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[Display omitted] • Pyroptosis-related genes upregulate in brain cell clusters concurrently after MCAO. • MANF inhibits pyroptosis. • Manf -modified BMSCs play a strong therapeutic role in cerebral infarction. Cerebral infarction is a common disease characterized by high mortality, a narrow therapeutic window, and limited therapeutic options. Recently, cell therapy based on gene modification has brought a glimmer of hope to the treatment of cerebral infarction although the explicit underlying mechanism is beyond being well dissected. In the present study, we constructed an animal model of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), compared differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the sham and MCAO groups by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to explore the potential cell death-related pathways involved in cerebral infarction, and transfected Manf into BMSCs by lentivirus. Subsequently, we injected BMSCs (bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells), Manf -modified BMSCs, or lentivirus encoding Manf into the brain. Their effects on MANF content, apoptosis, pyroptosis, infarct volume in the brain, and neurological function were evaluated after MCAO. We found that the DEGs upregulated in four major cell clusters after MCAO and were enriched with not only apoptosis, ferroptosis, and necroptosis but also with pyroptosis-related pathways. In addition, transfection of Manf into BMSCs significantly increased the expression and secretion of MANF in BMSCs; BMSCs, Manf -modified BMSCs, and Manf treatment all resulted in an increase in Manf content in the brain, a decrease in the expression of apoptosis- and pyroptosis-related molecules, a reduction in infarct volume, and an improvement in neurological function after MCAO. Moreover, Manf -modified BMSCs have the strongest therapeutic effect. Collectively, Manf -modified BMSCs ameliorate ischemic injury after cerebral infarction by repressing apoptosis- and pyroptosis-related molecules, which represents a new cell therapy strategy for cerebral infarction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keloid, an aggressive fibroproliferative disease of the skin, is usually caused by infectious skin diseases, burns, and trauma. This study aimed to assess the effect of SPARC on the keloid pathogenesis. In normal skin and keloid scar tissues, changes in SPARC expression were analysed by qRT-PCR, western blotting, and immunohistochemistry. Keloid fibroblasts were isolated from human keloid tissue. GSEA was performed to investigate the signalling pathways related to SPARC. Cell Counting Kit-8, 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine, transwell assay, and scratching assays were used to assess fibroblast proliferation and migration. Changes in α-SMA, fibronectin, collagen I, and collagen III levels were examined in fibroblasts by western blotting. SPARC expression was upregulated in keloid scar tissues. In fibroblasts, cell proliferation, migration, collagen production, and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis were promoted by SPARC overexpression, whereas SPARC knockdown resulted a converse result. GSEA showed that SPARC regulates the p53 pathway. In keloid scar tissues, there was a negative correlation between SPARC and p53 expression. p53 expression was decreased by SPARC overexpression, whereas SPARC knockdown increased p53 expression. Furthermore, the effects of SPARC on the fibroblast phenotype were reversed by p53 overexpression. Fibroblast proliferation, migration, and ECM synthesis were promoted by SPARC overexpression, which was achieved by regulating the p53 pathway. Our findings provide new therapeutic targets for keloids. • SPARC expression is upregulated in keloid skin tissues. • SPARC promotes the proliferation and migration of keloid fibroblasts. • SPARC promotes the collagen production and ECM synthesis in fibroblasts. • SPARC inhibits the activation of p53 signaling in fibroblasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Reinforcing the CFRP foam sandwich structure by orthogonal grid. • Testing the impact characteristics of each position at different energies. • Comparing the impact resistance of the sandwich panel at different positions. • Numerical simulation of the impact process for each position. • The proposed structure has the advantage of lightweight and high impact resistance. Orthogonal grid structures, which are widely used in engineering, are incorporated into the foam to form the grid reinforced core. However, the impact resistance of this type of sandwich structure varies with position. In this paper, the low-velocity impact performance of orthogonal grid reinforced CFRP-foam sandwich structure at different positions was investigated. The drop hammer low-velocity impact tests were conducted at 30 J, 50 J and 80 J energy for the intersection, rib, and center positions, respectively, and the impact resistance of the three positions was further compared with the impact data. The test results showed that the intersection and rib exhibited fiber fracture and delamination of CFRP face and grid, as well as foam crushing and cracking. The center position showed face perforation and foam crushing. At the same impact energy, the intersection position had the strongest impact resistance, with an initial stiffness about 18 % higher than that of the rib, and their peak load per unit mass was higher than that of CFRP-foam sandwich panels, and the center was the weakest. In addition, numerical simulations were performed which were in good agreement with the tests, and the damage processes at different stages were discussed. The lightweight, high impact resistant sandwich structure proposed can provide a reference for structural design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • S-shaped reinforced cores are designed by flattening hexagonal honeycomb cores. • S-shaped reinforced structures can effectively change the deformation mode of cores. • The peak load of S-shaped reinforced core can be 86.12% greater than plain core. • Theoretical prediction model of S-shaped reinforced honeycomb cores is proposed. • The design capabilities of cores are expanded because of S-shaped structure. Honeycomb structures serve as the core of sandwich structures in various industries, such as aerospace and rail transit. In this study, a novel design was introduced where hexagonal honeycomb cores were flattened in specific areas to form S-shaped reinforced cores. Compression tests were conducted on S-shaped reinforced honeycomb cores with different rotational structures – left-hand, right-hand, and mixed rotation. The deformation process of these cores was thoroughly investigated. Additionally, a theoretical prediction model was proposed to determine the Young's modulus and peak load of S-shaped reinforced honeycomb cores. The experimental data was compared with the theoretical model to validate its accuracy. Moreover, the study examined the effects of changing the relative density and cell wall angle of S-shaped reinforced honeycomb cores on the peak