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The source and evolution of ore-forming fluids is important to understand the genesis of Carlin-type gold deposit. Constraints on the source and evolution of ore fluid components by the conventional geochemical methods have long been a challenge due to the very fine-grained nature and complex textures of hydrothermal minerals in these deposits. In this study, we present the crush-leach analyzed solute data of fluid inclusion extracts within quartz, calcite, realgar, and fluorite from the Shuiyindong, Nibao, and Yata gold deposits in the Youjiang Basin, providing new insights into the source and evolution of ore-forming fluids. The results show that the high molar Cl/Br ratios up to 2 508 in fluid inclusion extracts are indicative of a contribution of magmatic hydrothermal fluids. Fluids mixing between basinal and magmatic-hydrothermal fluids are evident on the plots of Cl/Br versus Na/K ratios, showing that ore-stage milky quartz near the magmatic-hydrothermal fluids reflects magma origin of the ore-forming fluids, whereas late ore-stage drusy quartz and realgar near the defined basinal fluids suggest the later input of basinal fluids in late-ore stage. Although the predominately host rocks in Shuiyindong, Nibao and Yata gold deposit are bioclastic limestone, sedimentary tuff, and calcareous siltstone, respectively, the solute data of fluid inclusion extracts records they underwent the similar fluid-rocks reactions between the Na-rich magmatic hydrothermal fluids and the Ca- and Mg-rich host rocks. This study highlights the solute data of fluid inclusion extracts obtained by crush-leach analyses have the potential to fingerprint the source and evolution of ore-forming fluids of the Carlin-type gold deposit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumor detection is a classification task that utilizes information including the content of a rumor, the comments surrounding it, and information about the users involved. In existing social networks, often emerge unexpectedly and typically concern unknown events, prompting researchers to explore tasks in low-resource situations, including early rumor detection and unknown rumor detection. Existing approaches require constructing rumor representations based on the entire propagation cycle of rumors or specific features of current events. They can lead to models that are too dependent on existing data features and lack generality in low-resource situations and are unsuitable for ever-changing real-world environments. This paper proposes prompt-learning based on few-shot and zero-shot rumor fuzzy detection systems FSRD. These two approaches can detect rumors in a variety of low-resource scenarios (e.g., early rumor detection and unknown rumor detection) using only a small amount of source rumors aided by highly explainable prompt templates, without waiting for rumors to spread to obtain more features. On several standard rumor detection datasets, FSRD outperforms various other detection methods for few-shot scenarios, and achieves competitive results on zero-shot tasks as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microbial community is one of the most important factors in shaping the characteristics of fermented food. Nuodeng ham, traditionally produced and subjected to 1–4 years of fermentation, is a dry fermented food product with cultural and economic significance to locals in southwestern China. In this study, we aimed to characterize the microbiota and physicochemical profiles of Nuodeng ham across different stages of fermentation. Ham samples from each of the four years were analyzed by sequencing bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer sequence, in order to characterize the diversity and composition of their microflora. A total of 2,679,483 bacterial and 2,983,234 fungal sequences of high quality were obtained and assigned to 514 and 57 genera, respectively. Among these microbes, Staphylococcus and Candida were the most abundant genera observed in the ham samples, though samples from different years showed differences in their microbial abundance. Results of physicochemical properties (pH, water, amino acid, NaCl, nitrate and nitrite contents, and the composition of volatile compounds) revealed differences among the ham samples in the composition of volatile compounds, especially in the third year samples, in which no nitrite was detected. These results suggest that the structure and diversity of microbial communities significantly differed across different stages of fermentation. Moreover, the third year hams exhibits a unique and balanced microbial community, which might contribute to the special flavor in the green and safe food products. Thus, our study lends insights into the production of high quality Nuodeng ham. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: A surface engineering strategy was proposed to design hierarchically porous structure on fibrous carbon cathodes with O/N heteroatom functional groups. High-energy and anti-self-discharge Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSs) were realized. ZHS electrochemistry was investigated and new insights were provided.Aqueous Zn-ion hybrid supercapacitors (ZHSs) are increasingly being studied as a novel electrochemical energy storage system with prominent electrochemical performance, high safety and low cost. Herein, high-energy and anti-self-discharge ZHSs are realized based on the fibrous carbon cathodes with hierarchically porous surface and O/N heteroatom functional groups. Hierarchically porous surface of the fabricated free-standing fibrous carbon cathodes not only provides abundant active sites for divalent ion storage, but also optimizes ion transport kinetics. Consequently, the cathodes show a high gravimetric capacity of 156 mAh g−1, superior rate capability (79 mAh g−1 with a very short charge/discharge time of 14 s) and exceptional cycling stability. Meanwhile, hierarchical pore structure and suitable surface functional groups of the cathodes endow ZHSs with a high energy density of 127 Wh kg−1, a high power density of 15.3 kW kg−1 and good anti-self-discharge performance. Mechanism investigation reveals that ZHS electrochemistry involves cation adsorption/desorption and Zn4SO4(OH)6·5H2O formation/dissolution at low voltage and anion adsorption/desorption at high voltage on carbon cathodes. The roles of these reactions in energy storage of ZHSs are elucidated. This work not only paves a way for high-performance cathode materials of ZHSs, but also provides a deeper understanding of ZHS electrochemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of novel synthons and efficient methods to synthesize chiral