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Based on Marcus theory, the photoinduced electron transfer properties of D-A type non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells (OSCs) under the dependence of external electric field (F

The surface plasmon facilitated intermolecular hydrogen bonds enhancement of fluorobromobenzaldehyde (F-BB) isomers on Ag nanoparticles have been investigated by means of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Comparing the SERS spectra and normal Raman scattering (NRS) spectra, the intensity of the O⋯H bending vibration peak was found to be clearly enhanced, and a new C O peak appeared in the SERS spectrum. The C O stretching vibration Raman spectrum reduced. We surmise that intermolecular hydrogen bonds are strengthened, due to the surface plasmon effect generated hot electrons act on the aldehyde group. Our work may promote further investigations on intra/intermolecular hydrogen-bonded chemical systems.

The Pentose Phosphate Pathway (PPP), a metabolic offshoot of the glycolytic pathway, provides protective metabolites and molecules essential for cell redox balance and survival. Transketolase (TKT) is the critical enzyme that controls the extent of "traffic flow" through the PPP. Here, we explored the role of TKT in maintaining the health of the human retina. We found that Müller cells were the primary retinal cell type expressing TKT in the human retina. We further explored the role of TKT in human Müller cells by knocking down its expression in primary cultured Müller cells (huPMCs), isolated from the human retina (11 human donors in total), under light-induced oxidative stress. TKT knockdown and light stress reduced TKT enzymatic activities and the overall metabolic activities of huPMCs with no detectable cell death. TKT knockdown restrained the PPP traffic flow, reduced the expression of NAD(P)H Quinone Dehydrogenase 1 (NQO1), impaired the antioxidative response of NRF2 to light stress and aggravated the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. TKT knockdown also inhibited overall glucose intake, reduced expression of Dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (DLD) and impaired the energy supply of the huPMCs. In summary, Müller cell-mediated TKT activity plays a critical protective role in the stressed retina. Knockdown of TKT disrupted the PPP and impaired overall glucose utilisation by huPMCs and rendered huPMCs more vulnerable to light stress by impairing energy supply and antioxidative NRF2 responses.

STAT3 plays a vital role in maintaining the self-renewal of tumor stem cells. BBI608, a small molecule identified by its ability to inhibit gene transcription driven by STAT3 and cancer stemness properties, can inhibit stemness gene expression and kill stemness-high cancer cells isolated from a variety of cancer types. In order to improve the pharmacokinetic properties of BBI608 and the antitumor activity, a series of BBI608 derivatives were designed and synthesized here. Most of these compounds were more potent than BBI608 on HepG2 cells, compound LD-8 had the most potent inhibitory activity among them and was 5.4-fold more potent than BBI608 (IC50 = 11.2 μM), but had considerable activity on normal liver cells L-02. Compounds LD-17 (IC50 = 3.5 μM) and LD-19 (IC50 = 2.9 μM) were found to possess significant inhibitory activities and good selectivity. The results showed that compound LD-19 was worthy to investigate further as a lead compound according to its potent inhibitory activity, ideal ClogP value and better water solubility.

The objective of this study was to design intestinal mucus-penetrating core-shell nanocomplex by functionally mimicking the surface of virus, which can be used as the carrier for peroral delivery of macromolecules, and further understand the influence of nanocomplex surface properties on the mucosal permeation capacity. Taking insulin as a model drug, the core was formed by the self-assembly among positively charged chitosan, insulin and negatively charged sodium tripolyphosphate, different types of alginates were used as the shell forming material. The nanocomplex was characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and FTIR. Nanocomplex movement in mucus was recorded using multiple particle tracking (MPT) method. Permeation and uptake of different nanocomplex were studied in rat intestine. It was demonstrated that alginate coating layer was successfully formed on the core and the core-shell nanocomplex showed a good physical stability and improved enzymatic degradation protection. The mucus penetration and MPT study showed that the mucus penetration capacity of the nanocomplex was surface charge and coating polymer structure dependent, nanocomplex with negative alginate coating had 1.6-2.5 times higher mucus penetration ability than that of positively charged chitosan-insulin nanocomplex. Moreover, the mucus penetration ability of the core-shell nanocomplex was alginate structure dependent, whereas alginate with lower G content and lower molecular weight showed the best permeation enhancing ability. The improvement of intestine permeation and intestinal villi uptake of the core-shell nanocomplex were further confirmed in rat intestine and multiple uptake mechanisms were involved in the transport process. In conclusion, core-shell nanocomplex composed of oppositely charged materials could provide a strategy to overcome the mucus barrier and enhance the mucosal permeability.

