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FePMo12O40@PVP composite materials were synthesized with the regulation of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to control the structure. The samples were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM and UV-Vis DRS. The composite retains the Keggin-type polyoxometalates structure, exhibiting a high specific surface area that enhances photon capture efficiency. Analysis of UV-Vis DRS absorption band edge and band gap indicated that the composite was responsive to visible light. Photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) by FePMo12O40@PVP was investigated under commonly used LED light source, demonstrating excellent photocatalytic performance as 2.5 g-FePMo12O40@PVP (0.015 g) can remove 83% of RhB (10 mg/L) in 40 min. The FePMo12O40@PVP composite material demonstrated sustained moderate degradation efficiency even after undergoing three cycles of repeated use. The non-covalent interaction and strong interfacial coupling between PVP and FePMo12O40 promoted the transfer of h+, and e−, ∙O2−, ·OH, and h+ served as the primary active species in this photocatalytic system. This environmentally friendly material has the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption and offers valuable insights for the future treatment of dye wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical properties of porcupine quills have attracted the interest of researchers due to their unique structure and composition. However, there is still a knowledge gap in understanding how these properties can be utilized to design biomimetic structures with enhanced performance. This study delves into the nanomechanical and macro-mechanical properties of porcupine quills, unveiling varied elastic moduli across different regions and cross sections. The results indicated that the elastic moduli of the upper and lower epidermis were higher at 8.13 ± 0.05 GPa and 7.71 ± 0.14 GPa, respectively, compared to other regions. In contrast, the elastic modulus of the mid-dermis of the quill mid-section was measured to be 7.16 ± 0.10 GPa. Based on the micro- and macro-structural analysis of porcupine quills, which revealed distinct variations in elastic moduli across different regions and cross sections, various biomimetic porous structures (BPSs) were designed. These BPSs were inspired by the unique properties of the quills and aimed to replicate and enhance their mechanical characteristics in engineering applications. Compression, torsion, and impact tests illustrated the efficacy of structures with filled hexagons and circles in improving performance. This study showed enhancements in maximum torsional load and crashworthiness with an increase in filled structures. Particularly noteworthy was the biomimetic porous circular structure 3 (BPCS_3), which displayed exceptional achievements in average energy absorption (28.37 J) and specific energy absorption (919.82 J/kg). Finally, a response surface-based optimization method is proposed to enhance the design of the structure under combined compression-torsion loads, with the goal of reducing mass and deformation. This research contributes to the field of biomimetics by exploring the potential applications of porcupine quill-inspired structures in fields such as robotics, drive shafts, and aerospace engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting the moisture content of grain accurately and rapidly has important significance for harvesting, transport, storage, processing, and precision agriculture. There are some problems with the slow detection speeds, unstable detection, and low detection accuracy of moisture contents in corn harvesters. In that case, an online moisture detection device was designed, which is based on double capacitors. A new method of capacitance complementation and integration was proposed to eliminate the limitation of single data. The device is composed of a sampling mechanism and a double-capacitor sensor consisting of a flatbed capacitor and a cylindrical capacitor. The optimum structure size of the capacitor plates was determined by simulation optimization. In addition to this, the detection system with software and hardware was developed to estimate the moisture content. Indoor dynamic measurement tests were carried out to analyze the influence of temperature and porosity. Based on the influencing factors and capacitance, a model was established to estimate the moisture content. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) regressions between the capacitance and moisture content were built up so that the R2 values were more than 0.91. In the stability test, the standard deviation of the stability test was 1.09%, and the maximum relative error of the measurement accuracy test was 1.22%. In the dynamic verification test, the maximum error of the measurement was 4.62%, less than 5%. It provides a measurement method for the accurate, rapid, and stable detection of the moisture content of corn and other grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the common chronic microvascular complications of diabetes in which mitochondrial disorder plays an important role in its pathogenesis. The current study delved into the single-cell level transcriptome heterogeneity of mitochondrial homeostasis in db/db mice, an animal model for study of type 2 diabetes and DKD, with single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) and bulk RNA-seq analyses. From the comprehensive dataset comprising 13 meticulously captured and authenticated renal cell types, an unsupervised cluster analysis of mitochondria-related genes within the descending loop of Henle, collecting duct principal cell, endothelial, B