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In the rapidly evolving online marketplace, accurately predicting the demand for pre-owned items presents a significant challenge for sellers, impacting pricing strategies, product presentation, and marketing investments. Traditional demand prediction methods, while foundational, often fall short in addressing the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of e-commerce data, which encompasses textual descriptions, visual elements, geographic contexts, and temporal dynamics. This paper introduces a novel approach utilizing the Graph Neural Network (GNN) to enhance demand prediction accuracy by leveraging the spatial relationships inherent in online sales data, named SGNN. Drawing from the rich dataset provided in the fourth Kaggle competition, we construct a spatially aware graph representation of the marketplace, integrating advanced attention mechanisms to refine predictive accuracy. Our methodology defines the product demand prediction problem as a regression task on an attributed graph, capturing both local and global spatial dependencies that are fundamental to accurate predicting. Through attention-aware message propagation and node-level demand prediction, our model effectively addresses the multifaceted challenges of e-commerce demand prediction, demonstrating superior performance over traditional statistical methods, machine learning techniques, and even deep learning models. The experimental findings validate the effectiveness of our GNN-based approach, offering actionable insights for sellers navigating the complexities of the online marketplace. This research not only contributes to the academic discourse on e-commerce demand prediction but also provides a scalable and adaptable framework for future applications, paving the way for more informed and effective online sales strategies.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of applying arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on maize root growth and yield formation under different soil conditions. This study was conducted under sandy soil (S) and saline–alkali soil (Y), with treatments of AMF application (AM) and no AMF application (CK). The root characteristics, yield, and quality of maize were measured. High-throughput sequencing technology was employed to assess the impact of AMF on the soil microbial community structure, and the correlation between soil microbes and soil physicochemical properties was elucidated. The results show that under both sandy and saline–alkali soil conditions, AMF application significantly enhanced maize root growth, yield, grain quality, and soil available nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and available potassium (AK) contents compared to the CK treatment. Soil microbial Alpha diversity analysis indicated that AMF application effectively increased soil microbial diversity and richness. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and microbial community structure analysis revealed significant differences in bacterial communities between AM treatment in sandy soil (SAM) and CK in sandy soil (SCK), and significant differences in both bacterial and fungal communities between AM treatment in saline–alkali soil (YAM) and CK in saline–alkali soil (YCK). Furthermore, significant correlations between microbial communities and soil physicochemical properties were found, such as AN, AP, AK, soil salinity (SS), and organic matter (OM) content. AMF application had a greater impact on bacterial communities than on fungal communities. This study demonstrated that the use of AMF as a bio-fungal fertilizer was effective in improving spring maize yields, especially in terms of yield increase and quality stability in sandy and saline soils, thereby contributing to safe and sustainable cropping practices.

In a study aimed at developing a rapid and nondestructive method for testing the quality of strawberries, spectral data from four strawberry varieties at different ripening stages were collected using a geophysical spectrometer, primarily focusing on the 350–1800 nm band. The spectra were preprocessed using Savitzky–Golay (SG) filtering, and characteristic bands were extracted using Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) analysis. Models for predicting strawberry quality were built using random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), partial least squares (PLS), and Gaussian regression (GPR). The results indicated that the SVM model exhibited relatively high accuracy in predicting anthocyanin, hardness, and soluble solids content in strawberries. For the test set, the SVM model achieved R2 and RMSE values of 0.81, 0.87, and 0.89, and 0.04 mg/g, 0.33 kg/cm2, and 0.72%, respectively. Additionally, the PLS model demonstrated relatively high accuracy in predicting the titratable acid content of strawberries, achieving R2 and RMSE values of 0.85 and 0.03%, respectively, for the test set. These findings provided a solid foundation for strawberry quality modeling and a veritable guide for non-destructive assessment of strawberry quality.

Two new species from China, Hymenogaster pseudoniveus and H. zunhuaensis, are described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular evidence. Hymenogaster pseudoniveus is distinguished from other species of the genus based on the color of peridium, which is snow white to white when unexcavated but then turns yellowish to earth yellow, and the basidiospores, which are ornamented with nearly longitudinally arranged ridges up to 2 μm high. H. zunhuaensis is diagnosed by its dirty white to pale yellow peridium, yellow brown to brown gleba, and the smaller (Lm × Wm = 11.7 μm × 9.8 μm) broadly ellipsoidal to subglobose basidiospores (Q = 1.1–1.3). ITS/LSU-based phylogenetic analysis supports the erection of the two new species, each placed in distinct clades with strong statistical support, suggesting that they represent two distinct species novel to science. Based on the morphological and molecular evidence, we have published two new species of Hymenogaster. A key for Hymenogaster species from China is provided.

In this study, five new species from China, Hymenogaster latisporus, H. minisporus, H. papilliformis, H. perisporius, and H. variabilis, are described and illustrated based on morphological and molecular evidence. Hymenogaster latisporus was distinguished from other species of the genus by the subglobose, broad ellipsoidal, ovoid basidiospores (average = 13.7 μm × 11.6 μm) with sparse verrucose and ridge-like ornamentation (1–1.2 μm high); H. minisporus by the ellipsoidal to broadly ellipsoidal and small basidiospores (average = 11.7 μm × 9.5 μm); H. papilliformis was characterized by the whitish to cream-colored basidiomes, and broadly fusiform to citriform basidiospores with a pronounced apex (2–3 μm, occasionally up to 4 μm high), papillary, distinct warts and ridges, and pronounced appendix (2–3 μm long); H. perisporius by the dirty white to pale yellow basidiomes, broad ellipsoidal to ellipsoidal, and yellow-brown to dark-brown basidiospores with warts and gelatinous perisporium; H. variabilis by the peridium with significant changes in thickness (167–351 μm), and broad ellipsoidal to subglobose basidiospores ornamented with sparse warts and ridges. An ITS/LSU-based phylogenetic analysis supported the erection of the five new species. A key for Hymenogaster species from northern China is provided.

The UAV industry has witnessed an unprecedented boom in recent years. Among various kinds of UAV platforms, the vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with fixed-wing configurations has received more and more attention due to its flexibility and long-distance flying abilities. However, due to the fact that the advance ratio of regular propeller systems during the cruise phase is significantly higher than that during the VTOL phase, a variable-pitch propeller system is proposed and designed which can be applied without additional propulsion mechanisms during both flying stages. Thus, a VTOL aircraft platform is proposed based on the propulsion system constructed of variable-pitch propellers, and appropriate control manners are precisely analyzed, especially during its VTOL phase. As a basic propulsion system, a nonlinear model for variable-pitch propellers is constructed, and an optimization-based control allocation module is developed because of its multi-solution and high-order characteristics. Finally, the objective function is designed according to the stability and energy consumption requirements. Simulation experiments demonstrate that the proposed controller is able to lower energy consumption and maintain the stability of the aircraft while tracking aggressive trajectories for large-scale VTOLs with noises at the same time.