The ability to predict indoor pollutant concentrations is an indispensable function for smart homes. In this study, we present a Long Short-Term Memory network (LSTM) model in the deep learning field, to predict the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in different indoor settings, and a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) is used as a metric to evaluate the performance of the LSTM model. The selection of some key parameters on the LSTM model prediction is firstly discussed. We then analyze the concentrations of different VOCs emitted from three kinds of furniture in a controlled chamber, and concentrations of 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (6-MHO) and 4-oxopentanal (4-OPA) due to ozone/squalene reactions, in an occupied classroom. The model's predictions for the VOCs in the chamber tests, have all MAPE within 10%; for ozone and 6-MHO in the classroom tests, 85% of the MAPE is within 15%; and for 4-OPA, 82% of the MAPE is within 15%. The small MAPE indicates good performance. Comparison analysis reveals that the LSTM model is superior to the widely used artificial neural network (ANN) model. The LSTM approach doesn't require building complex physical or chemical models and measuring various key parameters, instead a learning network is established and the learning parameters are adjusted according to practical situations. This study demonstrates that the LSTM model is promising for the prediction of pollutant transport in various indoor environments.

Most indoor building materials and vehicle cabin materials consist of multiple layers which can emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and these adversely affect indoor and in-cabin air quality. Previous studies have generally targeted VOC emissions from single-layer materials, while only a few look at emissions from multi-layer products, with experimental studies being very rare. This paper uses a two-layer emission model to predict the emission characteristics of VOCs from both indoor building materials and vehicle cabin materials. A hybrid optimization approach (ant colony optimization (ACO) coupled particle swarm optimization (PSO)) is presented to determine the three key parameters for each layer of material in the model, i.e., the initial emittable concentration, the diffusion coefficient, and the partition coefficient. The results indicate that this method has significant advantages compared with previous fitting methods. In addition, independent experiments for formaldehyde emission from a variety of two-layer building materials, and acetaldehyde emission from car seat materials, were performed to validate the two-layer emission model. The good agreement between model predictions and experimental results implies that the key parameters derived for each layer of material can be applied in two-layer emission scenarios. Furthermore, we explore the influence of the three key parameters on VOC emission behaviors, which is helpful for achieving effective source control.

Large and growing literature has explored whether temperature modified the effect of particular matter (PM) on mortality, but results of the modification effect are inconsistent. In this study, we reviewed information from 29 studies to get the qualitative evidence of the modification effects of temperature on PM to mortality, and the data from 16 of the 29 studies were extracted to conduct a meta-analysis. Temperatures were grouped into three level: "low", "middle" and "high" according to the original studies. The random effect model was used in the meta-analysis with the relative risk (RR) as the measure indicator. The RRs (95% confidence intervals, CIs) for non-accidental death, cardiovascular death and respiratory death per 10 μg/m3 increase in PM10 were 1.004 (1.003, 1.006), 1.005 (1.003,1.007), and 1.005 (1.000,1.010) in the low temperature level, 1.005 (1.004,1.006), 1.005 (1.004,1.007), and 1.008 (1.006, 1.010) in the middle temperature level, and 1.012 (1.010, 1.015), 1.016 (1.010, 1.022) and 1.019 (1.010,1.028) in the high temperature level, respectively. In conclusion, moderate evidence exists that temperature modifies the effect of PM10 on mortality. The effect of PM10 on respiratory death was the greatest, while the effect on non-accidental death was the smallest in the same temperature level. In addition, the effects of PM10 on all the three kinds of mortality were the biggest in the high-temperature level, and the smallest in the low-temperature level.

Attributable risk is an important indicator for planning and evaluating public health interventions. However, most current measures of the attributable risk of air pollutants have not considered temporal relationships between exposure and risk. More importantly, limited information is available regarding the attributable risk due to ambient air pollutants in basin regions like the Sichuan Basin, China. To quantify the association between PM10 and deaths in the Basin region, we used a measure proposed recently within the framework of the distributed lag non-linear model to estimate the attributable risk in Chengdu, China. Meanwhile, we examined the association between PM10 and years of life lost (YLL). Our analysis showed that population-attributable fractions for non-accidental, respiratory, and cardiovascular mortality were 0.569% (95% CI: -3.474%, 4.374%), 0.695% (95% CI: -5.260%, 6.457%), and 0.631% (95% CI: -6.973%, 7.390%), respectively. On average, a 1μg/m3 increase in PM10 was associated with cumulative increases of 0.26893, 0.30437, and 0.21924 YLL for non-accidental, respiratory, and cardiovascular mortality, respectively, referring to 20μg/m3. In addition, we found an inverse U-shaped pattern for the cumulative risk with 350μg/m3 as the reverse point. With a 1μg/m3 increase in PM10, YLL changed more significantly than mortality. Moreover, PM10 demonstrated remarkable effects on YLL among men and the elderly.

