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Fan blade icing can affect efficiency and aerodynamic stability, and the shed ice may be sucked into the core of the engine, causing adverse effects or even damage to the compressor components. Ice accretion and shedding are among the key issues in engine design and tests. But they have not been clearly understood. In this work, ice shedding from rotating aero-engine fan blades during continuous icing is experimentally investigated under the relevant airworthiness requirements. The phenomena of icing and ice shedding under different ambient temperatures and engine speeds are recorded to obtain the ice-shedding time and the characteristic length of the residual ice. Force analysis is used to understand the corresponding behavior. The degree of ice-shedding balance Db is defined to explore the symmetry of ice shedding. The results show that the shedding time is significantly affected by the rotational speed, and the characteristic length will first shorten and then grow as the ambient temperature decreases. When the ice shedding is completed instantaneously, Db will show a violent shock. There is a critical ambient temperature, below which the ice accretion will worsen significantly as temperature decreases. For aero-engine fan blade icing tests during ground idle, the critical ambient temperature ranges from −5 ∘C to −9 ∘C. In order for the ice to shed faster, the engine speed has to reach a threshold. This study can shed light on the preliminary characteristics of ice shedding from rotating components and provide guidance and a data basis for the numerical simulation of fan blade icing and the design of an aero-engine.

Sodium-ion batteries offer an attractive alternative to lithium-based chemistries due to the lower cost and abundance of sodium compared to lithium. Using solid electrolytes instead of liquid ones in such batteries may help improve safety and energy density, but they need to combine easy processing with high stability toward the electrodes. Herein, we describe a new class of solid electrolytes that are accessible by room-temperature, aqueous synthesis. The materials exhibit a garnet-type zinc hexacyanoferrate framework with large diffusion channels for alkaline ions. Specifically, they show superionic behavior and allow for facile processing into pellets. We compare the structure, stability, and transport properties of lithium-, sodium-, and potassium-containing zinc hexacyanoferrates and find that Na2Zn3[Fe(CN)6]2 achieves the highest ionic conductivity of up to 0.21 mS/cm at room temperature. In addition, the electrochemical performance and stability of the latter solid electrolyte are examined in solid-state sodium-ion batteries.

Oxidative stress frequently contributes to intestinal barrier injury in animals and humans. It was reported that both Selenomethionine (SeMet) and allicin exhibit protective effects against a range of diseases caused by oxidative stress. This study aimed to investigate the synergistic antioxidant effects and underlying mechanisms of SeMet and allicin on a H2O2-induced intestinal barrier injury model using IPEC-J2 cells and mice. The results showed that H2O2 induced severe oxidative stress, including a decrease in cell viability, antioxidant level, migration capacity, and cell integrity. SeMet and allicin exhibited significant synergistic anti-oxidative effects on intestinal epithelial cells. The combined use of SeMet and allicin increased SOD activity, GSH content, and GSH/GSSG ratio while decreasing MDA, NO, and ROS content levels. Furthermore, we found that SeMet and allicin synergistically activated the nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2 (Nrf2)-NAD(P)H dehydrogenase [quinone] 1 (NQO1) signaling pathway and down-regulated endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress)-related proteins. However, the synergistic antioxidative and intestinal barrier protective effects of SeMet and allicin were abolished by Nrf2 inhibitor ML385 in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, SeMet and allicin synergistically attenuate intestinal barrier injury induced by excessively oxidative stress through the activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway and inhibition ER stress. These findings support that the combined use of SeMet and allicin could enhance antioxidative properties and alleviate intestinal injury in further clinical practice.

Normal and damaged microorganisms are related to food safety. The colony-forming unit (CFU) assay and viability of microorganisms have broad applications in food. Traditionally, the CFU assay has been the benchmark for assessing microbial viability across various fields. However, the normal and damaged microorganisms cannot be distinguished. Here, we introduce an improved technology for foods that uses a visible absorbance microplate reader platform for high-throughput quantitative analysis of microbial lag time, doubling time, and CFU. This platform utilizes a 96-well plate and a microplate reader to accurately determine the viable cell number from a five-microliter sample. It boasts the capability to measure a dynamic range spanning from five to seven orders of magnitude, significantly reducing the time required by over 20-fold in comparison to traditional spread plate methods. Additionally, it demonstrates a remarkable ability to detect a single cell within a well. A mild temperature treatment for cell viability detection was implemented and was able to reflect the real microbial quality. Consequently, the high-throughput method as an improved technology provides essential technical support for microbial detection.

Medical ultrasound imaging is extensively employed for diagnostic purposes. However, image quality remains a major obstacle to achieving greater accuracy. Conventional supervised deep learning denoising methods often rely on matched noise-free and noisy image pairs, which can be highly challenging in practical ultrasound applications. Moreover, due to the limitations associated with independent noise, existing unsupervised denoising methods such as Neighbor2Neighbor are unable to efficiently address correlated noise in ultrasound images. Meanwhile, these methods utilize a random neighborhood downsampling technique, frequently resulting in pixel loss. Hence, this study proposes a novel Neighbor2Neighbor algorithm, which reconstructs ultrasound images by improving the downsampling approach. Moreover, it incorporates a structural similarity index and a regularization term, thereby enhancing its ability to suppress both independent and correlated noise. Extensive experiments on an ultrasound image dataset demonstrate that the proposed Neighbor2Neighbor algorithm outperforms the state-of-the-art baseline algorithms in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), mean structural similarity index measure (MSSIM), feature similarity index measure (FSIM), and edge preservation index (EPI).

A novel Gram-stain-negative, facultatively anaerobic, and mixotrophic bacterium, designated as strain LZ166T, was isolated from the bathypelagic seawater in the western Pacific Ocean. The cells were short rod-shaped, oxidase- and catalase-positive, and motile by means of lateral flagella. The growth of strain LZ166T was observed at 10–45 °C (optimum 34–37 °C), at pH 5–10 (optimum 6–8), and in the presence of 0–5% NaCl (optimum 1–3%). A phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene showed that strain LZ166T shared the highest similarity (98.58%) with Aquibium oceanicum B7T and formed a distinct branch within the Aquibium genus. The genomic characterization, including average nucleotide identity (ANI, 90.73–76.79%), average amino identity (AAI, 88.50–79.03%), and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH, 36.1–22.2%) values between LZ166T and other species within the Aquibium genus, further substantiated its novelty. The genome of strain LZ166T was 6,119,659 bp in size with a 64.7 mol% DNA G+C content. The predominant fatty acid was summed feature 8 (C18:1ω7c and/or C18:1ω6c). The major polar lipids identified were diphosphatidylglycerol (DPG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), glycolipid (GL), and phosphatidylglycerol (PG), with ubiquinone-10 (Q-10) as the predominant respiratory quinone. The genomic annotation indicated the presence of genes for a diverse metabolic profile, including pathways for carbon fixation via the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle and inorganic sulfur oxidation. Based on the polyphasic taxonomic results, strain LZ166T represented a novel species of the genus Aquibium, for which the name Aquibium pacificus sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain LZ166T (=MCCC M28807T = KACC 23148T = KCTC 82889T).