and specific peak loads. The results demonstrated that the use of S-shaped reinforced structures successfully altered the deformation mode of the honeycomb cores. In particular, the peak loads of S-LL and S-LR specimens were 29.14% and 86.12% higher than that of plain honeycomb, respectively. In summary, increasing the relative density of S-shaped reinforced honeycomb cores proved to enhance the peak load and specific peak load, thereby augmenting the design capabilities of these cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A novel DEM-based method to simulate granular flow with dust effectively. • A model of granule equivalent friction coefficient and dust effect is established. • Simulation and experiment results appear equal changes following dust contents. The simulation of dust-bearing granular accumulation flow in the theoretical and practical aspects of the engineering field poses a significant challenge due to the massive computational requirements associated with cross-scale simulations. In this study, a novel approach is proposed to address this issue by developing a model that accounts for the impact of dust on granular flow through changes in the granule friction coefficient. Initially, the theoretical analysis was conducted to examine the effects of dust on granular flow. Subsequently, a method was developed to measure the equivalent friction coefficient of granules by combining theoretical analysis and experimental work. The proposed method was then employed to simulate the stability of a spherical granule pile in a drum influenced by dust content and compared against experimental results. The simulation results demonstrate agreement with the experimental results, indicating the feasibility of modeling the effect of dust on dust-bearing granular flow through the granule equivalent friction coefficient. The dust effect can be considered equivalent to a change in the granule friction coefficient, which facilitates the reduction of the computational load generated by the Discrete Element Method (DEM) method and enables cross-scale simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cold plasma was explored for degrading aflatoxins in naturally contaminated rice. Rice samples were inoculated with strains of toxigenic Aspergillus and incubated to produce various levels of aflatoxins. Cold plasma showed degradation rates of aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1) and total aflatoxins (AFs) that were related to moisture content, oxygen content, treatment time and voltage. Generally, the treatment reduced 1.08%–55.34% of AFB 1 and 4.23%–56.37% of AFs in rice under different conditions. Relative lower degradation rates can be due to low permeability of the plasma and interference from food matrix. In addition, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in moisture, protein, amylose and color of rice before and after treatment. However, cold plasma aggravated the fat oxidation of rice, and made its surface smoother and more porous. The results provided a theoretical basis for aflatoxins degradation from grain system using cold plasma. In this study, dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) cold plasma was applied in the degradation of aflatoxins in naturally contaminated rice, having obvious degradation effect and little quality impact. Cold plasma treatment, as a novel non-thermal processing technology, can reduce mycotoxins in food in order to fully ensure the product safety in various links, including production, storage and so on. Compared with other detoxification methods currently used in the industry, this technology can achieve similar or higher degradation effect in a shorter time. In addition, it is low-cost and will not pollute the environment or damage the sensory properties and nutritional value of products. • Cold plasma reduced 55.34% of aflatoxin B 1 and 56.37% of aflatoxins in rice. • The degradation effects were in accordance with the first-order kinetic model. • Cold plasma had no significant impact on rice quality except for fat oxidation. • The free fatty acid value of rice increased by 275.3% under the voltage of 160 kV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, honeycomb cores with periodic tight zones were proposed for carbon-fiber and aluminum-honeycomb sandwich panels by flattening hexagon-shaped cells of honeycomb walls. In-plane compression tests were performed for sandwich panels with three types of local-tight honeycomb cores to evaluate the effects of the local-tight configurations on mechanical properties and failure modes. Experimental results indicated that the mechanical properties of sandwich specimens were effectively increased by using the proposed local-tight honeycomb cores. In particular, the specific energy absorption of sandwich specimens with a local-orthogonal-tight core was increased by 400.46%. In addition, Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique was employed to further investigate the compressive behaviors of the sandwich specimens with and without local-orthogonal-tight honeycomb cores. The experimental measurements and detailed DIC observations indicated that the local-orthogonal-tight honeycomb core sandwich structures, which provided improved load transferring paths and reduced mismatch between the high-stiffness face sheets and low-stiffness core, exhibited progressive crushing failure modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, compression properties of composite honeycomb sandwich panel and tube structures with S-shaped reinforced core was studied. The S-shaped reinforcements was machined from conventional honeycomb core. Quasi-static compression tests showed that the peak force and energy absorption of the proposed sandwich panels were enhanced by up to 85.28% and 31.41% respectively, in comparison to the carbon fiber/aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels. Based on the experimentally validated finite element model, the effects of number of S-shaped reinforcement structures, wall thickness and rotation direction were investigated for mechanical performance of the carbon fiber/aluminum honeycomb sandwich tubes under compression. Numerical results demonstrated that the S-shaped reinforcement structure could change the load transfer path effectively. The mechanical behavior and properties of the honeycomb core with S-shaped reinforcement were significantly influenced by changing the number and distribution of S-shaped reinforcements with different rotating directions. The homodromous structure caused shear damage, while the heterodromous structure showed more stability. • A honeycomb core with S-shaped reinforcements, which could effectively enhanced peak load and energy absorption, was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grid structures have great potential for engineering application, inspired by the leaf texture, the rectangular grid is innovatively added to the honeycomb to form the grid-honeycomb hybrid core. The low-velocity impact response of the composite sandwich structure with grid–honeycomb hybrid core was investigated by experimental and numerical