Tilt-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles combine the advantages of multirotor and fixed-wing aircraft, offering features like rapid takeoff and landing, extended endurance, and wide flight conditions. This article provides a summary of the design, modeling, and control of a composite tilt-rotor. During modeling process, aerodynamic modeling was performed on the tilting and non-tilting parts based on the subcomponent modeling method, and CFD simulation analysis was conducted on the entire unmanned aerial vehicle to obtain its accurate aerodynamic characteristics. In the process of modeling the motor propeller, the reduction of motor thrust and torque due to forward flow and tilt angle velocity is thoroughly examined, which is usually ignored in most tilt UAV propeller models. In the controller design, this paper proposes a fusion ADRC control strategy suitable for vertical takeoff and landing of this type of tiltrotor. The control system framework is built using Simulink, and the control algorithm’s efficiency has been verified through simulation testing. Through the proposed control scheme, it is possible for the composite tiltrotor unmanned aerial vehicle to smoothly transition between multirotor and fixed-wing flight modes.

Wine grape quality is influenced by the variety and growing environment, and the quality of the grapes has a significant impact on the quality of the wine. Tannins are a crucial indicator of wine grape quality, and, therefore, rapid and non-destructive methods for detecting tannin content are necessary. This study collected spectral data of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay using a geophysical spectrometer, with a focus on the 500–1800 nm spectrum. The spectra were preprocessed using Savitzky–Golay (SG), first-order differential (1D), standard normal transform (SNV), and their respective combinations. Characteristic bands were extracted through correlation analysis (PCC). Models such as partial least squares (PLS), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and one-dimensional neural network (1DCNN) were used to model tannin content. The study found that preprocessing the raw spectra improved the models’ predictive capacity. The SVM–RF model was the most effective in predicting grape tannin content, with a test set R2 of 0.78, an RMSE of 0.31, and an RE of 10.71%. These results provide a theoretical basis for non-destructive testing of wine grape tannin content.

Oil-based drilling cuttings (OBDCs) contain petroleum hydrocarbons with complex compositions and high concentrations, which have highly carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic properties. In this study, three highly efficient petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were screened from OBDCs of different shale gas wells in Chongqing, China, and identified as Rhodococcus sp. and Dietzia sp. Because of their ability to degrade hydrocarbons of various chain lengths, a new method was proposed for degrading petroleum hydrocarbons in shale gas OBDCs by combining different bacterial species. Results showed that the bacterial consortium, consisting of the three strains, exhibited the highest degradation rate for petroleum hydrocarbons, capable of degrading 74.38% of long-chain alkanes and 93.57% of short-chain alkanes, respectively. Moreover, the petroleum hydrocarbon degradation performance of the bacterial consortium in actual OBDCs could reach 90.60% in the optimal conditions, and the degradation kinetic process followed a first-order kinetic model. This study provides a certain technical reserve for the bioremediation of shale gas OBDCs.

Vaccination-route-dependent adjuvanticity was identified as being associated with the specific features of antigen-carrying nanoparticles (NPs) in the present work. Here, we demonstrated that the mechanical properties and the decomposability of NP adjuvants play key roles in determining the antigen accessibility and thus the overall vaccine efficacy in the immune system when different vaccination routes were employed. We showed that soft nano-vaccines were associated with more efficient antigen uptake when administering subcutaneous (S.C.) vaccination, while the slow decomposition of hard nano-vaccines promoted antigen uptake when intravenous (I.V.) vaccination was employed. In comparison to the clinically used aluminum (Alum) adjuvant, the NP adjuvants were found to stimulate both humoral and cellular immune responses efficiently, irrespective of the vaccination route. For vaccination via S.C. and I.V. alike, the NP-based vaccines show excellent protection for mice from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection, and their survival rates are 100% after lethal challenge, being much superior to the clinically used Alum adjuvant.

Nanoparticles have been identified in numerous studies as effective antigen delivery systems that enhance immune responses. However, it remains unclear whether this enhancement is a result of increased antigen uptake when carried by nanoparticles or the adjuvanticity of the nanoparticle carriers. Consequently, it is important to quantify antigen uptake by dendritic cells in a manner that is free from artifacts in order to analyze the immune response when antigens are carried by nanoparticles. In this study, we demonstrated several scenarios (antigens on nanoparticles or inside cells) that are likely to contribute to the generation of artifacts in conventional fluorescence-based quantification. Furthermore, we developed the necessary assay for accurate uptake quantification. PLGA NPs were selected as the model carrier system to deliver EsxB protein (a Staphylococcus aureus antigen) in order to testify to the feasibility of the established method. The results showed that for the same antigen uptake amount, the antigen delivered by PLGA nanoparticles could elicit 3.6 times IL-2 secretion (representative of cellular immune response activation) and 1.5 times IL-12 secretion (representative of DC maturation level) compared with pure antigen feeding. The findings above give direct evidence of the extra adjuvanticity of PLGA nanoparticles, except for their delivery functions. The developed methodology allows for the evaluation of immune cell responses on an antigen uptake basis, thus providing a better understanding of the origin of the adjuvanticity of nanoparticle carriers. Ultimately, this research provides general guidelines for the formulation of nano-vaccines.

The study explores the influence of polycarboxylate admixture (PCE) on fluorogypsum-based self-leveling material (FSLM) performance. Wev conducted an array of tests to assess workability and mechanical properties, and utilized XRD, TG-DSC, SEM, and MIP techniques for microscopic analysis. The fresh state results showed that PCE enables FSLM to achieve good workability at lower water demand. It was found that PCE partially inhibited plaster hydration from anhydrite to dihydrate, as observed by X-ray diffraction analysis and thermogravimetric analysis, and with the increasing in PCE, the mass loss of samples reached 15.66% at 28 days. The mechanical properties and the microstructure studies proved that the optimal PCE doping level is 0.14%. At this doping level, there is an enhancement in the denseness of the hardened structure, a reduction in porosity—especially when the pores are more than 200 nm, optimization of pore size distribution, an increase in crystal aspect ratio, an enhancement in effective intergranular overlap, and a significant improvement in the 28-day flexural and compressive strength to 7.2 MPa and 36 MPa, respectively. The FSLM prepared under these conditions demonstrates good performance and meets the primary performance index requirements of the Chinese Industry Standard JC/T 1023-2021 (gypsum-based self-leveling floor compound), thereby promoting the comprehensive utilization of fluorogypsum.