Ochrobactrum anthropi (O. anthropi) is found in water, soil, plants and animals. Even though it has low virulence, it has increasingly been found to cause a number of infectious diseases in people with low immunity. The identification of O. anthropi mainly uses biochemical methods, such as the API 20NE or Vitek-2. The typing studies of O. anthropi have mainly utilized PFGE, rep-PCR, AFLP, 16s rDNA sequencing, RecA-PCR RFLP, and MALDI-TOF MS. This study aims to evaluate the polymorphisms of variable-number tandem-repeats (VNTRs) within genomic DNA of O. anthropi strains. The tandem repeats (TRs) in genomic DNA are discovered using Tandem Repeat Finder software (version 4.09). Twelve different VNTRs are designated and assigned to the nomenclature. The primers for PCR of 12 loci are designed. The PCR product size is converted to the number of tandem repeats in every locus. The relatedness of 65 O. anthropi strains from geographically different countries are analyzed by means of 12-variable-number tandem-repeat analysis(MLVA-12). A total of 51 different genotypes are found in 65 O. anthropi strains. These strains, which were collected from the same environmental samples, hospitals, and countries, are clustered within the same or closely genotypes. The MLVA-12 assay has a good discriminatory power for species determination, typing of O. anthropi, and inferring the origin of bacteria.

Cupressus gigantea is an endangered species mainly distributed on beach land, down-slope, and middle-slope positions along the Yarlung Zangbo River on the Tibet Plateau of China, with an altitude ranging from 3000 to 3400 m. We investigated the rhizosphere and fine root microbiomes of C. gigantea at these three slope positions through metagenomic analysis. Slope positions had a greater influence on microbiome composition in the rhizosphere than that in the fine roots. Down- and middle-slope positions presented higher microbial richness indeces and community similarity, while a more complex co-occurrence network was observed in the beach land samples. Rhizosphere bacterial community assembly was determined via deterministic processes in the beach land and via stochastic processes in the down- and middle-slope positions. Archaeal and fungal community assemblies were both dominated by stochastic processes in the rhizosphere and fine roots at the three slope positions. Nitrogen (N) functional genes were more sensitive to changes in slope positions than phosphorus (N) functional genes. Soil properties explained more than 60% and 34% of the variations in the N and P functional genes and more than 30% and 10% of the variations in the microbiomes in the rhizosphere and fine roots, respectively. Variation in the microbiome was significantly driven by total nirtogen, total potassium, pH, and soil moisture in rhizosphere, and by pH and soil moisture in fine roots. Our observations suggest that the effect of slope position on the microbiomes of C. gigantea was greater for the rhizosphere than the fine roots, with down- and middle-slope positions presenting higher community similarity.

The aim of this study is the fabrication of unprecedented neuroelectrodes, replete with exceptional biological and electrical attributes. Commencing with the synthesis of polyethylene glycol and polyethyleneimine-modified iron oxide nanoparticles, the grafting of Dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine was embarked upon to generate DMPC-SPION nanoparticles. Subsequently, the deposition of DMPC-SPIONs onto a nickel–chromium alloy electrode facilitated the inception of an innovative neuroelectrode–DMPC-SPION. A meticulous characterization of DMPC-SPIONs ensued, encompassing zeta potential, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses. Evaluations pertaining to hemolysis and cytotoxicity were conducted to ascertain the biocompatibility and biosafety of DMPC-SPIONs. Ultimately, a comprehensive assessment of the biocompatibility, electrochemical properties, and electrophysiological signal acquisition capabilities of DMPC-SPION neuroelectrodes was undertaken. These findings conclusively affirm the exemplary biocompatibility, electrochemical capabilities, and outstanding capability in recording electrical signals of DMPC-SPION neuroelectrodes, with an astounding 91.4% augmentation in electrode charge and a noteworthy 13% decline in impedance, with peak potentials reaching as high as 171 μV and an impressive signal-to-noise ratio of 15.92. Intriguingly, the novel DMPC-SPION neuroelectrodes herald an innovative pathway towards injury repair as well as the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders.

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) with good water dispersibility were prepared by the thermal decomposition of iron acetylacetonate (Fe(acac)3) in the high-boiling organic solvent polyethylene glycol (PEG) using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a modifier. The nucleation and growth processes of the crystals were separated during the reaction process by batch additions of the reaction material, which could inhibit the nucleation but maintain the crystal growth, and products with larger particle sizes and high saturation magnetization were obtained. The method of batch addition of the reactant prepared IONs with the largest particle size and the highest saturation magnetization compared with IONs reported using PEG as the reaction solvent. The IONs prepared by this method also retained good water dispersibility. Therefore, these IONs are potentially suitable for the magnetic separation of cells, proteins, or nucleic acids when large magnetic responses are needed.

Smoke tree (Cotinus coggygria) is an important ornamental tree that represents the autumnal landscape of red leaves in Northern China, especially in Beijing. However, Verticillium wilt, caused by the fungus (Verticillium dahliae), has resulted in a high mortality rate for smoke trees, posing a serious threat to the highly valued landscape of red leaves in Beijing. To explore an efficient control measure for Verticillium wilt, we systematically analyzed the applicability and efficacy of multiple treatments for three consecutive years in Xiangshan Park and Badaling Forest Park. From 2021 to 2023, diseased smoke trees in Xiangshan Park were subjected to three application methods (agent irrigation, trunk injection, or a combination of the two) and five candidate agents, namely Bacillus subtilis, azoxystrobin, propiconazole, carbendazim, and prochloraz. Analyses of the data for three consecutive years revealed a decreasing trend in the annual disease incidence rate. Specifically, the combined application of agent irrigation and trunk injection exhibited the highest control effect and a significant improvement in the landscape of red leaves in Beijing. Furthermore, the combination of propiconazole via irrigation plus the trunk injection of carbendazim and prochloraz had the greatest control effect. These suppressive measurements were further used and demonstrated to be effective in Badaling Forest Park. Overall, our study provides an effective disease management means for controlling Verticillium wilt in smoke trees.

The global burden of liver disease is enormous, which highlights the need for effective hepatoprotective agents. It was reported that allicin exhibits protective effects against a range of diseases. In this study, we further evaluated allicin’s effect and mechanism in acute hepatic injury. Liver injury in mice was induced by intraperitoneal injection with 1% CCl4 (10 mL/kg/day). When the first dose was given, CCl4 was given immediately after administration of different doses of allicin (40, 20, and 10 mg/kg/day) as well as compound glycyrrhizin (CGI, 80 mg/kg/day), and then different doses of allicin (40, 20, and 10 mg/kg/day) as well as compound glycyrrhizin (CGI, 80 mg/kg/day) were administrated every 12 h. The animals were dissected 24 h after the first administration. The findings demonstrated a significant inhibition of CCl4-induced acute liver injury following allicin treatment. This inhibition was evidenced by notable reductions in serum levels of transaminases, specifically aspartate transaminase, along with mitigated histological damage to the liver. In this protective process, allicin plays the role of reducing the amounts or the expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines, IL-1β, IL-6. Furthermore, allicin recovered the activities of the antioxidant enzyme catalase (CAT) and reduced the production of malondialdehyde (MDA) in a dose-dependent manner, and also reduced liver Caspase 3, Caspase 8, and BAX to inhibit liver cell apoptosis. Further analysis showed that the administration of allicin inhibited the increased protein levels of Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), which is related to inflammation and oxidative stress. The in vitro study of the LPS-induced RAW264.7 inflammatory cell model confirmed that allicin can inhibit important inflammation-related factors and alleviate inflammation. This research firstly clarified that allicin has a significant protective effect on CCl4-induced liver injury via inhibiting the inflammatory response and hepatocyte apoptosis, alleviating oxidative stress associated with the progress of liver damage, highlighting the potential of allicin as a hepatoprotective agent.