cells and macrophage, showed that they had two types of cell subsets, i.e., health-dominant and DKD-dominant clusters. Pseudotime analysis, cell communication and transcription factors forecast resulted in identification of the hub differentially expressed genes between these two clusters and unveiled that the hierarchical regulatory network of receptor-TF-target genes was triggered by mitochondrial degeneration. Furthermore, the collecting duct principal cells were found to be regulated by the decline of Fzd7, which contributed to the impaired cellular proliferation and development, apoptosis and inactive cell cycle, as well as diminished capacity for material transport. Thereby, both scRNA-Seq and bulk RNA-Seq data from the current study elucidate the heterogeneity of mitochondrial disorders among distinct cell types, particularly in the collecting duct principal cells and B cells during the DKD progression and drug administration, which provide novel insights for better understanding the pathogenesis of DKD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of selenium (Se) in agricultural products primarily depends on the concentration of Se in soil and the ability of plants to accumulate Se. Selenium deficiency not only leads to decreased body resistance, but also increases the risk of cancer. The form and concentration of bioavailable Se is important for diet. The present study was carried out via field experiment with wheat and broad beans in soil of different Se concentrations (0, 1.12, and 11.2 kg·ha−1), which was determined based on the national standard and the team's previous experience. Results indicated that the concentration of Se in the edible organs of wheat was higher than in broad bean, while the enriched Se concentration in the root of broad bean was more than twice and three times higher than that of wheat at medium and high levels of Se, respectively. Selenomethionine, which accounted for over half of the total Se speciations, was the dominant species in the edible parts of the two crops, followed by Selenocystine and methylselenocysteine. Through the analysis of the rhizosphere soil, it was found that Fe-Mn oxide-bound Se exceeded 80% of the total Se. Additionally, there was a significant linear correlation between the Se content in the edible parts of the two crops and the Se content in the soil. Findings suggested that wheat was more favorable than broad beans as Se supplement crops in a Se-supplied field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Folic acid (FA) is a synthetic and highly stable version of folate, while 6S-5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the predominant form of dietary folate in circulation and is used as a crystalline form of calcium salt (MTHF-Ca). The current study aims to evaluate the toxicity and safety of FA and MTHF-Ca on embryonic development, with a focus on cardiovascular defects. We began to analyze the toxicity of FA and MTHF-Ca in zebrafish from four to seventy-two hours postfertilization and assessed the efficacy of FA and MTHF-Ca in a zebrafish angiogenesis model. We then analyzed the differently expressed genes in in vitro fertilized murine blastocysts cultured with FA and MTHF-Ca. By using gene-expression profiling, we identified a novel gene in mice that encodes an essential eukaryotic translation initiation factor (Eif1ad7). We further applied the morpholino-mediated gene-knockdown approach to explore whether the FA inhibition of this gene (eif1axb in zebrafish) caused cardiac development disorders, which we confirmed with qRT-PCR. We found that FA, but not MTHF-Ca, could inhibit angiogenesis in zebrafish and result in abnormal cardiovascular development, leading to embryonic death owing to the downregulation of eif1axb. MTHF-Ca, however, had no such cardiotoxicity, unlike FA. The current study thereby provides experimental evidence that FA, rather than MTHF-Ca, has cardiovascular toxicity in early embryonic development and suggests that excessive supplementation of FA in perinatal women may be related to the potential risk of cardiovascular disorders, such as congenital heart disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) triggered by ultrasound (US) has attracted increasing attention owing to its ability to overcome critical limitations, including low tissue-penetration depth and phototoxicity in photodynamic therapy (PDT). Biogenic metal oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have been used as anti-cancer drugs due to their biocompatibility properties with most biological systems. Here, sonosensitizer MWO4-PEG NPs (M = Fe Mn Co Ni) were synthesized as inhibitors to activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), thus neutralizing the extensive carcinogenesis of AID in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). The physiological properties of these nanomaterials were examined using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The inhibition of NPs to AID was primarily identified by the affinity interaction prediction between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and AID through molecular dynamics and molecular docking technology. The cell apoptosis and ROS generation in US-triggered NPs treated DLBCL cells (with high levels of AID) were also detected to indicate the sonosensitivity and toxicity of MWO4-PEG NPs to DLBCL cells. The anti-lymphoma studies using DLBCL and AID-deficient DLBCL cell lines indicated a concentration-dependent profile. The synthesized MWO4-PEG NPs in this study manifested good sonodynamic inhibitory effects to AID and well treatment for AID-positive hematopoietic cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence has demonstrated that either