simulation. Low-velocity impact tests with 30 J energy were conducted of the sandwich panel to analyze the mechanical response and damage morphology at typical locations (intersection, rib, and center). The results show that the impact resistance at the intersection was the strongest, the peak load, damage threshold load, and initial stiffness at the intersection were 14.74%, 15.54%, and 16.06% higher, and the maximum displacement and residual displacement were 12.09% and 33.71% lower, respectively than those at the rib, and the center was the weakest. Compared with honeycomb sandwich panel, the impact resistance of unit mass at the intersection and rib was stronger and the internal damage was smaller. In addition, the parametric study of the structural parameters of sandwich panel was conducted. The grid thickness had a significant effect on the impact resistance, while the effects of honeycomb wall thickness and honeycomb unit cell diameter were smaller and had almost no effect on initial stiffness and energy absorption. Finally, the impact resistance efficiency analysis was performed to obtain the optimal design area of structural parameters to provide design guidance. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work we demonstrated an ultrasensitive detection platform for specific DNA based on nonlinear hybridization chain reaction (HCR) by triggering chain-branching growth of DNA dendrimers. HCR was initiated by target DNA ( t DNA) and finally formed dendritic structure by self-assembly. The electrochemical signal was drastically enhanced by capturing multiple catalytic peroxidase with high-ordered growth. Electrochemical signals were obtained by measuring the reduction current of oxidized 3, 3′, 5, 5′-tetramethylbenzidine sulfate (TMB), which was generated by HRP in the presence of H 2 O 2 . This method exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity to t DNA with detection limit of 0.4 fM. Furthermore, the biosensor was also capable of discriminating single-nucleotide difference among concomitant DNA sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, periodical grids were selected to reinforce soft honeycomb cores of sandwich structures. The grid reinforced honeycomb core can be considered as a combined core with multi-level lattice configuration. In-plane compression tests were carried out to investigate the mechanical properties of carbon fiber sandwich with combined core. Experimental results indicated that the combined core sandwich specimens provided increased stiffness, specific stiffness, energy absorption and critical load, which were higher than the sum of honeycomb core sandwich specimens and grid core sandwich specimens. In addition, a Finite Element Method (FEM) model was proposed to calculate the critical buckling load of the combined core sandwich structures. The effects of core heights, honeycomb-wall thickness and face-sheet thickness on the critical buckling loads of the combined core sandwich structures were examined. The aforementioned experimental and numerical results indicated that the present sandwich structure with grid reinforced honeycomb core could provide improved structural properties for engineering structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon-fiber epoxy composites were bonded to four different types of aluminum substrates with different surface roughness and finish. The four aluminum substrates considered in this study have the following surface conditions: two solid aluminum substrates polished with two different grades of sandpapers, and two porous aluminum foams with two different as-received surface conditions, one with a patterned surface finish and one with rough pore structures. Moreover, the thin epoxy adhesive joints between the carbon-fiber face sheets and aluminum substrates were reinforced by adding short aramid fibers. During the fabrication process of the hybrid laminar, sparsely-distributed short aramid fibers were inserted between the fiber-metal interface to promote bridged fibers for tougher and stronger adhesive bonding, while at the same time to minimize any significant change in the thickness of the adhesive joint. Measurements of the critical energy release rate showed that the toughening effects of the low-density short aramid fibers were influenced by the metal-substrate surface roughness and finish. Further comparison indicated that the interfacial fracture toughness of aramid-fiber interleave adhesive joints increased via increase of surface roughness of metal substrates. The surface-roughness effect of metal substrate mainly depends on whether the free fiber ends of the short aramid fibers were pressed and embedded into the surface cavities of aluminum substrates according to scanning electron microscopy observations. The results indicated that the properties and performances of aramid-fiber interleaved adhesive joints between the carbon-fiber face sheets and aluminum substrates could be improved by surface treatments on the aluminum substrates to achieve appropriately surface roughness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their low vapor pressure, semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) can absorb onto other compartments in indoor environments, including settled dust. Incidental ingestion of settled dust-bound SVOCs contributes to the majority of daily non-dietary exposure to some SVOCs by human beings. With this pathway in mind, an integrated kinetic model to estimate indoor SVOC was developed to better predict the mass-fraction of SVOC associated with settled dust, which is important to accurately assess the non-dietary ingestion exposure to SVOC. In this integrated kinetic model, the aerosol dynamics were considered, including particle penetration, deposition and resuspension. The newly developed model was evaluated by comparing the predicted mass-fraction of SVOC associated with the settled dust ( X dust ) and the measured X dust from previous studies. Sixty X dust values of thirty-eight different SVOCs measured in residences located in seven countries from four continents were involved in the model evaluation. The X dust value predicted by the integrated kinetic model correlated linearly with the measured X dust : y = 0.93x + 0.09 ( R 2 = 0.73), which indicates that the predicted X dust by the integrated kinetic model are in good match with the measured data. This model may be utilized to predict SVOC concentrations in different indoor compartments, including dust-bound SVOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The full potential of carbon-fiber and aluminum-honeycomb sandwich panels and structures has been limited by the huge property mismatch between the high-stiffness carbon fiber and low-stiffness aluminum honeycomb. In this study, an orthogrid structure was added into the sandwich structure to raise the stiffness of soft honeycomb and therefore reduce the interfacial mismatch. The core then became an aluminum orthogrid structure filled with aluminum-honeycomb blocks. Three point bending tests were conducted to compare carbon fiber sandwiches with different types of core: (1) aluminum-honeycomb