The impairment of walking balance function seriously affects human health and will lead to a significantly increased risk of falling. It is important to assess and improve the walking balance of humans. However, existing evaluation methods for human walking balance are relatively subjective, and the selected metrics lack effectiveness and comprehensiveness. We present a method to construct a comprehensive evaluation index of human walking balance. We used it to generate personal and general indexes. We first pre-selected some preliminary metrics of walking balance based on theoretical analysis. Seven healthy subjects walked with exoskeleton interference on a treadmill at 1.25 m/s while their ground reaction force information and kinematic data were recorded. One subject with Charcot–Marie–Tooth walked at multiple speeds without the exoskeleton while the same data were collected. Then, we picked a number of effective evaluation metrics based on statistical analysis. We finally constructed the Walking Balance Index (WBI) by combining multiple metrics using principal component analysis. The WBI can distinguish walking balance among different subjects and gait conditions, which verifies the effectiveness of our method in evaluating human walking balance. This method can be used to evaluate and further improve the walking balance of humans in subsequent simulations and experiments.

To investigate the relationship between structures and adsorption properties, four different morphologies of chitosan, with hydrogel (CSH), aerogel (CSA), powder (CSP), and electrospinning nanofiber (CSEN) characteristics, were employed as adsorbents for the removal of Acid Red 27. The structures and morphologies of the four chitosan adsorbents were characterized with SEM, XRD, ATR-FTIR, and BET methods. The adsorption behaviors and mechanisms of the four chitosan adsorbents were comparatively studied. All adsorption behaviors exhibited a good fit with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (R2 > 0.99) and Langmuir isotherm model (R2 > 0.99). Comparing the adsorption rates and the maximum adsorption capacities, the order was CSH > CSA > CSP > CSEN. The maximum adsorption capacities of CSH, CSA, CSP, and CSEN were 2732.2 (4.523), 676.7 (1.119), 534.8 (0.885), and 215.5 (0.357) mg/g (mmol/g) at 20 °C, respectively. The crystallinities of CSH, CSA, CSP, and CSEN were calculated as 0.41%, 6.97%, 8.76%, and 39.77%, respectively. The crystallinity of the four chitosan adsorbents was the main factor impacting the adsorption rates and adsorption capacities, compared with the specific surface area. With the decrease in crystallinity, the adsorption rates and capacities of the four chitosan adsorbents increased gradually under the same experimental conditions. CSH with a low crystallinity and large specific surface area resulted in the highest adsorption rate and capacity.

The treatment of bone defects has always posed challenges in the field of orthopedics. Scaffolds, as a vital component of bone tissue engineering, offer significant advantages in the research and treatment of clinical bone defects. This study aims to provide an overview of how 3D printing technology is applied in the production of bone repair scaffolds. Depending on the materials used, the 3D-printed scaffolds can be classified into two types: single-component scaffolds and composite scaffolds. We have conducted a comprehensive analysis of material composition, the characteristics of 3D printing, performance, advantages, disadvantages, and applications for each scaffold type. Furthermore, based on the current research status and progress, we offer suggestions for future research in this area. In conclusion, this review acts as a valuable reference for advancing the research in the field of bone repair scaffolds.

This paper is concerned with the attitude tracking problem of quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with respect to endogenous uncertainties, exogenous disturbances and actuator failures. Two different control methods are proposed to solve this problem. First, an adaptive extended state observer (AESO)-based control framework is devised to tackle the difficulties caused by model uncertainties and external disturbances. A fault-tolerant control method is proposed to cope with the occurrence of actuator failure, which is modeled as a constant loss of effectiveness. Another method employs AESOs to compensate for lumped disturbances, which include endogenous uncertainties, exogenous disturbances and actuator failures. Then, the error can exponentially converge to a bounded set. Finally, simulations are performed to ensure the feasibility of the designed technique.

Membrane transporter multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2/Abcc2) exhibits high pharmaco-toxicological relevance because it exports multiple cytotoxic compounds from cells. However, no detailed information about the gene expression and regulation of MRP2 in chickens is yet available. Here, we sought to investigate the expression distribution of Abcc2 in different tissues of chicken and then determine whether Abcc2 expression is induced by chicken xenobiotic receptor (CXR). The bioinformatics analyses showed that MRP2 transporters have three transmembrane structural domains (MSDs) and two highly conserved nucleotide structural domains (NBDs), and a close evolutionary relationship with turkeys. Tissue distribution analysis indicated that Abcc2 was highly expressed in the liver, kidney, duodenum, and jejunum. When exposed to metyrapone (an agonist of CXR) and ketoconazole (an antagonist of CXR), Abcc2 expression was upregulated and downregulated correspondingly. We further confirmed that Abcc2 gene regulation is dependent on CXR, by overexpressing and interfering with CXR, respectively. We also demonstrated the induction of Abcc2 expression and the activity of ivermectin, with CXR being a likely mediator. Animal experiments demonstrated that metyrapone and ivermectin induced Abcc2 in the liver, kidney, and duodenum of chickens. Together, our study identified the gene expression of Abcc2 and its regulation by CXR in chickens, which may provide novel targets for the reasonable usage of veterinary drugs.

In this paper, principal component analysis is introduced to form a scene-based nonuniformity correction method for infrared focal plane arrays. The estimation of the gain and offset of the infrared detector and the correction of nonuniformity based on the neural network method with a novel estimation of desired target value are achieved concurrently. The current frame and several adjacent registered frames are decomposed onto a set of principal components, and then the first principal component is extracted to construct the desired target value. It is practical, forms fewer ghosting artifacts, and considerably promotes correction precision. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the proposed method presents excellent performance when dealing with clean infrared data with synthetic pattern noise as well as the real infrared video sequence.

In this paper, based on the idea of “step-by-step accuracy”, a novel multiscale feature-based infrared ship-detection method (MSFISD) is proposed. The proposed method can achieve efficient and effective infrared ship detection in complex scenarios, which may provide assistance in applications such as night surveillance. First, candidate regions (CRs) are extracted from the whole image by extracting the sea–sky line and region of interest (ROI). The real sea–sky line is extracted based on the gradient features enhanced by large-scale gradient operators. The coarse segmentation results are obtained by the optimization method and are then refined by incorporating the edge features of the ship to reduce false alarms and obtain the CRs. Second, by analyzing the shape features of ships, the feature quantity is established, and the ships in CRs are finally accurately segmented. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with the other five methods, the proposed method has higher detection accuracy with a lower false-alarm rate and performs better in complex sea scenarios.

Conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD) is an important mechanism for species coexistence and community dynamics. Phylogenetic negative density dependence (PNDD) and functional negative density dependence (FNDD) are extensions of CNDD, and many studies have shown that they have become powerful and reliable methods for exploring the mechanisms of species coexistence. However, most studies have focused on only one or two of these mechanisms and have not considered whether and how habitat variables affect the detection of these density dependences. To investigate the relative importance of these mechanisms, we set up three 0.09 ha dynamic plots at Cangshan Mountain in southwest China, and used generalized linear mixed models to analyze how the survival of 546 woody plant seedlings was affected by neighborhood density and habitat variables. Our results showed that heterospecific seedling density dependence and functional trait density dependence played key roles in seedling survival. Habitat factors, phylogenetic densities, and adult neighbors had no significant effect on seedling survival in the three plots. However, habitat filtering covered the detection of density dependence and functional trait density dependence. Our study demonstrates that failure to control for habitat variables may obscure the importance of density dependence and functional trait density dependence on seedling survival.

A new indole diterpene, 26-dihydroxyaflavininyl acetate (1), along with five known analogs (2–6) were isolated from the liquid fermentation of Aspergillus flavus GZWMJZ-288, an endophyte from Garcinia multiflora. The structures of these compounds were identified through NMR, MS, chemical reaction, and X-ray diffraction experiments. Enzyme inhibition activity screening found that compounds 1, 4, and 6 have a good binding affinity with NPC1L1, among which compound 6 exhibited a stronger binding ability than ezetimibe at a concentration of 10 µM. Moreover, compound 5 showed inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with an IC50 value of 29.22 ± 0.83 µM, which is 13 times stronger than that of acarbose. The results suggest that these aflavinine analogs may serve as lead compounds for the development of drugs targeting NPC1L1 and α-glucosidase. The binding modes of the bioactive compounds with NPC1L1 and α-glucosidase were also performed through in silico docking studies.

The solute transport protein family 11 A1 (SLC11A1), also recognized as natural resistance-associated macrophage protein 1 (NRAMP1), represents a transmembrane protein encoded by the SLC11A1 gene. A variety of prior investigations have illuminated its involvement in conferring resistance or susceptibility to bacterial agents, positioning it as a promising candidate gene for breeding disease-resistant animals. Yaks (Bos grunniens), renowned inhabitants of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, stand as robust ruminants distinguished by their adaptability and formidable disease resistance. Notwithstanding these unique traits, there is scant literature on the SLC11A1 gene in the yak population. Our inquiry commences with the cloning of the 5′ regulatory region sequence of the Zhongdian yak SLC11A1 gene. We employ bioinformatics tools to identify transcription factor binding sites, delineating pivotal elements like enhancers and cis-acting elements. To ascertain the promoter activity of this region, we amplify four distinct promoter fragments within the 5′ regulatory region of the yak SLC11A1 gene. Subsequently, we design a luciferase reporter gene vector containing four site-specific deletion mutations and perform transient transfection experiments. Through these experiments, we measure and compare the activity of disparate gene fragments located within the 5′ regulatory region, revealing regions bearing promoter functionality and discerning key regulatory elements. Our findings validate the promoter functionality of the 5′ regulatory region, offering preliminary insights into the core and principal regulatory segments of this promoter. Notably, we identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that may be associated with important regulatory elements such as NF-1 and NF-1/L. This study provides a theoretical framework for in-depth research on the function and expression regulation mechanism of the yak SLC11A1 gene.

In infrared images of the sea surface, apart from the complex background of the sea surface, there are often sky and island backgrounds. The disturbances caused by sea wind and the reflection of intense sunlight on the sea surface increase the complexity of the background, which seriously hinders the detection of targets. To achieve the detection of dark-polarity ship targets in such environments, a dual-channel threshold segmentation method based on local low-gray region detection and geometric features judgment is proposed in this paper. In one channel, adaptive threshold segmentation is performed on the low-gray regions of the acquired image and combined with geometric features to obtain a finer segmentation result. In the other channel, adaptive segmentation is performed on the preprocessed image, and potential backgrounds that may be finely segmented as targets are filtered out based on an area threshold. Finally, the results of the two channels are multiplied and fused to obtain an accurate segmentation result. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms the comparison algorithm in subjective and objective evaluations. The proposed algorithm in this paper not only achieves a low false alarm rate but also exhibits a higher detection rate, and the average detection rate in the test sequence surpasses 95%.

Salinity is an important environmental factor influencing crop growth and yield. Malate dehydrogenase (MDH) catalyses the reversible conversion of oxaloacetate (OAA) to malate. While many MDHs have been identified in various plants, the biochemical function of MDH in rice remains uncharacterised, and its role in growth and salt stress response is largely unexplored. In this study, the biochemical function of OsMDH12 was determined, revealing its involvement in regulating tiller number and salt tolerance in rice. OsMDH12 localises in the peroxisome and is expressed across various organs. In vitro analysis confirmed that OsMDH12 converts OAA to malate. Seedlings of OsMDH12-overexpressing (OE) plants had shorter shoot lengths and lower fresh weights than wild-type (WT) plants, while osmdh12 mutants displayed the opposite. At maturity, OsMDH12-OE plants had fewer tillers than WT, whereas osmdh12 mutants had more, suggesting OsMDH12’s role in tiller number regulation. Moreover, OsMDH12-OE plants were sensitive to salt stress, but osmdh12 mutants showed enhanced salt tolerance. The Na+/K+ content ratio increased in OsMDH12-OE plants and decreased in osmdh12 mutants, suggesting that OsMDH12 might negatively affect salt tolerance through influencing the Na+/K+ balance. These findings hint at OsMDH12’s potential as a genetic tool to enhance rice growth and salt tolerance.

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is a vital leguminous crop farmed worldwide. Pea plays an essential role in China’s crop rotation system, but the major restrictions to its cultivation are stability and low yield. Breeding for promising cultivars with a significantly high yield will impact the sustainability of pea production. Additionally, diverse environment trials are crucial in determining the best genotype. The new cultivar “Yunwan 52” was developed by hybridization and subsequently evaluated through yield trials among six pea genotypes across 14 environments during the 2016–2018 growing seasons. The results showed that the average yield of “Yunwan 52” for all tested environments was 2.64 t ha−1 compared to the control cultivar (Yunwan 18, 1.83 t ha−1). Analysis of AMMI variance showed significant differences (p < 0.01) between genotypes, environments, and their interaction. Based on the GGE biplot, some genotypes possessed wide and narrow adaptability to environments, such as Yunwan 52 was considered the most stable and ideal gen-otype across all tested environments. GYT biplot analysis also revealed that this realized cultivar was a superior and stable genotype that can be identified visually by combining all characters in breeding programs. Yunwan 52 distinguishes with purple blossoms and seed coat peas. It is possible to infer that the newly released cultivar “Yunwan 52” has outstanding yield performance and wide adaptability to multiple environmental conditions (resilience to abiotic stress). It will contribute to developing nutritional pea genotypes and increase pea production in irrigated areas.