metabolites or intestinal microbiota are involved in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and diabetic kidney disease (DKD). To explore the interaction between plasma metabolomics and intestinal microbiome in the progress of T2D-DKD, in the current study, we analyzed metabolomics in the plasma of db/db mice with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry and also examined intestinal prokaryotes and entire gut microbiome dysbiosis at the genus level with both 16S rDNA and metagenomic sequencing techniques. We found that Negativibacillus and Rikenella were upregulated, while Akkermansia, Candidatus, Erysipelatoclostridium and Ileibacterium were downregulated in the colon of db/db mice compared with non-diabetic controls. In parallel, a total of 91 metabolites were upregulated, while 23 were downregulated in the plasma of db/db mice. The top five upregulated metabolites included D-arabinose 5-phosphate, estrone 3-sulfate, L-theanine, 3′-aenylic acid and adenosine 5′-monophosphate, and the five most significantly downregulated metabolites were aurohyocholic acid sodium salt, calcium phosphorylcholine chloride, tauro-alpha-muricholic acid sodium salt, galactinol and phosphocholine. These plasma metabolites were interacted with intestinal microbiomes, which are mainly involved in the pathways related to the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, fatty acid elongation, steroid biosynthesis, and D-arginine and D-ornithine metabolism. In the differential metabolites, N-acetyl-L-ornithine, ornithine and L-kyn could be metabolized by the correspondingly differential ontology genes in the intestinal metagenome. The current study thereby provides evidence for a gut–metabolism–kidney axis in the metabolism of db/db mice, in which the gut microbiome and circulating metabolomics interact, and suggests that information from this axis may contribute to our understanding of T2D and DKD pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shear strength is important for the application of Larix kaempferi (Lamb) Carr. The structural difference between earlywood and latewood of Larix kaempferi affects its mechanical properties, especially shear strength. The microstructures of earlywood and latewood in Larix kaempferi, however, are different. In this study, we investigated the shear strength and shear failure mode in the RL direction of 40 Larix kaempferi specimens. The results demonstrated that the initial crack appears in any location of a growth ring, whereas shear failure is concentrated in earlywood, as well as the junction between earlywood and latewood. The destruction of earlywood is the tear destruction, whereas when the destruction happened in the junction of earlywood and latewood, one to three earlywood cells usually adhered to latewood. At the cell wall level, the shear failure of earlywood was mostly observed in the direction of the microfibril angle (MFA). When the crack occurs in latewood, the destruction of latewood also occurs in the intercellular layer and preserves the complete morphology of tracheids. When destruction occurs in the wood ray, the ray cells detach intact from the tracheids. The failure mode is determined by the microstructure of earlywood and latewood. Our research suggests that the density, cell wall thickness, and MFA have significant differences between earlywood and latewood. The earlywood was found to have an MFA of 25.4°, a cell wall thickness of 6.36 µm, and a density of 0.39 g/cm3. The MFA, cell wall thickness, and density of latewood density were 17.60°, 12.37 µm, and 0.78 g/cm3, respectively. However, there was no significant difference found in the crystallinity between the earlywood (43.97%) and latewood (42.79%). The correlation between the microstructures and shear strength showed that earlywood with a thin cell wall, large MFA, and low density had poor shear performance, while the latewood with a thicker tracheid, smaller MFA, and higher density had better shear performance. Therefore, when shear failure occurred, it occurred in earlywood. We thus deduced that the MFA, cell wall thickness, and density of earlywood synergically affect the shear strength in the RL direction of L. kaempferi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the physical and mechanical properties of poplar clones, and explore a method for their quick evaluation, the air dry density, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE), and compressive strength parallel to grains of three new bred poplar clones were explored and the prediction models with the highest accuracy were established by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRs). Clone 50 (Populus deltoides CL. '55/65′) had the highest air dry density, MOR, MOE, and compressive strength parallel to grains in the three clones. For clone 50 and 108 (Populus euramericana cv. 'Guariento'), the mechanical properties of sapwood were better than those of heartwood, and the sapwood of clone 50 also had a better air dry density than that of heartwood. There were significant positive correlations between the air dry density and mechanical properties, with correlation coefficients above 0.68. Prediction models with better effects could be obtained by using information on the cross section for the air dry density and mechanical properties. First derivative+ Savitzky–Golay (S-G) smoothing methods were employed for the air dry density and MOR, and multiple scattering correction (MSC)+ S-G smoothing methods were used when establishing prediction models of MOE and compressive strength parallel to grains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Laser time transfer is of great significance in timing and global time synchronization. However, the