core; (2) aluminum-plate orthogrid core; and (3) aluminum-plate orthogrid core filled by aluminum-honeycomb blocks. The honeycomb filled orthogrid core sandwich was a bit heavier than the honeycomb or grid sandwich, but the critical load, specific strength and energy absorption ability were all improved. The results indicated that the honeycomb filled orthogrid core sandwich with carbon fiber face sheet could provide improved structural properties for thin walled engineering structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Critical local and global buckling loads of grid-stiffened carbon-fiber thin-shell structures, such as advanced grid-stiffened (AGS) conical shells relevant to aviation and aerospace applications, under uniform external transverse pressure were determined analytically using an equivalent stiffness model considering the influence of non-uniform grid distribution and the minimum potential energy principle. Experiments and finite-elements analysis have been carried out to assess the reliability of this analytical model. To maximize the buckling resistance for optimal design of the AGS conical shells, a hybrid genetic algorithm combining the genetic approach with a simulated annealing algorithm was developed, which considers the characteristics of multi-constraints and mixed discrete–continuous design variables. Comparisons between the benchmark results from the traditional genetic algorithm and simulated annealing algorithm confirmed the validity and efficiency of the hybrid genetic algorithms. Numerical examples show that the local-buckling constraint is a key factor for weight optimization of the AGS carbon-fiber conical. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we present the initial buckling and post-buckling responses of axial loaded advanced grid stiffened (AGS) composite cylindrical shells with reinforced rectangular or circular cutouts. The AGS cylindrical shells were reinforced by various local grid configurations near the cutout areas. The effects of different reinforcing grid configurations on critical loads were then examined and compared to those of different skin-reinforcing designs using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations. A high-fidelity non-linear analysis procedure was proposed to predict the non-linear buckling response of the shell structures. The simulation results indicated that the grid reinforcements can reduce or eliminate the risk of local buckling response near the cutout areas and increase the critical load of the shell more effectively than the skin reinforcements. Furthermore, those results showed that an optimum grid reinforcement configuration exists, which significantly improved the initial buckling and post-buckling resistance of the cylindrical shells under axial loading. The above findings can potentially be useful to the analysis and optimum design of AGS composite cylindrical shells with cutouts. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) of outdoor origin can enter indoor environment via infiltration or ventilation, and lead to human exposure. This study presents a kinetic partition model for the prediction of indoor PAH concentrations that are of outdoor origin. The model was verified with the previous published measurement conducted in a chamber. Indoor gas-phase, particle-phase and airborne concentrations (the sum of the gas- and particle-phases concentrations) of 16 species of PAHs listed by United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants were calculated over a two-year period by the kinetic partition model. The predicted concentrations were compared with those calculated using a simple linear instantaneous model. Uncertainty in the differences between the predicted results by these two models caused by uncertain parameters was further conducted. For some PAHs, remarkable differences existed between the predicted indoor gas- and particle-phases concentrations of outdoor originated PAHs by the kinetic partition model and by the linear instantaneous model. The average relative differences of gas-phase PAHs ranged from 3.60 × 10−6 to 6.31 × 101 while those of particle-phase PAHs were between 5.47 × 10−2 and 9.15 × 10−1. However, there was no obvious average relative difference between the predicted airborne concentrations, which maximized to 6.52 × 10−2. The average relative differences for both the gas- and particle-phases PAHs were even larger when particle deposition rate was at its maximum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Household air pollution prevails in rural residences across China, yet a comprehensive nationwide comprehending of pollution levels and the attributable disease burdens remains lacking. This study conducted a systematic review focusing on elucidating the indoor concentrations of prevalent household air pollutants—specifically, PM2.5, PAHs, CO, SO 2 , and formaldehyde—in rural Chinese households. Subsequently, the premature deaths and economic losses attributable to household air pollution among the rural population of China were quantified through dose-response relationships and the value of statistical life. The findings reveal that rural indoor air pollution levels frequently exceed China's national standards, exhibiting notable spatial disparities. The estimated annual premature mortality attributable to household air pollution in rural China amounts to 966 thousand (95% CI: 714–1226) deaths between 2000 and 2022, representing approximately 22.2% (95% CI: 16.4%−28.1%) of total mortality among rural Chinese residents. Furthermore, the economic toll associated with these premature deaths is estimated at 486 billion CNY (95% CI: 358–616) per annum, constituting 0.92% (95% CI: 0.68%−1.16%) of China's GDP. The findings quantitatively demonstrate the substantial disease burden attributable to household air pollution in rural China, which highlights the pressing imperative for targeted, region-specific interventions to ameliorate this pressing public health concern. [Display omitted] • Indoor air pollution level in rural China was analyzed via a literature review. • Exposure to the pollutant exhibits heterogeneity across different spatial region. • Concerned air pollution attributes to 966 thousand premature deaths annually. • PM2.5 and CVD are key pollutant and disease contributing to health effects. • Targeted regional policies are needed to control rural household air pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Tumor cells with damaged mitochondria undergo metabolic reprogramming, but gene therapy targeting mitochondria has not been comprehensively reported. In this study, plasmids targeting the normal hepatocyte cell line (L-O2) and hepatocellular carcinoma cell line were generated using three genes SIRT3 , SIRT4 , and SIRT5. These deacetylases play a variety of regulatory roles in cancer and are related to mitochondrial function. Compared with L-O2, SIRT3 and SIRT4 significantly ameliorated mitochondrial damage in HCCLM3, Hep3B and HepG2 cell lines and regulated mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy, respectively. We constructed double-gene plasmid for