Oral inflammatory diseases (OIDs) include many common diseases such as periodontitis and pulpitis. The causes of OIDs consist microorganism, trauma, occlusal factors, autoimmune dis-eases and radiation therapy. When treated unproperly, such diseases not only affect oral health but also pose threat to people’s overall health condition. Therefore, identifying OIDs at an early stage and exploring new therapeutic strategies are important tasks for oral-related research. Mitochondria are crucial organelles for many cellular activities and disruptions of mitochondrial function not only affect cellular metabolism but also indirectly influence people’s health and life span. Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in many common polygenic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Recently, increasing evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a critical role in the development and progression of OIDs and its associated systemic diseases. In this review, we elucidated the critical insights into mitochondrial dysfunction and its involvement in the inflammatory responses in OIDs. We also summarized recent research progresses on the treatment of OIDs targeting mitochondrial dysfunction and discussed the underlying mechanisms.

Geometric errors are the main factors affecting the output accuracy of the parallel spindle head, and it is necessary to perform a sensitivity analysis to extract the critical geometric errors. The traditional sensitivity analysis method analyzes the output position and orientation errors independently, defining multiple sensitivity indices and making it difficult to determine critical geometric errors. In this paper, we propose sensitivity indices that can comprehensively consider position and orientation errors. First, the configuration of the hybrid machine tool is introduced, and the TCP position error model is derived. Then, the tool radius and the effective cutting length are introduced, and the sensitivity indices are defined. After that, the sensitivity analysis of the 3-DOF parallel spindle head is performed using the proposed sensitivity indices, and six critical geometric errors are extracted. The machining accuracy of the parallel spindle head can be greatly improved by improving the critical geometric errors. The proposed sensitivity analysis method can provide important guidance for machine tool accuracy design.

Pear ring rot disease is an important branch disease, caused by Botryosphaeria dothidea. With the discovery of fungal viruses, the use of their attenuated properties for biological control provides a new strategy for the biological control of fungal disease. RNA silencing is a major antiviral defense mechanism in plants, insects, and fungi. Viruses encode and utilize RNA silencing suppressors to suppress host defenses. Previous studies revealed that Botryosphaeria dothidea chrysovirus 1 (BdCV1) exhibited weak pathogenicity and could activate host gene silencing by infecting B. dothidea. The aim of our study was to investigate whether BdCV1 can encode a silencing suppressor and what effect it has on the host. In this study, the capability of silencing inhibitory activity of four BdCV1-encoded proteins was analyzed, and the P3 protein was identified as a BdCV1 RNA silencing suppressor in the exotic host Nicotiana benthamiana line 16c. In addition, we demonstrated that P3 could inhibit local silencing, block systemic RNA silencing, and induce the necrosis reaction of tobacco leaves. Furthermore, overexpression of P3 could slow down the growth rate and reduce the pathogenicity of B. dothidea, and to some extent affect the expression level of RNA silencing components and virus-derived siRNAs (vsiRNAs). Combined with transcriptomic analysis, P3 had an effect on the gene expression and biological process of B. dothidea. The obtained results provide new theoretical information for further study of interaction between BdCV1 P3 as a potential silencing suppressor and B. dothidea.

The potential applications of multilayer graphene in many fields, such as superconductivity and thermal conductivity, continue to emerge. However, there are still many problems in the growth mechanism of multilayer graphene. In this paper, a simple control strategy for the preparation of interlayer-coupled multilayer graphene on a liquid Cu substrate was developed. By adjusting the flow rate of a carrier gas in the CVD system, the effect for finely controlling the carbon source supply was achieved. Therefore, the carbon could diffuse from the edge of the single-layer graphene to underneath the layer of graphene and then interlayer-coupled multilayer graphene with different shapes were prepared. Through a variety of characterization methods, it was determined that the stacked mode of interlayer-coupled multilayer graphene conformed to AB-stacking structure. The small multilayer graphene domains stacked under single-layer graphene was first found, and the growth process and growth mechanism of interlayer-coupled multilayer graphene with winged and umbrella shapes were studied, respectively. This study reveals the growth mechanism of multilayer graphene grown by using a carbon source through edge diffusion, paving the way for the controllable preparation of multilayer graphene on a liquid Cu surface.

Animal studies have proven that 1-acetyl-5-phenyl-1H-pyrrol-3-yl acetate (APPA) is a powerful antioxidant as a novel aldose reductase inhibitor independently synthesized by our laboratory; however, there is no current information on APPA’s anti-aging mechanism. Therefore, this study examined the impact and mechanism of APPA’s anti-aging and anti-oxidation capacity using the Caenorhabditis elegans model. The results demonstrated that APPA increases C. elegans’ longevity without affecting the typical metabolism of Escherichia coli OP50 (OP50). APPA also had a non-toxic effect on C. elegans, increased locomotor ability, decreased the levels of reactive oxygen species, lipofuscin, and fat, and increased anti-stress capacity. QRT-PCR analysis further revealed that APPA upregulated the expression of antioxidant genes, including sod-3, gst-4, and hsp-16.2, and the critical downstream transcription factors, daf-16, skn-1, and hsf-1 of the insulin/insulin-like growth factor (IGF) receptor, daf-2. In addition, fat-6 and nhr-80 were upregulated. However, the APPA’s life-prolonging effects were absent on the daf-2, daf-16, skn-1, and hsf-1 mutants implying that the APPA’s life-prolonging mechanism depends on the insulin/IGF-1 signaling system. The transcriptome sequencing also revealed that the mitochondrial route was also strongly associated with the APPA life extension, consistent with mev-1 and isp-1 mutant life assays. These findings aid in the investigation of APPA’s longevity extension mechanism.

The extreme sea conditions caused by typhoons pose a threat to the design safety of marine and coastal engineering structures. In the past, design wave height calculation models that only considered the frequency of typhoons ignored the influence of other hazard factors of typhoons, resulting in lower design standards. In this paper, typhoon frequency, intensity, and distance are selected, and dimensional influences of different factors are eliminated through standardization processing. Based on the correlation between different hazard factors, we have obtained a multi-dimensional discrete joint probability distribution of typhoon hazard factors and constructed a new design wave height that considers the comprehensive effects of typhoon frequency, intensity, and distance. Our results show that the design wave height values of the 50-year, 100-year, and 200-year events are 12.59%, 8.10%, and 3.14% higher than the Gumbel distribution, which is more in line with the distribution of the wave height of waves under severe typhoon conditions. The new model can fully reflect the impact of typhoons on wave height, which can provide a reference for the design safety of marine engineering in the South China Sea.

