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Several alkyl glucosides exhibit various bioactivities. 1-Octyl β- d -glucopyranoside produced by organic synthesis is used as a nonionic surfactant. However, no convenient method has been developed for the selective production of alkyl α-glucosides (α-AGs), such as 1-octyl α- d -glucopyranoside (α-OG). Therefore, we developed a simple method for selective production of α-AGs using the glucosyl transfer enzyme XgtA, (E.C. 3.2.1.20), derived from Xanthomonas campestris WU-9701. When 0.80 M alkyl alcohol and 2.5 units XgtA were incubated in 2.0 mL of 30 mM HEPES-NaOH buffer (pH 8.0) containing 1.2 M maltose at 45 °C, a specific α-AG corresponding to each alkyl alcohol (C2–C10) was detected. Under the standard conditions, we examined the selective production of α-OG from 1-octanol and maltose using XgtA. The reaction product was isolated and identified as α-OG via 1H nuclear magnetic resonance and nuclear overhauser effect spectroscopy analyses. No other glucosylated products, such as maltotriose, were detected in the reaction mixture. Under the standard conditions at 45 °C for 96 h, 243 mM α-OG (71 g/L) was produced in one batch production. Moreover, the addition of glucose isomerase to the reaction mixture decreased the concentration of glucose released via the reaction and increased the amount of α-OG produced; 359 mM α-OG (105 g/L) was maximally produced at 96 h. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the selective production of α-AGs using a simple enzymatic reaction, and XgtA has the potential to selectively produce various α-AGs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethyl α- d -glucopyranoside (α-EG) is detected in sake (Japanese rice wine), that has moisturizing and skin conditioning effects. The production of α-EG by fermentation or enzymatic synthesis to date generates unwanted by-products such as maltooligosaccharides and/or organic acids. In this study, we employed a reaction involving selective α-glucosylation of ethanol by the α-glucosyl transfer enzyme (XgtA) of Xanthomonas campestris WU-9701. Under standard conditions, when 0.80 M ethanol and 1.2 M maltose were used as substrates with XgtA (2.5 units) and incubated in 30 mM HEPES–NaOH buffer (pH 8.0) at 45°C, only one form of ethyl glucopyranoside was selectively obtained as a product. The isolated product was identified as ethyl α- d -glucopyranoside by 1H NMR, 1H–1H COSY, and NOESY analyses. In the reaction mixture, other glucosylated products such as maltotriose and ethylmaltoside were not detected. Under optimum conditions, 180 mM (37.5 g/L) α-EG was produced in one batch production for 80 h. Further, the reaction rate of α-EG production decreased with an increase in glucose, especially more than 500 mM. In contrast, the addition of glucose isomerase decreased the concentration of glucose and was useful for maintaining a glucose concentration of less than 500 mM in the reaction mixture. Thus, owing to the enzymatic reaction with XgtA and glucose isomerase, as much as 260 mM (54.1 g/L) α-EG was produced in one batch production for 100 h. Altogether, this study reports the highest concentration of α-EG produced by enzymatic reaction. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• All dispersants considered acted in synergy with resins in peptizing asphaltenes. • Ionic liquid yielded the best dispersing power and the highest self-association. • Significant electron-withdrawing sites were main contributors to dispersing power. • Steric hinderance associated with molecular structure affected dispersing behavior. In confronting the global climate change, reusing waste asphalt materials stands out as a key strategy for the transportation sector to preserve natural resources and reduce the carbon footprint. Recycling additives or rejuvenators are usually required in this practice, especially for boosting the recycling rate. Given the imperative need for a general compositional design principle of rejuvenators, we previously proposed an innovative formulation concept by combining softeners with asphaltene dispersants, and reported that the use of dispersants largely reduced the total quantity of rejuvenators needed and thus would minimize the environmental impacts. The present study is aimed for probing the molecular mechanisms underlying this observation, with additional interest focused on the synergistic effect of the dispersants with resins and also on the impacts due to their self-association. Selection of representative materials consisted of three types of dispersants including an ionic liquid, a phenolic amphiphile, and an ester plasticizer, in combination with an aromatic oil as the softener. Long-time molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was employed to inspect the aggregation of asphaltenes. Quantum chemical (QC) computation was performed to provide insights into the source of different dispersing behaviors. The results indicated that the three dispersants all acted in concert with resins in dispersing asphaltenes. The dispersion characteristics of asphaltenes could be viewed as a net result of the two competing mechanisms of the dispersing capability and self-association of the dispersant used. The ionic liquid exhibited much higher propensity to self-association at increasing concentrations than the phenolic dispersant, and yet the optimum performance was achieved for both when they were added at low dosages. The ester plasticizer showed minimal self-association and yielded improved dispersion with increasing concentrations. In all cases, the dispersing functionality mainly originated from the presence or formation of significant electron-withdrawing sites, collectively due to the highly electronegative cation and anion, hydrogen bonding, and polar groups. Comparison of the dispersing power was also conducted from different perspectives. The findings are expected to provide molecular insights for formulating versatile and more environmentally benign asphalt rejuvenators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate prediction of the rate of penetration (ROP) is a difficult issue in the drilling process, especially under complex formation conditions. Many methods, such as mechanism and machine learning, were introduced to investigate it. However, most of them are offline prediction methods which may not be capable of capturing the online trend of ROP. In this paper, a novel dynamic model for ROP prediction is proposed considering the process characteristics, which consists of three stages. In the first stage, the correlations between ROP and eight drilling parameters are analyzed, and the rotational speed, weight on bit, depth are selected as the model inputs. In the second stage, the drilling data are pre-processed by using the filtering and re-sampling techniques. In the last stage, the moving window strategy, extreme learning machine, and 10-fold cross validation are used to establish the ROP model. Our main idea of online prediction of ROP lies in this last stage. Specifically, two steps (modeling and prediction) are executed alternately in the moving drilling depth windows so as to predict the ROP more accurately. Finally, the proposed ROP prediction model is applied to the drilling well ZK3 in Xiangyang area, Central China. The prediction accuracy is improved by at least 7% compared with seven well-known ROP prediction methods, two online and five offline, which validates the effectiveness of the proposed method. It is believed that the proposed model provides a basis for intelligent optimization control in drilling process. • A novel intelligent dynamic model is proposed for the online prediction of drilling ROP. • The influence of the length of moving window and distance between two windows are investigated thoroughly. • The proposed model can learn autonomously in the drilling process and has a fast computation speed. • The proposed method has a higher prediction accuracy than two online and five offline well-known conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Semi-analytic methods are used to solve 3D DPL problems. • Compared with FEM, the semi-analytic method has higher computational efficiency. • The phase lag of heat flow and the phase lag of temperature gradient have influence on the temperature response speed and the formation of temperature field. With the development of picosecond laser technology, the dual-phase-lagging (DPL) model is more suitable to describe the heat transfer problem with micro-scale effect and micro-time effect. In this paper, a three-dimensional dual-phase-lagging heat transfer model for picosecond laser processing is established. Then Fourier transform (FT) and Laplace transform (LT) are used to derive the frequency response functions (FRFs) of the problem in the frequency domain, and the inverse Laplace transform (ILT) and discrete-convolution fast Fourier transform (DC-FFT) algorithm are used to solve the temperature field. The calculation accuracy of this method is verified and the effect of phase lag constants on temperature field is studied. The results show that the semi-analytical method has a high accuracy for solving the dual-phase-lagging heat conduction model, and the phase lag of heat flux will affect the heating rate in the heating stage, and the phase lag of temperature gradient will delay the formation of temperature field. The effect of phase lag constants on temperature-time history is investigated and the related phenomena are explained by using the two-step heat transfer theory. This semi-analytical method provides a new approach to solve the problem of three-dimensional dual-phase-lagging heat transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The laser-ablated reaction process of two aluminized cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine (RDX) explosives with additives is presented, one formulation is RDX/aluminum (Al) /ammonium perchlorate (AP) and named AH, the other is RDX/Al/AP/Boron (B)/magnesium hydride (MgH 2) and named BH. Laser ablation combined with a high-speed photography and an emission spectrometer in this paper provides a high time-resolution observation of the reaction process of energetic materials in laboratory scale. A sample plate with an array of cylindrical