co-express SIRT3 and SIRT4 using the internal ribosome entry site (IRES). The results indicated that the double-gene plasmid effectively expressed SIRT3 and SIRT4, significantly improved mitochondrial quality and function, and reduced mtDNA level and oxidative stress in HCC cells. MitoTracker analysis revealed that the mitochondrial network was restored. The proliferation, migration capabilities of HCC cells were reduced, whereas their differentiation abilities were enhanced. This study demonstrated that the use of IRES-linked SIRT3 and SIRT4 double-gene vectors induced the differentiation of HCC cells and inhibited their development by ameliorating mitochondrial dysfunction. This intervention helped reverse metabolic reprogramming, and may provide a groundbreaking new framework for HCC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SIRT1, namely silent information regulator 1, is a kind of NAD + dependent deacetylase, the activators of which have potential therapeutic applications. Previous studies revealed that two resveratrol molecules (RSV1 and RSV2) bound to SIRT1, and were mainly responsible for strengthening the binding of p53-AMC peptide to SIRT1 so as to activating SIRT1. Thus, we constructed four novel RSV1-RSV2 type SIRT1 activators (i.e., RSV_m1, RSV_m2, RSV_m3 and RSV_m4) by linking the structures of RSV1 and RSV2, and further evaluated their binding affinities and dynamics properties using molecular dynamics simulations. Compared with RSV1, 2, compounds RSV_m1 and RSV_m3 not only had higher binding interaction with SIRT1, but promoted the bindings of p53-AMC peptide to SIRT1 obviously. While the other two compounds were proved to be comparable to RSV1, 2. The four RSV1-RSV2 type compounds might give some valuable clues for the rational design of more promising SIRT1 activators in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A modified PSO algorithm is proposed for handling MINLP problem. • The PSO is extended to the optimal design of cryogenic SPC. • The optimal design of an actual 17000Nm3/h cryogenic SPC is carried out. Large scale cryogenic air separation is the most efficient and cost-effective approach to produce high-purity air products by present. Structured packing columns (SPC) are widely focused and applied due to their characteristics of high efficiency and energy saving in the cryogenic distillation process. The optimal design of the SPC is to reduce the energy consumption and initial investment, while it is a highly nonlinear and multivariable problem. The coexistence of real variables and integer variables, such as the flow rates and the positions of materials at the inlets/outlets, makes the optimization become a typical mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) problem. The purpose of this paper is to study the optimal design method for the cryogenic SPC using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. A modified PSO for handling the MINLP problem (MI-PSO) is proposed. A multi-objective optimal design for the SPC in cryogenic air separation plant with the capacity of 17,000 Nm3/h is investigated as a instance. By MI-PSO algorithm, the total exergy loss theoretically reduces 36.3% and the main condenser heat load decreases 5.4% after optimization, which can provide test prediction for the cryogenic distillation experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Walnut green husk polysaccharides (WGP) are isolated from the walnut green husk with a mean molecular weight of 12.77 kDa. The structural characterization revealed by methylation and NMR analysis indicated that WGP might consist of →4-α-D-Gal p -(1→, α-D-Gal p (1→, and →2)-α-L-Rha p -(1→. Previous studies have been demonstrated that WGP effectively prevented liver injury and modulated gut microbiota in high fructose-treated mice and high fat diet-treated rats. In this study, we found for the first time that WGP presenting outstanding protective effects on liver inflammation and gluconeogenesis dysfunction induced by ochratoxin A (OTA) in mice. Firstly, WGP decreased oxidative stress, down-regulated the expression of inflammatory factors and inhibited the TLR4/p65/IκBα pathway in the liver. Then, WGP reversed OTA-induced lower phosphoenolpyruvate carboxyl kinase (PEPCK), and glucose 6-phosphatase (G6PC) activities in the liver. Furthermore, WGP increased the diversity of gut microbiota and the abundance of beneficial bacteria, especially Lactobacillus and Akkermansia. Importantly, the results of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) experiment further confirmed that gut microbiota involved in the protective effects of WGP on liver damage induced by OTA. Our results indicated that the protective effect of WGP on liver inflammation and gluconeogenesis dysfunction caused by OTA may be due to the regulation of gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron viruses possess a high antigenic shift, and the approved anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs are extremely limited, which makes the development of new antiviral drugs for the clinical treatment and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks imperative. We have previously discovered a new series of markedly potent small-molecule inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 virus entry, exampled by the hit compound 2. Here, we report a further study of bioisosteric replacement of the eater linker at the C-17 position of 2 with a variety of aromatic amine moieties, followed by a focused structure-activity relationship study, leading to the discovery of a series of novel 3- O - β -chacotriosyl BA amide derivatives as small-molecule Omicron fusion inhibitors with improved potency and selectivity index. Particularly, our medicinal chemistry efforts have resulted in a potent, and efficacious lead compound S-10 with appreciable pharmacokinetic properties, which exhibited broad-spectrum potency against Omicron and other variants with EC 50 values ranging from 0.82 to 5.45 μM. Mutagenesis studies confirmed that inhibition of Omicron viral entry was mediated by the direct interaction with S in the prefusion state. These results reveal that S-10 is suitable for further optimization as Omicron fusion inhibitors, with the potential to be developed as therapeutic agents for the treatment and control of SARS-CoV-2 ant its variants infections. [Display omitted] • A set of 3- O -β-chacotriosyl BA saponins were synthesized and characterized based on the bioisosterism and SBDD strategies. • These title saponins exhibited strong inhibition toward Omicron. • Intensive structure-activity relationships were conducted. • S-10 showed broad-spectrum anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities by blocking membrane fusion. • S-10 displayed promising pharmacokinetic properties in vitro. