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The Carboniferous volcanic reservoirs in Junggar Basin contain rich hydrocarbon resources, implying a great exploration potential, so that they have become a key replacement target for "three-dimensional exploration". The study on the Carboniferous volcanic reservoirs and their hydrocarbon accumulation elements is significant for clarifying the orientation for exploration. In this paper, based on 37 reserves reports and 3 200 reservoir test data, the Carboniferous volcanic reservoirs in Junggar Basin were discussed from the prospective of lithology and lithofacies, physical properties, reservoir types, main controls on hydrocarbon accumulation, and hydrocarbon accumulation patterns. It is found that the Carboniferous in the basin is mostly in the multi-island ocean-volcanic island arc structural-sedimentary environment, so it is geologically eligible for forming in-situ volcanic reservoirs. The volcanic rocks are: (1) mostly distributed along deep and large faults, with the lithology and lithofacies controlled by volcanic architectures; (2) dominantly lava, followed by volcaniclastic lava and volcaniclastic rock; (3) distributed in the periphery of hydrocarbon-generating sag and within the source rocks horizontally, and concentrated in the weathering crust at the top longitudinally, possibly leading to reworked weathering crust reservoir; and (4) liable to form inner reservoirs. The volcanic reservoirs can be concluded into four hydrocarbon accumulation patterns, i.e., self-generating & self-storing in paleo-uplift and vertical migration, self-generating & self-storing in paleo-uplift and lateral migration, young-generating & old-storing in fault zone and vertical migration, and young-generating & old-storing in paleo-uplift and lateral migration. Future exploration will focus on the effective source rock development and hydrocarbon supply zones and the self-generating & self-storing and young-generating & old-storing patterns. The exploration prospects are determined to be the Ludong-Wucaiwan-Baijiahai slope belt and the southern slope belt of the Shaqi uplift (self-generating & self-storing pattern) in eastern Junggar, and the fault and nasal arch zone at the northwestern margin and the nasal arch zone (deep and large structure) in the Luxi area (young-generating & old-storing pattern) in western Junggar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clinical success of IL-17/IL-23 pathway biologics for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis suggests that targeting RORγt, a master regulator for the proliferation and function of Th17 cells, could be an effective alternative. However, oral RORγ antagonists (VTP43742, TAK828) with high systemic exposure showed toxicity in phase I/II clinical trials and terminated development. To alleviate the potential safety concerns, identifying compounds with skin-restricted exposure amenable for topical use is of great interest. Systematic structure activity relationship study and multi-parameter optimization led to the discovery of a novel RORγ antagonist (SHR168442) with desired properties for a topical drug. It suppressed the transcription of IL-17 gene, leading to reduction of IL-17 cytokine secretion. It showed high exposure in skin, but low in plasma. Topical application of SHR168442 in Vaseline exhibited excellent efficacy in the imiquimod-induced and IL-23-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation mouse models and correlated with the reduction of Th17 pathway cytokines, IL-6, TNFα and IL-17A. This work demonstrated restricted skin exposure of RORγ antagonist may provide a new topical treatment option as targeted therapeutics for mild to moderate psoriasis patients and may be suitable for the treatment of any other inflammatory disorders that are accessible locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Devonian cutinitic liptobiolith is a special cuticle-rich coal formed during the early stage of land plant evolution. In China, this special coal has previously only been reported in the Yangtze area, with the Luquan Devonian cutinitic liptobiolith of Yunnan Province being the most well-known. Recently, this type of coal was first discovered in the Bulonggoer Sag, to the northwest of the Junggar Basin, NW Xinjiang. Its geological age is regarded as the Givetian period of the late Middle Devonian, which is equivalent to the age of the Luquan Devonian coal. The cutinitic liptobiolith from NW Xinjiang has a distinct sheet-like texture resembling a stack of paper or leaf sheets in appearance, and so it is commonly called "paper coal" or "leaf coal". Ribbon-like cutinite (thick-walled type) is the most abundant maceral in the coal (>60% and up to 80%, on a mineral-free basis), followed by ribbon-like collotelinite. The NW Xinjiang and Luquan cutinitic liptobioliths share similar maceral compositions; while their coal-forming plants and depositional conditions are distinct. The NW Xinjiang cutinitic liptobiolith was deposited in a regional fluvial or flood plain condition, with lycopsids as the dominant coal-forming plants. In contrast, the Luquan cutinitic liptobiolith formed in a coastal-lagoon