In this work, a pure Bacillus sp. and a consortium of microbes were isolated from inner rust layer of carbon steel from marine environment. Corrosion behavior of Q235 carbon steel was investigated in the presence and in the absence of Bacillus sp. and with consortium of microbes separately. Weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrum (EDS) tests were conducted to observe the influence on corrosion behavior of carbon steel in the presence and in the absence of bacteria. The results showed that corrosion potential (E-corr) decreased and the corrosion current density increased in the presence of bacteria, in contrast with the sterile medium with the same exposure time interval. The weight loss was observed and micrometer-scale pitting further confirmed by SEM on the carbon steel surface in the presence of bacteria especially with the Bacillus sp. Most importantly in the present work Bacillus sp. behaved like sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB). Further, it was confirmed that in natural environment Bacillus sp. could also act like sulfate-reducing bacteria and deteriorating carbon steel, especially in the form of localized pitting/corrosion.

In the present work, using density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) methods, we investigated the compared excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) mechanism of 2-acetylindan-1,3-dione (AID) in both non-polar (hexane) and polar (acetonitrile) solvents theoretically. Based on the calculation of electron density ρ ( r ) and Laplacian ∇ 2 ρ ( r ) at the bond critical point using Atoms-In-Molecule (AIM) theory, the intramolecular hydrogen bond (O–H∙∙∙O) has been proved to be existent in the S 0 state. Comparing the prime structural variations of AID involved in the intramolecular hydrogen bond, we can conclude that O–H∙∙∙O should be strengthened in the S 1 state, which may facilitate the ESIPT process. Concomitantly, infrared vibrational spectra analysis further verify the stability of hydrogen bond. In good agreement with previous experimental results, AID reveals two kinds of excited-state structures (AID-enol* and AID - keto*). In addition, the role of charge transfer interaction has been addressed under the frontier molecular orbitals (MOs), which depicts the nature of electronical excited state and supports the ESIPT reaction. Our scanned potential energy curves according to variational O–H coordinate demonstrates that the proton transfer process should be more likely to occur in the S 1 state due to the inappreciable potential energy barriers. In addition, due to the minute differences of potential energy barriers contrasting hexane and acetonitrile solvents in the S 1 state, we believe that solvent effect could play roles in controlling excited state behaviors of AID system.

The Li-rich Mn-based cathode materials exhibit great potential due to their ultrahigh specific capacity, but still suffer from low initial coulombic efficiency, inferior cycling stability, voltage decay and poor rate performance. In this study, we propose to enhance the structural stability and the electrochemical performances of Li1.20Mn0.56Ni0.16Co0.08O2 through the co-doping of Fe3+ and PO43-. The Fe3+ and PO43- are simultaneously doped in the precursor via a novel wet chemical method. In comparison with the undoped or mono-doped samples, the co-doped sample exhibits the best electrochemical performances owing to the synergistic effect of Fe3+ and PO43-, such as a high initial coulombic efficiency (88%), great cyclic stability (remains a specific capacity of 214 mAh g−1 after 130 cycles at 1 C) and mitigated voltage fade (2.12 mV per cycle). The synergistic mechanism of Fe3+ and PO43- is revealed based on X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electrochemical measurements. The co-doping of Fe3+ and PO43- constructs a stable oxygen-packed framework, which can alleviate lattice distortion, reduce the mixing of cations and increase the reversible reaction of 2 O2-/(O2)n-, contributing to outstanding structural stability. The synergetic strategy of anion and cation and the co-doping method in this work may provide some inspiration for designing the high-performance cathode materials of Lithium-ion battery.

The emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from indoor furniture contribute significantly to poor indoor air quality. We have taken a typical machine learning approach using an artificial neural network (ANN), to predict the emission behaviors of VOCs from furniture. The gas-phase VOC concentrations from four kinds of furniture (solid wood furniture, panel furniture, soft leather furniture, soft cloth furniture) were measured in a 1 m3 chamber at different temperatures, relative humidity and ventilation rates. We then used these VOC concentration data as input for training. The trained ANN model could then be used to predict VOC concentrations at other emission time. We selected a back-propagation neural network, with 3 hidden layers, and a learning rate of 0.01. Pearson correlation analysis demonstrates that there is a strong correlation between the input datasets. We used relative deviation (RD) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) as the criteria for evaluating the performance of the ANN. For all of the tested VOCs from different types of furniture, the RDs between the predictions and experimental data at 150 h, are less than 15%. The MAPE values of the ANN model are within 10%. These indicate that the trained ANN model has excellent capability in predicting the VOC concentrations from furniture. The main merit of the ANN is that it doesn't need to solve the challenging problem of obtaining the key parameters when using physical models for prediction, and will thus be very useful for indoor source characterization, as well as for exposure assessment.

This study aimed to determine whether MG-132 as a proteasome inhibitor can effectively hinder pterygium progression, and to screen out potential regulators involved in MG-132 mediated process. Human pterygium fibroblasts (HPFs) were derived from pterygium tissues from 5 patients. Cell proliferation was examined by MTT, cell cycle and apoptosis were detected by flow cytometry. The overgrowth pterygium tissues were characterized by H&E staining and IHC compared with normal tissues. Differential mRNA expression with MG-132 treatment was determined by RNA sequencing and analyzed by GO and KEGG pathways. The expression levels of Nrf2, MCPIP1, CDKN1B and XBP1, four genes closely associated with pterygium, were detected by RT-qPCR and western blotting. MG-132 dose-dependently inhibited the growth of HPFs, induced G2/M phase arrest of cell cycle at a certain dose, and also caused cell apoptosis, with the levels of cleaved caspase3, cleaved PARP, Bax and p21 increased. Ki-67 and Bcl-2 were highly expressed while Bax was decreased in pterygium tissues. Total 7199 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including HSPA family most significantly increased, and AL590428.1, AL122125.1 and lincRNAs such as FGF14-AS2 decreased. The up-regulated DEGs were mainly enriched in RNA degradation pathway, while down-regulated DEGs were related to the regulation of cell cycle. The expressions of Nrf2 and MCPIP1 were significantly increased, while XBP1 and CDKN1B were decreased. In conclusion, MG-132 inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis of HPFs in vitro with 7199 DEGs participated in, which may provide a useful reference for the exploitation of MG-132 in treating pterygium.

In recent years, Vibrio harveyi has become a significant cause of skin ulceration of Japanese pufferfish (Takifugu rubripes), and the outbreaks have been responsible for mass mortalities and high economic losses. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins (IgY) against V. harveyi infection in the T. rubripes. In the present study, hyperimmune anti-V. harveyi IgY was extracted from eggs laid by Hy-Line Brown hens immunized with formaldehyde-inactivated whole V. harveyi cells. The purity of the IgY after separation from egg yolk was approximately 82.4% as assessed by SDS-PAGE. The maximum IgY titer (ELISA) in water-soluble fractions was up to 1:130000 at week 12th of immunization of hens. In-vitro experiment revealed that the IgY inhibited the growth of V. harveyi in liquid medium by a concentration-dependent manner in the range of 1 to 10 mg/mL and on agar plates (P 0.05). Confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM) assays revealed that anti-V. harveyi IgY caused bacterial agglutination. The T. rubripes intramuscularly injected with 100 μL of V. harveyi (5.4 × 107 CFU/mL) and the IgY (10 mg/mL) showed a survival rate of 80% (P

The effect modification of meteorological factors on the association between ambient Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and mortality is critical for designing intervention policy. Existing studies did not result in consistent conclusions on the effect modification, and Years of life lost (YLLs) was rarely used as a health impact indicator to examine the modifying effect. This study aims to estimate the mean air temperature and relative humidity modification effects on the impact of SO2 on daily mortality and YLLs in Chengdu, China. Mortality, YLLs, air pollution and meteorological data were collected for 2011-2014. Three analytical approaches based on generalized additive models (GAMs) were used, including bivariate response surface model, product term model, and stratification model. We found that the effects of SO2 on mortality and YLLs depended on temperature at various lags, but did not depend on relative humidity. SO2 exhibited larger adverse effects on mortality in high temperature level (22.8-29.4°C) days than in low temperature level (-0.3-9.3°C) days, with a 10μg/m3 increment in SO2, non-accidental death increased by 0.8% (0.001, 0.015)at low temperature level, but increased by 1.4% (0.005, 0.024) at high temperature level. On the contrary, SO2 showed greater adverse effects on YLLs in low temperature days than in high temperature days, with a 10μg/m3 increment in SO2, non-accidental YLL increased by 40.580 (31.478, 49.682) at high temperature level, but increased by -2.703 (-14.668, 9.261) at low temperature level. We concluded that the effect of SO2 on mortality and YLLs may depend on temperature in Chengdu, China. Our results highlight the importance of considering the interaction between SO2 and temperature on health outcomes in future research. Also, policy makers should enhance the emission control of SO2 in extreme temperature days in Chengdu.