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Peripheral plasma protein expression was used to determine clinically relevant biomarkers for depression. • This is the first study to observe the up-regulation of CFB and SERPIND1 in plasma from depression. • The results indicate that acute phase response signaling pathway dysregulation is associated with depression. Abstract Globally, depression is one of the most serious debilitating psychiatric mental disorders. In this study, we validated the expression levels of fibrinogen alpha (FGA), fibrinogen beta (FGB), fibrinogen gamma (FGG), Complement factor B (CFB) and serpin family D member 1(SERPIND1) in the acute phase response signaling pathway in plasma samples using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Then illuminate the roles of FGA, FGB, FGG, CFB, SERPIND1 in depression using microarray data. Gene expression dataset GSE98793 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. There were 128 whole blood samples included 64 patients with major depressed patients and 64 healthy controls. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and then protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to screen crucial genes associated with FGA, FGB, FGG, CFB and SERPIND1. Moreover, gene ontology (GO) biological processes analyses was performed. The ELISA data showed that the expression levels of FGA, FGB, FGG, CFB and SERPIND1 were up-regulated in depressed patients. The enriched GO terms were predominantly associated with the biological processes including more genes were inflammation related. The PPI network was found these five genes interacted with 11 genes. FGA, FGB, FGG, CFB and SERPIND1 may be important in the pathogenesis of depression. Graphical abstract Image, graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic generates a global threat to public health and continuously emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants bring a great challenge to the development of both vaccines and antiviral agents. In this study, we identified UA-18 and its optimized analog UA-30 via the hit-to-lead strategy as novel SARS-CoV-2 fusion inhibitors. The lead compound UA-30 showed potent antiviral activity against infectious SARS-CoV-2 (wuhan-HU-1 variant) in Vero-E6 cells and was also effective against infection of diverse pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in the S protein including the Omicron and Delta variants. More importantly, UA-30 might target the cavity between S1 and S2 subunits to stabilize the prefusion state of the SARS-CoV-2 S protein, thus leading to interfering with virus-cell membrane fusion. This study offers a set of novel SARS-CoV-2 fusion inhibitors against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants based on the 3- O -β-chacotriosyl UA skeleton. [Display omitted] • A set of 3-O-β-chacotriosyl UA saponins were synthesized and characterized. • These saponins showed potent inhibition toward diverse pseudotyped SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in S. • Intensive structure-activity relationships were conducted. • Lead compound UA-30 displayed improved anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro and SI. • UA-30 was shown to bind to SARS-CoV-2 S2 protein directly and block the prefusion state of spike protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the highly efficient electrochemiluminescence (ECL) luminophores of Zr-based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) coordinating with the amino group of luminol (Zr–Lu–MOFs) were developed for fabricating a sensing platform. The ECL emission of a Zr–Lu–MOF/H 2 O 2 system with strong and stable ECL signals was triggered through cyclic voltammetry. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) was firmly assembled on Zr–Lu–MOF because of the high affinity of Zr4+ toward phosphate groups. ATP was detected using gallic acid (GA)-capped Au (GA@Au) nanoparticles combined with an ATP aptamer. The GA@Au nanoparticles quenched the ECL behavior of the luminol/H 2 O 2 system, and the quenching mechanism was ascribed to the GA scavenging superoxide radical (O 2 •−) that was generated via the electron redox reaction in H 2 O 2. Under optimal experiments, an ECL biosensor with a linear range of 0.100–1000 nM and a detection limit of 0.0353 nM (S/N = 3) was designed for the selective and sensitive detection of ATP. Thus, the proposed ECL biosensor exhibited good performance with high stability and acceptable fabrication reproducibility, providing a valuable strategy for clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. • Gallic acid capped Au nanoparticles quenched ECL behavior of luminol. • Zr-based metal-organic framework coordinated with amino of luminol as ECL emitter. • Quenching mechanism may consume ROSs by gallic acid scavenging superoxide radical. • The sandwich quenching ECL biosensor was used to detect ATP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic flow prediction is an important component for self-driving. Traffic flow is closely related to population distribution, and the traffic flow is not only related to the absolute number of human population but also to their concerns and interests. Accurate spatio-temporal web traffic flow prediction is critical in many applications, such as bandwidth allocation, anomaly detection, congestion control and admission control. Most existing traffic flow prediction methods use models based on time-series analysis and remain inadequate for many real-world applications. Web traffic flow is found to be strongly associated with the spatio-temporal distribution of the population. Increasingly, it is critical to understand and make decisions based on the relationship between population patterns and web traffic flow patterns. It has been proven that different people have different responses to web events. Due to the complexity of spatial data structures and the huge volume of web traffic flow log data, it is difficult to routinely find the relationship between web events and population distributions without an appropriate processing framework. In this paper, we propose an innovative framework named GeoTrafficPredict to support the accurate spatio-temporal prediction of web traffic flow. GeoTrafficPredict provides a machine learning platform to learn the spatio-temporal pattern of traffic flow and use the pattern to predict the trend in both spatial and temporal dimension. Also, GeoTrafficPredict provide data aggregation portal and cloud-based computation function. GeoTrafficPredict deploys a series of computational images in a cloud computing environment, and the implementation on China's CSTNET illustrates the performance of our platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing diffusion-controlled battery materials to supercapacitors, can significantly enhance the energy density of supercapacitors, which however encounter depressed power density due to the intrinsic sluggish charge storage kinetics of battery materials. This problem can be efficiently solved by modifying the microstructure, and enable capacitive controlled charge storage mechanism in the battery materials. In this work, a novel interface-rich core-shell structure with (NH 4 )(Ni,Co)PO 4 ·0.67 H 2 O nanosheets @ single crystal microplatelets (NH 4 )(Ni,Co)PO 4 ·0.67 H 2 O (NCoNiP@NCoNiP) is constructed via a facile two-step hydrothermal method, taking advantage of etching induced Kirkendall effect and Ostwald