These metastable states that are protected by topology could potentially serve as storage media in the computer and information technology industry. • Domain walls formed in a classical Ginzburg–Landau model can exhibit topologically stable but thermodynamically metastable states. • Domain wall behaves like a rubber band that can winds the background geometry in a nontrivial way and can exist permanently. • There are possibilities to form topologically stable domain walls in the final equilibrium states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Form-stable phase change materials (PCMs) have garnered tremendous attention in thermal energy storage (TES) owing to their remarkable latent heat. However, the integration of intelligent manufacturing, recycling, and optimized multifunction is considered not feasible for form-stable PCMs due to the restriction of encapsulation technology. Here, an excellent polymer encapsulation strategy is proposed to prepare 3D printable, sustainable, and reliable form-stable PCMs (SiPCM-x), which are universal for petroleum-based and biobased long alkyl compounds. SiPCM-xhave top-class latent heat, and the phase-change temperatures are tunable from body temperature to high temperature. The in situformative bottlebrush phase-change polysiloxane networks are used as supporting materials, and the encapsulation mechanism is clarified. Sirbw-250can be degraded and re-encapsulated to achieve recycling. Besides, Sirbw-250is fabricated as the customer-designed objects with shape-changing behavior via 3D printing. By introducing the metal foams and nano-coatings, the resulting phase-change composites simultaneously exhibit excellent superhydrophobicity, mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, electromagnetic interference shielding behavior, and solar-, electric-, and magnetic-to-thermal energy conversion ability. Besides, S–Ni–SiPCM-250can be applied in the wearable functional devices and movable solar–thermal charging. This strategy will lead to huge renovation in the TES field and provide an efficient guideline for designing advanced form-stable PCMs.

Bubbly flow still represents a challenge for large-scale numerical simulation. Among many others, the understanding and modelling of bubble-induced turbulence (BIT) are far from being satisfactory even though continuous efforts have been made. In particular, the buoyancy of the bubbles generally introduces turbulence anisotropy in the flow, which cannot be captured by the standard eddy viscosity models with specific source terms representing BIT. Recently, on the basis of bubble-resolving direct numerical simulation data, a new Reynolds-stress model considering BIT was developed by Ma et al. (J Fluid Mech, 883: A9 (2020)) within the Euler—Euler framework. The objective of the present work is to assess this model and compare its performance with other standard Reynolds-stress models using a systematic test strategy. We select the experimental data in the BIT-dominated range and find that the new model leads to major improvements in the prediction of full Reynolds-stress components.

Intestinal microbiota regulates the host metabolism, including fat metabolism and muscle development in mammals; however, studies on the interactions between the gut microbiome and in chickens with respect to fat metabolism and muscle development are still rare. We established a germ-free (GF) chicken model to determine the transcriptomes and metabolomes of GF and specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens. Transcriptome analysis showed 1,282 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in GF and SPF chickens. The expression levels of some genes related to muscle formation were very high in SPF chickens but low in GF chickens, suggesting that GF chickens had poorer muscle development ability. In contrast, the expression levels of some fat synthesis-related genes were very low in SPF chickens but high in GF chickens, suggesting that GF chickens had a more potent fat-synthesizing ability. Metabolome analysis revealed 62 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) in GF and SPF chickens, of which 35 were upregulated and 27 were downregulated. Furthermore, the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) was calculated, and an interaction network was constructed to visualize the crosstalk between the genes, metabolites, and gut microbiota in GF and SPF chickens. The top 10 gut microbiota were positively correlated with lipid metabolism including13(S)-HpODE and 9(S)-HpOTrE, and genes related to muscle development, while were negatively correlated with genes related to fat synthesis. In conclusion, this study indicated that chicken intestinal microbiota regulate host metabolism, inhibit fat synthesis, and may promote muscle development.