holes was used to load the explosive powders for high-throughput studies, and a complete fresh sample was ablated each time to ensure the consistency of the sample status. From the laser-ablated images, AH exhibits a longer combustion duration than aluminized RDX with no additional additives, and BH has an even longer combustion duration than AH. Both AH and BH show a monotonic decreasing trend in luminous intensities, but AH has higher intensities than BH from 3 to 30 µs. In addition to the observation of AlO molecular emission lines in the spectra of AH and BH, neutral magnesium (Mg I) emission lines were observed in the spectra of BH. The spectral distribution with time indicates that the oxidation reaction of Al is the main reason leading to persistent combustion in AH and BH. Overall analysis directly reveals that AP promotes the combustion of AH and makes the afterburning of Al with ambient air less significant, and B/MgH 2 prolongs the combustion duration of BH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we proposed a FPGA implementation architecture for SVM classifier. The architecture is based on the proposed Shared Dot Product Matrix (SDPM) method which computes and stores the dot product of all training data before SVM searching process. We implemented the proposed method by software simulation and hardware implementation. The software simulation of SDPM method achieves twice the speed of LIBSVM, which is one of the most popular SVM implementation libraries. This acceleration mainly results from the reduction of repeat Kernel function calculation. Then the hardware software collaboration architecture for SDPM is also proposed in this paper. Results show that the proposed architecture achieves approximately 30 times faster searching speed compared with LIBSVM. • The contributions of this manuscript are as follows: • We propose a Shared dot product matrix algorithm to reduce the computation complexity of SVM OTPC searching. • Based on the proposed algorithm, we implement it in software and compare the performance with that of LIBSVM. • We also design a hardware software collaboration architecture based on the proposed algorithm to accelerate the searching process. • In our design, the software implementation and LIBSVM is processed by C++. The hardware software collaboration architecture is implemented by FPGA. Test results show that the software implementation can reach 2 times faster than that of LIBSVM. The hardware software collaboration architecture can reach approximately 30 times faster than that of LIBSVM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dependence of county industry on high CO 2 emission industries makes it difficult to balance the development of county economy and CO 2 emission reduction. Therefore, this article attempts to study on the spatial-temporal evolution and influencing factor on land use-related CO 2 emissions at region-county level to promote county economy from CO 2 source to CO 2 sink. 9 regions and 38 counties in Chongqing of China were thus selected as study objects. Based on land use data, land use-related CO 2 emissions were estimated using direct and indirect CO 2 emission models for the period 1997–2015. On this basis, the space-time patterns were revealed from two scales of region and county. And the main factors influencing CO 2 emissions according to land use were revealed based on Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) and geographic detector analysis (GDA), respectively. The results show that: 1) at regional scale, CO 2 emissions of different regions all greatly improve in which southeastern ecological protection and development area showed the largest increase. Increases in per capita CO 2 emissions in two-wing (suburban) areas are higher than those in downtown and surrounding-downtown areas. 2) at regional scale, the influences of various decomposed factors on the change of CO 2 emissions fluctuate. The effect of population shows an insignificant influence on CO 2 emissions. Economic development greatly influences CO 2 emissions. Additionally, energy consumption shows a significant inhibitory effect on CO 2 emissions while energy mix exhibits significant hysteresis. 3) at county scale, heavy CO 2 emissions are concentrated in core urban areas; moderate and mild emissions occur mainly in the main urban expansion area, the region around the main urban areas, and in regional hub cities; low emissions are mainly concentrated in the Wuling mountainous area in southeast Chongqing and the Three Gorges Reservoir area in northeast Chongqing. 4) at county scale, the main influences on land use-related CO 2 emissions are total energy consumption, per capita GDP, and urbanization rate. Minor influences include population size, proportion of secondary and tertiary industries, and proportion of land used for construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A facile and practical melt blending to prepare antimicrobial PET was proposed. • The antimicrobial PP- g -PHMG enriched on the surfaces of PET materials. • The PET materials had excellent antimicrobial activities and nonleaching characteristic. Antimicrobial poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) materials are highly demanding in various applications in the industry. However, the combination of large-scale preparation, cost-effective and nonleaching characteristic still remains challenges. Herein, antimicrobial PET materials were prepared by an easy-to-scale-up melting blending between neat PET and polypropylene grafted poly(hexamethylene guanidine) (PP- g -PHMG). Such PET materials exhibited excellent antimicrobial activities, such as above 98.0% and 99.9% of inhibition rates against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus , respectively. Nonleaching characteristic was confirmed by the inhibition zone test. More importantly, the antimicrobial component enriched on the surfaces of PET materials due to the difference in the compatibility between PET matrix and PP- g -PHMG and the heterogeneous repulsive effect of crystallization. This work provides a facile and easy-to-scale-up way to obtain nonleaching antimicrobial PET. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this work, high pure Mo-10 wt% Cu composite powders with a ultrafine particle size are prepared by a two-step reduction process (first carbothermal reduction and then hydrogen reduction). Ammonium heptamolybdate and copper nitrate trihydrate powders are used as molybdenum and copper source, respectively. The mixtures of raw materials are calcined at 400 °C firstly to form the composite oxides which are then reacted with insufficient carbon black at 1050 °C for 2 h. The as-prepared powders are further reduced by hydrogen at 750 °C for 2 h to obtain the ultrafine Mo-10 wt% Cu composite powders. The experimental results show that the residual carbon of the Mo-10 wt% Cu powders can be decreased to 0.015 wt%, and the composite powders have an average particle size of 200 nm. The sintering behavior of ultrafine Mo Cu powders and the properties (vickers hardness and thermal conductivity) of samples after sintering are investigated. High sintering temperature is beneficial to increase the density of the compact. At 1200 °C, the relative density of the Mo Cu compacts is 98.8%. The vickers hardness and thermal conductivity of the Mo-10 wt% Cu composites sintered at 1200 °C for 3 h are 233 HV and 130 (W/m·k), respectively. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Mo-10 wt.% Cu powders are prepared by carbothermal and hydrogen reduction. • The average particle size of Mo-10 wt.% Cu composite powders is about 200 nm. • Mo-10 wt.% Cu compact after sintering at 1200 °C exhibits excellent properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • 1D/2D hybrid carbon film and PDMS were developed as strain-temperature sensor. • CNTs in hybrid film served as "bridges" to widen the strain sensing range. • The prestrain-induced microcracks strategy improved the temperature sensitivity. • The sensor can be used for monitoring various human motions. • The sensor can perceive body or environmental temperature for thermal management. E-skin that can mimic the complex functions of human skin has attracted considerable interest in health monitoring and medical diagnosis. However, the accurate and reliable detection of multiple external stimuli using a sole sensing component remains challenging. Herein, we describe a flexible strain-temperature sensor fabricated by employing conductive 1D multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), 2D reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and a flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate to construct a sandwich structure. Consequently, the flexible MWCNTs@RGO hybrid film with optimized conductivity exhibits a high gauge factor (GF = 1888) at a strain up to 40 %, prominent long-term durability (8000 cycles at 25 % strain), low strain detection (0.05 %) and rapid response (57 ms). The significantly enhanced performance is attributed to the synergy of tubular MWCNTs and layered RGO, as revealed by finite element analysis. Additionally, the hybrid film sensor exhibits temperature-sensing ability with a typical negative temperature coefficient of resistance and delivers an improved sensitivity upon thermal stimulus via prestrain-induced microcracks and a thermal expansion strategy. Owing to its excellent sensing properties, it can not only detect human motions in various situations but also be adopted as a temperature warning/cooling system, supporting its feasibility for use by patients lacking temperature perception and bringing convenience to daily life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Membrane proteins play important roles in cell survival and cell communication, as they function as transporters, receptors, anchors and enzymes. They are also potential targets for drugs that block receptors or inhibit enzymes related to diseases. Although the number of known structures of membrane proteins is still small relative to the size of the proteome as a whole, many new membrane protein structures have been determined recently. Scope of the article We compared and analyzed the widely used membrane protein databases, mpstruc, Orientations of