Road crack detection is an important indicator of road detection. In real life, it is very meaningful work to detect road cracks. With the rapid development of science and technology, especially computer science and technology, quite a lot of methods have been applied to crack detection. Traditional detection methods rely on manual identification, which is inefficient and prone to errors. In addition, the commonly used image processing methods are affected by many factors, such as illumination, road stains, etc., so the results are unstable. In the research on pavement crack detection, many research studies mainly focus on the recognition and classification of cracks, lacking the analysis of the specific characteristics of cracks, and the feature values of cracks cannot be measured. Starting from the deep learning method in computer science and technology, this paper proposes a road crack detection technology based on deep learning. It relies on a new deep dictionary learning and encoding network DDLCN, establishes a new activation function MeLU, and adopts a new differentiable calculation method. The technology relies on the traditional Mask-RCNN algorithm and is implemented after improvement. In the comparison of evaluation indicators, the values of recall, precision, and F1-score reflect certain superiority. Experiments show that the proposed method has good implementability and performance in road crack detection and crack feature measurement.

Symmetry-deficient two-dimensional (2D) layered materials induce a highly anisotropic optical response due to the anisotropy in their crystal structure, facilitating their application in polarized nanodevices. Intercalation is a new way to tune the optoelectronic properties of materials by inserting guest atoms into layered host materials, and 2D layered structures stacked with van der Waals gaps are a prerequisite for this phase of the technique. In this paper, 2D tellurium nanosheets were synthesized with a hydrothermal method, and copper atoms were inserted with a wet chemical method. The widening of the crystal plane spacing proves the introduction of copper atoms, and polarization−related second-harmonic-generation (SHG) studies reveal the intrinsic anisotropic modes of the two samples, and birefringent properties are found with polarizing light microscopy. We further investigated the electrical properties of the samples, and the embedding of the copper atoms caused the samples to exhibit higher currents, but their devices lost the gate control effect.

Three groups of spherical WB-reinforced Co-based coatings (Co coating, Co + 15%WB coating, Co + 45%WB coating) were fabricated by laser-cladded technology. The microstructure and constituent phase of spherical WB-reinforced Co-based coatings were examined through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The low-temperature tribological properties were analyzed by coefficient of friction, 2D and 3D profiles across the wear track, and wear surface morphology, respectively. The results showed that the phases in the WB-reinforced Co-based coatings are mainly γ-Co, carbides Cr23C6 and Cr7C3, WB, and WO3. Under dry sliding friction at −20 °C, the more spherical WB, the lower the friction coefficient. The wear rate of Co + 45%WB coating was as low as 3.567 × 10−4 mm3/N·m−1, indicating the outstanding wear resistance. Abrasive wear was observed on the rough surface of the WB-added coatings. Compared with dry sliding, due to the plastic deformation of micro-convexes and lubrication function in the 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution, the wear tracks on the surfaces of the three tested coatings were shallower, exhibiting distinct elongated plough grooves.

A robust controller for the waypoint tracking of a quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed in this paper, in which position control and attitude control are effectively decoupled. Model predictive control (MPC) is employed in the position controller. The constraints of motors are imposed on the state and input variables of the optimization equation. This design effectively mitigates the nonlinearity of the attitude loop and enhances the planning efficiency of the position controller. The attitude controller is designed using a nonlinear and robust control law based on SO(3) space, which enables continuous control on the SO(3) manifold. By extending the differential flatness of the quadrotor-UAV to the angular acceleration level, the mapping of the control reference from the position controller to the attitude controller is achieved. Simulations are carried out to demonstrate the capability of the proposed controller. In the simulations, multiple aggressive flight trajectories and severe external disturbances are designed. The results show that the controller is robust, with superior accuracy in tracking aggressive trajectories.

Treatment of organic wastewater is still a difficult problem to solve. In this paper, Cu-doped SnSe powder was synthesized by a convenient and efficient hydrothermal method. Meanwhile, the degradation effect of different doping concentrations of SnSe on methylene blue was investigated. It was found that at low doping concentrations, the degradation effect on methylene blue was not obvious because Cu was dissolved in the lattice of the SnSe matrix at low concentrations. As the doping concentration increased, SnSe changed from a layered structure to a nanocluster structure with reduced particle size, and a mixed phase of SnSe and Cu2SnSe4 appeared. In fact, the degradation effect on methylene blue was significantly enhanced, and we found that the catalytic degradation effect on methylene blue was best at a doping concentration of 10 wt.%.

In recent decades, low-dimensional nanodevices have shown great potential to extend Moore’s Law. The n-type semiconductors already have several candidate materials for semiconductors with high carrier transport and device performance, but the development of their p-type counterparts remains a challenge. As a p-type narrow bandgap semiconductor, tellurium nanostructure has outstanding electrical properties, controllable bandgap, and good environmental stability. With the addition of methods for synthesizing various emerging tellurium nanostructures with controllable size, shape, and structure, tellurium nanomaterials show great application prospects in next-generation electronics and optoelectronic devices. For tellurium-based nanomaterials, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy are the main characterization methods for their morphology. In this paper, the controllable synthesis methods of different tellurium nanostructures are reviewed, and the latest progress in the application of tellurium nanostructures is summarized. The applications of tellurium nanostructures in electronics and optoelectronics, including field-effect transistors, photodetectors, and sensors, are highlighted. Finally, the future challenges, opportunities, and development directions of tellurium nanomaterials are prospected.

Highly sensitive staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) assay is of great importance for the prevention of toxic diseases caused by SEB. In this study, we present a gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-linked immunosorbent assay (ALISA) for detecting SEB in a sandwich format using a pair of SEB specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) performed in microplates. First, the detection mAb was labeled with AuNPs of different particle sizes (15, 40 and 60 nm). Then the sandwich immunosorbent assay for SEB detection was performed routinely in a microplate except for using AuNPs-labeled detection mAb. Next, the AuNPs adsorbed on the microplate were dissolved with aqua regia and the content of gold atoms was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Finally, a standard curve was drawn of the gold atomic content against the corresponding SEB concentration. The detection time of ALISA was about 2.5 h. AuNPs at 60 nm showed the highest sensitivity with an actual measured limit of detection (LOD) of 0.125 pg/mL and a dynamic range of 0.125–32 pg/mL. AuNPs at 40 nm had an actual measured LOD of 0.5 pg/mL and a dynamic range of 0.5 to 128 pg/mL. AuNPs at 15 nm had an actual measured LOD of 5 pg/mL, with a dynamic range of 5–1280 pg/mL. With detection mAb labeled with AuNPs at 60 nm, ALISA’s intra- and interassay coefficient variations (CV) at three concentrations (2, 8, and 20 pg/mL) were all lower than 12% and the average recovery level was ranged from 92.7% to 95.0%, indicating a high precision and accuracy of the ALISA method. Moreover, the ALISA method could be successfully applied to the detection of various food, environmental, and biological samples. Therefore, the successful establishment of the ALISA method for SEB detection might provide a powerful tool for food hygiene supervision, environmental management, and anti-terrorism procedures and this method might achieve detection and high-throughput analysis automatically in the near future, even though GFAAS testing remains costly at present.