Software defined networking (SDN) improves the flexibility and programmability of the network by separating the control plane and the data plane and effectively realizes the global control of the network infrastructure. However, the centralized structure design of SDN exposes the controller to potential threats. Attackers have used the active flow table delivery mode to launch distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks on the SDN controller, resulting in the controller failure and seriously affecting the network performance. To overcome this problem, this paper proposes a defense framework called CC-Guard. The framework consists of four modules: attack detection triggering, switch migration, anomaly detection, and mitigation. Among them, the attack detection trigger module improves the system’s timely response to DDoS attacks. The switch migration module effectively unclogs the controller congestion problem and provides convenience for network flow transmission. The anomaly detection module uses a coarse-grained method for two-stage detection, which improves the detection accuracy. The mitigation module uses the idea of cross-domain cooperation of the controller to clear the abnormal flow in the blacklist. Experimental results show that our proposed CC-Guard has real-time DDoS attack defense capability and high detection accuracy, as well as efficient network resource utilization.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection can cause life-threatening pneumonia and bronchiolitis, posing a significant threat to human health worldwide, especially to children and the elderly. Currently, there is no specific treatment for RSV infection. The most effective measures for preventing RSV infection are vaccines and prophylactic medications. However, not all population groups are eligible for the approved vaccines or antibody-based preventive medications. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel vaccines and prophylactic drugs available for people of all ages. High-throughput assays that evaluate the efficacy of viral entry inhibitors or vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies in blocking RSV entry are crucial for evaluating vaccine and prophylactic drug candidates. We developed an efficient entry assay using a lentiviral pseudovirus carrying the fusion (F) protein of type A or B RSV. In addition, the essential parameters were systematically optimized, including the number of transfected plasmids, storage conditions of the pseudovirus, cell types, cell numbers, virus inoculum, and time point of detection. Furthermore, the convalescent sera exhibited comparable inhibitory activity in this assay as in the authentic RSV virus neutralization assay. We established a robust pseudovirus-based entry assay for RSV, which holds excellent promise for studying entry mechanisms, evaluating viral entry inhibitors, and assessing vaccine-elicited neutralizing antibodies against RSV.

A mild, efficient, photocatalytic synthesis of 6-phosphorylated phenanthridines via tandem radical addition/cyclization/aromatization of 2-isocyanobiphenyls with diarylphosphine oxides is reported. The method features operational simplicity in metal-free conditions, using low-cost Rose Bengal as a catalyst and sustainable air as a terminal oxidant at room temperature and providing the desired products in moderate to good yields.

Diamond-coated tools often fail due to coating graphitization and delamination caused by poor coating adhesion, large contact stress, and thermochemical reactions. To address these issues, this research utilized a combination of micro-nano double-layer diamond coating, WS2 coating, and micro-textures. The WS2 coating inhibits the graphitization of the diamond coating through a transfer film mechanism, while the micro-textures and nanocrystalline diamond coating store WS2, resulting in a prolonged lubrication life. Additionally, the influence of micro-texture on coating-substrate residual stress and coating-substrate mechanical interlocking was discussed, and it was proved that proper micro-textures effectively improve the coating adhesion. Under the same cutting flux conditions, taking coating peeling as the judging standard, the cutting distance of textured WS2/Micro-Nano diamond coating tool is more than three times that of ordinary, diamond-coated tools, which greatly improves the service life of the tool.

In the current research, the atmosphere effects on the photoinduced electron relaxations of the undecorated TiO2 and Ag-decorated TiO2 (Ag/TiO2) were carefully studied by means of the in situ photoconductance and diffuse reflection measurements. In pure N2 atmosphere, the results showed that the electron relaxation mainly occurs through the transfer to the residual O2, and the Ag nanoparticles form a fast electron transfer pathway. It was seen that the apparent activation energy of the electron transfer to O2 was greatly reduced by the Ag decoration. In the methanol-containing N2 atmosphere, the electron relaxation can still occur via the transfer to residual O2 in the case of the undecorated TiO2, while the relaxation mechanism changes for the Ag/TiO2 as the relaxations are decreased with the temperatures. It is possible that the methanol molecule adsorbed on the Ag/TiO2 perimeters could act as the bridge for the recombination of the holes and the electrons stored in the Ag nanoparticles. Reducing the Ag nanoparticle size from 15 nm to 3 nm can greatly increase the electron relaxations due to the increase in Ag dispersion and Ag/TiO2 interconnection. Although the electron transfer to O2 was increased, both the photocatalytic oxidations of acetone and isopropanol showed a decrease after the Ag decoration. The results indicated that the photocatalytic oxidation was not limited by the electron transfer to O2. The increased electron transfer to O2 contributed to the recombination around the Ag/TiO2 perimeters, and the photocatalytic activities were decreased.

To investigate the effects of long-term freeze–thaw cycles on the physical and mechanical properties as well as the attenuation trend of rocks, this study conducted saturated freeze–thaw tests on coarse sandstone and fine sandstone samples collected from the slopes of Muli Coal Mine in Qinghai Province. The samples underwent different numbers of freeze–thaw cycles, and their porosity, longitudinal wave velocity, and uniaxial compression strength were studied. The variations in the physical and mechanical properties of the two types of sandstone with respect to the number of freeze–thaw cycles were analyzed. Take uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) as the integrity index, and decay laws of rock integrity were analyzed based on the decay equation suggested in previous studies. We found that the decay index λ, which is commonly assumed to be constant, varies with the number of freeze–thaw cycles. Furthermore, the λ values varied between different rock types. For fine sandstone, the λ decreases with an increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles, ranging from 0.00385 to 0.005. However, for coarse sandstone, the λ initially decreases and then increases with an increase in the number of freeze–thaw cycles. The range of λ for coarse sandstone is between 0.00376 and 0.00481. Finally, we established a relationship between the decay index, porosity, and longitudinal wave velocity in the fine sandstones. This relationship provides a more straightforward way to evaluate the integrity of fine sandstones subjected to different numbers of freeze–thaw cycles.

Strengthening Mg alloys with rare earth elements has been a research focus for several decades. To minimize the usage of rare earth elements while enhancing mechanical properties, we adopted the strategy of alloying with multiple rare earth elements, namely Gd, Y, Nd, and Sm. Additionally, to promote the precipitation of basal precipitate, Ag and Zn doping was also induced. Thus, we designed a new cast Mg-2Gd-2Y-2Nd-2Sm-1Ag-1Zn-0.5Zr (wt.%) alloy. The microstructure of the alloy and its relevance to mechanical properties in various heat treatment conditions were investigated. After undergoing a heat treatment process, the alloy demonstrated exceptional mechanical properties, with a yield strength of 228 MPa and an ultimate tensile strength of 330 MPa achieved through peak-aging for 72 h at 200 °C. The excellent tensile properties are due to the synergistic effect of basal γ″ precipitate and prismatic β′ precipitate. In its as-cast state, its primary mode of fracture is inter-granular, whereas in the solid-solution and peak-aging conditions, the predominant mode of fracture is a mixture of trans-granular and inter-granular fractures.

Strengthening the CoCrFeNi high entropy alloy with a face-center cubic structure has become a research prospect in the last decade. Alloying with double elements, Nb and Mo, is an effective method. In this paper, to further enhance the strength of the Nb and Mo contained high entropy alloy, CoCrFeNiNb0.2Mo0.2 was annealing treated at different temperatures for 24 h. As a result, a new kind of Cr2Nb type nano-scale precipitate with a hexagonal close-packed structure was formed, which is semi-coherent with the matrix. Moreover, by adjusting the annealing temperature, the precipitate was tailored with a considerable quantity and fine size. The best overall mechanical properties were achieved in the alloy annealed at 700 °C. The yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and elongation are 727 MPa, 1.05 GPa, and 8.38%, respectively. The fracture mode of the annealed alloy is a mixture of cleavage and necking-featured ductile fracture. The approach employed in this study offers a theoretical foundation for enhancing the mechanical properties of face-centered cubic high entropy alloys via annealing treatment.

The remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of rolling bearings based on vibration signals has attracted widespread attention. It is not satisfactory to adopt information theory (such as information entropy) to realize RUL prediction for complex vibration signals. Recent research has used more deep learning methods based on the automatic extraction of feature information to replace traditional methods (such as information theory or signal processing) to obtain higher prediction accuracy. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) based on multi-scale information extraction have demonstrated promising effectiveness. However, the existing multi-scale methods significantly increase the number of model parameters and lack efficient learning mechanisms to distinguish the importance of different scale information. To deal with the issue, the authors of this paper developed a novel feature reuse multi-scale attention residual network (FRMARNet) for the RUL prediction of rolling bearings. Firstly, a cross-channel maximum pooling layer was designed to automatically select the more important information. Secondly, a lightweight feature reuse multi-scale attention unit was developed to extract the multi-scale degradation information in the vibration signals and recalibrate the multi-scale information. Then, end-to-end mapping between the vibration signal and the RUL was established. Finally, extensive experiments were used to demonstrate that the proposed FRMARNet model can improve prediction accuracy while reducing the number of model parameters, and it outperformed other state-of-the-art methods.

In the context of the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, assessing the risk of typhoon disasters can provide significant assistance for risk control and emergency management of typhoon disasters. In this paper, based on the three-dimensional information diffusion method, the formal expected loss model is transformed into a computable typhoon risk assessment model. The fuzzy information in the small sample data is deeply mined, and the typhoon disaster risk assessment with the expected loss as the connotation is carried out, and the probability density distribution estimation of disaster-causing factors at different levels and the functional relationship identification between disaster-causing factors at different levels and direct economic loss rate are realized by using the information matrix. At the same time, combined with the frequency of typhoon occurrence, the annual risk of disasters is predicted to make up for the problem of insufficient marine environmental data and improve the calculation accuracy of risk assessment models. Taking Guangdong Province as an example, a typhoon risk assessment was conducted, estimating the probability distribution, direct economic loss rate distribution, and annual loss expectation of typhoon disasters under different wind speed scales and extreme wave heights. The results indicate that the risk estimation value of the three-dimensional information diffusion model is higher than that of the traditional model, which weakens the limitations of the low-dimensional information diffusion model and makes the evaluation results more reasonable and reliable.

As a new generation of green media and functional materials, ionic liquids (ILs) have been extensively investigated in scientific and industrial communities, which have found numerous ap-plications in polymeric materials. On the one hand, much of the research has determined that ILs can be applied to modify polymers which use nanofillers such as carbon black, silica, graphene oxide, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, etc., toward the fabrication of high-performance polymer composites. On the other hand, ILs were extensively reported to be utilized to fabricate polymeric materials with improved thermal stability, thermal and electrical conductivity, etc. Despite substantial progress in these areas, summary and discussion of state-of-the-art functionalities and underlying mechanisms of ILs are still inadequate. In this review, a comprehensive introduction of various fillers modified by ILs precedes a systematic summary of the multifunctional applications of ILs in polymeric materials, emphasizing the effect on vulcanization, thermal stability, electrical and thermal conductivity, selective permeability, electromagnetic shielding, piezoresistive sensitivity and electrochemical activity. Overall, this review in this area is intended to provide a fundamental understanding of ILs within a polymer context based on advantages and disadvantages, to help researchers expand ideas on the promising applications of ILs in polymer fabrication with enormous potential.

The mode and mechanism of diabetic periodontitis-induced alveolar-osteocyte death are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of ferroptosis in alveolar osteocytes during diabetic periodontitis and the therapeutic potential of resveratrol to alleviate osteocyte ferroptosis. Diabetic periodontitis was induced in C57/BL6-male mice and treated with or without resveratrol. Periodontitis pathogenicity was analyzed by micro-CT and histology, and alveolar-osteocyte ferroptosis was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. MLOY4 osteocytes were treated with P. gingivalis-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS)+advanced glycosylated end products (AGEs) mimicking diabetic periodontitis condition in vitro, with or without resveratrol or ferrostatin-1 (ferroptosis inhibitor). Osteocyte ferroptosis and expression of inflammatory mediators were analyzed. Diabetic periodontitis aggravated periodontitis pathogenicity and inhibited the expression of GPX4 and SLC7A11 in alveolar osteocytes and resveratrol alleviated these effects. LPS+AGEs triggered osteocyte ferroptosis in vitro as indicated by the downregulated GPX4 and SLC7A11, upregulated malondialdehyde, disrupted mitochondrial morphology, and overexpressed pro-inflammatory mediators IL-1β, TNF-α, SOST, RANKL, and IL-6, and ferrostatin-1 or resveratrol treatment reversed these effects. LPS+AGEs upregulated pIKBα and pNF-κB p65 expression in osteocytes, and resveratrol or ferrostatin-1 reversed this effect. In conclusion, diabetic periodontitis triggers alveolar osteocyte ferroptosis possibly via disruption of the SLC7A11/GPX4 axis, and resveratrol has therapeutic potential to correct this biological event.

This study was conducted to study the redistribution of internal force and the development of the plastic hinge of an MBS with foundations at two different elevations considering the torsional effect. The results indicate that the redistribution of the base shear of MBS is evident at different embedding ends, and the redistribution of story shear on different floors also took place. The redistribution of the shear force of columns is different at the upper- and lower-embedding sides, and the internal force redistribution is more prominent along the slope direction. Consequently, the redistribution of the internal force of MBS should be considered in practical seismic design. Furthermore, the damage of MBS is transferred from the floors above the upper-embedding end to the floors under the upper-embedding end with the increase in the seismic intensity, where the elements at the floors above the upper-embedding end suffer the most serious damage, and the damage is unevenly distributed in the upper-embedding story and the adjacent upper story. The lower-embedding column is more prone to hinge across the slope direction because of the torsional effect. With γintra changes, the redistributions of the shear force of the base, story, and column are different. A larger γintra would result in a weaker redistribution of base shear. The redistribution of the story shear of the 1st floor and its columns along the slope direction shows an increasing-decreasing tendency with the increase in γintra, and the redistribution is the most serious when γintra is 0.4. While across the slope direction, the redistribution of the story shear tends to be weakened as γintra increases. The forming of the plastic hinge of single-frames along the slope direction is related to γintra and γnon, especially the damage of the upper-embedding columns. The torsional effect has a significant influence on the damage of the single-frames across the slope direction. Some measures should be taken to improve the bearing capacity of the upper embedding columns and columns on floors under the upper-embedding end, as well as the drift ductility of the upper-embedding columns.

Nano-FeS has great potential for use in the management of radioactive contaminants. In this paper, we prepared a FeS@Stenotrophomonas sp. composite material by ultrasonic chemistry, and it showed excellent removal of uranium and thorium from the solution. Through optimization of the experimental conditions, it was found that the maximum adsorption capacities for uranium and thorium reached 481.9 and 407.5 mg/g for a composite made with a synthetic ratio of 1:1, pH 5 and 3.5, respectively, for U and Th, and sonication for 20 min. Compared with those of FeS or Stenotrophomonas alone, the removal capacity was greatly improved. The results of a mechanistic study indicated that efficient removal of the uranium and thorium was due to ion exchange, reduction, and microbial surface adsorption. FeS@Stenotrophomonas sp. could be applied to U(VI) and Th(IV) extraction for radioactive water.