temperature drift may occur and affect the delay of the electronics system, optic generation and detection system. This paper proposes a post-processing method for the compensation of temperature-induced system delay, which does not require any changes to the hardware setup. The temperature drift and time stability of the whole system are compared with and without compensation. The results show that the propagation delay drift as high as 240 ps caused by temperature changes is compensated. The temperature drift coefficient was diminished down to ~0.05 ps/°C from ~20.0 ps/°C. The system precision was promoted to ~2 ps from ~11 ps over a time period of 80,000 s. This method performs significant compensation of single-photon laser time transfer system propagation drift and will help to establish an ultra-stable laser time transfer link in space applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of hydrological forecasting, there are uncertainties in data input, model parameters, and model structure, which cause a deterministic forecasting to fail to provide useful risk information to decision-makers. Therefore, the study of ensemble forecasting and the analysis of hydrological uncertainty are of great significance to guide the actual operation of reservoirs in the flood season. This study proposed a Bayesian ensemble forecast method, comprising of a Gaussian mixture model (GMM), a hydrological uncertainty processer (HUP), and an Autoregressive (AR) model. First, the GMM is selected as the marginal distribution function to estimate the uncertainty of observed and modelled data. Next, the AR model is used to correct the forecast rainfall data. Then, a modified HUP is used to deal with the uncertainty of hydrological model structure and rainfall input data. In the end, the ensemble flow forecast results are composed of the expected values of the posterior distribution obtained by HUP under different rainfall conditions. Taking the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) as a case study, the ensemble flow prediction in the forecast period is calculated by using the above method. Results show that the method proposed in this paper can improve the accuracy of runoff forecasts and reduce the uncertainty of the hydrological forecast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compressive single-pixel imaging (CSPI) is a novel imaging scheme that retrieves images with nonpixelated detection. It has been studied intensively for its minimum requirement of detector resolution and capacity to reconstruct image with underdetermined acquisition. In practice, CSPI is inevitably involved with noise. It is thus essential to understand how noise affects its imaging process, and more importantly, to develop effective strategies for noise compression. In this work, two ypes of noise classified as multiplicative and additive noises are discussed. A normalized compressive reconstruction scheme is firstly proposed to counteract multiplicative noise. For additive noise, two types of compressive algorithms are studied. We find that pseudo-inverse operation could render worse reconstructions with more samplings in compressive sensing. This problem is then solved by introducing zero-mean inverse measurement matrix. Both experiment and simulation results show that our proposed algorithms significantly surpass traditional methods. Our study is believed to be helpful in not only CSPI but also other denoising works when compressive sensing is applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed wind power (DWP) needs to be consumed locally under a 110 kV network without reverse power flow in China. To maximize the use of DWP, this paper proposes a novel method for capacity planning of DWP with participation of the energy storage system (ESS) in multiple scenarios by means of a variable-structure copula and optimization theory. First, wind power and local load are predicted at the planning stage by an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model, then, variable-structure copula models are established based on different time segment strategies to depict the correlation of DWP and load, and the joint typical scenarios of DWP and load are generated by clustering, and a capacity planning model of DWP is proposed considering investment and operation cost, and environmental benefit and line loss cost under typical scenario conditions. Moreover, a collaborative capacity planning model for DWP and ESS is prospectively proposed. Based on the modified IEEE-33 bus system, the results of the case study show that the DWP capacity result is more reasonable after considering the correlation of wind and load by using a variable-structure copula. With consideration of the collaborative planning of DWP and load, the consumption of DWP is further improved, the annual cost of the system is more economical, and the quality of voltage is effectively improved. The study results validate the proposed method and provide effective reference for the planning strategy of DWP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipogenesis plays a critical role in the growth and metastasis of tumors, which is becoming an attractive target for anti-tumor drugs. RA-XII, one of the cyclopeptide glycosides isolated from Rubia yunnanensis, exerts anti-tumor effects on liver cancer. However, the underlying mechanisms are not clear. In the present study, the effects of RA-XII on lipogenesis were evaluated and the underlying mechanisms were investigated. The results indicated that RA-XII strongly inhibited tumor growth and lipogenesis (triglycerides and lipid droplets) in HepG2 cells, and the expression of key factors involved in lipogenesis (SREBP, SCD, FASN) was