Proteins in Membranes (OPM), and PDBTM, as well as the extended dataset of mpstruc based on sequence similarity, the PDB structures whose classification field indicates that they are “membrane proteins” and the proteins with Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) class-f domains. We evaluated the relationships between these databases or datasets based on the overlap in their contents and the degree of consistency in the structural, topological, and functional classifications and in the transmembrane domain assignment. Major conclusions The membrane databases differ from each other in their coverage, and in the criteria that they use for annotation and classification. To ensure the efficient use of these databases, it is important to understand their differences and similarities. The establishment of more detailed and consistent annotations for the sequence, structure, membrane association, and function of membrane proteins is still required. General significance Considering the recent growth of experimentally determined structures, a broad survey and cumulative analysis of the sum of knowledge as presented in the membrane protein structure databases can be helpful to elucidate structures and functions of membrane proteins. We also aim to provide a framework for future research and classification of membrane proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reduction of Cr (VI) often happens simultaneously with biosorption, making it difficult to exactly understand its removal mechanism. Quantitative description of Cr (VI) reduction is a key point to identify the two mechanisms. Herein, corn stalk based anion exchanger (CS-AE), capable of removing Cr (VI) rapidly and effectively, was used as model biosorbent to investigate Cr (VI) reduction. Batch experiments confirmed Cr (VI) was mainly removed via ion exchange with chloride ion on CS-AE. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to characterize Cr-laden CS-AE. Result showed the presence of Cr (III) on CS-AE surface and indicated N-contained group especially quaternary ammonium participated in the reduction reaction as electron donor. The effects of initial concentration, pH and sorbent dose on Cr (VI) reduction were studied by quantifying Cr (III) content both in liquid and solid phase. It was found that Cr (III) formation increased with initial Cr (VI) concentration because high concentrations of Cr (VI) enhanced oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) as well as the reactivity of Cr (VI). Acidic conditions facilitated the reduction reaction to form more Cr (III), and the positive relationship between H + depletion and Cr (III) formation was observed. Increase of sorbent dose also can promote the reduction to some extent. Kinetic study showed that reduction of Cr (VI) could reach near equilibrium in about 20∼30 min under experimental conditions. Rate equations based on the change of Cr (III) amount were proposed to describe the reduction reaction, and better fittings were obtained with zero-order kinetic equation. Moreover, activated energy of Cr (VI) reduction reaction was evaluated as about 36.8 kJ/mol. It was also found that increase of temperature favored the reduction of Cr (VI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highway slope landscape design in China usually specifies a single type of grass or uses randomly mixed native plants. This approach has limited slope protection effects considering plants’ early growth capacity, species diversity, vegetation succession, and other factors. To address this limitation, this paper proposed a cross-disciplinary approach. First, the runoff plot method was used to study the early stage slope protection effects of seven different vegetation communities (VCs) selected for Xinnan Highway, which has steep slopes ranging from 30° to 33°. The results showed that i) the VCs that resulted in the least soil erosion contain only herbaceous plants or a mixture of herbs and shrub; and ii) the herb-vine combination had the worst performance. Hierarchical cluster analysis then classified the tested VCs into groups with similar slope protection effects and revealed that VCs with either the same or different community structures could cluster together. Further, the correlation analysis found significant relationships between soil erosion and multiple input variables, including rainfall amount and intensity, vegetation coverage, growth rates of herbs and bushes, above-ground biomass, and soil hydraulic conductivity. Lastly, based on 442 data points collected in the experiment, fine-tuned artificial neural network models were developed to predict soil erosion and achieved high accuracy with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9713 to 0.9776. Collectively, the results of this research provide not only insights but also a practical tool for designing plant communities that can potentially achieve the best slope protection effects, especially in the early stage of slope restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work deals with how to use suitable formula of convective heat transfer coefficient in order to exactly calculate aerodynamic heating in high speed laminar flow over a flat plate. One formula of convective heat transfer coefficient of hypersonic flow was developed by modified Reynolds analogy, using reference temperature or reference enthalpy. The formula was checked basing on the Blasius similar solution of compressible flow. Due to similar solutions still exists in flat hypersonic boundary layer flow for variable specific heat, which is real gas effect resulting of high temperature, the heat flux could be calculated at isothermal wall condition and thus the convective heat transfer coefficient. In this paper, the computation is conducted in the flat hypersonic boundary layer flow, under isothermal condition with wall temperature ranging from 0.1 to 0.9 times the adiabatic temperatures, incoming flow Mach number 1 to 10. Both the results by the formula using reference enthalpy and that using Fourier’s Law by Blasius solution of considering real gas effect are good agreement with each other, and the maximum relative error being less than 3%, which is much better than that by using reference temperature one. In addition, the formula was applied to real computation of supersonic flow passing one meter long flat plate with the wall being convective heat transfer. The time needed and wall temperature rising rule are studied for the wall temperature from the initial temperature to 0.9 times adiabatic temperature. The results indicated that whether isothermal or adiabatic condition in hypersonic flow chosen as the wall boundary condition is not suitable in real flow especially during the very long period flying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The aromatic additive was not capable of deagglomerating the asphaltenes due to low polarity and nearly planar structure. • The two polar additives disintegrated the asphaltene dimer by exfoliating off and separating the top monomer. • Hydrogen bonding and the distribution of polar groups were key to deagglomeration. • A single additive molecule yielded temporary dimer disintegration and could not prevent the eventual re-dimerization. Recycling agent plays an increasingly important role in promoting asphalt pavement sustainability, as it allows to bump up the incorporating dosage of recycled asphalt materials. The desired characteristics of a recycling agent includes not only the softening effect but also the capability of deagglomerating the oxidized asphaltenes by effectively interacting with them. The objective of this study was to provide novel insights into the deagglomerating potential of three additives selected based on the structural and compositional discrepancies, including an aromatic extract C 12 H 16 , a bio-additive myristamide C 14 H 29 NO, and a common plasticizer tributyl citrate (TBC) C 18 H 32 O 7. Steered molecular dynamics simulation was performed to obtain the intercalation in which each additive was intercalated between the stacking asphaltene sheets, with the objective to simulate the outcome of blending and mixing. These configurations were then subjected to long-time simulations during which the structural changes and the interactions were tracked. The results indicated that the aromatic extract yielded the least impact on the asphaltene dimer configuration during intercalation and had little deagglomerating effectiveness. Owing to the higher molecular flexibility and polarity, the other two additives produced more pronounced changes in the dimer structure during intercalation. They were able to disintegrate the dimer by exfoliating off and separating an asphaltene monomer, even though the effects were only temporary before re-dimerization occurred. Different types of interactions of the additives with the asphaltenes were visualized based on quantum chemical computations and discussed with respect to their contributions to the deagglomerating behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multicomponent heterogeneous nanomaterials generally have the potential to exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. Herein, Mn-doped Ni(OH) 2 , NiO and C heterogeneous composites are designed and synthesized by using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as self-sacrificial templates. The synergistic effect brought by the multicomponent heterogeneous composition effectively improves the charge storage capacity, the two-dimensional nanosheet structure provides a large specific surface area, and the graphitic carbon enhances the electrical conductivity. The Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C composite as an electrode material exhibits a specific capacity of 732.1 C g−1 at 1 A g−1. Furthermore, the assembled Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C//AC HSC device can output 38.0 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 849.2 W Kg−1, with 82.9% retention after 5000 cycles. This study provides a novel strategy for MOFs as templates to obtain multicomponent energy storage materials. [Display omitted] • Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C heterogeneous composites obtained by Ni-MOF as self-sacrificial template. • Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C heterogeneous composites exhibits a unique porous nanosheet structure. • The Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C electrode possess high specific capacity. • The assembled Mn-Ni(OH) 2 /NiO@C//AC hybrid supercapacitor exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The plasticizers of DBP and TBC effectively restored the stiffness, relaxation capability, and crack resistance of the aged asphalt. • Both plasticizers lowered the glass transition temperature and broadened the transition region and linear viscoelastic relaxation spectrum. • TBC exhibited a stronger deagglomerating effect based on analytical characterizations and molecular dynamics simulations. • The higher rejuvenating effectiveness of TBC was due to its higher polarity and forming hydrogen bonds with asphalt molecules. Plasticizers are common additives used to enhance the flexibility and workability of polymer materials. Recent findings suggest a great potential for typical plasticizers being used as rejuvenators to recycle oxidized paving asphalts. This study investigated the rejuvenating effectiveness of two plasticizers via rheological evaluation and explored the underlying mechanism by analytical characterizations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A conventional plasticizer dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and an environmentally friendly tributyl citrate (TBC) were selected given the discrepancies in their molecular structures. Both plasticizers were effective in restoring the rheological performance of the aged asphalt; TBC was relatively more efficient which was attributed to its higher molecular polarity and the formation of hydrogen bonds with the oxidized asphalt molecules. Analyses based on the gel permeation chromatography and differential scanning calorimetry suggested the capability of the plasticizers in dissociating the oxidized asphalt molecules and improving the molecular mobility. The improved molecular mobility was considered responsible for the reversing effect of the plasticizers, as compared to aging, in terms of widening the relaxation spectrum and broadening the glass transition region. The plasticizers' dissociating effect was confirmed and visualized in the simulations by inspecting their impacts on the spatial arrangement and distribution of the asphaltenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain boundary engineering (GBE) was carried out on Hastelloy N alloy which is an important structural material used for molten salt reactor. The proportion of low Σ coincidence site lattice (CSL) grain boundaries of the Hastelloy N alloy can be enhanced to more than 70% with the formation of large-size highly-twinned grain-cluster microstructure which was formed through extensive multiple twinning events during recrystallization. The effects of cold deformation amounts and subsequent annealing on the grain boundary character distribution (GBCD) were investigated. The effects of initial grain size and the primary carbide distribution which was affected by the content of silicon on the grain boundary network evolution were discussed. It was determined that the initial grain size and primary carbide distribution will affect the recrystallization kinetics and hence influence the formation of highly twinned grain-cluster microstructure and the GBCD. The particle stimulated nucleation (PSN) caused by the primary carbides has a detrimental effect on the promotion of low Σ CSL grain boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liquid-liquid equilibrium of the water + propargyl alcohol + n -propyl acetate ternary system was experimentally investigated in the temperature range (279.15–321.15) K under atmospheric pressure. Five profiles of isothermal liquid-liquid equilibrium data measured through gas chromatography were provided. The extraction efficiency was evaluated using the distribution coefficient and selectivity factor. Binary interaction parameters were obtained by correlating the equilibrium data with the UNIQUAC and NRTL models. The mutual solubility of both phases increased with rising temperature. Both models can accurately describe the liquid-liquid equilibrium behavior of this system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multi-scale convolutional neural network (MS-CNN) model for transfer learning is proposed. • A domain alignment method based on local central moment discrepancy in class subspace is proposed. • Compared with the central moment discrepancy (CMD), the local center moment discrepancy (LCMD) performs better in transfer diagnosis. Transfer learning is an excellent approach to deal with the problem that the target domain label can not be adequately obtained when rolling bearing cross-condition fault detection. A transfer learning fault diagnosis method of multi-scale CNN rolling bearings based on local central moment discrepancy is presented in this research. The method maps bearing vibration data to a shared space by building a shared multi-scale feature extraction structure and fully connected layers. The source domain label and target domain pseudo-label are used to divide the category subspace in the shared space. And then the local central moment discrepancy is used to match source and target domain in the category subspace to realize fault knowledge transfer under different conditions. The experimental findings reveal that multi-scale CNN migration diagnosis based on local central moment discrepancy has superior accuracy and stability in diverse diagnostic tasks when compared to classic transfer learning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (EECLU) is evaluated. • Both carbon sequestration and carbon emissions are considered for measuring EECLU. • Super-efficiency SBM-DEA with undesirable output & panel data analysis are used. • Size has positive impact on the EECLU. • Shape complexity and patch fragmentation have negative impacts on the EECLU. With China's rapid urbanization and socioeconomic development, cultivated land has been experiencing continuous reduction, spatial shift, and ecological degradation in the past few decades, coupled with the decreasing and aging agricultural labor force, thus improving cultivated land utilization efficiency while minimizing associated environmental impacts is one of the major challenges facing China. This study first establishes an index system to access the eco-efficiency of cultivated land use (EECLU) considering both carbon sequestration and carbon emissions, next, employs the Super-SBM model to evaluate the spatial–temporal characteristics of EECLU, then, uses landscape metrics to describe landscape pattern dynamics of cultivated land, and finally conducts panel data analysis to investigate the relationship between landscape pattern changes and the EECLU variations. This framework was applied to Jiangsu Province, a major grain-producing area with a developed economy. The results showed that the average EECLU of the counties in rural Jiangsu from 2000 to 2020 slightly decreased, most counties were in the medium–low efficiency range (0.6–0.8), and Southern Jiangsu generally has the lowest EECLU values while Central Jiangsu has the highest. The total area and the average patch sizes of cultivated land have significantly positive impacts on EECLU, while the shape complexity and patch fragmentation have significantly negative impacts on EECLU. Therefore, comprehensive low-carbon strategies and better management and technology in the agricultural sector are needed to further improve EECLU. On the premise of protecting the total area of cultivated land, larger and more aggregated land patches should be promoted in the land consolidation process, and the cultivated land targeted for occupation or compensation should be able to simplify the overall shape of cultivated land patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ultra-fast electrochemical in-situ growth of NiCo-based hydroxides on nickel foams. • The in-situ grown NiCo-LDHs comprise rough and porous hierarchical nanosheets. • The Ni 1 Co 2 /NF electrode has a high specific capacity of 3.01 C cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2. • The assembled HSC device has a high energy density of 97.4 μWh cm−2 at 800.5 μW cm−2. • The assembled HSC device retains 85.0% of its initial capacity after 5000 cycles. [Display omitted] Development of electrode materials with high electrochemical charge storage capabilities through cost-effective methods has attracted intensive attention from researchers. Herein, a low-cost and scaled-up method for electrochemical synthesis of monolithic electrodes is presented. Nickel foam (NF) was chemically etched using the transition metal (NiCo-based) nitrate solutions with different ratios of Ni and Co. After being rinsed and dried, the etched NF was used as anode in an alkaline solution and a Pt mesh was utilized as cathode. Shortly after a constant voltage was applied to the two-electrode system, NiCo-based layered double hydroxides (NiCo-LDHs) were found to be self-grown on the NF with an ultra-fast rate. The in situ grown NiCo-LDHs were composed of hierarchical nanosheets with rough and porous surfaces, and had a high specific area. The monolithic Ni 1 Co 2 /NF electrode exhibited the best electrochemical performance with a high specific capacity of 3.01 C cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2. A hybrid supercapacitor was assembled using the Ni 1 Co 2 /NF as positive electrode and activated carbon as negative electrode. It exhibited a high energy density of 97.4 μWh cm−2 at a power density of 800.5 μW cm−2, and retained 85.0% of initial capacity after 5000 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A three-dimensional cavity topology model for dynamic simulations is established. • The planning model of supercavitating vehicles is improved for more degrees of freedom. • A numerical algorithm to simulate supercavitating vehicles in three-dimensional space is developed. • Evolution of cavity shape and dynamic characteristics of vehicles are compared by fins deflection. The maneuvering motion of a supercavitating vehicle pitching and yawing inevitably occurs when navigating in three-dimensional space. In order to give some insights into