polycyclic indoles has been a hot topic in organic synthesis and medicinal chemistry owing to their broad applications in medicines, pesticides, and other functional molecules. Here, we disclosed novel indolyl substituted metal-allyl zwitterionic intermediates through the decarboxylation of conveniently available vinyl indoloxazolidones, which could be regarded as two types of dipolar species through the anionic delocalization. The palladium-π-allyl species tended to serve as an all-carbon 1,3-dipole in the asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition with electron-deficient alkenes, which furnished polysubstituted cyclopenta[b]indoles with high regio- and stereoselectivities. Meanwhile, the iridium-π-allyl species was recognized as an aza-1,3-dipole in asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition with in situ generated C1 ammonium enolates, affording pyrrolo[1,2-a]indoles with high diastereo- and enantioselectivities. In addition, the dipolar cycloadditions could be easily scaled-up and several synthetic transformations of the cycloadducts were demonstrated for the rapid synthesis of diverse chiral polycyclic indoles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stimulus-responsive polymer gel materials were studied and applied widely in many fields in recent years. However, the poor electrically conductive property and even with poor toughness largely limit their extensive applications in more expanded fields. Herein, we report a novel kind of self-oscillating gels poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid-co-Fe(phen)3)/reduced graphene oxide (poly(AM-co-AC-co-Fe(phen)3)/RGO) with excellent electrical conductivity, and compressive strength via an in-situ polymerization accompanied by an ultrasonic assisted method. The dispersed reduced graphene oxide (RGO) improved the conductive and mechanical properties of the prepared materials remarkably. The conductivity of gel reached to 16.88 S·m−1 with the content of 0.34 wt% RGO and the maximum fracture pressure was 4.1 MPa, which is as high as human cartilage. Besides, the prepared gels exhibited the self-oscillating behavior in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) solution free of catalyst. Therefore, the prepared materials have potential applications as artificial cartilage and soft electron instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Direct seeding is an efficient cultivation technique in rice. However, poor low temperature germinability (LTG) of modern rice cultivars limits its application. Identifying the genes associated with LTG and performing molecular breeding is the fundamental way to address this issue. However, few LTG QTLs have been fine mapped and cloned so far. Results: In the present study, the LTG evaluation of 375 rice accessions selected from the Rice Diversity Panel 2 showed that there were large LTG variations within the population, and the LTG of Indica group was significantly higher than that of Japonica and Aus groups (p < 0.01). In total, eleven QTLs for LTG were identified through genome-wide association study (GWAS). Among them, qLTG_sRDP2–3/qLTG_JAP-3, qLTG_AUS-3 and qLTG_sRDP2–12 are first reported in the present study. The QTL on chromosome 10, qLTG_sRDP2–10a had the largest contribution to LTG variations in 375 rice accessions, and was further validated using single segment substitution line (SSSL). The presence of qLTG_sRDP2–10a could result in 59.8% increase in LTG under 15 °C low temperature. The expression analysis of the genes within qLTG_sRDP2–10a region indicated that LOC_Os10g22520 and LOC_Os10g22484 exhibited differential expression between the high and low LTG lines. Further sequence comparisons revealed that there were insertion and deletion sequence differences in the promoter and intron region of LOC_Os10g22520, and an about 6 kb variation at the 3′ end of LOC_Os10g22484 between the high and low LTG lines, suggesting that the sequence variations of the two genes could be the cause for their differential expression in high and low LTG lines. Conclusion: Among the 11 QTLs identified in this study, qLTG_sRDP2–10a could also be detected in other three studies using different germplasm under different cold environments. Its large effect and stable expression make qLTG_sRDP2–10a particularly valuable in rice breeding. The two genes, LOC_Os10g22484 and LOC_Os10g22520, were considered as the candidate genes underlying qLTG_sRDP2–10a. Our results suggest that integrating GWAS and SSSL can facilitate identification of QTL for complex traits in rice. The identification of qLTG_sRDP2–10a and its candidate genes provide a promising source for gene cloning of LTG and molecular breeding for LTG in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The in vivo mechanoresponsive and lubricating changes of the mandibular condylar cartilage (MCC) associated with mandibular lateral shift (MLS) and recovery are poorly understood. Using growing rats, we investigated whether the expression of mechanoresponsive factors, including proteoglycan-4 (PRG4), Indian hedgehog (Ihh) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), would be affected by MLS. We also investigated whether these changes could recover to the control level after a 2-week treatment reversal (TR). Materials and methods: The MLS appliances were placed for 2 or 4 weeks in 5-week-old rats and removed from 7-week-old rats in the TR group. The MCC was analysed histomorphometrically by toluidine blue staining. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry were performed to evaluate the expression of PRG4, Ihh, PTHrP (parathyroid hormone-related protein), TGF-β1, Matrix metallopeptidase 13 (MMP-13) and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs 5 (ADAMTS-5). Results: A thickened superficial layer and an enhanced expression of PRG4 were detected in MLS groups. PTHrP-Ihh expression correlated positively with the up-regulation of PRG4. TGF-β1 expression decreased in the early stage of MLS but recovered to the control level in the TR group. A significantly enhanced expression of MMP-13 in MLS groups was detected. Conclusion: MLS treatment, which acted on the growth stage of rats, affected the morphology and expression of lubrication factor in the MCC. Elimination of this mechanical stimulus may help MCC recover to normal conditions. Clinical relevance: Our study supports that the adaptive changes of MCC, which are caused by mandibular functional deviation, could be largely recovered by early treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prediction filtering is one of the most commonly used random noise attenuation methods in the industry; however, it has two drawbacks. First, it assumes that the