also obviously downregulated. Further investigation showed that the anti-tumor effects of RA-XII were attenuated by SREBP knockdown. Moreover, RA-XII downregulated the expression of SREBP cleavage-activating protein (SCAP), an upstream regulator of SREBP, and siRNA of SCAP prevented its restrained effects on tumor growth and lipogenesis. In addition, the in vivo experiment showed that RA-XII strongly restrained the lipogenesis and growth of liver tumor in nude mice xenograft model. Taken together, these results indicate that RA-XII suppresses the liver cancer growth by inhibition of lipogenesis via SCAP-dependent SREBP suppression. The findings reveal the potentials of RA-XII to be used in a novel therapeutic approach for treating liver cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dropshaft structure is usually applied in an urban drainage system to connect the shallow pipe network and the deep tunnel. By using the renormalization group (RNG) k~ε turbulence model with a volume of fluid method, the flow pattern and the maximum relative water depth over a stepped dropshaft with a different central angle of step were numerically investigated. The calculated results suggested that the flow in the stepped dropshaft was highly turbulent and characterized by deflection during the jet caused by the curvature of the sidewall. According to the pressure distribution on the horizontal step and the flow pattern above the step, the flow field was partitioned into the recirculating region, the wall-impinging region and the mixing region. In addition, with the increase in the central angle of step, the scope of the wall-impinging region and the mixing region increased and the scope of the recirculating region remained nearly unchanged. The maximum water depth increased with the increase in discharge. In the present work we have shown that, as the value of the central angle of step increased, the maximum water depth decreased initially and increased subsequently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy supply and information backhaul are critical problems for wireless sensor networks deployed in remote places with poor infrastructure. To deal with these problems, this paper proposes an airborne massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system for wireless energy transfer (WET) and information transmission. An air platform (AP) equipped with a two-dimensional rectangular antenna array is employed to broadcast energy and provide wireless access for ground sensors. By exploiting the statistical property of air-terrestrial MIMO channels, the energy and information beamformers are jointly designed to maximize the average received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), which gives rise to a statistical max-SINR beamforming scheme. The scheme does not rely on the instantaneous channel state information, but still requires large numbers of RF chains at AP. To deal with this problem, a heuristic strongest-path energy and information beamforming scheme is proposed, which can be implemented in the analog-domain with low computational and hardware complexity. The analysis of the relation between the two schemes reveals that, with proper sensor scheduling, the strongest-path beamforming is equivalent to the statistical max-SINR beamforming when the number of AP antennas tends to infinity. Using the asymptotic approximation of average received SINR at AP, the system parameters, including transmit power, number of active antennas of AP and duration of WET phase, are optimized jointly to maximize the system energy efficiency. The simulation results demonstrate that the proposed schemes achieve a good tradeoff between system performance and complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver cancer is a progressive, irreversible and aggressive malignant disease, which has no effective chemotherapeutic drugs. RA-XII, a natural cyclopeptide isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine Rubia yunnanensis , exerts anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory activities. This work aimed to investigate the effects of RA-XII on a hepatic tumor and its underlying mechanisms in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The results showed that RA-XII effectively inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells. Consistently, RA-XII significantly induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells by decreasing the expression of caspase 3, 8, 9, and promoting the Cleavage of PARP. Moreover, RA-XII-induced apoptosis was attenuated in the presence of apoptosis inhibitor N-Benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp (O-Me) fluoromethyl keton, suggesting that RA-XII induced apoptosis-cell-death in HepG2 cells. Furthermore, autophagy-related proteins and mRNA levels were dramatically reduced after RA-XII treatment. Meanwhile, we observed that autophagy inhibitor chloroquine could enhance apoptosis in RA-XII-treated HepG2 cells, indicating that autophagy played a protective role in HepG2 cells and RA-XII might inhibit protective autophagy. Further analysis showed that RA-XII inhibited AMPK phosphorylation and led to the mTOR/P70S6K pathway activation, suggesting that RA-XII inhibited autophagy through AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K pathways. This study demonstrated that RA-XII promoted apoptosis and inhibited protective autophagy through AMPK/mTOR/P70S6K pathways in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, these findings suggest that RA-XII might potentially be a candidate as an autophagy inhibitor agent for further therapy of liver cancer., Competing Interests: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.