design of underwater vehicles, the maneuvering motion in the longitudinal and horizontal planes is investigated in this paper. Considering the definition of multi-body coordinate frames, a three-dimensional cavity topology model is proposed to predict the development of the shape of cavity and interact with the supercavitating vehicle in the simulations. Based on the cavity model, an improved planning model is established to calculate the necessary critical parameters of the planning force. According to the mathematical model above, a numerical algorithm is developed to simulate the maneuvering motion of the supercavitating vehicle. The higher algorithm efficiency is validated by the relative error of 10% order of magnitude and the more stable performance. The real-time scene figures and time-varying curves of the dynamic characteristics are obtained through the developed algorithm to study the influence of fins deflection on the maneuvering motion. The developed algorithm is validated to some extent to be a better alternative than the empirical one and provides a new method for analyses of simulation results of supercavitating vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the years, fractal geometry has been applied extensively in many fields of geoscience. Based on the global gridded data generated from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we carry out our fractal measure to interpret lunar fractures by using qualitative (similar ratio) and quantitative (fractal dimension) approaches of fractal geometry. We find that most of the lunar surface exhibits fractal behavior over the given scales ranging from 1 to 256 m. Lunar maria have higher fractal dimensions than other geological units, while those of volcanic areas and highlands are lower than their surroundings. Simple and flat surfaces have low values of similar ratios and these areas indicate low surface roughness and young ages. Older-aged areas, such as the Hertzsprung basin, have low fractal dimensions and high similar ratios by their complicated topography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yeast-like symbionts (YLS) are endosymbionts that promote the growth of delphacid planthoppers (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), some of which are pests on cultivated rice. Identification and characterization of YLS growth can be helpful for pest control, because it has been demonstrated that there is a variety of YLS in rice planthopper and they affected the planthopper's growth and virulence to plant hosts. So, elucidation of the species of YLS in planthopper is crucial for exploiting a new way to control planthopper. In this study, a new isolated of YLS was obtained from the small brown planthopper, Laodelphax striatellus , which was cultured in vitro , simultaneously identified as Pichia anomala based on its phylogenetic analysis. In order to confirm the existence of P . anomala in the L . striatellus body, we used the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) to identify the YLS and obtain the specific bands for P . anomala . The quantification and localization of P . anomala in L . striatellus samples were determined by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) using genus-specific 18S rDNA targeted probe. The result confirmed that a certain number of P . anomala exist in L . striatellus 's abdomen. Subsequently, the variation and copy number of P . anomala in different L . striatellus instars was measured by using absolute quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), the results indicated that the new isolated strain was closely related to the developmental process of L . striatellus . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Computational modeling-based machine learning can facilitate predictive exploration. • There are some hidden pitfalls in 3D computational modeling-based machine learning. • The pitfalls of modeling and machine learning cannot be avoided only by algorithms. • Two cases taught us how to use machine learning prediction in mature settings. The 3D computational modeling-based machine learning (ML) prediction is an innovative methodology for exploration-targeting. This paper presents our studies on its application in the Fenghuangshan (FHS) and Anqing (AQ) mines, its benefits and pitfalls and the strategies for applying benefits and avoiding pitfalls. The 3D geological models of the FHS and AQ orefields show that the topography and attitudes of the intrusions' contact zones have spatial constraints on orebodies. The 3D variation of resistivity can provide some ambiguous evidences for inferring contact zone and orebodies. The dynamic simulations of the intrusions' cooling processes suggest that the dilatant deformation produced by the coupled mechano-thermo-hydrological (MTH) processes is favor for mineralization. Based on the results of 3D geometric and geodynamic modeling, we conducted the random forest (RF) ML model in the FHS mine and the ML models respectively of artificial neural network (ANN), support vector machine (SVM) and RF in the AQ mine to predict mineral potentials. The RF prediction indicates that there is no significant potential in the FHS mine down to depth of 1400 m. The drills of the FHS Deep Drilling Program (FHSDDP) are all at the locations with low RF prediction probability (PP) of mineralization, which can explain why the FHSDDP had not discovered any orebodies and verifies the reliability of the RF prediction. The ANN, SVM and RF models of AQ mine gave different predictions, although the same data were imputed. The RF prediction indicates that there is no significant potential there down to −1520 m, whilst the SVM prediction shows a few small high potentials there, and ANN prediction shows prominent high potentials there. The drills of the AQ Mine Outer Drilling Program (AQMODP) that failed in ore discovery are all at the locations with low RF PP, but with high ANN PP, suggesting that the RF prediction is more reliable than that of ANN. Such inconsistent predictions of different algorithms and the unsuccessful exploration stories in FHS and AQ mines demonstrate that the 3D computational modeling-based ML technologies are a two edged sword. On the one hand, they can facilitate mineral exploration by characterizing the mineralization system in 3D visual and quantitative prediction of ore potentials. But on the other hand, they have some hidden pitfalls to impede or misguide mineral exploration, such as over extrapolation producing false model, over interpolation creating false big data, overfitting generating false knowledge and over simplification causing false prediction. The right strategies for applying benefits and avoiding pitfalls of 3D computational modeling-based ML prediction are pursuing high quality data, applying a capable ML algorithm, reinforcing field geology-based investigation and ratiocination, and keeping full feedback coupling with exploration processes to ensure correct decision-making and timely updating of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Gas lift technique is promising in the natural circulation system with inherent safety needed. • The performance of argon-lift liquid LBE pump is numerically investigated. • The parameters of argon injection flow rate, submergence ratio and diameter of up-riser tube are checked. • The two-phase flow characteristics of argon-liquid LBE with large density ratio are also analyzed. Heavy liquid metals such as sodium and liquid lead-bismuth eutectic (LBE) have excellent heat transfer capability and receive increasing attention as the primary coolant in fast reactors and accelerator driven systems (ADS). In ADS system, coolant system is designed as natural circulation, to simplify the primary system, improve the compactness of reactors and most important of all is to increase the inherent safety of reactor. Because the electromagnetic pump that drives the flow of liquid metal is eliminated in the coolant natural circulation system. In such situation, gas-lift technique named gas-lift pump could be adopted to enhance the coolant natural circulation capacity. The open research on the performance of gas-lift liquid metal pump is much less than that of air- lift water pump. The physical properties of large density ratio of liquid to gas, small kinematic viscosity and high surface tension of liquid metal is believed to have effects on the performance of gas-lift liquid metal pump. The present paper carries out some preliminary numerical simulation work on the two-phase flow characteristics of argon-liquid LBE in the up-riser tube and the performance of gas-lift liquid metal pump. Eulerian-Eulerian two-fluid model is used to describe the two-phase flow. Some interphase momentum transfer models from literature are used to account for the interfacial momentum transfer between liquid and gas phases. SST k-ω model with mixture treatment is used to compute the turbulence parameters of the homogeneous mixing phase in the present study. The influence of such parameters as argon injection superficial velocity, submergence ratio and diameter of up-riser tube on the discharged LBE mass flow rate and pressure drop of gas-lift pump are checked. The results could be helpful for the design of the gas-lift liquid metal pump. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: NDRG2 mRNA and protein levels can be upregulated in a p53-dependent manner. NDRG2 enhances p53-mediated apoptosis, whereas overexpression of NDRG2 suppresses tumor cell growth, regardless of whether p53 is mutated. However, the complicated mechanism by which NDRG2 suppresses tumor cell growth and enhances apoptosis mediated by p53 is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrated that Ad-NDRG2 enhanced the apoptosis of HepG2 cells (wild-type p53). Additionally, Ad-NDRG2 combined with rAd-p53 enhanced the apoptosis of Huh7 cells (mutant p53) after chemotherapy, and the expression of the ERCC6 gene (Cockayne syndrome group B protein gene) was suppressed in this process. Ad-NDRG2 combined with rAd-p53 induced the apoptosis of tumor cells (HepG2 and Huh7 cells); however, apoptosis was attenuated after transfection with ERCC6. Our results indicate that Ad-NDRG2 enhances the p53-mediated apoptosis of hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2 and Huh7) by attenuating the nucleotide excision repair capacity (i.e., by downregulating ERCC6), and ERCC6 is a NDRG2-inducible target gene that is involved in the p53-mediated apoptosis pathway. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sr(Li 1/4 Nb 3/4) x Ti (1- x) O 3 (0.000 ≤ x ≤ 0.04) (STLN) ceramics were synthesized via a solid-state reaction under a flowing nitrogen atmosphere. Co-doping with Li+ and Nb5+ considerably enhanced the dielectric properties of SrTiO 3 ceramics. These dielectric properties increased with the co-doping concentration x up to x = 0.012 and decreased for higher x. The STLN ceramic with x = 0.012 exhibited a colossal permittivity of ε r = 17,300 (1 kHz) and an ultralow dielectric loss of tan δ = 0.017 (1 kHz), with excellent frequency (20–106 Hz) and temperature (room temperature to 450 °C) stabilities. Their dielectric relaxation mechanisms and point-defect structures were also investigated. With an excessive increase in x , the formation of point defects is inhibited, resulting in the deterioration of the dielectric properties of the STLN ceramics. Further studies showed that acceptor doping Li+ and N 2 atmosphere sintering provided a large number of oxygen vacancies. These oxygen vacancies contribute to the formation of some defect dipoles and defect-dipole clusters (Ti Ti ′ − V O • • − Ti Ti ′ , Nb TI • − Ti Ti ′) related to oxygen vacancies. These defect dipoles and defect-dipole clusters restrict non-localized electrons, leading to electron-pinning. Consequently, the sample exhibits colossal permittivity and low dielectric loss. In addition, a high grain boundary resistance also contributes to the reduced dielectric loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detonation performance is fundamental to the power evaluation of high explosives (HEs). This paper assesses the detonation performance (including detonation velocity D , detonation pressure P , detonation heat Q , specific kinetic energy E k , detonation products, working capacity, etc.) of HEs by an optimized method. Firstly, "exp-six" intermolecular potential function was used to optimize the theoretical VLW (Virial-Wu) EOS (equation of state), which exhibits a good precision in calculations of detonation performance. Then, the detonation performance of three new HEs (LLM-105, FOX-7, and TKX-50) was calculated and compared with traditional HEs (TATB, HMX, and CL-20). The results indicate that, for D and P , LLM-105, FOX-7, and TKX-50 are superior to TATB, but inferior to HMX and CL-20 except for D of TKX-50. The descending order for Q and E k is CL-20, HMX, TKX-50, FOX-7, LLM-105, and TATB. By analyzing detonation product components, more gaseous products with a higher proportion of heavy and medium molecules favor better detonation performance. Finally, the JWL (Jones-Wilkins-Lee) EOS was fitted by theoretically acquired isentropic expansion process of detonation products and cylinder test was simulated by the hydrodynamic program LS-DYNA. An increasing sequence of working capacity is TATB, LLM-105, FOX-7, TKX-50, HMX and CL-20. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accumulation of plasma advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) is prevalent in chronic kidney disease. We previously showed that accumulation of AOPPs resulted in podocyte apoptosis and their deletion by a cascade of signaling events coupled with intracellular oxidative stress. The transmembrane receptor that specifically transmits the AOPPs' signals to elicit cellular activity, however, remains unknown. Using co-immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence, we found that AOPPs colocalized and interacted with the receptor of advanced glycation end products (RAGE) on podocytes. Blocking RAGE by anti-RAGE immunoglobulin G or its silencing by siRNA significantly protected podocytes from AOPPs-induced apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo and ameliorated albuminuria in AOPPs-challenged mice. AOPPs-induced activation of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase and the excessive generation of intracellular superoxide were largely inhibited by anti-RAGE immunoglobulin G or RAGE siRNA. Moreover, blockade of RAGE decreased the activation of the p53/Bax/caspase-dependent proapoptotic pathway induced by AOPPs. Thus, AOPPs interact with RAGE to induce podocyte apoptosis and this, in part, may contribute to the progression of chronic kidney disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We use the Smith normal form of augmented degree matrix to count the number of rational points of a hypersurface (or an algebraic set) over finite fields, which generalizes the results obtained previously. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

CFs/MoS 2 /UiO-66-NH 2 can be used as weavable photocatalyst to eliminate levofloxacin (LVFX) or hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) in water under visible-light irradiation. [Display omitted] • UiO-66-NH 2 nanoparticles decoration of MoS 2 nanosheets on carbon-fibers. • Enhanced adsorption ability due to large surface area and total pore volume. • High photocatalytic activity owing to two-component synergistic effect. • Good stability and simple recyclable process. MoS 2 -based nanocomposites on carbon fibers (CFs) have been well developed, but their practical applications are still limited owing to the unsatisfactory adsorption and photodegradation performances. To deal with these issues, we report the growth of UiO-66-NH 2 nanoparticles as a porous co-photocatalyst to decorate MoS 2 nanosheets on CFs. CFs/MoS 2 /UiO-66-NH 2 bundles are woven into a macroscopical cloth (4 × 4 cm2, 0.15 g). CFs/MoS 2 /UiO-66-NH 2 cloth can efficiently adsorb 34.9% levofloxacin (LVFX) and 35.3% hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) after 60 min, which is an obvious improvement (1.3–2.9 times) compared with that by CFs/MoS 2 cloth. Importantly, the cloth can remove 88.4% LVFX or 98.4% Cr(VI) within 120 min, which is 1.6–2.7 times compared with that by CFs/MoS 2 cloth, resulting from the high adsorption and two-component synergistic photocatalytic activity. Furthermore, CFs/MoS 2 /UiO-66-NH 2 shows a slight decline from 88.4% to 76.9% under visible light irradiation after 4 cycles. Thus, the semiconductor/MOF-based heterojunction on CF provides a general strategy to develop novel weavable photocatalysts for eliminating various pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Boron (B) has potential applications in energetic materials as additive fuel. In order to understand the combustion mechanism of B with various scales, the ignition and combustion characteristics of micro- and nano-sized B under different pressures (0.4 MPa, 0.8 MPa and 1.2 MPa) and atmospheres (60% O 2 + 40% N 2 , 80% O 2 + 20% N 2 and 100% O 2) were studied by a laser ignition and combustion experimental system. The evolution images and specialized parameters of ignition and combustion under different conditions were obtained, and the effects of atmosphere and pressure on the ignition and combustion characteristics of micro- and nano-sized B were discussed. Meanwhile, the crystal structure and morphology of condensed combustion products were observed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM), and then the compositions in micro-areas were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The results show that, the burning of micro-sized B is relatively slow, while the burning of nano-sized B is intensified, and a deflagration-like phenomenon is observed for nano-sized B in pure oxygen with pressures of 0.8 and 1.2 MPa. The ignition delay time, combustion time and maximum flame temperature of nano-sized B are smaller than those of micro-sized B, while the maximum characteristic spectral intensity of nano-sized B is stronger. Besides, B 2 O 3 , B 6 O and BN exist in condensed combustion products of micro-sized B, but only B 2 O 3 is detected for nano-sized B, and products agglomerating is observed for nano-sized B. In general, nano-sized B has significant advantages than micro-sized B in the ignition and combustion characteristics, especially under conditions of high oxygen concentrations and high pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We propose a new characterization of dual bases in finite fields. Let be a basis of over and its dual basis with the transition matrix such that . We show that holds for all , where satisfies . Conversely, suppose and for some and , then B is equivalent to . As applications, we can construct the dual basis of a given basis or determine whether the dual basis of satisfies the desired conditions from . This generalizes the results obtained by Liao and Sun for normal bases. Furthermore, we give a simple proof of the theorem of Gollmann, Wang and Blake for polynomial bases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The efficiency of anticancer therapy is often restricted by the development of drug resistance. Here, we report that the doxorubicin (DOX)-resistant MCF-7/Adr cells were more resistant to DOX-treatment than MCF-7 cells. However, an alternative treatment of DOX/TNF-α enhanced the cytotoxic effect in multidrug resistant MCF-7/Adr cell line. Treatment of cells with TNF-α following doxorubicin (DOX) resulted in a decrease of the activated Rel A/p65 in nuclei. Histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) was found to interact with Rel A/p65 in the complex, suggesting that HDAC1 is involved in mediating nuclear export of Rel A/p65. The combined treatment of TNF-α/DOX also resulted in a significant decrease of mRNA levels of anti-apoptotic genes, such as the cellular inhibitor of apoptosis-1 (c-IAP1), and the long isoform of B cell leukemia/lymphoma x gene (Bcl-xL), leading to efficient induction of caspase-8 cleavage and cell death. In previous work, we demonstrated that TNF-α promotes DOX-induced cell death and anti-cancer effect through downregulation of p21 in p53-deficient tumor cells. Thus, we proposed that alternative administration of TNF-α and DOX may be a new and efficient therapeutic strategy for patients that develop resistance to cytotoxic treatment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • CB/CNT hybrids and elastic TPU are combined