The continuous emergence of Essentially Derived Varieties (EDVs) in the process of tea tree breeding will endanger and affect the innovation ability and development potential of tea tree breeding. In this study, genotyping by sequencing (GBS) technology was used to screen high-quality genomic SNPs for the first time to investigate the derived relationships of 349 tea trees from 12 provinces in China. A total of 973 SNPs uniformly covering 15 tea tree chromosomes with high discrimination capacity were screened as the core SNP set. A genetic similarity analysis showed that 136 pairs of tea trees had a genetic similarity coefficient (GS) > 90%, among which 60 varieties/strains were identified as EDVs, including 22 registered varieties (19 were indisputably EDVs). Furthermore, 21 SNPs with 100% identification of 349 tea trees were selected as rapid identification markers, of which 14 SNP markers could be used for 100% identification of non-EDV. These results provide the basis for the analysis of the genetic background of tea trees in molecular-assisted breeding.

Water use efficiency (WUE) has garnered considerable attention at global and regional levels. However, spatio-temporal variations of WUE and related influencing factors in the complex karst landforms of southwest China require further elucidation. Herein, the ratio of gross primary productivity (GPP) to evapotranspiration (ET) obtained through the PML-V2 product was used to characterize ecosystem WUE, the spatio-temporal variations to ecosystem WUE, and responses to temperature, precipitation, and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) in southwest China. The results showed that: (1) The ecosystem WUE in southwest China decreased with increasing latitude and altitude. Spatially, the ecosystem WUE fluctuates in a “W” pattern with increasing longitude because of the karst landforms’ distribution patterns. (2) The non-significant trend in increased ecosystem WUE during 2003–2017 may be associated with significant increases in the ET offsetting part of the GPP contribution to ecosystem WUE. Spatial distribution of changes in WUE is similar to GPP owing to the dominant role of GPP in changes to ecosystem WUE. (3) The multi-year average ecosystem WUE was lower in karst than in non-karst landforms; however, vegetation restoration projects have contributed in significantly increasing variation rate of ecosystem WUE in karst than that in non-karst landforms. (4) Temperature, precipitation, and EVI were generally positively correlated with ecosystem WUE and were important factors for the increase in ecosystem WUE. EVI characterized vegetation restoration indicators showed that the ecological engineering construction in the study area was effective and was the dominant factor of ecosystem WUE change in 59.59% of the study area. The results of this study are important for further understanding carbon and water cycling processes in karst regions.

The application of intravehicular robotic assistants (IRA) can save valuable working hours for astronauts in space stations. There are various types of IRA, such as an accompanying drone working in microgravity and a dexterous humanoid robot for collaborative operations. In either case, the ability to navigate and work along with human astronauts lays the foundation for their deployment. To address this problem, this paper proposes the framework of simultaneous astronaut accompanying and visual navigation. The framework contains a customized astronaut detector, an intravehicular navigation system, and a probabilistic model for astronaut visual tracking and motion prediction. The customized detector is designed to be lightweight and has achieved superior performance (AP@0.5 of 99.36%) for astronaut detection in diverse postures and orientations during intravehicular activities. A map-based visual navigation method is proposed for accurate and 6DoF localization (1~2 cm, 0.5°) in semi-structured environments. To ensure the robustness of navigation in dynamic scenes, feature points within the detected bounding boxes are filtered out. The probabilistic model is formulated based on the map-based navigation system and the customized astronaut detector. Both trajectory correlation and geometric similarity clues are incorporated into the model for stable visual tracking and trajectory estimation of the astronaut. The overall framework enables the robotic assistant to track and distinguish the served astronaut efficiently during intravehicular activities and to provide foresighted service while in locomotion. The overall performance and superiority of the proposed framework are verified through extensive ground experiments in a space-station mockup.

This work presents a novel self-organizing control method for mega constellations to meet the continuous Earth observation requirements. In order to decrease the TT&C pressure caused by numerous satellites, constellation satellites are not controlled according to the designed configurations but are controlled with respect to intersatellite constraints. By analyzing the street-of-coverage (SOC) of coplanar constellation satellites, the continuous coverage constraint of the mega constellation is transformed into constraints of the right ascension of ascending node (RAAN) and relative motion bound between every two adjacent coplanar satellites. The proposed continuous coverage constraint can be satisfied by most ongoing or planned mega constellations. Artificial potential functions (APFs) are used to realize self-organizing control. The scale-independent relative orbital elements (SIROEs) are innovatively presented as the self-organizing control variables. Using the Gaussian equations and Lyapunov’s theory, the stability of the APF control in quadratic form is proven, from which it can be concluded that the APF control variables of the controlled satellite should have the same time derivative as the target satellite states under two-body Keplerian motion condition, and SIROEs are ideal choices. The proposed controllers and self-organizing rules are verified in the sub-constellation of the GW-2 mega constellation by simulation. The results demonstrate the goodness in control effect and ground coverage performance.

The effects of different building materials on sound field characteristics of the concert hall were studied by experimental study and numerical simulations. A single non-directivity excitation sound source in situ test was carried out. The acoustic analysis model of the multifunctional concert hall was established. The reverberation time, the early decay time, the speech transmission index and the sound pressure level (SPL) were tested. The architectural treatment solutions with or without sound absorption in the design ceiling, sound absorption on the side walls, the influence of ceiling form on acoustic characteristics, and the acoustic characteristics of different positions on the first and second floors were analyzed, respectively. Simulation results show that there was little difference in reverberation time at different reception points by using the same treatment solutions, and the speech transmission index increased with the distance of the reception point. The language performance of the positions on the second was better than on the first floor. The SPL decreased with increasing distance from the receiving point. The ceiling form had no significant effects on the acoustic characteristics of the multifunctional concert hall, and the reverberation time was smaller when acoustic materials were used in the ceiling than the side walls. Meanwhile, the language transmission performance in multifunctional concert halls was improved. The difference between the maximum and minimum sound pressure levels for a sound-absorbing material ceiling is less than that of a non-sound-absorbing material.