Objective: The overall purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism of macrophage polarization on chondrocyte injury in osteoarthritis and the protective effect of apigenin on chondrocytes in osteoarthritis. Method: Primary chondrocytes were isolated from the knee cartilage of three-day-old mice, and cells positive for Alsine blue staining and type II collagen immunocytochemical staining were identified and used in followup experiments. Transwell coculture was performed. Chondrocytes were inoculated in the inferior compartment, and macrophages were inoculated in the upper compartment. The experimental groups were the N group, LPS group, and LPS+ apigenin group. The effect of macrophage polarization on chondrocyte inflammation and the protective effect of apigenin on chondrocytes were verified by the drug administration. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) and Western blot were used to detect the expression of RNA and protein. Experimental OA was induced by modified Hulth surgery in mice. Modified Hulth surgery was performed on the mouse’s right knee to induce experimental osteoarthritis in mice, with the nonoperative right knee serving as an ipsilateral control. The mice were randomly assigned to three groups (six mice per group): the sham group, the modified Hulth group, and the modified Hulth + apigenin group. Animals were given gavage for four weeks. The protective effect of apigenin on articular cartilage was verified by histological staining and immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Histological staining showed that apigenin had a protective effect on cartilage degeneration induced by modified Hulth surgery. The PCR results showed that apigenin significantly reduced the expression levels of IL-1, IL-6, MMP3, and MMP13 in the articular cartilage of OA mice, and it had a protective effect on articular cartilage. Apigenin reduced the levels of IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and IL-12 in macrophages and increased the levels of MG-L1, MG-L2, ARG-1, and IL-10, which can inhibit the M1 polarization of macrophages and promote M2 polarization. In the coculture system, apigenin decreased the protein levels of TRPM7, P-mTOR, BAX, and c-caspase3 in macrophages, while significantly increasing the protein levels of Bcl2. The levels of IL-1, IL-6, MMP13, TNF-α, P38, JNK, and ERK phosphorylation were reduced in chondrocytes. Conclusion: Apigenin alleviates cartilage injury in OA mice induced by modified Hulth. Apigenin inhibits chondrocyte inflammation through the MAPK pathway. Apigenin alleviates macrophage-polarization-induced inflammatory response and chondrocyte apoptosis in the macrophage–chondrocyte coculture system through the TRPM7-mTOR pathway.

In order to explore the microstructure evolution of an Mg-RE alloy refined by Al during solution treatment, an Mg-3Y-4Nd-2Al alloy was treated at 545 °C for different time periods. Phase evolution of the alloy was investigated. After solution treatment, the Mg-RE eutectic phase in the Mg-3Y-4Nd-2Al alloy dissolves, the granular Al2RE phase does not change, the acicular Al11RE3 phase breaks into the short rod-like Al2RE phase, and the lamellar Al2RE phase precipitates in the grains. With the extension of solution time, the precipitated phase of the lamellar Al2RE increased at first and then decreased, and its orientation relationship with the matrix is <112>Al2RE//<21¯1¯0>Mg and {111}Al2RE//{0002}Mg. The undissolved granular Al2RE phase can improve the thermal stability of the alloy grain by pinning the grain boundary, and the grain size did not change after solution treatment. Solution treatment significantly improved the plasticity of the alloy. After 48 h of solution treatment, the elongation increased to 17.5% from 8.5% in the as-cast state.

A photocatalytic effect arises from the electron relaxation of semiconductors. Directing the electron relaxation toward photocatalytic reactions is the focus of photocatalytic studies. Co-catalyst decoration is a main way to modulate the electron relaxation, and the Cu(II) nanoparticles have been widely studied as an important co-catalyst. However, the detailed mechanism is still not well known. The current study is devoted to investigating the effect of the Cu(II) nanoparticle decoration on the electron relaxations for TiO2 through in situ photochromism and photoconductances, based on which the relation to the photocatalytic properties was discussed. The result shows that the Cu(II)/Cu(0) redox couple assists the double electron transfer from TiO2 to O2, while the Cu(I)/Cu(0) redox couple assists the single electron transfer to O2. Although the Cu(II) decoration changes the mechanism and increases the rate of the electron relaxations, the electron relaxation does not occur via the Cu redox couple assistance. It was found that the electron relaxation kinetics depends on the reduced Cu species, which can be greatly increased when the Cu(II) was reduced to Cu(0). It is also revealed that the electron relaxation corresponds to the electron transfer from TiO2 to O2, but it does not occur through the Cu redox couple assistance. The result also shows that the increase in the electron relaxation is mainly directed toward the recombination rather than photocatalytic reactions. The present research gains some insights on the role of the co-catalysts in the electron relaxations and its relation to photocatalysis; this should be meaningful for designing novel photocatalytic materials.

Industrial dynamical systems often exhibit multi-scale responses due to material heterogeneity and complex operation conditions. The smallest length-scale of the systems dynamics controls the numerical resolution required to resolve the embedded physics. In practice however, high numerical resolution is only required in a confined region of the domain where fast dynamics or localized material variability is exhibited, whereas a coarser discretization can be sufficient in the rest majority of the domain. Partitioning the complex dynamical system into smaller easier-to-solve problems based on the localized dynamics and material variability can reduce the overall computational cost. The region of interest can be specified based on the localized features of the solution, user interest, and correlation length of the material properties. For problems where a region of interest is not evident, Bayesian inference can provide a feasible solution. In this work, we employ a Bayesian framework to update the prior knowledge of the localized region of interest using measurements of the system response. Once, the region of interest is identified, the localized uncertainty is propagate forward through the computational domain. We demonstrate our framework using numerical experiments on a three-dimensional elastodynamic problem.

Two new 4-hydroxy-2-pyridone alkaloids furanpydone A and B (1 and 2), along with two known compounds N-hydroxyapiosporamide (3) and apiosporamide (4) were isolated from the endophytic fungus Arthrinium sp. GZWMJZ-606 in Houttuynia cordata Thunb. Furanpydone A and B had unusual 5-(7-oxabicyclo[2.2.1]heptane)-4-hydroxy-2-pyridone skeleton. Their structures including absolute configurations were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, as well as the X-ray diffraction experiment. Compound 1 showed inhibitory activity against ten cancer cell lines (MKN-45, HCT116, K562, A549, DU145, SF126, A-375, 786O, 5637, and PATU8988T) with IC50 values from 4.35 to 9.72 µM. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 showed moderate inhibitory effects against four Gram-positive strains (Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Bacillus Subtilis, Clostridium perfringens) and one Gram-negative strain (Ralstonia solanacarum) with MIC values from 1.56 to 25 µM. However, compounds 1–4 showed no obvious inhibitory activity against two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans and Candida glabrata) at 50 µM. These results show that compounds 1–4 are expected to be developed as lead compounds for antibacterial or anti-tumor drugs.