to assemble resistive strain sensor. • The hierarchical conductive network endows the sensor with desirable sensing capabilities. • CB/CNT@TPU strain sensor shows great application in personalized health monitoring. • Multiple sensors are integrated for robotic arm control by capturing human motions. Flexible strain sensors are strongly demanded in fields of personal healthcare monitoring and human–machine interface, as they can accurately perceive external action to produce electrical output signals. Aiming at the existing problems, such as the balanced sensitivity and sensing range, durability as well as expanded application, this paper proposes a flexible strain sensor prepared based on electrospun thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) membrane, followed by anchoring mixed conductive materials (carbon black (CB)/carbon nanotubes (CNT)) on its surface via an effective ultrasonic-assisted method. The resulting CB/CNT@TPU strain sensor delivers a desirable integration of sensing performances: good sensitivity, wide work range, fast response speed (<150 ms) and reliable cyclic stability (5000 cycles). Ascribed to the sensing behavior and additional breathability, strain sensor can be applied well to monitor human health, including human joints movements (fingers and wrists) and physiological signals (pulse and laryngeal vibration recognition). Finally, a multiaxial robotic arm control system is constructed, which provides a feasible strategy for intelligent robotic arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the singular words of Sturmian sequences, which play an important role in studying the properties of the factors of Sturmian sequence. We also completely determine the powers of the factors, the overlaps of the factors and the structure of the palindromes of the factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reactive materials consisting of aluminum (Al) and fluorine-containing oxidizers have been extensively developed owing to high energy density and potential applications in propellants and explosives. Herein, graphite fluoride (CF) as a new fluorine-containing oxidizer was introduced to construct nano-Al based reactive materials. Systematic investigation and comparison were executed on exothermic reaction behavior and combustion performance of nano-Al/CF and nano-Al/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) based reactive materials. The energy output and exothermic peak of nano-Al/CF were approximately 2367 J/g and 641 °C, which were 300 J/g and 85 °C higher than those of nano-Al/PTFE, respectively. The effects of nano-Al/CF mass ratio and packing density on burning rates were examined to fully understand combustion reaction and flame propagation behavior. Nano-Al/CF exhibited excellent burning rate (1670 m/s), much higher than that of nano-Al/PTFE (930 m/s). More interestingly, flame splitting phenomenon including three distinct flame regions was observed on the critical position with the highest burning rate for nano-Al/CF with the mass ratios of 25/70 and 30/75. The burning rate of nano-Al/CF increased and then decreased with the packing densities ranging from 20.87% to 53.47% TMD. The dominating combustion reaction products (AlF 3 and C) were further determined to figure out the reaction mechanism. These results demonstrated that CF as fluorine-containing oxidizer to construct reactive materials has potential applications in propellants, explosives and pyrotechnics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geological uncertainty exists widely in nature, which has a pivotal influence on the deformation and stability of the geotechnical structure. The coupled Markov chain (CMC) model is a widely used method to simulate the variability of strata. However, the difficulty to determine the horizontal transition probability matrix (HTPM), one of the important input parameters for the CMC model, limits its direct application to geotechnical engineering problems. In this study, an analytical method for estimating the HTPM is proposed and the CMC model is enhanced by integrating the analytical HTPM estimation method for simulating geological uncertainty. The validity of the analytical method for the HTPM and the accuracy of the strata simulated by the enhanced CMC model are evaluated through a typical stratum in literature. The results show that the estimated HTPMs are in good agreement with the real values and not sensitive to borehole schemes. The CMC model enhanced by the proposed analytical method for estimating the HTPM is well capable of simulating the strata based on given borehole data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel 3D anisotropic random porous structure based on anisotropic Voronoi diagrams with high strength and high stiffness. • The parallel 3D anisotropic Voronoi diagram algorithm which eliminates the need for iterative calculations and is applicable to complex 3D shapes, including intricate concave shapes and structures with non-zero genus. • The stress driven strategy in which the distribution of Voronoi cells is related with the spatial distribution of stress magnitudes, while the cell orientations are controlled by the direction of stress tensor. Porous structures exhibit excellent mechanical properties and are widely utilized in engineering design. However, there is still substantial potential for enhancing the mechanical performance of these structure. By customizing the anisotropic design of each pore in the porous structure, the strength and stiffness of the structure can be significantly enhanced. In this work, we present a novel method for designing 3D anisotropic Voronoi porous structures (AVPSs). To construct these structures, we propose a novel algorithm for generating 3D anisotropic Voronoi diagrams (AVDs) based on Riemannian distance. The geometries of Voronoi cells are controlled to conform with both the stress distribution and the principal stress directions. The distribution of Voronoi cells are graded using a stress-based site sampling strategy, the orientation of Voronoi cells are modified by introducing stress-mapped Riemann tensor fields. The AVPSs are then modeled by computing implicit surfaces based on AVDs. The AVPSs conform closely to the geometric profile of the input model by clipping AVDs using the tetrahedral mesh. Furthermore, the results obtained from numerical simulations and experimental tests indicate that the AVPSs possess both high strength and high stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, high quality Mo-(10–40) wt% Cu and W-(10–40) wt% Cu alloys were prepared by powder metallurgy using the ultrafine molybdenum and tungsten powders as raw materials. The molybdenum powder with the size of 100–200 nm and tungsten powder with the size of 50–100 nm were prepared by a two-step reduction-process composed of an insufficient carbothermal reduction reaction and the following deep reduction reaction by hydrogen. From the experimental results, it was concluded that at the sintering temperature of 1200 °C to 1300 °C, relative densities of the Mo-(10–40) wt% Cu and W-(10–40) wt% Cu sintered blocks can reach >98%, and at the same time, excellent physical and mechanical properties were achieved. Meanwhile, the larger the content of copper in the alloy, the lower the temperature required for densification. At 1300 °C, the relative density, microhardness and thermal conductivity of the Mo-10 wt% Cu and W-10 wt% Cu sintered blocks are 98.83% and 99.36%, 167 HV and 283 HV, 138.38 W·m−1·k−1 and 154.15 W·m−1·k−1, respectively. Whereas, at 1200 °C, the relative density, microhardness and thermal conductivity of the Mo-40 wt% Cu and W-40 wt% Cu sintered block are 99.68% and 98.87%, 150 HV and 207 HV, 138.38 W·m−1·k−1 and 154.15 W·m−1·k−1, respectively. The present method was much more convenient relative to the traditional infiltration method. • Mo Cu or W Cu alloys are one-step prepared by using ultrafine Mo or W powders. • The larger the copper content, the lower the temperature needed for densification. • The prepared alloys have fine grain size, high hardness and thermal conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrocatalysts for OER based FeNi-Hydroxides nanotube arrays are successfully fabricated by in-situ reaction and Kirkendall effect. The as-synthesized tube arrays exhibit the lower overpotential and better stability for OER and overall water splitting. XANES spectra and DFT calculation reveal clearly that higher oxidation state of Fe lowers energy barrier of rate-determining step in OER. • FeNi-Hydroxides nanotube arrays are successfully fabricated by in-situ reaction and Kirkendall effect. • The as-prepared catalysts exhibit superior electrochemical performance for OER, HER and overall water splitting. • XPS and XANES spectra show that superior performance attributes to more unoccupied Fe 3d states in FeNi-Hydroxides nanotube arrays obtained by this synthesis method. FeNi Hydroxides (FeNi-HD) have been considered as promising substitutes to noble metal electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this work, we design and realize FeNi-HD nanotube arrays (FeNi-HDNAs) on Ni foam via an in-situ reaction and Kirkendall effect. The obtained catalysts possess higher specific surface area, more catalytic active sites and better chemical stability for OER. Electron migrations from the Fe 3d orbitals to Ni sites in the FeNi-HDNAs lead to more unoccupied Fe 3d states and a higher oxidation state. As expected, FeNi-HDNAs exhibit lower overpotential as well as lower Tafel slope and better durability than the Fe- or Ni-HD peers. DFT calculations elucidate that FeNi hydroxides lower the energy barrier of rate-determining step in OER. Moreover, a high current density of 10 mA cm−2 is obtained at a low potential of 1.49 V using FeNi-HDNAs as the bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting in basic solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We projected shifts in ecological supply and consumption patterns among scenarios. • Over one-third of Nepal's districts are at risk of ecological overload by 2030. • Climate change sensitivity and increasing human demands challenge overloaded areas. • Multiple strategies were proposed for Nepal's ecoresource management. As global demand for