This paper proposes a full-size and free-flying humanoid robot named Taikobot that aims to assist astronauts in a space station and maintain spacecrafts between human visits. Taikobot adopts a compact and lightweight (∼25 kg) design to work in microgravity, which also reduces launch costs and improves safety during human–robot collaboration. Taikobot’s anthropomorphic dual arm system and zero-g legs allow it to share a set of intravehicular human–machine interfaces. Unlike ground-walking robots, Taikobot maneuvers in a novel push–flight–park (PFP) strategy as an equivalent astronaut in a space station to maximize workspace and flexibility. We propose a PFP motion planning and control method based on centroidal dynamics and multi-contact model. Based on the proposed method, we carried out extensive simulations and verified the feasibility and advantages of the novel locomotion strategy. We also developed a prototype of Taikobot and carried out several ground experiments on typical scenarios where the robot collaborates with human astronauts. The experiments show that Taikobot can do some simple and repetitive tasks along with astronauts and has the potential to help astronauts improve their onboard working efficiency.

In-depth understanding of long-term evolution of mega deltas with a large population is of great significance for national sustainability development programs. However, due to insufficient satellite images and its low temporal resolution, previous studies have only roughly explored the long-term evolution. To reveal the detailed delta evolution processes, Jiuduansha (JDS) upon the Yangtze estuary, which is one of the world’s mega deltas, was taken as an example. Based on the continuous time series of 792 satellite images between 1965 and 2021, this study combined the K-means classification, probability statistics, and GIS spatial analysis to generate the annual probability waterlines. Furthermore, the continuous time series of geomorphological features, position of waterlines and centroid change were determined. The results showed that the JDS exposed area presented a rapid growth trend. Specifically, in the early period (1965–1998), it presented a natural evolution state of “the head erosion, the tail deposition, and extending to the southeast”. In the recent period (1999–2021), the evolution state changed into the engineering-dominated evolution state of “erosion in the south, deposition in the north, continuous extension to the southeast, and overall northward movement”. The accelerated deposition of JDS over the recent 20 years has been mainly attributed to human activities, including the construction of Deep-water Navigation Channels and the vegetation promoting silting, followed by the upstream and downstream sediment sources. Current results suggest the JDS is likely to be more elongated in the SE-NW direction, with erosion in the southern region.

To study the bond–slip behavior of steel–steel fiber recycled aggregate concrete, push-out tests of 16 specimens were carried out using steel fiber volume ratio, steel fiber aspect ratio, steel protective layer thickness and steel embedded length as the design parameters. In addition, the crack patterns, steel strain distribution, and load–slip curves were studied, in addition to the bond strengths of the interface between the steel–steel fiber and recycled aggregate concrete. The results showed that the fracture cracks of the specimens mainly included bond cracks and expansion cracks. For the load increase stage, the maximum strain of the steel flange was near the loading end of the steel and decreased toward the free end, while the strain changed linearly for the load descending stage. The bond–slip process between the steel–steel fiber and recycled aggregate concrete included five stages, which consisted of slight-slip, slow-slip, accelerated-slip, the sharp-slip and load-steep-drop stage, and gentle-slip stage. Additionally, the influencing factors of bond strength were analyzed, where the bond strength increased first and then decreased with increasing steel fiber volume and steel fiber aspect ratios, and the bond strength increased with increasing steel protective layer thickness. The ultimate bond strength decreased slightly with increasing steel embedded length. Finally, the equation for calculating the characteristic bond strength of the steel–steel fiber recycled aggregate concrete was established, which showed that the calculation results were in good agreement with the test results.

The emergence of molecular systematics has greatly helped researchers to identify fungal species. China has abundant Otidea species resources, and a number of new species of Otidea have been recently proposed. However, many old specimens in herbaria are mainly identified by morphology rather than molecular methods. In this study, 11 specimens deposited in Chinese herbaria and one newly collected Otidea species from northern China were identified based on morphological and phylogenetic analyses. Four gene fragments (ITS, LSU, rpb2, and tef1-α) were used to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of species within Otidea. A total of nine phylogenetic species are recognized, of which four are described as new species, namely O. bomiensis, O. gongnaisiensis, O. hanzhongensis, and O. shennongjiana. Among the known species were O. aspera and O. sinensis.

A high-resolution and high-sensitivity fiber optic sensor based on the quasi-linear distribution of the core refractive index is designed and fabricated, which enables decouple measurement of bending and of temperature. First, single-mode fiber doped with Al2O3, Y2O3, and P2O5 was drawn through a fiber drawing tower. The fiber grating was engraved on the fiber by a femtosecond laser. Modeling analysis was conducted from quantum theory. Experimental results show that the bending sensitivity of the grating can reach 21.85 dB/m−1, which is larger than the reported sensitivity of similar sensors. In the high temperature range from room temperature to 1000 °C, the temperature sensitivity was 14.1 pm/°C. The doped grating sensor can achieve high temperature measurement without annealing, and it has a distinguished linear response from low temperature to high temperature. The bending resolution can reach 0.0004 m−1, and the temperature resolution can reach 0.007 °C. Two-parameter decoupling measurement can be realized according to the distinctive characteristic trends of the spectrum. What’s more, the sensor exhibits excellent stability and a fast response time.

Within the family Inocybaceae, many species of Mallocybe and Pseudosperma have been reported, but there are only a few reports on these two genera from north China. In this study, six collections of Mallocybe and 11 collections of Pseudosperma were studied by morphological and phylogenetic methods. Phylogenetic analyses based on sequence data from three or two different loci (ITS, LSU, and rpb2 for Mallocybe; ITS and LSU for Pseudosperma) are performed to infer species relationships within genera Mallocybe and Pseudosperma, respectively. Results indicate that eight species of Mallocybe and Pseudosperma are found in Shanxi province, north China; two new species of Mallocybe, M. depressa and M. picea, are described. Overall, six species belong to Pseudosperma, of which three are new: P. gilvum, P. laricis and P. pseudoniveivelatum.

Species of genus Otidea previously reported in China are mainly distributed in the northeast, northwest and southwest regions of China, but the species diversity of Otidea in north China is not very clear. In this study, newly collected Otidea specimens from northern China and some herbarium specimens deposited in three important Chinese fungus herbaria (HMAS, HKAS, HMJAU) were studied using morphological and phylogenetic methods. The internal transcribed spacers of the nrDNA (ITS), the nrRNA 28S subunit (nrLSU), the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (tef1-α), and the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II (rpb2), were employed to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships between Otidea species. Results identified 16 species of Otidea, of which seven new species are described, namely O.aspera, O.cupulata, O. filiformis, O.khakicolorata, O. parvula, O.plicara and O.purpureobrunnea. Otidea bicolor and O. pruinosa are synonymized as O. subpurpurea. Two species, O. mirabilis and O. nannfeldtii, are being reported for the first time in China. The occurrence of O. bufonia, O. leporina and O. onotica are confirmed by molecular data in China.