Many receptors in existence are composed of chiral molecules. So, chirality is one of the structural features of chemical and biological organic molecules. The role of chirality is mainly reflected in the identification and the corresponding reaction mechanism of molecular species. In this paper, we perform an intuitive visual analysis of the new nor-BPAP (bicyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinols) derivatives. The physical nature of this molecule and chirality is studied and analyzed by combining the two-dimensional (2D) map and three-dimensional (3D) map of its excited state. We characterize the transition magnetic dipole moment (TMDM), the transition electric dipole moment (TEDM), the transition electric quadrupole moment (TEQM), and their tensor product. In this way, the electrical and magnetic interactions can be well visually analyzed. During the process, the anisotropy of the TEDM/TMDM is derived from different chiral centers in the molecule. At the same time, the relationship among molecular vibration mode, molecular Raman optical activity (ROA) and the molecular chiral structure is also analyzed. The ROA spectrum reverses because the group responses based on different vibration modes of the chiral molecules.

The usage patterns of EVs is a great concern in Shanghai as the city with the largest number of EVs. Their usage patterns are investigated based on time series association and segmentation of historical static EV data from the real world. The results show that both BEV and PHEV are mostly used as commuting vehicles with an average speed of EVs of less than 25 km/h and about 80% of EVs travel within 60 km per day. Although there is no big difference between the speed of EVs and other models during the morning and evening rush hours, low-speed EVs have a significant environmental advantage over fuel vehicles. About 30% EVs have a relatively concentrated charging time between 21:00–24:00 while PHEVs with small battery capacity still present a small charging peak at about 9:00 in the morning in order to continue to travel with electricity on the way home. The charging locations in urban center are more intensive than those in suburban areas and EVs are charged more frequently in summer than in winter. It is necessary to optimize the layout of charging piles and orderly charging of EVs in the case of no capacity expansion of power transmission and distribution lines. The actual electricity consumption per 100 km of BEV or PHEV is greater than that provided by the manufacturer due to air conditioning energy consumption and complex driving conditions. The results are helpful to promote the development of EVs and layout of charging piles.

Cloverleaf skull is a complex skull deformity named after its cloverleaf shape. The primary pathogenic factor is craniosynostosis. Craniosynostosis could result in limited development of skull, brain, maxillofacial and nervous system, thus arising a series of complex syndromes, including Crouzon, Apert, Pfeiffer, Saethre-Chotzen and Muenke syndromes. Craniosynostosis syndromes exhibit a group of similar symptoms because of the mutual cause, craniosynostosis, with Crouzon syndrome being the most common one. At present, the surgical approach for Craniosynostosis syndromes has been established and generally accepted, including a series of surgical interventions in stages according to patients' age, severity and function of skull malformation. It's a large, complex, long time span deformity correcting procedure with formidable limitations, including high risk, expensive cost, quantity shortage of qualified surgeons and unsatisfactory successful rate for complicated cases. Hence, a new nonsurgical therapy for patients with craniosynostosis syndromes is seriously needed. A concept of Dynamic Cranial Suture Management (DCSM) was introduced. It includes objective and evaluable monitoring tools and craniosynostosis patent modifying drugs or medications tools which consist of regulatory factors for osteoclasts, osteoblasts and mesenchymal stem cells. By using these tools alternatively in different skull developing stages, DCSM is designed to prevent craniosynostosis. A Crouzon syndrome case was also presented.

In this paper, the eco-unburned permeable bricks were prepared by simulating the actual production, using steel slag as aggregates and multi-solid waste as cementitious materials. The flexural strength, water permeability coefficient, leaching toxicity and environmental sustainability of permeable bricks were determined. The prepared permeable bricks with a size of 200*100*50 mm and an average weight of 2.15 kg had a flexural strength of 4.5 MPa and a water permeability coefficient of 10.5 × 10-2 cm/s. The solid waste utilization rate reached as high as 96%. The partial f-CaO in steel slag particles was effectively digested and the remaining content was only 2.11% by controlling the curing conditions properly. The results of leaching toxicity test confirmed that the unburned permeable brick will not cause secondary pollution. Compared with the permeable bricks prepared from original materials, the SUB-RAW index of the eco-unburned permeable bricks reached 0.303, proving that it was beneficial to the environment. Therefore, the steel slag based eco-unburned permeable bricks developed in this paper can be used in industrial scale production and have broad application prospects.