environment, with primitive ferns as the predominant coal-forming plants, followed by lycopsids. The saturated fractions of the NW Xinjiang and Luquan liptobioliths are mainly composed of tetracyclic diterpanes. However, the tetracyclic diterpane compositions in the NW Xinjiang cutinitic liptobiolith are distinct from those in the Luquan Devonian coal: The former is dominated by atisanes and the latter is mainly composed of phyllocladanes. Different coal-forming plants may have contributed to the distinct tetracyclic diterpane compositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common pathogens in bacterial biofilm infections. Antibiotic treatment for infection caused by S. aureus biofilms is challenging, and few effective strategies have been developed to combat these infections. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect and possible mechanisms of artesunate on the biofilm formation of S. aureus. Bacterial growth curves were determined by a microtiter plate. Biofilm formation was determined by the crystal violet staining method and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Bacterial adhesion was assayed by the colony-counting method. The expression of virulence and adhesion genes was determined by real-time PCR. The hemolytic activity and expression of ɑ-hemolysin were analyzed using rabbit erythrocytes and Western blotting. The results showed that artesunate could significantly inhibit the biofilm formation of S. aureus in a dose-dependent manner. Artesunate could also inhibit bacterial adhesion and the expression of hla, RNAIII and agrA as well as ɑ-hemolysin production. The effect of artesunate on adhesion genes (clfA, clfB, fnbA, fnbB) had strain specificity, but it did not affect the expression of ica genes. The results indicated that artesunate might inhibit ɑ-hemolysin synthesis by the agr system, which inhibits biofilm formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aerodynamic unstable critical wind velocity for three-dimensional open cable-membrane structures is investigated. The geometric nonlinearity is introduced into the dynamic equilibrium equations of structures. The disturbances on the structural surface caused by the air flow are simulated by a vortex layer with infinite thickness in the structures. The unsteady Bernoulli equation and the circulation theorem are applied in order to express the aerodynamic pressure as the function of the vortex density. The vortex density is then obtained with the vortex lattice method considering the coupling boundary condition. From the analytical expressions of the unstable critical wind velocities, numerical results and some useful conclusions are obtained. It is found that the initial curvature of open cable-membrane structures has clear influence on the critical wind velocities of the structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the establishment of a sensitive and specific diagnostic method for early heart failure (HF), we developed a cost-effective fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) platform for the detection of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a characteristic biomarker of HF. Graphene oxide (GO) was selected as the FRET receptor in view of its advantages including commercial availability, low-cost and chemical stability, and dye-modified aptamer was used as the energy donor of FRET as well as in charge of the specific recognition of BNP. Based on the ON (strong emission) and OFF (quenching) states of FRET in the presence and absence of BNP, respectively, specific detection of BNP was achieved in the range 0.074–0.56 pg/mL with a limit of detection as low as 45 fg/mL (3σ). This FRET platform was applied to detect BNP in 45 blood samples to demonstrate its practicability in clinical diagnosis. Compared to the commonly used Siemens method (chemiluminescence immunoassay, CLIA) in hospital, our approach is more accurate and specific for HF diagnosis with areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of 0.869 (95% CI 0.733–1.00, P < 0.05) vs 0.850 (95% CI 0.703–0.997, P < 0.05) and specificity of 68.8% vs 65.6%. This platform is promising in early diagnosis of HF through ultrasensitive and specific detection of BNP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0 has been proposed to address personalized consumption demands by building cyber-physical production systems for smart manufacturing. Although cloud manufacturing and some integrated frameworks for smart factory have been presented in literatures, it still lacks industrial applications. In this paper, we use personalized candy packing application as a demonstration to illustrate our smart factory design. We first describe the component layers of the smart factory, i.e., physical devices, private cloud, client terminals, and network, to enable the smart factory to be integrated with other systems, such as banks and logistical network, to cope with personalized consumption demands. Then, we present a scheme for inter-layered interaction. As for the physical devices, we also design an intra-layered negotiation mechanism to implement dynamic reconfiguration, so that the system can support hybrid production of multi-typed