Composite over-wrapped pressure vessel (COPV) with ultra-thin metal liner and high strength carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) structure was widely used in space system. Meanwhile, there are some difficulties in the calculation of COPV stress-strain state related to the elastic-plastic liner and elastic composite. In this paper a novel design theory was proposed for calculating stress distribution in the bi-material COPV and determining the optimal thickness parameters of COPV based on traditional grid theory optimization. This new theory named Parameters Correspondence Relationship Structure Design Method (PCRSDM) can increase the design precision and structure performance factor of COPV compared to traditional grid theory. The correct models of mechanical characteristic between liner and CFRP are established from the view of optimized grid theory, the present theory is useful to develop a theoretical framework to calculate and design the COPV double shells. The COPV stress-strain behavior is also systemically studied by the ANSYS finite element analysis (FEA), the results show good agreement between FEA simulation and PCRSDM calculation. Both FEA and PCRSDM can meet the design requirements of COPV. A complete design, development and qualification testing of a specialized COPV used to satellite propulsion system was successfully conducted to verify the COPV design in terms of PCRSDM and FEA, the result show that PCRSDM is suitable for the design of COPV.

ABSTRACTRecent studies showed that exosomes obtained from adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) could improve the angiogenesis of fat grafts via overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Human antigen R (HuR) promotes the expression of VEGF in many cancers, but the effect of HuR in normal endothelial cells in the presence of ADSC-derived exosomes remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the effect of HuR on the expression of VEGF and angiogenesis of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) cultured with ADSCs-derived exosomes. The HuR-overexpressed HUVECs (HuR-HUVECs) were cocultured with ADSCs-derived exosomes. qRT-PCR and Western blotting were performed to examine the stability and expression of VEGF-A mRNA and protein. The proliferation, migration, and proangiogenic capacity of HuR-HUVECs were evaluated using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), scratch wound healing, and Matrigel tube formation assay. qRT-PCR showed that HuR-HUVECs had higher expression and slower attenuation of VEGF-A mRNA. Western blotting confirmed higher expression of VEGF-A in HuR-HUVECs. CCK-8, scratch wound healing, and Matrigel tube formation assay demonstrated an increased proangiogenic effect in HuR-HUVECs. HuR promotes angiogenesis of HUVECs cocultured with ADSCs-derived exosomes via stabilization and overexpression of VEGF in vitro. The HuR/VEGF pathway is an important regulatory mechanism of angiogenesis in endothelial cells.

AbstractRockburst hazard is one of the most outstanding problems in deep rock mechanics, which has become the bottleneck for deep underground engineering in China. Rockburst occurs with some evident precursors, however, the rockburst mechanism is not clearly revealed. The acoustic emissions (microcracks) occur before the failure of rockmaterial, and rockburst is the sudden failure of rock mass caused by the development of microcracks. Therefore, it is effective to study the microcrack precursors for the surrounding rock of deep-buried tunnels by the microseismic monitoring system, and to warn of the rockburst. A method for monitoring and warning of rockburst in deep underground engineering is proposed based on the study of rockburst mechanism and in situ experience for many years. Main points of the proposed method are numerical simulation based on the monitoring, warning of rockburst based on the numerical simulation, and control of rockburst based on the warning. The proposed method was applied and improved successively in the deep-buried tunnels of the Jinping II Hydropower Station and the Hanjiang-to-Weihe River Diversion Project, which may prevent the occurrence of rockburst or decrease the incidence of rockburst. The proposed method is fast, accurate and intelligent by integrating the microseismic monitoring, artificial intelligence, big data and large-scale numerical analysis, and may be promoted to other deep underground engineering.

AbstractIt is one of the most important problems to judge anchoring force of constant resistant bolt in anchoring support. This involves the properties of rock, binder and bolt material as well as the interaction among them in the process of stress. In this paper, a series of numerical experiments have been carried out by using the software "Real Failure Process Analysis (RFPA)", which is suitable for the study of complex mechanism of nonlinear and discontinuous media. Four factors that affect the anchoring force of constant resistance bolt are analyzed, the whole process of mechanical failure of anchored rock with constant resistance bolt is monitored, and the failure mode of anchored rock under different conditions is revealed. Draw a few conclusions with reference significance.

To enlarge the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) enhancement of Ag nanopillar arrays, a well-controlled armrest Ag NRs@Al2O3structure was designed, aiming at triggering efficient resonance between the nanopillar and the Ag NRs. A series of armrest Ag NRs@Al2O3with well-designed morphology as well as enhanced “hot spots” quantity by taking advantage of AAO template and oblique angle deposition were successfully fabricated. Both experimental results and numerical simulations revealed localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) tunability by simply optimizing the arm length. An optimal substrate with outstanding SERS performance for dyes and biomolecular was realized by enhancing the hot spots area while tuning the resonance peak close to the 785 nm excitation. The as-fabricated 14-Ag NRs@Al2O3without any surface modification presented a glucose detection limit of 1 × 10–4mM, endowing our SERS platform for sensitive label-free biodetection.