ecological resources continues to surpass ecosystem capacity, predicting future changes in ecological supply, consumption, and carrying capacity is crucial for informed decision-making regarding sustainable land use and ecological security. This study forecasts ecological carrying states in Nepal, a representative region in the southern Himalayan foothills, from 2020 to 2030. We employ three alternative scenarios from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway and Representative Concentration Pathway (SSP-RCP): SSP2-RCP4.5 (BAU), SSP1-RCP2.6 (TSS) and SSP5-RCP8.5 (SSS). Our findings indicate a continuous rise in ecological consumption, particularly in densely populated tropical areas such as the hilly region (HR) and Terai region (TR). Under the BAU and SSS scenarios, ecological supply decreases rapidly in these regions. Alarmingly, over one-third of Nepal's districts, mainly in central and eastern HR and TR, are projected to experience overloaded ecological carrying states by 2030. Climate change sensitivity and escalating consumption due to improved living standards and population growth pose significant challenges for these regions to reverse ecological deficits. This study offers a scientific foundation for reconciling the conflict between ecological protection and societal demands, facilitating the preservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems while striving to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The imbalanced dataset in actual engineering negatively affects the precision of fault diagnosis because of the severe lack of collected fault data. To effectively address this issue, an adaptive feature fusion assisted generation adversarial network is proposed, which can use very restricted numbers of samples for data augmentation. Firstly, the U-Net network is introduced into the generate adversarial network, which can ensure the spatial characteristics of samples and accurately extract characteristics from extremely finite samples. Secondly, to avoid the problem of reducing the diversity of generated samples due to single signal input, a module for adaptive feature fusion is constructed to guide the generator to learn and effectively improve the diversity of generated samples. Finally, construct a new loss function by utilizing a dual discriminator network to keep the training process running smoothly. To validate the proposed method, experiments are conducted on the datasets from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) and a self-built test bench. The outcomes demonstrate that the proposed method can generate high-quality samples using very restricted samples, outperforming the comparison methods in terms of structural similarity (SSIM), maximum mean discrepancy (MMD), and Fréchet inception distance (FID) metrics. This shows the advantages of the proposed generation model in terms of sample diversity and similarity and can be used to greatly boost fault identification precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high cost and unfavorable catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is one of the crucial obstacles that impede widely commercialization of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Herein, we provide a novel, mass-producible ORR catalyst made of low-loading (10 wt%) Pt nanoparticles bound to patchy nitrogen-doped carbon (PNC) with uniformly dispersed FeN 4 sites (Pt/FeN 4 -PNC). The derived catalyst exhibits significantly improved catalytic activity and stability, obtaining a promising mass activity (MA) of 0.94 A mg pt −1 at 0.9 V (vs. RHE) with a negligible decay after 30,000 cycles accelerated durability test (ADT). In the fuel-cell assessment (under H 2 -Air conditions at 80 ℃), the Pt/FeN 4 -PNC and Pt/FeN 4 -PNC-10 g (scaled-up production) achieved peak power densities of 1.13 W cm−2 and 1.14 W cm−2, respectively, and retained 88.5 % and 88.1 % of the initial values after 30,000 voltage cycles (0.60–0.95 V). The patchy structure of PNC substrate guarantees fast electron routes and resistance to corrosion. With the FeN 4 active sites in the PNC substrate, the oxygen molecules are concurrently reduced on the surfaces of the carbon substrate and Pt nanoparticles, thereby causing the ORR reaction zone on the catalyst layer to expand. [Display omitted] ● The patchy structure of the substrate guarantees fast electron routes and resistance to corrosion. ● The FeN 4 active sites in the PNC substrate significantly enhance the intrinsic ORR activity of the catalyst. ● This effective strategy for the rational design of Pt-integrated catalysts can meet the need of industrialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The elasticity distributions of foams are tailored in 3D domain. • The foam modeling and additive manufacturing are integrated for the efficient design. • The stochastic porous structures are continuously graded, producing naturally realistic appearance. • A mapping model from a tailored elasticity to the corresponding graded structures is formulated. As foams having hierarchical mechanical properties, functionally graded porous materials (FGPMs) can satisfy multifold functional constraints whilst minimizing weight. In this paper, a novel method is proposed for goal-driven design and fabrication of open-cell FGPMs with tailored elasticity distributions. To achieve the continuity in both structural geometry and mechanical properties, irregularly smooth porous structures, which have naturally realistic appearance, are designed by combining 3D Voronoi diagrams and skeleton-based implicit surfaces. A procedural modeling method integrating additive manufacturing (AM) is developed for avoiding the FGPM full representations which consume tremendous computational memory. For easily mapping the graded porous structures to yield tailored elasticity distributions, a mapping model from the elasticity distribution to the density field is formulated. The method is experimentally and numerically validated. Additionally, the compression tests showed the superior mechanical performance compared to straight-beam-based foams, and the stiffness and strength of the foam are found to be improved as a result of FGPMs. This research opens up a new route of tailoring the novel foams. Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The growing population in urban area impacted the water quality of the urban rivers receiving treated municipal wastewater. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their derivatives (SPAHs) are corresponding to the population density. In this study, the concentrations of 16 PAHs and 17 SPAHs, including 4 methyl PAHs (MPAHs), 4 oxygenated PAHs and 9 chlorinated PAHs were investigated in the major urban rivers receiving the effluent from 5 major wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the mega city Beijing. The concentrations of ΣSPAHs (307 ± 68 ng/L) were similar to ΣPAHs (321 ± 92 ng/L) in the total phase (aqueous + particulate) suggesting that SPAHs in the urban rivers should be taken into consideration. The lower concentrations of ΣPAHs and ΣMPAHs in this study than the wastewater receiving rivers and WWTPs effluent previously (2010–2013), as well as the lower concentration in the heating seasons than the non-heating season in the investigated year implied the reduction of coal combustion for heating and power generation in recent years. Although WWTPs effluent was theoretically the only source to the urban rivers in the investigated season, April and November, PAHs and SPAHs in most rivers were demonstrated to be originated from other unknown sources besides the WWTPs effluent. The reduction from the original source, coal combustion (33% and 30%), was more efficient than from the wastewater treatment upgrading (15%) for the reduction of PAHs and SPAHs in the urban rivers. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • The concentrations of ΣSPAHs were similar to ΣPAHs. • Reduction of PAHs and MPAHs from 2010 to 2015 proved energy transformation. • Beside WWTP effluent, PAHs and MPAHs in rivers also originate from unknown sources. • Coal reduction more efficient than WWTP upgrading for PAHs and SPAHs reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural products often contain a large number of structurally similar compounds, however, from which the isolation of monomer compounds is complex and time-consuming. In this study, for the first time, a Zr-based metal-organic framework (MOF), UiO-66, was used for the separation of three isoflavones (genistein (GEN), puerarin (PUE), and daidzein (DDZ)) with similar structures. UiO-66 was demonstrated to have a distinct high adsorption capacity (q e , 105.42 ± 2.36 mg/g) for GEN with high separation factors from PUE (α, 35.52 ± 1.22) and DDZ (α, 7.41 ± 0.76), dramatically increasing the purity of GEN from ∼33–92% after primary separation. According to SEM-EDS and XPS characterizations together with RDF analysis, GEN and PUE were adsorbed on the surface of UiO-66 at the same dominant Zr cluster site (O...Zr), while DDZ was bound onto the inferior site via weak hydrogen bonding (H...O), indicating the separation of GEN from PUE was in a competitive manner, while the separation from DDZ was selective. For these three drugs, their adsorption kinetics and adsorption isotherms conformed Pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model, respectively, indicating that the monolayer adsorption of isoflavones on UiO-66 surface was the dominant mechanism. The thermodynamic study demonstrated that both adsorptions of GEN and PUE were spontaneous (Δ G 0 < 0), whereas the DDZ adsorption is non-spontaneous (Δ G 0 > 0). Compared to traditional separation techniques, this study provided a simple and efficient approach to isolate structurally similar compounds from natural products in drug discovery. [Display omitted] • UiO-66 can effectively separate GEN from three structurally similar isoflavones(GEN, PUE, and DDZ). • The adsorption of GEN and PUE on UiO-66 was spontaneous, whereas that of DDZ was non-spontaneous. • GEN was separated from PUE and DDZ in a competitive and selective manner, respectively. • MOF adsorption is a promising approach for effectively separating similar structural natural compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]