products. Finally, we give experimental results to verify efficiency, self-organized process, and hybrid production paradigm of the proposed system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, multi-walled carbon nanotubes were coated on the surface of magnetic nanoparticles modified by polydopamine. The synthesized composite was characterized and applied to magnetic-μ-dispersive solid-phase extraction of oxcarbazepine (OXC), phenytoin (PHT), and carbamazepine (CBZ) from human plasma, urine, and cerebrospinal fluid samples prior to analysis by a high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array detector. The extraction parameters were investigated and the optimum condition was obtained when the variables were set to the following: sorbent type, Fe3O4@polyDA-MWCNTs (length < 2 μm); sample pH, 6; amount of sorbent, 15 mg; sorption time, 1.5 min at room temperature; type and volume of the eluent, 2.5 mL methanol; and salt content, none added. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curves are linear in the concentration range 2-2000 ng/mL, the limits of detection are in the range 0.4-3.1 ng/mL, and the relative standard deviations and relative recoveries of plasma (spiked at 200 ng/mL) and CSF (spiked at 50 ng/mL) are in the ranges 1.4-8.2% and 92.8-96.5%, respectively. The applicability of the method was successfully confirmed by extraction and determination of OXC, PHT, and CBZ in biological matrices.Magnetic multi-walled carbon nanotube core-shell composites were applied as magnetic-μ-dispersive solid-phase extraction adsorbents for determination of antiepileptic drugs in biological matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LaCaMnO (LCMO):Ag films were grown on LaAlO (LAO) substrates ( 100) by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique with various incident laser energies. The surface morphologies and the thicknesses of the films were studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The crystal structures were analyzed by X-ray, diffraction (XRD), and the temperature dependence of the resistivity ( ρ- T) of the films was studied by the standard four-probe method. It can be found that the crystal quality, surface morphology, metal-insulator transition temperature ( T ), and temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of the LCMO:Ag films are changed with various laser energy. The highest T 287 K is obtained with 300 mJ laser energy; meanwhile, the optimal TCR 13.5% K is achieved. The results suggest that the electrical transport properties of LCMO:Ag films are affected by the interface-induced compressive stress, the oxygen balance, and the double exchange between Mn-O-Mn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, with many advances in wireless sensor networks, big data, mobile and cloud computing, Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) can tightly couple cyber space with the physical world better than ever before. Also, the cloud-based systems can provide massive storage resources and low-cost computing as well as the flexibility of customizing the operating environment to Complex Industrial Applications (CIA). In our view, Cloud-integrated CPS (CCPS) will open the door to allow previously unachievable application scenarios to be built, deployed, managed and controlled effectively. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture of CCPS (termed CCPSA) and outline the enabling technologies for CIA. Then, we dissect three potential challenges and provide solutions from the perspective of CIA, including virtualized resource management techniques, the scheduling of cloud resources, and life cycle management. We hope this paper can provide insight and a roadmap for future research efforts in the emerging field of CCPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high catalytic efficient soft-template nanostructured peroxidase (SP) was constructed when cytochrome c (Cyt c, 10 μM) was mixed with sodium decyl sulfate (SDeS, 40 mM) in 100 mM sodium phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The electrochemical investigations were carried out for the SP immobilized on hydroxyl fullerenes modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The cyclic voltammetry of the SP-modified GCE showed a pair of well-defined redox peaks with a formal potential ( $$ E^{{\circ^{\prime}}} $$ ) of −220 ± 2 mV (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 100 mM, pH 8.0 PBS at a scan rate of 0.05 Vs. The heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant ( k) was calculated to be 14.3 ± 1 s. The apparent Michaelis-Menten constant ( $$ K_{m}^{app} $$ ) was 1.79 ± 0.03 µM. SDeS and Cyt c may be important for the structure and catalytic function of SP, respectively. The SP-modified GCE could be used as an HO biosensor instead of horseradish peroxidase (HRP), with good sensitivity and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Testis-specific gene 13 (TSGA13) is abundantly expressed in testis. As previous studies of TSGA13 expression pattern have all been based on mRNA analysis, it is imperative to investigate its actual protein expression. Here, we first examined TSGA13 gene tree and protein homology among