Macroions, as soluble ions with a size on the nanometer scale, show unique solution behavior different from those of simple ions and large colloidal suspensions. In macroionic solutions, the counterions are known to be important and well-explored. However, the role of co-ions (ions carrying the same type of charge as the macroions) is often ignored. Here, through experimental and simulation studies, we demonstrate the role of co-ions as a function of co-ion size on their interaction with the macroions (using {Mo72Fe30} and {SrPd12} as models) and the related self-assembly into blackberry-type structures in dilute solutions. Several regimes of unique co-ion effects are clearly identified: small ions (halides, oxoacid ions), subnanometer-scaled bulky ions (lacunary Keggin and dodecaborate ions), and those with sizes comparable to the macroions. Small co-ions have no observable effect on the self-assembly of fully hydrophilic {Mo72Fe30}, while due to hydrophobic interaction and intermolecular hydrogen bonds, the small co-ions show influences on the self-assembly of hydrophobic {SrPd12}. Subnanometer ions, a.k.a. “superchaotropic ions”, are still too small to assemble into a blackberry by themselves, but they can coassemble with the macroions, showing a strong interaction with the macroionic system. When the co-ion size is comparable to that of the macroions, they assemble independently instead of assembling with the macroions, leading to the previously reported unique self-recognition phenomenon for macroions.

We have synthesized and structurally characterized three tetra-(p-tolyl)antimony(III)-containing heteropolytungstates, [{(p-tolyl)SbIII}4(A-α-XW9O34)2]n−[X = PV(1-P), AsV(1-As), or GeIV(1-Ge)], in aqueous solution using conventional, one-pot procedures. The polyanions 1-P, 1-As, and 1-Gewere fully characterized in the solid state and in solution and were shown to be soluble and stable in aqueous medium at pH 7. Biological studies demonstrated that all three polyanions possess significant antibacterial and antitumor activities. The minimum inhibitory concentrations of 1-P, 1-As, and 1-Gewere determined against four kinds of bacteria, including the two pathogenic bacteria strains, Vibrio parahaemolyticusand Vibrio vulnificus. The three novel polyanions also showed high cytotoxic potency in the human cell lines A549 (non-small cell lung cancer), CH1/PA-1 (ovarian teratocarcinoma), and SW480 (colon carcinoma).

Allergic diseases, mainly mediated by T helper type 2 (Th2) immunity, have become a worldwide public health problem. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has long been used in treating and preventing allergic symptoms. As the new target of anti-allergy TCM, basophils, after approximately 140 years since their discovery, are just now gaining respect as important contributors in the pathogenesis underlying allergic inflammation and disease. In addition to their role as effector cells, basophils can release early IL-4, migrate from circulatory system into draining lymph nodes, present antigen to naive CD4+Tcells, and promote the differentiation of Th2 cells. Herein, we briefly summarized the recent research advances of the essential contributions of basophils in the initiation of Th2 immune responses.

We have prepared the indium(III)-centered, all-acetate-capped polyoxopalladate(II) nanocube [InPd12O8(OAc)16]5–(InPd12Ac16), which can be further used as precursor to form the phosphate-capped (i) double-cube [In2Pd23O17(OH)(PO4)12(PO3OH)]21–(In2Pd23P13) and (ii) monocube [InPd12O8(PO4)8]13–(InPd12P8). All three novel polyoxopalladates (POPs) were synthesized using conventional one-pot techniques in aqueous solution and characterized in the solid state (single-crystal XRD, IR, elemental analysis), in solution (115In, 31P, and 13C NMR), and in the gas phase (ESI-MS).