seismic signals are piecewise stationary and linear. However, the seismic signal exhibits nonstationary due to the complexity of the underground structure. Second, the method predicts noise from seismic data by convolving with a prediction error filter (PEF), which applies inconsistent noise models before and after denoising. Therefore, the assumptions and model inconsistencies weaken conventional prediction filtering's performance in noise attenuation and signal preservation. In this paper, we propose a nonstationary signal inversion based on shaping regularization for random noise attenuation. The main idea of the method is to use the nonstationary prediction operator (NPO) to describe the complex structure and obtain seismic signals using nonstationary signal inversion instead of convolution. Different from the convolutional predicting filtering, the proposed method uses NPO as the regularization constraint to directly invert the effective signal from the noisy seismic data. The NPO varies in time and space, enabling the inversion system to describe complex (nonstationary and nonlinear) underground geological structures in detail. Processing synthetic and field data results demonstrate that the method effectively suppresses random noise and preserves seismic reflection signals for nonstationary seismic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Eu(III)-functionalized strontium-organic framework (Eu3+@Sr-MOF) was synthesized by encapsulating Eu3+ ions into the pores of Sr-MOF via postsynthetic modification (PSM) and fully characterized by XRD, SEM, EDS, FTIR, and TGA. The luminescent properties of Eu3+@Sr-MOF were measured and investigated in detail, which demonstrated that Eu3+@Sr-MOF not only possessed excellent water and chemical stabilities in a wide pH range (5–10) but also displayed red luminescence with excitation/emission maxima at 332/617 nm. The Eu3+@Sr-MOF can be considered as a highly selective and sensitive recyclable luminescence probe for sensing Cr(III) and Cr(VI) based on strong luminescence quenching effects; it can be recycled at least five times. The luminescence probe for Cr3+, CrO42−, and Cr2O72− shows low detection limits (0.15 μM, 0.17 μM, and 0.13 μM, respectively), relatively broad linear ranges (0.6–150 μM, 0.1–200 μM and 0.4–180 μM, respectively), and high quenching constants KSV. The signals can be observed by the naked eye under UV light of 365 nm. The method was applied to the determination of total Cr in environmental water samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A palladium-catalyzed diastereo- and enantioselective all carbon [4+3] cycloaddition of trimethylenemethane was developed by employing the elaborate tetrahydroquinoline-derived phosphoramidite ligand. The exclusive regioselectivity was realized by using the aromatization-driven diene indole-2,3-quinodimethanes, affording biologically important cyclohepta[b]indoles with excellent diastereo-, and enantioselectivities (up to >20:1 dr, >99% ee). Furthermore, the more challenging pyrrolidone-3,4-dienes, in the absence of aromatization force, were also compatible inthereaction, providing novel cyclohepta[c]pyrrol-1(2H)-ones with excellent regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivities (up to >20:1 rr, >20:1 dr, >99% ee). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneous removal of NOx and SO2 is carried out by an oxidation-absorption process, which NO oxidized by active hydroxyl radicals (·OH) derived from catalytic decomposition of vaporized H2O2 over Fe3O4/TiO2 and then adsorbed by NaOH solution along with SO2. Fe3O4/TiO2 synthesized by wet impregnation method with an additional reduction under H2 atmosphere was characterized by XRD, FTIR, BET, XPS, and VSM analysis. Effects of H2O2 concentration, H2O2 injection rate, reaction temperature, gas flow rate, and flue gas component on simultaneous removal were investigated. The experimental results show that NO can be effectively oxidized by highly reactive ·OH radicals generated from H2O2 decomposition over Fe3O4/TiO2 catalyst, and removal efficiencies of 93.31% for NO, 85.90% for NOx, and 100% for SO2 were obtained. The surface zero-valent iron (Fe0) and divalent iron (Fe2+) are the key factors of the catalytic oxidation with hydroxyl radical. H2O2 adsorption and dissociation mechanism on catalyst surface was studied using DFT calculation. The calculation results demonstrate that H2O2 prefers to dissociate on iron containing surface, and ·OH radicals generation follow by Haber-Weiss (H–W) mechanism. The stable oxidative product of HNO2 and HNO3 were generated through NO/NO2 and H2O2 co-adsorption on the FeO/TiO2 (0 0 1) surface. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this retrospective study, we evaluated the treatment patterns and survival after positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT)-guided local consolidation therapy (LCT) for oligometastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: We reviewed the medical records of Chinese patients with oligometastatic stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (≤ 5 metastases) who had undergone PET/CT and were eligible for systemic therapy at two centers between May 2005 and August 2019. Propensity score matching (1:1) was used to reduce selection bias and imbalanced distribution of confounding factors. Results: We identified 84 eligible patients and used propensity scores to create well-matched groups of 35 patients who did or did not undergo LCT. Among all patients, the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate was 47.6% and the 2-year OS rate was 22.6%. Relative to the group that did not receive LCT, the LCT group had a significantly higher OS rate (13 months vs. 7 months, p = 0.002). The two groups had similar incidences and classifications of LCT-related side effects. In multivariable analysis, LCT was found to be strongly associated with a favorable OS (hazard ratio: 0.508, 95% confidence interval: 0.311–0.828, p = 0.001). Conclusion: We concluded that LCT was significantly associated with improved clinical outcomes among the Chinese patients with oligometastatic NSCLC who were eligible for systemic treatment and could undergo PET/CT evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pharmaceutical industry, fluidized beds are typically used for pellets drying, coating and granulation. The gas–solids flow characteristic in the process plays an important role to control the heat and mass transfer as well as the end-point product quality. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the flow characteristics based on advanced measurement technologies. In this research, electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) sensor with eight electrodes was used to investigate the pharmaceutical fluidized bed drying process with different operation conditions. Key process parameters including solids concentration, particle moisture and capacitance signals in the process are given and analysed based on the ECT sensor. In addition, the fluidized bed process with Wurster tube is also investigated based on this ECT sensor. The effect of Wurster tube on the hydrodynamic behaviour and the dominant frequency spectrum distribution in the chamber were analysed based on fast Fourier transform. Test results reveal that process moisture change can be addressed from the raw capacitance of adjacent electrode pair combined with calibration model. Experimental result also indicates that ECT technology can provide useful information for process monitor in a fluidized bed dryer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To identify novel lipases with stability and long-chain fatty acids preference by phylogenetic evolution analysis methods from database. Results: Thermo-stable Candida antarctica Lipase-A (CALA) was set as a template for gene mining by PSI-BLAST. Based on phylogenetic analysis, three candidate lipases exhibiting 97%, 55%, and 35% identities with CALA, respectively, were selected for overexpression and characterization. Lipase, PhLip from Pseudozyma hubeiensis SY62 showed highest activity towards long-chain fatty acids, and showed maximum activity at pH 9.0 and 60 °C, and stability between 40 and 50 °C for 4 h and at pH 7–10 for 12 h. Enzymatic hydrolysis of Mucor circinelloides WJ11 oils by PhLip was about twofold higher than that by CALA, with respect to hydrolysis of long-chain fatty acids. Besides, fatty acids with 18 carbons, including oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid, were preferred as substrates. Conclusion: The current investigation discovered a stable lipase PhLip with long-chain fatty acids preference. PhLip may be a potential candidate for producing polyunsaturated fatty acids from natural oils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozonation treatment of municipal secondary effluent is complicated by the low solubility of ozone and inefficient production of hydroxyl free radicals from ozone decomposition. To resolve these problems, this study investigated methods for intensifying ozonation treatment, using a combination of microbubbles and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation (UV/MBO). The high efficiency of the method was illustrated by treating river water containing refractory components derived from secondary effluent in a wastewater treatment plant. The results showed that the ozone mass transfer coefficient in a microbubble system was an order of magnitude compared with a conventional macrobubble system at the initial stage. The amount of ·OH generated during the treatment was quantified using a fluorescent probe analysis. The amount of ·OH in the UV/MBO system was almost 2–6 times more than the amount found with conventional ozonation using macrobubbles (CO), CO with UV irradiation (UV/CO), and microbubble ozonation (MBO) units. The UV/MBO system achieved chemical oxygen demand (COD), UV254, and UV400 removal performance rates of up to 37.50%, 81.15%, and 94.74% respectively. These levels were 2–36% higher than those in other systems. The coupling UV/MBO treatment significantly reduced all five categories of substances according to EEM spectra and fluorescence regional integration. The distribution of fractions with different molecular weights (MW) was altered and the UV254 of MW (< 500 Da) increased by 15.8%. The biodegradability of the water was significantly improved, as indicated by the TOC/UV254. This is ascribed to the enhanced degradation of refractory organics in the water. The combination of the UV/microbubble technique with ozonation could provide an efficient approach for advanced wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel and sensitive fluorescent sensor was synthesized for the rapid and specific recognition of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) by our combining molecular imprinting techniques with quantum dot technology. Molecularly imprinted polymers coated CdTe quantum dots (MIP@CdTe QDs) were prepared through the Stöber method with 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin as a dummy template. 3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane was selected as the functional monomer, and tetraethyl orthosilicate was used as the cross-linking agent. The best molar ratio of 5,7-dimethoxycoumarin to functional monomer to cross-linker was 4:20:15. The MIP@CdTe QD composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy. Under the optimum conditions, the relative fluorescence intensity of the MIP@CdTe QDs showed adequate linearity with AFB1 concentration over the range from 80 to 400 ng/g. The detection limit is 4 ng/g, according to 3s/K. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the quantitative determination of AFB1 in real samples. The spike recoveries at different spiking levels ranged from 99.20% to 101.78%, which were consistent with those measured by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. The method developed for AFB1 detection lays the foundation for rapid detection of trace amounts of other exogenous harmful substances in a complicated matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La2O3-coated LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 has been successfully synthesized via a wet chemical process followed. The 3 wt% La2O3-coated LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 illustrated highest rate capability, lowest voltage decay, outstanding cycling performance, and excellent energy density at the range of 2.5–4.5 V. The discharge capacity of LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 at a 5C rate increases from 86.9 to 137.5 mA h g−1 upon coating with La2O3 particles. The decrements of the average discharge voltages for 3 wt% La2O3-coated LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 electrode is 10.3 mV over 100th cycle and 26.9 mV over 200th cycle compared to 407 mV over 100th cycle for bare nickel cobalt manganese. The energy densities retention of 3 wt% La2O3-coated LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2 is 96.5% after 100 cycles and 89.7% after 200 cycles compared to 34.5% after 100 cycles for bare LiNi1/3Mn1/3Co1/3O2. Universal but efficient, it can also be suitable to coat other layered cathode materials to ameliorate their electrochemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the phenomenon of negative refraction (NR) in metallic waveguide arrays (MWGAs) by illuminating partial waveguides. Some