species, and found that TSGA13 is relatively well conserved. Next, we detected its protein expression in normal human tissues as well as in a limited number of malignant tumors by immunohistochemistry (IHC). It was demonstrated that, in addition to testis, high expression of TSGA13 could also be observed in multiple normal tissues, including stomach, larynx, spleen, bladder, tonsil, liver and thyroid. Notably, most types of human carcinoma tissues displayed reduced expression of TSGA13 rather than their adjacent normal tissues except glioblastoma and lung cancer. Hence, the data from the current study strongly suggest the association between TSGA13 and tumor malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the efficacy of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) treatment by prostate transurethral enucleation using a 2-μm laser. A total of 107 patients with BPH were treated by prostate transurethral enucleation using a RevoLix 2-μm laser surgery system. Bleeding volume, operation time, catheterization time, voiding situation, maximum urinary flow rate, and hospital stay were observed. The mean operation time was 74 min ± 12 min (range 45 to 150 min), the mean follow-up period was 2 to 6 months, the mean catheter time was 5 days, and the mean peak urinary flow rate increased from 6.3 ± 0.6 to 17.5 ± 1.5 mL/s. The International Prostate Symptom Score and quality of life significantly declined ( p < 0.01). No significant differences were observed in the hemoglobin and blood electrolytes before and after operation. Prostate transurethral enucleation using a 2-μm laser is safe and efficient for BPH treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a result of the imprecise positioning accuracy, the satellite-based positioning system cannot offer the reliable and continuous positioning service for vehicular active safety application or vehicle monitoring in urban center with dense buildings or underground. With the advent of Vehicle Ad hoc Network (VANET), the Roadside Unit (RSU) can be considered as an anchor or base station to offer positioning reference. The ground-based positioning solution can help us acquire more precise position information through many times interaction, but multiple communications will result in heavy burden for network and more energy consumption. In this paper, we firstly analyze the pros and cons of representative algorithm, i.e., Symmetric Double Side-Two way Ranging (SDS-TWR). Then, we propose a novel energy-saving One-Sided Synchronous Two-Way Ranging (OSS-TWR) algorithm to reduce the communication times, which gains lower energy consumption and better performance than SDS-TWR. The experiments verify the validity of our solution. Finally, we make a conclusion and discuss the future works of vehicular positioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life on Earth developed under the influence of normal gravity (1 g). With evidence from previous studies, scientists have suggested that normal physiological processes, such as the functional integrity of muscles and bone mass, can be affected by microgravity during spaceflight. During the life span, bone not only develops as a structure designed specifically for mechanical tasks but also adapts for efficiency. The lack of weight-bearing forces makes microgravity an ideal physical stimulus to evaluate bone cell responses. One of the most serious problems induced by long-term weightlessness is bone mineral loss. Results from in vitro studies that entailed the use of bone cells in spaceflights showed modification in cell attachment structures and cytoskeletal reorganization, which may be involved in bone loss. Humans exposed to microgravity conditions experience various physiological changes, including loss of bone mass, muscle deterioration, and immunodeficiency. In vitro models can be used to extract valuable information about changes in mechanical stress to ultimately identify the different pathways of mechanotransduction in bone cells. Despite many in vivo and in vitro studies under both real microgravity and simulated conditions, the mechanism of bone loss is still not well defined. The objective of this review is to summarize the recent research on bone cells under microgravity conditions based on advances in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) has accrued RNA-Seq-based transcriptome data for more than 4000 cancer tissue samples across 12 cancer types, translating these data into biological insights remains a major challenge. We analyzed and compared the transcriptomes of 4043 cancer and 548 normal tissue samples from 21 TCGA cancer types, and created a comprehensive catalog of gene expression alterations for each cancer type. By clustering genes into co-regulated gene sets, we identified seven cross-cancer gene signatures altered across a diverse panel of primary human cancer samples. A 14-gene signature extracted from these seven cross-cancer gene signatures precisely differentiated between cancerous and normal samples, the predictive accuracy of leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) were 92.04%, 96.23%, 91.76%, 90.05%, 88.17%, 94.29%, and 99.10% for BLCA, BRCA, COAD, HNSC, LIHC, LUAD, and