The targeted delivery of therapeutic agents to secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), which are the niches for immune initiation, provides an unprecedented opportunity for immune intolerance induction. The alloimmune rejection postvascularized composite allotransplantation (VCA) is mediated by T lymphocytes. Human adipose‐derived stem cells (hASCs) possess the superiority of convenient availability and potent immunoregulatory property, but their therapeutic results in the VCA are unambiguous thus far. Chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) can specifically guide immune cells migrating into SLOs. There, the genes of CCR7–GFPor GFPalone were introduced into hASCs by lentivirus. hASCs/CCR7 maintained the multidifferentiation and immunoregulatory abilities, but it gained the migration capacity elicited by secondary lymphoid organ chemokine (SCL) (CCR7 ligand) in vitro. Noteworthily, intravenously infused hASCs/CCR7 targetedly relocated in the T‐cell aggression area in SLOs. In a rat VCA model, hASCs/GFP transfusion had a rare effect on the allografted vascularized composite. However, hASCs/CCR7 infusion potently prolonged the grafts’ survival time. The ameliorated pathologic exhibition and the regulated inflammatory cytokines in the peripheral blood were also observed. The altered axis of Th1/Th2 and Tregs/Th17 in SLOs may underlie the downregulated rejection response. Moreover, the proteomic examination of splenic T lymphocytes also confirmed that hASCs/CCR7 decreased the proteins related to cytokinesis, lymphocyte proliferation, differentiation, and apoptotic process. In conclusion, our present study demonstrated that targeted migration of hASCs/CCR7 to SLOs highly intensifies their in vivo immunomodulatory effect in the VCA model for the first time. We believe this SLO‐targeting strategy may improve the clinical therapeutic efficacy of hASC for allogeneic and autogenic immune disease. Stem Cells2019;37:1581–1594 The allogeneic antigens are carried by antigen‐presenting cells to secondary lymphoid organs via blood circle and activated the T lymphocytes, inducing their clonal proliferation, then transport to the grafted vascularized composite, and play the host‐anti‐graft cytotoxicity effect. Intravenously infusioned human adipose‐derived stem cells distribution at various tissue and play limited effect (A), while, human adipose‐derived stem cells/chemokine receptor 7 can targeted migrate to secondary lymphoid organs and impair the T lymphocytes alloimmune response at initiation stage (B).

Sodium-ion batteries suffer from kinetic problems stemming from sluggish ion transport across the electrode–electrolyte interface, causing rapid energy decay during fast-charging or low-temperature operation. One exciting prospect to enhance kinetics is constructing neuron-like electrodes that emulate fast signal transmission in a nervous system. It has been considered that these bioinspired designs enhance electron/ion transport of the electrodes through carbon networks. However, whether they can avoid sluggish charge transfer at the electrode–electrolyte interface remains unknown. By connecting the openings of carbon nanotubes with the surface of carbon-coated Na3V2O2(PO4)2F cathode nanoparticles, here we use carbon nanotubes to trap Na+ions released from the nanoparticles during charge. Therefore, Na+movement is confined only inside the neuron-like cathode, eliminating ion transport between the electrolyte and cathode, which has been scarcely achieved in conventional batteries. As a result, a 14-fold reduction in interfacial charge transfer resistance is achieved when compared to unmodified cathodes, leading to superior fast-charging performance and excellent cyclability up to 200C, and surprisingly, reversible operation at low temperatures down to −60 °C without electrolyte modification, surpassing other Na3V2O2(PO4)2F-based batteries reported to date. As battery operation has relied on charge transfer at the electrode–electrolyte interface for over 200 years, our approach departs from this traditional ion transport paradigm, paving the way for building better batteries that work under harsh conditions.

Overuse of antibiotics leads to the proliferation of drug-resistant bacterial strains, worsening global morbidity, and mortality rates. Bioinspired nanomaterials present a promising avenue for developing nonantibiotic strategies against drug-resistant bacteria. Here, we engineer a bacteriophage-inspired artificial nanobiocatalyst via nonstoichiometric W18O49that features a spiky topography and synergistic dual-atom sites for combating drug-resistant bacterial infection. Benefiting from the strong interaction within the synergistic Fe–O–Mo sites, the synthesized spiky artificial nanobiocatalyst exhibits superior reactive oxygen species (ROS)-catalytic activity, attributed to the regulated adsorption affinity between the reaction intermediates and catalytic sites. The experimental and theoretical investigations demonstrate that the bioinspired biocatalyst can effectively capture and kill bacteria through its spiky morphology and potent ROS-catalytic activity, which can enable a significant reduction in bacterial viability through downregulating genes associated with biosynthesis, cellular maintenance, and respiration. In vivo experiments demonstrate that the spiky artificial biocatalyst accelerates the reconstruction of drug-resistant bacteria-infected skin wounds in rabbits, exhibiting efficacy comparable to that of vancomycin. It is expected that this bioinspired study on spiky artificial nanobiocatalysts offers a straightforward path to facilitate the development of both bionic and nonantibiotic disinfection strategies.