waveguides in MWGAs are sheltered and the other waveguides are opened; only these opened waveguides can be illuminated by the incident wave. These illuminated waveguides will be independently excited surface plasmon polariton (SPP) supermodes at the entrances, which will propagate along the waveguides of MWGAs. The total field is the superposition of the excited SPP supermodes, which is varied with transmission distance. At certain places in MWGAs, the total field is enhanced and the NR phenomenon is formed. We find that NR phenomenon not only was under the control of incidence angle, but also was governed by the number of illuminating waveguides, which become more prominent when the number of illuminating waveguide increases. The SPP supermode theory is applied to explain this NR phenomenon. The result by the supermode theory is validated by the numerical simulations of the finite-difference time-domain method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A hierarchical structure of nitrogen-doped porous carbon coated on graphene sheets (GNC) has been successfully synthesized via a facile method. Notably, nitrogen-doped porous carbon (NC) was prepared by direct calcinations of sodium citrate and urea without aid of any additional carbon source and template. The porous structure arises from the decomposition of sodium citrate and the formative Na2CO3 is the hard template during the annealing process. To our pleasure, the 3D architecture is derived from the graphene sheets as skeleton to support porous carbon, which avoids the agglomeration of graphene and enlarges the specific surface area of porous carbon. Besides, using urea as resource of N element promotes a high N-doping level (3.33 atom %) and improves electrical conductivity and lithium storage sites. Thus, the obtained GNC-700 °C as an anode material delivers a high-reversible capacity of 842.7 mAh g−1 at 0.1 A g−1 and good cycling performances (431.4 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 after 200 cycles). The distinguished carbon anode material demonstrates an appealing development for Li-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae), is one of the most destructive diseases in cultivated rice. The Wuling Mountain Area is marked as the key area for the national prevention and control of rice blast disease in China and is the ideal area for M. oryzae research according to its unique natural condition. In this study, a simple, low-cost and effective marker system including RAPD, REMAP, rep-PCR and Avr genes was developed for genetic diversity analysis of 108 M. oryzae isolates collected from the Wuling Mountain Area during 2012-2014. The results showed significant changes in the genetic structures of M. oryzae populations over the 3 years. However, there was no remarkably simple relationship between the genetic lineages and pathotypes (physiological races) of M. oryzae. The main mechanisms of M. oryzae to overcome host genes in the natural conditions of the Wuling Mountain Area might be point mutations or small deletions of gene sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a path morphology method to separate total rock pore space into matrix, fractures and vugs and derive their pore structure spectrum. Thus, we can achieve fine pore evaluation in fracture-vug reservoirs based on electric imaging logging data. We automatically identify and extract fracture-vug information from the electric imaging images by adopting a path morphological operator that remains flexible enough to fit rectilinear and slightly curved structures because they are independent of the structuring element shape. The Otsu method was used to extract fracture-vug information from the background noise caused by the matrix. To accommodate the differences in scale and form of the different target regions, including fracture and vug path, operators with different lengths were selected for their recognition and extraction at the corresponding scale. Polynomial and elliptic functions are used to fit the extracted fractures and vugs, respectively, and the fracture-vug parameters are deduced from the fitted edge. Finally, test examples of numerical simulation data and several measured well data have been provided for the verification of the effectiveness and adaptability of the path morphology method in the application of electric imaging logging data processing. This also provides algorithm support for the fine evaluation of fracture-vug reservoirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, cyberspace has become a vital part of social infrastructure. With the rapid development of the scale of networks, applications and services have become enriched, and the bearing function of the underlying network devices (such as switches and routers) has also been extended. To promote the dynamics architecture, high-level security, and high quality of service of the network, control network architecture forward separation is a development trend of the networking technology. Currently, software-defined networking (SDN) is one of the most popular and promising technologies. In SDN, high-level strategies are deployed by the proprietary equipment, which is used to guide the data forwarding of the network equipment. This can reduce many complicated functions of the network equipment and improve the flexibility and operability of the implementation and deployment of new network technologies and protocols. However, this novel networking technology faces novel challenges in term of architecture and security. The aim of this study is to offer a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art research on novel advances of programmable SDN, and to highlight what has been investigated and what remains to be addressed, particularly, in terms of architecture and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferrite, as a kind of common magnetic adsorbent, always tend to reuniting and lead to the poor performance for removing contaminant in aqueous. Meanwhile, reduced graphene oxide (rGO), a high-efficiency adsorbent used for water treatment, is hydrophobic and easy to stack because of the Van der Waals force, resulting in the low adsorption capacity. Herein, we prepare the magnetic CoFe2O4/rGO nanocomposites to solve the reuniting of CoFe2O4 and stacking of rGO simultaneously. The rGO nanosheets can improve the dispersion of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles. As sorbent, the adsorption behaviors of carbamazepine on the nanocomposites can be fitted well by the Langmuir and pseudo-second-order kinetic models. In addition, the CoFe2O4/rGO nanocomposites show enhanced adsorption performance than that of the pure CoFe2O4 nanoparticles, and the loading of