Silicon monoxide (SiO), a prospective anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), has drawn the extensive attention of many researchers. In this work, we coated nitrogen, phosphorus (N, P) binary doped carbon onto the surface of SiO by homogeneous mixing gelatin, melamine, phosphate and SiO along with subsequent pyrolysis. Higher electronic conductivity and lithium-ion diffusion coefficient obtained by the synergistic effect of the N, P binary doping, make the modified SiO-based anode exhibit preferable electrochemical performance. Specifically, the as-prepared anode material delivered a reversible capacity of 1223 mAh g−1 at 100 mA g−1, and had capacity retention of 98% after 200 cycles at 1000 mA g−1, while the raw SiO only retained 14%. This work will be committed to providing a possible method of preparing a practical anode material for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

PAX6 is a master regulatory gene involved in neuronal cell fate specification. It also plays a critical role in early eye field and subsequent limbal stem cell (LSC) determination during eye development. Defects in Pax6 cause aniridia and LSC deficiency in humans and the Sey (Small eye) phenotype in mice (Massé, K., Bhamra, S., Eason, R., Dale, N., and Jones, E. A. (2007) Nature 449, 1058-1062). However, how PAX6 specifies LSC and corneal fates during eye development is not well understood. Here, we show that PAX6 is expressed in the primitive eye cup and later in corneal tissue progenitors in early embryonic development. In contrast, p63 expression commences after that of PAX6 in ocular adnexal and skin tissue progenitors and later in LSCs. Using an in vitro feeder-free culture system, we show that PAX6 knockdown in LSCs led to up-regulation of skin epidermis-specific keratins concomitant with differentiation to a skin fate. Using gene expression analysis, we identified the involvement of Notch, Wnt, and TGF-β signaling pathways in LSC fate determination. Thus, loss of PAX6 converts LSCs to epidermal stem cells, as demonstrated by a switch in the keratin gene expression profile and by the appearance of congenital dermoid tissue.

To improve anaerobic digestion efficiency, combination pretreatment of alkaline and high pressure homogenization was applied to pretreat sewage sludge. Effect of alkaline dosage on anaerobic sludge digestion was investigated in detail. SCOD of sludge supernatant significantly increased with the alkaline dosage increase after the combined pretreatment because of sludge disintegration. Organics were significantly degraded after the anaerobic digestion, and the maximal SCOD, TCOD and VS removal was 73.5%, 61.3% and 43.5%, respectively. Cumulative biogas production, methane content in biogas and biogas production rate obviously increased with the alkaline dosage increase. Considering both the biogas production and alkaline dosage, the optimal alkaline dosage was selected as 0.04 mol/L. Relationships between biogas production and sludge disintegration showed that the accumulative biogas was mainly enhanced by the sludge disintegration. The methane yield linearly increased with the DDCOD increase as Methane yield (ml/gVS)=4.66 DDCOD-9.69.

To improve the biogas production from corn stovers, a new bionic reactor was designed and constructed. The bionic reactor simulated the rumen digestion of ruminants. The liquid was separated from corn stovers and refluxed into corn stovers again, which simulated the undigested particles separated from completely digested materials and fed back again for further degradation in ruminant stomach. Results showed that the bionic reactor was effective for anaerobic digestion of corn stovers. The liquid amount and its reflux showed an obvious positive correlation with biogas production. The highest biogas production rate was 21.6 ml/gVS-added d, and the total cumulative biogas production was 256.5 ml/gVS-added. The methane content in biogas ranged from 52.2% to 63.3%. The degradation of corn stovers were greatly enhanced through simulating the animal digestion mechanisms in this bionic reactor.

Vision impairment caused by loss of retinal neurons affects millions of people worldwide, and currently, there is no effective treatment. Müller glia of mammalian retina may represent an under-recognized and potential source for regeneration of a wide range of retinal cell types, including retinal ganglion cells and photoreceptors. Here, we demonstrated that mouse Müller glia cells have the capacity to be reprogrammed into the retinal neuronal cell fate and are competent to give rise to photoreceptors under a defined culture condition. Inactivation of p53 released proliferation restriction of Müller glia and significantly enhanced the induction of retinal progenitor from Müller glia in culture. Moreover, following the ocular transplantation, the Müller glia-derived progenitors were differentiated toward the fates of photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells. Together, these results demonstrate the feasibility of using Müller glia as a potential source for retinal repair and regeneration.