ripening. This unique structure can enable the extrinsic pseudocapacitance by providing extra charges (e.g. holes, electrons or voids) on the interfaces, and realize synergy and fast charge storage. Specifically, a maximum specific capacity of 190.3 mAh g −1 and ultrahigh rate performance with capacity retention of 96.1% from 1 to 10 A g −1 in a three-electrode test. The kinetic analysis indicates that the electrochemical response of the hybrid battery-supercapacitor storage devices shows obvious characteristic of supercapacitor especially at high scanning rates. Simultaneously, the hybrid battery-supercapacitor devices based on NCoNiP@NCoNiP exhibits a high energy density of 44.5 Wh kg −1 at a power density of 150 W kg −1 , which maintains 30 Wh kg −1 at high power density of 7.4 kW kg −1 with capacitance retention 77.5% after 7000 cycles. This work provides a novel strategy for the application of battery materials in high power devices, by enabling the capacitive charge storage mechanism of battery materials through nanostructure engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fibrosis is an inevitable stage in the development of chronic liver disease and has an irreplaceable role in characterizing the degree of progression of chronic liver disease. Histopathological diagnosis is the gold standard for the interpretation of fibrosis parameters. Conventional hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining can only reflect the gross structure of the tissue and the distribution of hepatocytes, while Masson trichrome can highlight specific types of collagen fiber structure, thus providing the necessary structural information for fibrosis scoring. However, the expensive costs of time, economy, and patient specimens as well as the non-uniform preparation and staining process make the conversion of existing H&E staining into virtual Masson trichrome staining a solution for fibrosis evaluation. Existing translation approaches fail to extract fiber features accurately enough, and the decoder of staining is unable to converge due to the inconsistent color of physical staining. In this work, we propose a prior-guided generative adversarial network, based on unpaired data for effective Masson trichrome stained image generation from the corresponding H&E stained image. Conducted on a small training set, our method takes full advantage of prior knowledge to set up better constraints on both the encoder and the decoder. Experiments indicate the superior performance of our method that surpasses the previous approaches. For various liver diseases, our results demonstrate a high correlation between the staging of real and virtual stains (ρ = 0. 82 ; 95% CI: 0.73-0.89). In addition, our finetuning strategy is able to standardize the staining color and release the memory and computational burden, which can be employed in clinical assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porous-core sandwich structures with CFRP face sheets have similar micro structures to biological tissues, for example, grass leaves. The sandwich structures are composed of two thin, stiff face sheets, which provide the primary in-plane structural stiffness, and a thick low-density porous core, which provides the functionalities and the majority of out-plane stiffness. However, the mechanical properties of these sandwich structures are often limited by local failures such as face-core debonding or core collapse. Inspired by the tree leaves with fractal distributed veins, which are larger and stiffer than grass leaves, in this paper, a topological optimization on the micro structures of core is conducted to achieve exceptional mechanical properties. By taking adhesive-area constraint, local-buckling constraint and embedding-volume constraint into consideration, a biomimetic hybrid core, which is similar to the fractal distribution of tree veins, is found to be an optimal core design for sandwich structures with CFRP face sheets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three-dimensional electrochemical oxidation (3D-EC) reactor with introduction of activated carbon (AC) as particle micro-electrodes was applied for the advanced treatment of secondary wastewater effluent of a wet-spun acrylic fiber manufacturing plant. Under the optimized conditions (current density of 500 A/m 2 , circulation rate of 5 mL/min, AC dosage of 50 g, and chloride concentration of 1.0 g/L), the average removal efficiencies of chemical oxygen demand (COD cr ), NH 3 –N, total organic carbon (TOC), and ultraviolet absorption at 254 nm (UV 254 ) of the 3D-EC reactor were 64.5%, 60.8%, 46.4%, and 64.8%, respectively; while the corresponding effluent concentrations of COD cr , NH 3 –N, TOC, and UV 254 were 76.6, 20.1, and 42.5 mg/L, and 0.08 Abs/cm, respectively. The effluent concentration of COD cr was less than 100 mg/L, which showed that the treated wastewater satisfied the demand of the integrated wastewater discharge standard (GB 8978-1996). The 3D-EC process remarkably improved the treatment efficiencies with synergistic effects for COD cr , NH 3 –N, TOC, and UV 254 during the stable stage of 44.5%, 38.8%, 27.2%, and 10.9%, respectively, as compared with the sum of the efficiencies of a two-dimensional electrochemical oxidation (2D-EC) reactor and an AC adsorption process, which was ascribed to the numerous micro-electrodes of AC in the 3D-EC reactor. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis revealed that electrochemical treatment did not generate more toxic organics, and it was proved that the increase in acute biotoxicity was caused primarily by the production of free chlorine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The capillary water absorption properties of recycled concrete after freeze–thaw under different substitution rates were studied. • The relationship between the relative peak stress of recycled concrete and the number of freeze–thaw cycles and different aggregate replacement rates was studied. • Establishing the recycled concrete freeze–thaw damage constitutive model. In order to study the capillary water absorption and damage characteristics of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) after freeze–thaw cycles, the capillary water absorption and the stress–strain curve under uniaxial compression of recycled coarse aggregate replacement rates of 0%, 30% and 50% RAC were tested. The effects of recycled coarse aggregate replacement rate and freeze–thaw cycles on the mass loss, compressive strength, relative dynamic elastic modulus and capillary water absorption of recycled concrete were analyzed. According to the basic theory of damage mechanics, the damage constitutive model of recycled concrete was established based on the double factors of replacement rate and freeze–thaw cycles. The results show that with the increase of freeze–thaw cycles, the mass, compressive strength and relative dynamic elastic modulus of RAC with different substitution rates decrease, and the water absorption rate increases first and then tends to be stable. After freezing and thawing, the peak stress of each substitution rate RAC decreased in varying degrees, and