rGO can affect their adsorption performance. The adsorption of carbamazepine on CoFe2O4/rGO is exothermic and mainly controlled by π-π interaction and hydrogen bond interaction. Furthermore, the CoFe2O4/rGO can be used to remove other organic pollutants simultaneously. Finally, the nanocomposites can be collected by external magnet, and the regenerated nanocomposites still showed a high adsorption capacity retention (90%) after five cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional hierarchical porous carbons were synthesized by direct carbonization of glucose and zinc nitrate mixtures. The effects of carbonization temperature on the formation of the microscopic pore structure were studied. When tested in 6 M KOH by three-electrode system, the carbon sample carbonized at 750 °C shows the best electrochemical performance compared to the other samples. High specific capacitance (276 F g−1) is obtained at 0.3 A g−1, and the capacitance still maintains 205 F g−1 when tested at 10 A g−1. Moreover, the sample also possesses good cycling stability with only a loss of 3.7% after 10,000 cycles at 5 A g−1. The facile preparation method and hierarchical porous structure render this carbon material a promising candidate for high-performance supercapacitors application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen-oxygen co-doped corrugation-like porous carbon (NO-PC) has been developed by direct pyrolysis of formaldehyde-melamine polymer containing manganese nitrate. The melamine, formaldehyde and manganese nitrate act as nitrogen, oxygen source and pore-foaming agent, respectively. NO-PC exhibits favorable porous architecture for efficient ion transfer and moderate heteroatom doping for additional pseudocapacitance, which synergistically enhances the electrochemical performance of the NO-PC-based supercapacitor. The electrode delivers specific capacitance of 240 F/g at 0.3 A/g when tested in 6 mol/L KOH electrolyte, good rate capability (capacitance retention of 83.3% at 5 A/g) as well as stable cycling performance (capacitance remains ~96% after 10000 cycles at 3 A/g). The facile synthesis with unique architecture and chemistry modification offers a promising candidate for electrode material of energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A magnetic adsorbent (MA) was synthesized from wasted iron mud of a groundwater treatment plant using a novel one-step hydrothermal method. The results showed that Fe content of MA was 41.8 wt%, 2.5 times higher than that of iron mud, which was caused by hydrothermal dissolution of non-ferrous impurities under alkaline condition, such as quartz and albite, regardless of addition of ascorbic acid or not. Ferrihydrite was 92.7% in dry iron mud before adding ascorbic acid and gradually decreased to 58.1% by increasing the molar ratio of ascorbic acid to Fe following hydrothermal treatment. The strongest saturation magnetization of 16.29 emu/g was observed in the prepared MA-4 when the ascorbic acid to Fe molar ratio was 1. The highest surface site concentration of 1.31 mmol/g was observed in MA-2 when the ratio was 0.02. The mechanism of hydrothermal conversion of wasted iron mud to MA was reductive dissolution of ferrihydrite to form siderite, which was then reoxidized to maghemite. When 12.5 g/L of MA-2 was applied to treat smelting wastewater, over 99% removal of Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, and Cd2+ was achieved. The major mechanisms of Cu2+ and Zn2+ adsorption by the adsorbent were cationic exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The canonical mapping of cohomology with compact supports via linear functionals on homology, generally speaking, is not surjective. The image of the mapping is described by linear functionals with compact supports. In this paper we prove the formula , where is a countable simplicial complex with an additional requirement, the star of each simplex has a finite number of simplices in all dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charge-to-spin conversion in various materials is the key for the fundamental understanding of spin-orbitronics and efficient magnetization manipulation. Here we report the direct spatial imaging of current-induced spin accumulation at the channel edges of Bi2Se3 and BiSbTeSe2 topological insulators as well as Pt by a scanning photovoltage microscope at room temperature. The spin polarization is along the out-of-plane direction with opposite signs for the two channel edges. The accumulated spin direction reverses sign upon changing the current direction and the detected spin signal shows a linear dependence on the magnitude of currents, indicating that our observed phenomena are current-induced effects. The spin Hall angle of Bi2Se3, BiSbTeSe2, and Pt is determined to be 0.0085, 0.0616, and 0.0085, respectively. Our results open up the possibility of optically detecting the current-induced spin accumulations, and thus point towards a better understanding of the interaction between spins and circularly polarized light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the difference in genetic regulation of gene expression between brain and blood is important for discovering genes for brain-related traits and disorders. Here, we estimate the correlation of genetic effects at the top-associated cis-expression or -DNA methylation (DNAm) quantitative trait loci (cis-eQTLs or cis-mQTLs) between brain and blood (r b ). Using publicly available data, we find that genetic effects at the top cis-eQTLs or mQTLs are highly correlated between independent brain and blood samples (ȓb = 0.07 for cis-eQTLs and ȓb for cis-mQTLs). Using meta-analyzed brain cis-eQTL/mQTL data (n = 526 to 1194), we identify 61 genes and 167 DNAm sites associated with four brain-related phenotypes, most of which are a subset of the discoveries (97 genes and 295 DNAm sites) using data from blood with larger sample sizes (n = 1980 to 14,115). Our results demonstrate the gain of power in gene discovery for brain-related phenotypes using blood cis-eQTL/mQTL data with large sample sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are mean differences in complex traits among global human populations. We hypothesize that part of the phenotypic differentiation is due to natural selection. To address this hypothesis, we assess the differentiation in allele frequencies of trait-associated SNPs among African, Eastern Asian, and European populations for ten complex traits using data of large sample size (up to ~405,000). We show that SNPs associated with height (P=2.46x10-5), waist-to-hip ratio (P=2.77x10-4), and schizophrenia (P=3.96x10-5) are significantly more differentiated among populations than matched "control" SNPs, suggesting that these trait-associated SNPs have undergone natural selection. We further find that SNPs associated with height (P=2.01x10-6) and schizophrenia (P=5.16x10-18) show significantly higher variance in linkage disequilibrium (LD) scores across populations than control SNPs. Our results support the hypothesis that natural selection has shaped the genetic differentiation of complex traits, such as height and schizophrenia, among worldwide populations. Introduction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For random noise suppression of seismic data, we present a non-local Bayes (NLBayes) filtering algorithm. The NL-Bayes algorithm uses the Gaussian model instead of the weighted average of all similar patches in the NL-means algorithm to reduce the fuzzy of structural details, thereby improving the denoising performance. In the denoising process of seismic data, the size and the number of patches in the Gaussian model are adaptively calculated according to the standard deviation of noise. The NL-Bayes algorithm requires two iterations to complete seismic data denoising, but the second iteration makes use of denoised seismic data from the first iteration to calculate the better mean and covariance of the patch Gaussian model for improving the similarity of patches and achieving the purpose of denoising. Tests with synthetic and real data sets demonstrate that the NL-Bayes algorithm can effectively improve the SNR and preserve the fidelity of seismic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of genes and regulatory elements underlying the associations discovered by GWAS is essential to understanding the aetiology of complex traits (including diseases). Here, we demonstrate an analytical paradigm of prioritizing genes and regulatory elements at GWAS loci for follow-up functional studies. We perform an integrative analysis that uses summary-level SNP data from multi-omics studies to detect DNA methylation (DNAm) sites associated with gene expression and phenotype through shared genetic effects (i.e., pleiotropy). We identify pleiotropic associations between 7858 DNAm sites and 2733 genes. These DNAm sites are enriched in enhancers and promoters, and >40% of them are mapped to distal genes. Further pleiotropic association analyses, which link both the methylome and transcriptome to 12 complex traits, identify 149 DNAm sites and 66 genes, indicating a plausible mechanism whereby the effect of a genetic variant on phenotype is mediated by genetic regulation of transcription through DNAm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health risk factors such as body mass index (BMI) and serum cholesterol are associated with many common diseases. It often remains unclear whether the risk factors are cause or consequence of disease, or whether the associations are the result of confounding. We develop and apply a method (called GSMR) that performs a multi-SNP Mendelian randomization analysis using summary-level data from genome-wide association studies to test the causal associations of BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, serum cholesterols, blood pressures, height, and years of schooling (EduYears) with common diseases (sample sizes of up to 405,072). We identify a number of causal associations including a protective effect of LDL-cholesterol against type-2 diabetes (T2D) that might explain the side effects of statins on T2D, a protective effect of EduYears against Alzheimer's disease, and bidirectional associations with opposite effects (e.g., higher BMI increases the risk of T2D but the effect of T2D on BMI is negative). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of smart surfaces with switchable adhesive properties in a wet environment has remained a challenge in adhesion science and materials engineering. Despite intense demands in various industrial applications and exciting progress in mimicking the remarkable wet adhesion through the delicate control of catechol chemistry, polyelectrolyte complex, and supramolecular architectures, the full recapitulation of nature's dynamic function is limited. Here, we show a facile approach to synthesize bioinspired adhesive, which entails the reversible, tunable, and fast regulation of the wet adhesion on diverse surfaces. The smart wet adhesive takes advantage of the host-guest molecular interaction and the adhesive nature of catechol chemistry, as well as the responsive polymer, allowing for screening and activation of the interfacial interaction simply by a local temperature trigger in an on-demand manner. Our work opens up an avenue for the rational design of bioinspired adhesives with performances even beyond nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the cluster synchronization problem of coupled delayed competitive neural networks (CNNs) with two time scales. Each CNN contains short- and long-term memories, which can be regarded as the fast and slow dynamics, respectively. Besides, a general communication topology that describes both cooperation and competition in CNN-to-CNN relations is considered along with fixed and adaptive coupling schemes. The interactive relationship between the fast and slow dynamics as well as the effects of the fast time scale on synchronization behavior has not been fully exploited in existing Lyapunov functionals. Moreover, the results from pervious works are limited to the master-slave synchronization of two CNNs. In this paper, a novel Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is proposed to solve the cluster synchronization problem under the fixed coupling scheme. The coupled delayed CNNs within a specific range of the fast time scale achieve a desirable behavior when the coupling and pinning strengths are chosen properly. Furthermore, to facilitate the selection of these strengths, an adaptive pinning controller is designed and a modified Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional is also constructed for coupled delayed CNNs with two time scales. Finally, several numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological insulators with spin-momentum-locked topological surface states are expected to exhibit a giant spin-orbit torque in the topological insulator/ferromagnet systems. To date, the topological insulator spin-orbit torque-driven magnetization switching is solely reported in a Cr-doped topological insulator at 1.9 K. Here we directly show giant spin-orbit torque-driven magnetization switching in a Bi2Se3/NiFe heterostructure at room temperature captured using a magneto-optic Kerr effect microscope. We identify a large charge-to-spin conversion efficiency of ~1–1.75 in the thin Bi2Se3 films, where the topological surface states are dominant. In