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) plays a crucial role in the characterization of nanoparticles. Unfortunately, due to the limited resolution, existing imaging techniques are insufficient to display all detailed characteristics at the nanoscale. Hardware-oriented techniques are troubled with costs and material properties. Computational approaches often prefer blurry results or produce a less meaningful high-frequency noise. Therefore, we present a staged loss-driven neural networks model architecture to transform low-resolution SEM images into super-resolved ones. Our approach consists of two stages: first, residual channel attention network (RCAN) with mean absolute error (MAE) loss was used to get a better peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR). Then, discriminators with adversarial losses were activated to reconstruct high-frequency texture features. The quantitative and qualitative evaluation results indicate that compared with other advanced approaches, our model achieves satisfactory results. The experiment in AgCl@Ag for photocatalytic degradation confirms that our proposed method can bring realistic high-frequency structural detailed information rather than meaningless noise. With this approach, high-resolution SEM images can be acquired immediately without sample damage. Moreover, it provides an enhanced characterization method for further directing the preparation of nanoparticles.

Many deepfake-image forensic detectors have been proposed and improved due to the development of synthetic techniques. However, recent studies show that most of these detectors are not immune to adversarial example attacks. Therefore, understanding the impact of adversarial examples on their performance is an important step towards improving deepfake-image detectors. This study developed an anti-forensics case study of two popular general deepfake detectors based on their accuracy and generalization. Herein, we propose the Poisson noise DeepFool (PNDF), an improved iterative adversarial examples generation method. This method can simply and effectively attack forensics detectors by adding perturbations to images in different directions. Our attacks can reduce its AUC from 0.9999 to 0.0331, and the detection accuracy of deepfake images from 0.9997 to 0.0731. Compared with state-of-the-art studies, our work provides an important defense direction for future research on deepfake-image detectors, by focusing on the generalization performance of detectors and their resistance to adversarial example attacks.

Direct detection of long-strand DNA by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a valuable method for diagnosis of hereditary diseases, but it is currently limited to less than 25-nt DNA strand in pure water, which makes this approach unsuitable for many real-life applications. Here, we report a 60-nt DNA label-free detection strategy without pretreatment by SERS with polyquaternium-modified Ag microcrystals derived from an AgCl cube. Through the reduction-induced decomposition, the size of the about 3 × 3 × 3 μm3 AgCl cube is reduced to Ag, and the surface is distributed with the uniform size of 63 nm silver nanoparticles, providing a large area of a robust and highly electromagnetic enhancement region. The modified polycationic molecule enhances the non-specific electrostatic interaction with the phosphate group, thereby anchoring DNA strands firmly to the SERS enhanced region intactly. As a result, the single-base recognition ability of this strategy reaches 60-nt and is successfully applied to detect thalassemia-related mutation genes.

The Madin–Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) cell line is among the most commonly used cell lines for the production of influenza virus vaccines. As cell culture-based manufacturing is poised to replace egg-based processes, increasing virus production is of paramount importance. To shed light on factors affecting virus productivity, we isolated a subline, H1, which had twice the influenza virus A (IAV) productivity of the parent (P) through cell cloning, and characterized H1 and P in detail on both physical and molecular levels. Transcriptome analysis revealed that within a few hours after IAV infection, viral mRNAs constituted over one fifth of total mRNA, with several viral genes more highly expressed in H1 than P. Functional analysis of the transcriptome dynamics showed that H1 and P responded similarly to IAV infection, and were both subjected to host shutoff and inflammatory responses. Importantly, H1 was more active in translation and RNA processing intrinsically and after infection. Furthermore, H1 had more subdued inflammatory and antiviral responses. Taken together, we postulate that the high productivity of IAV hinges on the balance between suppression of host functions to divert cellular resources and the sustaining of sufficient activities for virus replication. Mechanistic insights into virus productivity can facilitate the process optimization and cell line engineering for advancing influenza vaccine manufacturing.

In this paper, in order to improve the durability of optical fiber grating hydrogen sensors, an optical fiber grating hydrogen sensor with high precision, stability, and durability is prepared. Based on the simplified two-dimensional model and finite element analysis, the effects of film thickness, coating speed, and coating times on the residual Mises equivalent stress between the sensor film and substrate were studied, and the optimum coating parameters were determined. The finite element analysis results show that the residual equivalent stress between the film and the substrate increases with the increase in the film thickness between 50 and 150 nm. The range of 200–250 nm is relatively stable, and the value is small. The coating speed has almost no effect on the residual equivalent stress. When the thickness of the film is 200 nm, the residual equivalent stress decreases with the increase in coating times, and the equivalent force is the lowest when the film is coated three times. The best coating parameters are the thickness of 200 nm, the speed of 62.5 μm/s, and the times of coating three times. The results of finite element analysis are verified by the hydrogen sensitivity test and durability test.

Recently, the research of distributed sensor networks based on triboelectric technology has attracted extensive attention. Here, we reported a new triboelectric nanogenerator based on sodium chloride powder (S-TENG) to obtain mechanical energy. The polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film and sodium chloride powder layer serve as the triboelectric pair. After testing and calculation, the internal resistance of S-TENG is 30 MΩ, and the output power of S-TENG (size: 6 cm × 6 cm) can arrive at the maximum value (about 403.3 µW). Furthermore, the S-TENG can achieve the open circuit voltage (Voc) of 198 V and short-circuit current (Isc) of 6.66 µA, respectively. Moreover, owing to the moisture absorption of sodium chloride powder, the S-TENG device also has the function of the humidity sensor. This work proposed a functional TENG device, and it can promote the advancement of self-powered sensors based on the TENG devices.

Recently, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for harvesting low-frequency energy has attracted the attention of academia. However, there are few studies on environmentally friendly triboelectric materials. Here, we propose a novel triboelectric nanogenerator based on the deciduous leaf (DL-TENG) that can harvest mechanical energy from various low-frequency motions. The deciduous leaf is an environmentally friendly triboelectric material, which has a low-cost and is easy to obtain. Using it to generate electricity can achieve the effect of waste utilization. From the experimental results, the peak value of the short-circuit current (Isc) and the open-circuit voltage (Voc) can reach 4.2 µA and 150 V, respectively. The fabricated DL-TENG exhibits a stable high performance, with a maximum output power of 72.2 µW, to a load of 20 MΩ. Moreover, we also designed a stacked structure, DL-TENG, to enhance the electrical output. Additionally, the stacked DL-TENG could drive 15 commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs). This design will promote the development of low-cost and environmentally friendly triboelectric material.

