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Dysregulation of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2S (UBE2S) contributes to tumor progression. However, its clinical significance and biological function in endometrial cancer (EMC) remain unclear. Here, we show that UBE2S is upregulated in EMC and exhibits oncogenic activities via activation of SOX6/β-Catenin signaling. High expression of UBE2S is significantly associated with poor prognosis in two independent cohorts consisting of a total of 773 patients with EMC. in vitro studies demonstrate that ectopic expression of UBE2S promotes cell proliferation and migration, whereas knockdown of UBE2S results in opposite phenotypes. Overexpression of UBE2S in EMC cells enhances the nuclear translocation of β-Catenin, and subsequently induces the expression of c-Myc and Cyclin D1. Inhibition of β-Catenin by XAV-939 markedly attenuates UBE2S-promoted cell growth. Mechanistically, UBE2S suppresses the expression of SOX6 to trigger β-Catenin signaling. Re-expression of SOX6 in UBE2S-expressing EMC cells abolishes the nuclear localization of β-Catenin. Collectively, these data suggest UBE2S may serve as a promising prognostic factor and function as an oncogene in EMC. The newly identified UBE2S/SOX6/β-Catenin axis represents a new potential therapeutic target for EMC intervention.

Converting from conventional tillage to no-tillage influences the soil aggregate-size distribution and thus soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization. However, the dynamics of soil aggregation and the straw-derived carbon (C) incorporation within aggregate fractions are not well understood. An experiment was established in 2004 to test the effects of two treatments, no-tillage with residue (NT) and conventional tillage without residue (CT), on the soil aggregate-size distribution and SOC stabilization in a continuous maize (Zea mays L.) cropping system located in the semiarid region of northern China. Soil samples were collected from the 0–10 cm layer in 2008, 2010 and 2015, and were separated into four aggregate-size classes (>2, 0.25–2, 0.053–0.25, and 2 and 0.25–2 mm) and associated SOC concentration compared with CT. Additionally, to compare straw-derived C incorporation within NT and CT aggregate fractions, 13C-labeled straw was incubated with intact NT and CT soils. After 90 days, the highest proportion of 13C-labeled straw-derived C was observed in the >2 mm fraction, and this proportion was lower in NT than that in CT soil. Overall, we conclude that long-term continuous NT increased the proportion of macroaggregates and the C concentration within macroaggregates, and the physical protection provided by NT is beneficial for soil C sequestration in the continuous maize cropping system in semiarid regions of northern China.

In this research, diffusion brazing of monocrystal silicon was performed using germanium powders as interlayer. The effects of brazing temperature (950–1050 °C) and time (1–3 h) were studied on the joint microstructure and its mechanical properties. The results indicated that, with the rise in brazing time and temperature, the morphology near the sample edge turned from sintered structures to bridge connections. While those in the center evolved from straight Ge layers to symmetric layer structures with the sequence of “Si base/Isothermal solidification zone/Athermal solidification zone/Ge laye r ”. Withal, the crushing and interlocking morphologies appeared. Bond strength was evaluated and maximum tensile strength over 15.8 MPa was obtained for the joint processed at 1000 °C for 3 h. Results showed that, thickness of diffusion layer (i.e., the isothermal solidification zone and athermal solidification zone) was proved to be the controlling factor for the tensile strength of diffusion brazed monocrystal silicon.

Biochar is widely and increasingly applied to farmlands. However, it remains unclear how long-term biochar addition alters the characteristics and chlorine reactivity of soil-derived dissolved organic matter (DOM), an important terrestrial disinfection byproduct (DBP) precursor in watersheds. Here, we analyzed the spectroscopic and molecular-level characteristics of soil-derived DOM and the formation and toxicity of DBP mixtures from DOM chlorination for two long-term (5 and 11 years) biochar addition experimental farmlands. As indicated by spectroscopic indices and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry analyses, 11 years of biochar addition could increase the humic-like and aromatic and condensed aromatic DOM and decrease the microbial-derived DOM, while 5 years of biochar addition at the other site did not. The response of condensed aromatic dissolved black carbon did not increase with increasing cumulative biochar dose but appeared to be affected by biochar aging time. Despite the possible increase in aromatic DOM, biochar addition neither increased the reactivity of DOM in forming trihalomethanes, haloacetonitriles, chloral hydrates, or haloketones nor significantly increased the microtoxicity or genotoxicity of the DBP mixture. This study indicates that biochar addition in watersheds may not deteriorate the drinking water quality via the export of terrestrial DBP precursors like wildfire events.

In reliability-based robust design optimization (RBRDO) formulation, the product quality loss function is minimized subject to probabilistic constraints. Since the quality loss function is expressed in terms of the first two statistical moments, mean and variance, three methods have been recently proposed to accurately and efficiently estimate the moments: the univariate dimension reduction method (DRM), performance moment integration (PMI) method, and percentile difference method (PDM). In this paper, a reliability-based robust design optimization method is developed using DRM and compared to PMI and PDM for accuracy and efficiency. The numerical results show that DRM is effective when the number of random variables is small, whereas PMI is more effective when the number of random variables is relatively large.

An organocatalytic asymmetric tandem 1,5-hydride transfer/ring closing reaction of o -aminobenzoketones with anilines to give cyclic aminals in fairly good diastereo- and enantioselectivities.

The measuring system of dynamic response is introduced. The relationship between the response time of TiO 2 –Nb 2 O 5 complex oxide sensing material and ambient temperature and airflow change over frequency are also provided. With the non-noble metal catalyst, the response time of sintered complex oxygen sensing is approximate to 60 ms. The structure and mechanism have been inquired into.

The composites formed between TiO 2 and Nb 2 O 5 tended to give better oxygen-sensing characteristics than the component oxides themselves. On the Nb 2 O 5 -rich side, the composite (TiO 2 ) x (NbO 2.5 ) 1− x , with x between 0 and 0.06, gave higher sensitivity to oxygen than Nb 2 O 5 , whereas the composite with x =0.8 gave higher sensitivity than TiO 2 . These composites showed larger changes in conductivity than the component oxides when the air excess ratio ( λ ) was changed between 0.98 and 1.02. The temperature dependence could also be improved with the composites.