the peak strain increased slightly. The test results are compared with the calculation results of the constitutive model, and the two are in good agreement, which has certain reference significance for the promotion and application of recycled concrete in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The use of ambient air pollution data obtained from central air-monitoring stations as surrogates for participants' exposures to outdoor air pollutants in previous studies may have introduced bias in the estimation of exposure–response associations. Objectives We investigated and compared the effects of short-term exposure to outdoor particulate matter (PM out ) and outdoor-originated equivalent personal PM (PM eq ) on lung function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Methods A total of 33 doctor-diagnosed stable COPD patients were recruited and repeatedly measured for lung function (totally 170 measurements) in 2013–2014. Daily PM out concentrations were obtained from central-monitoring stations, and daily time-weighted average PM eq concentrations were estimated based on PM out over the study. Associations of PM with lung function were estimated using mixed-effects models. Results Interquartile range increases in PM 2.5out (111.0 μg/m 3 , 5-day) and PM 10out (112.0 μg/m 3 , 3-day) were associated with a 3.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: − 5.8%, − 0.8%) reduction and a 2.1% (95%CI: − 3.9%, − 0.3%) reduction in forced vital capacity (FVC), respectively. Similar results were found for forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). An interquartile range increase in PM 2.5eq (45.3 μg/m 3 , 3-day), but not PM 10eq , was still associated with a 1.7% (95%CI: − 3.3%, − 0.1%) reduction in FVC. Conclusions Our study may provide a novel approach to assess the association of ambient PM with health observations with improved accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( ALK )-rearranged non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) screening is essential to its treatment such as crizotinib. Different assays have been developed to detect ALK rearrangements, such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR), and immunohistochemistry (IHC). However, ALK detection has not been applied widely in all hospitals. Moreover, IHC has been proposed to be a pre-screening tool because of its wide application in clinics. Since the low expression of ALK protein, the sensitivity and specificity of ALK antibody are the keys to the success of IHC screening. Therefore, we compared different antibodies to find the best one for IHC detection. Materials and methods We evaluated ALK expression by four different ALK antibodies: clone D5F3 (Ventana), clone D5F3 (CST), clone 1A4/1H7 (OriGene Tech.), and clone 5A4 (Abcam) based on manual IHC in a cohort of 60 NSCLCs. The results were compared with those from automated IHC (clone D5F3, Ventana). All cases were evaluated independently by ALK FISH. Results 32 ALK-positive and 28 ALK-negative NSCLCs were identified by automated IHC (D5F3, Ventana) and FISH analysis. Based on conventional manual IHC, the sensitivity of four antibodies—D5F3 (Ventana), D5F3 (CST), 1A4/1H7 (OriGene Tech.), and 5A4 (Abcam)—was 93.8%, 84.4%, 93.8%, and 56.3%, respectively. Their specificities and positive predictive values were 100%. The percentage of strong-moderate staining was 65.6%, 62.5%, 68.8%, and 21.9%, respectively. Compared with automated IHC (D5F3, Ventana), each staining concordance was 96.7%, 91.7%, 96.7%, and 76.7%, respectively, and each presented staining heterogeneity (weak–moderate–strong intensity). Conclusion These data indicated that manual IHC with a more reliable ALK antibody might provide an effective strategy for screening ALK gene rearrangements in all NSCLC patients, followed by confirmatory FISH analysis in IHC-positive cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work investigated microbubble-ozonation for the treatment of a refractory wet-spun acrylic fiber wastewater in comparison to macrobubble-ozonation. COD cr , NH 3 -N, and UV 254 of the wastewater were removed by 42%, 21%, and 42%, respectively in the microbubble-ozonation, being 25%, 9%, and 35% higher than the removal rates achieved by macrobubble-ozonation at the same ozone dose. The microbubbles (with average diameter of 45 μm) had a high concentration of 3.9 × 10 5 counts/mL at a gas flow rate of 0.5 L/min. The gas holdup, total ozone mass-transfer coefficient, and average ozone utilization efficiency in the microbubble-ozonation were 6.6, 2.2, and 1.5 times higher than those of the macrobubble-ozonation. Greater generation of hydroxyl radicals and a higher zeta potential of the bubbles were also observed in the microbubble ozonation process. The biodegradability of the wastewater was also significantly improved by microbubble-ozonation, which was ascribed to the enhanced degradation of alkanes, aromatic compounds, and the many other bio-refractory organic compounds in the wastewater. Microbubble-ozonation can thus be a more effective treatment process than traditional macrobubble-ozonation for refractory wastewater produced by the acrylic fiber manufacturing industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A modified surrogate model-based polynomial function is proposed in consideration of its uncertainty. • A bound approach is introduced to analyze the structural reliability of bogie frame under variable load cases. • The proposed approach is further applied to a practical bogie frame to demonstrate its efficiency and accuracy. Estimating failure probabilities of variable load cases during the design process remains a challenging task in structural reliability analysis of bogie frame. To address this issue, a bound approach by structural reliability analysis is investigated based on modified surrogate model-based polynomial function in this paper. The initial polynomial response surface (PRS) surrogate model of bogie frame under variable load cases is first developed with the results of finite element analysis (FEA) and experimental of design (DoE), and the fitting accuracy is checked based on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method as well. A modified PRS surrogate model is then proposed to characterize the functional relationship between design parameters and responses. The performance function of bogie frame under variable load cases is next established based on the stress-intensity interference theory. And the subset simulation (SS) method is employed to calculate its failure probability. Finally, the unimodal and bimodal bounds is introduced into the structure reliability analysis of bogie frame to solve the reliability under variable load cases. In this study, the proposed approach is further applied to a practical engineering example to demonstrate its efficiency and accuracy. Simultaneously, the importance of considering the uncertainties of the surrogate model is also shown and discussed by comparing with the Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) results in this example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]