We propose and numerically analyze a fiber-optic sensor based on a silica taper-assisted multiple polymer microspheres to realize high-sensitivity refractometric sensing due to the excitation of multi-beam interference and whispering-gallery modes (WGMs) in each microsphere. Up to 5 UV-cured adhesive microspheres are dripped in sequence on the 2 µm-diameter silica taper with the certain distances in between. Scattering and reflection of light in each microsphere enhance the multi-beam interference because of the emergence of high-order modes. Moreover, WGMs with certain resonant wavelengths are excited in the microspheres, further enhancing the transmission spectrum with high contrast and quality factor. Furthermore, irregular transmission spectrum corresponds to the large wavelength tuning range. Propagating light between the microspheres could be strongly affected by the environmental factor with the large transmission spectrum shift, therefore realizing the refractometric sensing with high sensitivity of 846 nm/RIU based on the taper-assisted 2-spheres sensor. Furthermore, another two microspheres are placed on both sides of 2-spheres sensor to form 4-spheres-loop sensor, re-collecting those large-angle scattering light with the enhancement of multi-beam interference and WGMs. Therefore, the sensitivity of 4-shperes-loop sensor is further improved to the maximum of 1296.3 nm/RIU.

In this work, broadband optical frequency comb (OFC) generation by a gain-switching vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) subject to optical injection is investigated experimentally. During implementing the experiment, a 1550 nm VCSEL under a large signal current modulation is driven into the gain-switching state with a broad noisy spectrum. By further introducing an optical injection, a high performance OFC can be produced. The experimental results demonstrate that the power and wavelength of the injection light seriously affect the performance of the produced OFC. Under proper optical injection parameters, two sub-combs originating from two orthogonal polarization components of the VCSEL can splice into a broadband total-OFC. By selecting optimized operation parameters, a high quality total-OFC can be acquired, with stable comb lines, high coherence, wide bandwidth of 70.0 GHz (56.0 GHz) within 10 dB (3 dB) amplitude variation and low single sideband phase noise at the fundamental frequency below −120.6 dBc/Hz @ 10 kHz.

Although high body mass index (BMI) appears to confer a survival advantage in hemodialysis patients, the association of BMI with mortality in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients is uncertain. We enrolled incident CAPD patients and BMI was categorized according to World Health Organization classification for Asian population. BMI at baseline and one year after the initiation of peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment was assessed to calculate the BMI change (∆BMI). Patients were split into four categories according quartiles of ∆BMI. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression proportional hazard analysis were performed to assess the association of BMI on outcomes. A total of 1263 CAPD patients were included, with a mean age of 47.8 ± 15.0 years, a mean BMI of 21.58 ± 3.13 kg/m2. During a median follow-up of 25.3 months, obesity was associated with increased risk for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) death (adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) 2.01; 95% CI 1.14, 3.54), but not all-cause mortality. Additionally, patients with more BMI decline (>0.80%) during the first year after CAPD initiation had an elevated risk for both all-cause (AHR: 2.21, 95% CI 1.23–3.95) and CVD mortality (AHR 2.31, 95% CI 1.11, 4.84), which was independent of baseline BMI values.

The preferred delivery route for drugs targeted for systemic effect is by oral administration. Following oral administration, a solid dosage form must disintegrate and the drug dissolve, thereafter permeating the intestinal mucosa. Several different in vitro methods are used to investigate these processes, i.e., disintegration tests, dissolution tests, and permeability models. However, the actual behavior of oral dosage forms in the environment of the gastro-intestinal tract is not very well elucidated using these conventional methods. In this study, the use of capsule endoscopy to determine tablet disintegration in vivo was assessed. Panadol and Panadol Rapid (acetaminophen/paracetamol) were used as the test material. The in vivo tablet disintegration behavior in beagle dogs was assessed by the use of capsule endoscopy. The in vitro tablet disintegration behavior was assessed using the European Pharmacopeia (Ph. Eur.) disintegration test. The study showed that the in vivo disintegration times of Panadol and Panadol Rapid were 24.7 and 16.5 min, respectively, when determined by capsule endoscopy, which corresponded to the pharmacokinetic data. By contrast, the in vitro disintegration times of the same formulations were 5.5 and 4.0 min, respectively, when determined by the Ph. Eur. disintegration test. In conclusion, capsule endoscopy can be used to determine the in vivo tablet disintegration behavior. By contrast, the in vitro methods appear to not be predictive of the disintegration behavior in vivo but may be used to rank the order the formulations with respect to disintegration time.

The diffusion coatings were deposited on commercially pure Ti and Ti-6Al-4V alloy at up to 1000 °C for up to 10 h using the pack cementation method. The pack powders consisted of 4 wt% Al (Al reservoir) and 4 wt% NH4Cl (activator) which were balanced with Al2O3 (inert filler). The growth kinetics of coatings were gravimetrically measured by a high precision balance. The aluminised specimens were characterised by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). At the early stages of deposition, a TiO2 (rutile) scale, other than aluminide coating, was developed on both materials at 2 scale dissociated almost completely and the aluminide coating began to develop. After a triple-layered coating was generated, the coating growth was governed by the outward migration of Ti species from the substrates and obeyed the parabolic law. The coating formed consisted of an outer layer of Al3Ti, a mid-layer of Al2Ti and an inner layer of AlTi. The outer layer of Al3Ti dominated the thickness of the aluminide coating.

Schinifoline (SF), a 4-quinolinone derivative, was found in Zanthoxylum schinifolium for the first time. 4-Quinolinone moieties are thought to have cytotoxic activity and are often used as a tubulin polymerization inhibitors, heterogeneous enzyme inhibitors and antiplatelet agents. However, very little information respect to radiosensitization has focused on SF. This work aimed to investigate the radiosensitizing effect of SF on A549 cells. The cell viability results indicated cytotoxicity of SF on A549 cells, with IC50 values of 33.7 ± 2.4, 21.9 ± 1.9 and 16.8 ± 2.2 μg/mL, respectively, after 6, 12, 24 h treatment with different concentrations, and the 10% or 20% IC50 concentration during 12 h was applied in later experiments. The results of cell proliferative inhibition and clonogenic assay showed that SF enhanced the radiosensitivity of A549 cells when applied before 60Co γ-irradiation and this effect was mainly time and concentration dependent. The flow cytometric data indicated that SF treatment before the irradiation increased the G2/M phase, thus improving the radiosensitivity of A549, leading to cell apoptosis. This paper is the first study that describes the in vitro radiosensitising, cell cycle and apoptotic-inducing effects of schinifoline.