Based on a butt-joint configuration assembled from transparent glass and stainless steel, the dynamic keyhole profile was observed during 10-kW fiber laser welding. The “gauffers” and vapor flow on the front keyhole wall moved downwards to the bottom of the keyhole. The downward-flowing vapor met the upward-flowing vapor at the bottom of the keyhole, which resulted in a whirlpool of vapor. The suspended droplets were drove to move in a random fashion by the whirlpool. The fluctuating vapor flow and pressure were the key factors causing the fluctuating keyhole wall and resulting in a vapor-generated wave (VGW) on the rear keyhole wall. The dynamic VGW was a very important factor affecting the dynamic welding process. When the VGW broke at the keyhole outlet, it was accompanied by swellings, spatter, columns, a decrease of the diameter of keyhole inlet, and a change in the direction of plume.

Cell transplantation is a potential therapeutic strategy for retinal degenerative diseases involving the loss of photoreceptors. However, it faces challenges to clinical translation due to safety concerns and a limited supply of cells. Human retinal progenitor cells (hRPCs) from fetal neural retina are expandable in vitro and maintain an undifferentiated state. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic potential of hRPCs transplanted into a Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat model of retinal degeneration. At 12 weeks, optokinetic response showed that hRPC-grafted eyes had significantly superior visual acuity compared with vehicle-treated eyes. Histological evaluation of outer nuclear layer (ONL) characteristics such as ONL thickness, spread distance, and cell count demonstrated a significantly greater preservation of the ONL in hRPC-treated eyes compared with both vehicle-treated and control eyes. The transplanted hRPCs arrested visual decline over time in the RCS rat and rescued retinal morphology, demonstrating their potential as a therapy for retinal diseases. We suggest that the preservation of visual acuity was likely achieved through host photoreceptor rescue. We found that hRPC transplantation into the subretinal space of RCS rats was well tolerated, with no adverse effects such as tumor formation noted at 12 weeks after treatment.

In this paper, a pulsed fiber-laser dressing method for bronze-bonded diamond wheels was studied systematically and comprehensively. The mechanisms for the laser dressing of bronze-bonded diamond wheels were theoretically analyzed, and the key processing parameters that determine the results of laser dressing, including the laser power density, pulse overlap ratio, ablation track line overlap ratio, and number of scanning cycles, were proposed for the first time. Further, the effects of these four key parameters on the oxidation-damaged layer of the material surface, the material removal efficiency, the material surface roughness, and the average protrusion height of the diamond grains were explored and summarized through pulsed laser ablation experiments. Under the current experimental conditions, the ideal values of the laser power density, pulse overlap ratio, ablation track line overlap ratio, and number of scanning cycles were determined to be 4.2 × 107 W/cm2, 30%, 30%, and 16, respectively. Pulsed laser dressing experiments were conducted on bronze-bonded diamond wheels using the optimized processing parameters; next, both the normal and tangential grinding forces produced by the dressed grinding wheel were measured while grinding alumina ceramic materials. The results revealed that the normal and tangential grinding forces produced by the laser-dressed grinding wheel during grinding were smaller than those of grinding wheels dressed using the conventional mechanical method, indicating that the pulsed laser dressing technology provides irreplaceable advantages relative to the conventional mechanical dressing method.

This paper aims to present the dynamic behaviors of spatter formation, and to clarify the spatter formation mechanisms in the high-power fiber laser welding of a thick plate at low welding speeds. We used a modified “sandwich” specimen to directly observe the geometry of the longitudinal keyhole wall. The dynamic behaviors of the keyhole, vapor plume, and melt pool with the formation of spatters were observed using high-speed imaging. The mechanisms of the formation of the spatter ejected from the top and bottom surfaces were analyzed. The recoil momentum associated with the energized vapor plume jet acts on the tips of the gauffers on the front keyhole wall and micro-droplets inside the keyhole, thereby resulting in the formation of high-speed micro-spatter. At partial penetration, the spatter ejected from the keyhole inlet is influenced mainly by the upward melt flow above the keyhole, melt displacement around the keyhole, and the strong shear stream of the directed vapor plume force. Moreover, some spatter droplets are accelerated through the vapor plume outside the keyhole. At full penetration of the melt, spatters are generated when the downward momentum of the melt due to downward flow and gravity, or vapor burst with an open keyhole, exceeds the surface tension forces. At full penetration of the keyhole, the crucial driving force for spatter generation is the viscous friction drag associated with high-speed motion of the energized vapor plume through the open keyhole. The welding process evolves into almost a cutting process at a lower welding speed.