LUSC, respectively. A lung cancer-specific gene signature, containing SFTPA1 and SFTPA2 genes, accurately distinguished lung cancer from other cancer samples, the predictive accuracy of LOOCV for TCGA and GSE5364 data were 95.68% and 100%, respectively. These gene signatures provide rich insights into the transcriptional programs that trigger tumorigenesis and metastasis, and many genes in the signature gene panels may be of significant value to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using KF as base and THF as solvent, different 5-alkoxy-3,4-dibromo-2(5 H)-furanones were reacted with amines containing a benzene ring structure by Michael addition-elimination reaction at room temperature or 40 °C to give twenty-three 5-alkoxy-4-amino-3-bromo-2(5 H)-furanones containing benzene rings, with yields of 21-86 % (mostly over 64 %). The structures of all the newly synthesized compounds were elucidated and confirmed by FTIR, UV, H NMR, C NMR, and mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and X-ray single-crystal diffraction. This rapid synthesis of the series of 2(5 H)-furanones derivatives with different bioactive units is not only an important synthetic strategy for 2(5 H)-furanone derivatives but also a basis for synthesis of potential drug molecules for activity testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of future climate change on streamflow of the Dongliao River Watershed located in Jilin Province, China have been evaluated quantitatively by using a general circulation model (HadCM3) coupled with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrological model. The model was calibrated and validated against the historical monitored data from 2005 to 2009. The streamflow was estimated by downscaling HadCM3 outputs to the daily mean temperature and precipitation series, derived for three 30-year time slices, 2020s, 2050s and 2080s. Results suggest that daily mean temperature increases with a changing rate of 0.435°C per decade, and precipitation decreases with a changing rate of 0.761 mm per decade. Compared with other seasons, the precipitation in summer shows significant downward trend, while a significant upward trend in autumn. The annual streamflow demonstrates a general downward trend with a decreasing rate of 0.405 m/s per decade. The streamflow shows significant downward and upward trends in summer and in autumn, respectively. The decreasing rate of streamflow in summer reaches 1.97 m/s per decade, which contributes primarily to the decrease of streamflow. The results of this work would be of great benifit to the design of economic and social development planning in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravitational waves (GWs) from extra dimensions, very early universe, and some high-energy astrophysical processes might have at most six polarization states: tensor- and nontensor-mode gravitons. The peak regions or partial peak regions (of the amplitudes or energy densities) of some of such GWs are just distributed in the GHz or higher frequency band, which would be an optimal frequency band for the electromagnetic (EM) response to such high-frequency GWs (HFGWs). In this paper we investigate the EM response to the HFGWs, and for the first time we obtain the concrete form of analytic solutions of the perturbative EM fields caused by all six possible polarizations of the HFGWs in the background stable EM fields and in the proposed three dimensional synchro-resonance system (3DSR system), respectively. It is found that all such six polarizations may in principle show separability and detectability. Moreover, the detection frequency band ( ∼ 10 8 to 10 12 Hz or higher) of the signal photon fluxes by the 3DSR system and the observation frequency range ( ∼ 7 × 10 7 to 3 × 10 9 Hz) of the signals by the FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, China) have a certain overlapping property, and thus their coincidence experiments in the future for observations will have high complementarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient transparent quantum-dot light emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) are demonstrated by using a silver nanowire (AgNW) cathode. The devices are fabricated through a solution technique, not any vacuum processes are involved. Almost identical performance is obtained for both sides of the transparent device, which is primary due to the high transmittance of AgNW cathode. The maximum luminance (efficiency) for ITO and AgNW side is 25,040 cd/m2 (5.6 cd/A) and 23,440 cd/m2 (5.2 cd/A), respectively. The average specular transmittance of the device (involving the glass substrate) is over 60% in the visible range. This study indicates that AgNW electrodes can serve as a cost-effective, flexible alternative to ITO, and thereby improve the economic viability and mechanical stability of QD-LEDs. All the results suggest that this is an important progress toward producing transparent QD-LEDs based displays and lighting sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "The work mechanism and sub-bandgap-voltage electroluminescence in inverted quantum dot light-emitting diodes" is presented in which contain a typographical error.