A new compound and seven known compounds were isolated from Murraya tetramera Huang for the first time, and they were identified with NMR and MS spectral analysis. It was confirmed that the new compound was 10-methoxy-7-methyl-2H-benzo[g]chromen-2-one (3) and the others were β-eudesmol (1), trans-3β-(1-hydroxy-1-methylethyl)-8aβ-methyl-5-methylenedecalin-2-one (2), 5,7-dimethoxy-8-[(Z)-3'-methyl-butan-1',3'-dienyl]coumarin (4), 7-geranyloxy-6-methoxycoumarin (5), 5,7-dimethoxy-8-(3-methyl-2-oxo-butyl)coumarin (6), murrangatin acetate (7) and toddalenone (8). Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity against human lung adenocarcinoma (A549), human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (SMMC-7721), human bladder tumor cells (EJ), human cervical carcinoma cells (HeLa), and human B-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukemia 1 cells (BALL-1) was evaluated for all compounds. It was found that five of them displayed various degrees of cytotoxicity against different testing targets. Compound 1 showed significant cytotoxic activity against the five cell lines (A549, SMMC-7721, EJ, Hela and BALL-1). Compounds 2 and 5 showed significant cytotoxicity against three cell lines (A549, SMMC-7721 and BALL-1). Compound 4 showed significant cytotoxicity against three cell lines (A549, EJ and BALL-1). However, compound 3 only showed fair cytotoxicity against the BALL-1 cell line. The structure-active relationships were investigated as well. These active compounds might be potential lead compounds for the treatment of cancer.

Based on the monolayer BC2N structure, the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of 3d transition metal (TM) atoms (V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni) adsorbed on the monolayer BC2N, are studied by using the first principle method. The results show that 3d transition metal atoms are stably adsorbed on the monolayer BC2N. The most stable adsorption sites for V, Cr, and Mn atoms are the hollow adsorption site (H) of BC2N, while the other 3d TM atoms (Fe, Co, Ni) are more readily adsorbed above the C atoms (Tc). The majority of TM atoms are chemically adsorbed on BC2N, whereas Cr and Mn atoms are physically adsorbed on BC2N. Except for Ni, most 3d transition metal atoms can induce the monolayer BC2N magnetization, and the spin-charge density indicated that the magnetic moments of the adsorption systems are mainly concentrated on the TM atoms. Moreover, the introduction of TM atoms can modulate the electronic structure of a single layer of BC2N, making it advantageous for spintronic applications, and for the development of magnetic nanostructures.

Two types of braised pork were prepared from self-made braised sauce added to Maillard reaction intermediate (MRI) and white granulated sugar, respectively. Descriptive sensory analysis and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were conducted to investigate their differences in sensory and aroma compounds. The results showed that the effect of self-made braised sauce in braised pork was comparable to white granulated sugar. One-hundred-and-nine volatile flavor compounds were identified by GC-MS using headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and simultaneous distillation and extraction (SDE). Thirty-six odor active compounds with retention indexes ranging from 935–2465 were identified by aroma extract dilution analysis (AEDA). Additionally, their odor activity values (OAV) were calculated. It was found that 17 aroma compounds showed an OAV greater than 1. Among them, pentanal (almond, pungent), nonanal (fat, green), (E, E)-2,4-decadienal (fat, roast), phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorn, honey, sweet), dodecanal (lily, fat, citrus) and linalool (floral, lavender) reached the highest OAV values (>200), indicating a significant contribution to the aroma of two types of braised pork. These results indicated that the self-made braised sauce added with MRI could be used for cooking braised pork with good sensory characteristics.

Six compounds were isolated from the stems of Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels by repeated sillica gel column chromatography. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basic of physicochemical and spectroscopic data. Among them, 8-geranyloxypsolaren (3) and 2-methoxy-1-(3-methyl-buten-1-yl)-9H-carbazole-3-carbaldehyde (6) were isolated for the first time from this plant. These compounds were screened for cytotoxicity in human cervical cancer (Hela), leukemia (K562), lung cancer (A549), non-small lung carcinoma (H1299) and liver cancer (SMMC-7721). Within the series of cytotoxic tests, compounds 4–6 displayed potent cytotoxic activity against H1299 and SMMC-7721, with the IC50 values of 6.19 to 26.84 μg/mL.

In this study, we evaluate the effect of HO-1 upregulation on blood pressure and cardiac function in the new model of infarct spontaneous hypertensive rats (ISHR). Male spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR) at 13 weeks (n = 40) and age-matched male Wistar (WT) rats (n = 20) were divided into six groups: WT (sham + normal saline (NS)), WT (sham + Co(III) Protoporphyrin IX Chloride (CoPP)), SHR (myocardial infarction (MI) + NS), SHR (MI + CoPP), SHR (MI + CoPP + Tin Mesoporphyrin IX Dichloride (SnMP)), SHR (sham + NS); CoPP 4.5 mg/kg, SnMP 15 mg/kg, for six weeks, one/week, i.p., n = 10/group. At the sixth week, echocardiography (UCG) and hemodynamics were performed. Then, blood samples and heart tissue were collected. Copp treatment in the SHR (MI + CoPP) group lowered blood pressure, decreased infarcted area, restored cardiac function (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), left ventricular fraction shortening (LVFS), +dp/dtmax, (−dp/dtmax)/left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP)), inhibited cardiac hypertrophy and ventricular enlargement (downregulating left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVEDD), left ventricular end-systolic diameter (LVESD) and heart weight/body weight (HW/BW)), lowered serum CRP, IL-6 and Glu levels and increased serum TB, NO and PGI2 levels. Western blot and immunohistochemistry showed that HO-1 expression was elevated in the SHR (MI + CoPP) group, while co-administration with SnMP suppressed the benefit functions mentioned above. In conclusion, HO-1 upregulation can lower blood pressure and improve post-infarct cardiac function in the ISHR model. These functions may be involved in the inhibition of inflammation and the ventricular remodeling process and in the amelioration of glucose metabolism and endothelial dysfunction.

Shikonin (SHK) has been proven to have a good anti-tumor effect. However, poor water solubility and low bioavailability limit its wide application in clinical practice. In this study, to overcome these drawbacks, RGD-modified shikonin-loaded liposomes (RGD-SSLs-SHK) were successfully prepared. It exhibited excellent physicochemical characteristics including particle size, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, and delayed release time. Meanwhile, the targeting activity of the RGD-modified liposomes was demonstrated by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy in the αvβ3-positive MDA-MB-231 cells. Besides exhibiting greater cytotoxicity in vitro, compared with non-targeted shikonin-loaded liposomes (SSLs-SHK), RGD-SSLs-SHK could also evidently induce apoptosis by decreasing the expression of Bcl-2 and increasing the expression of Bax. It could also inhibit cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and adhesion by reducing the expression of MMP-9 and the level of NF-κB p65, but did not affect the expression of MMP-2 in the MDA-MB-231 cells. Therefore, these findings indicated that the strategy to use RGD-modified liposomes as carriers for targeted delivery of shikonin is a very promising approach to achieve breast cancer targeted therapy.