The cobalt oxide (CoO and Co 3 O 4 ) thin films were successfully prepared using a spin-coating technique by a chemical solution method with CH 3 OCH 2 CH 2 OH and Co(NO 3 ) 2 ·6H 2 O as starting materials. The grayish cobalt oxide films had uniform crystalline grains with less than 50 nm in diameter. The phase structure is able to tailor by controlling the annealing atmosphere and temperature, in which Co 3 O 4 thin film was obtained by annealing in air at 300–600, and N 2 at 300, and transferred to CoO thin film by raising annealing temperature in N 2 . The fitted X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra of the Co2p electrons are distinguishable from different valence states of cobalt oxide especially for their satellite structure. The valence control of cobalt oxide thin films by annealing atmosphere contributes to the tailored optical absorption property.

EGF receptor transactivation has been known for more than ten years. It is a signal pathway in which a G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signal leads to release of a growth factor, which in turn activates the EGF receptor-tyrosine kinase in the same or adjacent cells. Astrocytes express a number of GPCRs and play key roles in brain function. Astrocytic transactivation is of special interest, since its autocrine effect may regulate gene expression and alter cell functions in the cells themselves and its paracrine effect may provide additional opportunities for cross-talk between astrocytes and their neighbors, such as neurons. The signal pathways of EGF transactivation are complicated. This does not only apply to the pathways leading to shedding of growth factor(s), but also to the downstream signal pathways of the EGF receptor, i.e., MAPK and PI3K. The latter may vary according to the type of growth factor released, the sites of tyrosine phosphorylation on the EGF receptor, and the duration of the phosphorylation. Using primary cell cultures we have found that dexmedetomidine, a specific alpha(2)-adrenergic receptor, induced shedding of HB-EGF from astrocytes, which in turn transactivated EGF receptors and stimulated astrocytic c-Fos and FosB expression. At the same time released HB-EGF protected neurons from injury caused by H(2)O(2). We have also confirmed dexmedetomidine transactivation in the brain in vivo. EGF transactivation by 5-HT(2B) receptor stimulation was responsible for up-regulation of cPLA(2) in astrocytes by fluoxetine, an antidepressant and inhibitor of the serotonin transporter, which also is a specific 5-HT(2B) agonist.

This paper completely characterizes the set of equilibria of the Vickrey auction for multiple identical units when buyers have non-increasing marginal valuations and there are at least three potential buyers. There are two types of equilibria: In the first class of equilibria there are positive bids below the maximum valuation. In this class, above a threshold value all bidders bid truthfully on all units. One of the bidders bids at the threshold for any unit for which his valuation is below the threshold; the other bidders bid zero in this range. In the second class of equilibria there are as many bids at or above the maximum valuation as there are units. The allocation of these bids is arbitrary across bidders. All the remaining bids equal zero. With any positive reserve price equilibrium becomes unique: Bidders bid truthfully on all units for which their valuation exceeds the reserve price.

Combination therapy with multiple drugs is a common practice in the treatment of cancer. The promising clinical activity of docetaxel has promoted considerable interest in combining it with other antitumor agents. To determine whether cucurbitacin B can enhance chemosensitivity to docetaxel in laryngeal cancer, in the present study, we investigated the combined antitumor effect of cucurbitacin B with docetaxel on Hep-2, a human laryngeal cancer cell line. We treated Hep-2 cells with cucurbitacin B alone or in combination with docetaxel and evaluated cell growth, cell cycle distribution, and apoptosis using MTT (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) assay, flow cytometry, and fluorescent microscopy. Our results showed that, in comparison with single agent treatment, the combination of cucurbitacin B and docetaxel produced greater efficacy in growth inhibition, cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, and apoptosis induction. Measuring the modulation of regulators in the cell cycle, apoptosis and signal transductions by Western blot analysis showed that the combination effect of cucurbitacin B and docetaxel was due to suppress the expression of p-STAT3 (signal transducers and activators of transcription 3), Bcl-2, and cyclin B1. Moreover, our in vivo studies were reproduced in a mouse xenograft model, where, the combination of cucurbitacin B with docetaxel synergestively inhibited tumor growth. Together, this investigation suggests that cucurbitacin B combined with docetaxel may be a feasible strategy to enhance the effects of chemotherapy in patients with laryngeal cancer.