addition, we find the current density required for the magnetization switching is extremely low, ~6 × 105 A cm–2, which is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than that with heavy metals. Our demonstration of room temperature magnetization switching of a conventional 3d ferromagnet using Bi2Se3 may lead to potential innovations in topological insulator-based spintronic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The miRNA171 family is one of the well-conserved miRNA families, and its role under stresses is not known except its expression on genome-wide expression analyses. osa-miR171c was induced by high concentration of salt (150 mM NaCl). A rice dh mutant with osa-miR171c overexpression triggered by a T-DNA insertion, significantly decreased salt tolerance at the stages of germination and seedling. This phenotype was confirmed by osa-miR171c overexpression transgenic rice. Compared with wild-type (WT), dh mutant reduced amounts of free proline and increased the water loss rate after salt treatment. Stomatal density in the leaf epidermis of dh mutant also increased. Moreover, dh mutant increased sensitivity to ABA treatment. Several stressresponsive genes were down-regulated in dh mutant than in WT under salty stress. These results indicate that osamiR171c is involved in modulating physiological changes, stomatal development, ABA-dependent pathways and expression of stress-related genes; thereby, it possibly contributes to salty tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topological semimetals have recently attracted extensive research interests as host materials to condensed matter physics counterparts of Dirac and Weyl fermions originally proposed in high energy physics. Although Lorentz invariance is required in high energy physics, it is not necessarily obeyed in condensed matter physics, and thus Lorentz-violating type-II Weyl/Dirac fermions could be realized in topological semimetals. The recent realization of type-II Weyl fermions raises the question whether their spin-degenerate counterpart--type-II Dirac fermions--can be experimentally realized too. Here, we report the experimental evidence of type-II Dirac fermions in bulk stoichiometric PtTe2 single crystal. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and first-principles calculations reveal a pair of strongly tilted Dirac cones along the Γ-A direction, confirming PtTe2 as a type-II Dirac semimetal. Our results provide opportunities for investigating novel quantum phenomena (e.g., anisotropic magneto-transport) and topological phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the bipartite consensus issue of networked delayed singularly perturbed systems with antagonistic interactions and switching topologies. Each singularly perturbed system contains both fast and slow dynamics as well as time-varying delay, which make the model a nonstandard singularly perturbed system. The focus is on designing a new distributed protocol such that both the fast and slow subsystems of each agent can achieve the desired pattern. The novelty of the proposed distributed protocol is the ability to balance the relationships between the fast and slow dynamics by introducing the singular perturbation parameter into the protocol. A novel method combining the state transformation method with the vector comparison principle is also proposed. This method can not only avoid the decomposition of the model, but also provide the upper bound of the singular perturbation parameter explicitly. Finally, some simulation examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the deduced consensus criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground roll waves interfere with seismic data. The suppression of ground roll waves based on the division of wavelet frequencies considers the low-frequency characteristics of ground roll waves. However, this method will not be effective when the ground roll wave and the effective signal have the same frequency bands because of overlapping. The radial trace transform (RTT) considers the apparent velocity difference between the effective signal and the ground roll wave to suppress the latter, but affects the low-frequency components of the former. This study proposes a ground roll wave suppression method by combining the wavelet frequency division and the RTT based on the difference between the ground roll wave velocity and the effective signal and their energy difference in the wavelet domain, thus making full use of the advantages of both methods. First, we decompose the seismic data into different frequency bands through wavelet transform. Second, the RTT and low-cut filtering are applied to the low-frequency band, where the ground roll waves are appearing. Third, we reconstruct the seismic record without ground roll waves by using the inverse RTT and the remaining frequency bands. The proposed method not only improves the ground roll wave suppression, but also protects the signal integrity. The numerical simulation and real seismic data processing results suggest that the proposed method has a strong ability to denoise while preserving the amplitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) has been suggested to be associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Positive airway pressure (PAP) is an effective treatment for SDB, but the impact of PAP therapy on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in patients with SDB remains unclear. The present meta-analysis was performed to determine whether PAP therapy could increase GFR. Design: A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library was performed for literature published up to January 2016. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was calculated to estimate the treatment effects of pre- and post-PAP therapy. Results: A total of eight studies with 240 patients were pooled into a meta-analysis. The meta-analysis showed that there was no change of GFR before and after PAP treatment in SDB patients (SMD = 0.010, 95 % confidence interval (CI) = −0.331 to 0.350, z = 0.06, p = 0.956), Subgroup analyses indicated that GFR was significantly increased after PAP treatment in elder patients (≥55 years) (SMD = −0.283, 95 % CI = −0.518 to −0.047, z = 2.35, p = 0.019) and patients with therapeutic duration ≥ 3 months (SMD = −0.276, 95 % CI = −0.522 to −0.031, z = 2.20, p = 0.027). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis suggested that PAP treatment had no impact on GFR in SDB patients. However, longer PAP usage for SDB patients significantly improved GFR. In elder SDB subjects, PAP was also associated with a statistically significant increase in GFR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]