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Noisy trapdoor claw-free function (NTCF) is a powerful post-quantum cryptographic tool that can efficiently constrain actions of untrusted quantum devices within a classical–quantum interactive cryptographic model. Although NTCF is powerful, its essence remains a 2-to-1 one-way function (NTCF 2 1 ), which is inefficient in some cryptographic tasks. This raises an intriguing question: Can NTCF be extended to higher dimensions based on standard cryptographic hardness assumptions? Inspired by the extrapolated dihedral cosets, this work focuses on developing many-to-one trapdoor claw-free functions with polynomially bounded preimage sizes. The main results can be summarized as follows: Firstly, we introduce the definition of κ -to-1 NTCF κ 1 where κ is a polynomial integer, and present an efficient construction of NTCF κ 1 assuming quantum hardness of the learning with errors (LWE) problem. Secondly, we illustrate a key application of NTCFs in establishing a reduction from the LWE problem to the dihedral coset problems (DCPs). Specifically, our approach, leveraging NTCF 2 1 (resp. NTCF κ 1 ), reveals a new quantum reduction pathway from the LWE problem to the DCP (resp. an extrapolated version of DCP). This reduction is the core cryptographic analysis tool for studying the resistance of lattice problems against quantum attacks. Finally, we demonstrate that NTCF κ 1 can be further reduced to NTCF 2 1 , thus preserving its usefulness in proofs of quantumness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientifically validating the value of rural heritage and exploring construction wisdom has emerged as a significant challenge in the study of rural settlements worldwide. Rural heritage shows significant differences according to the natural environment, history, culture, and socio-economic factors. However, the assessment of the authenticity and effectiveness of heritage values have yet to be quantified due to the difficulty in obtaining evidence directly from samples. By constructing a multi-dimensional model of villages for quantitative analysis, we proposed a multifaceted spatial visibility analysis method based on individual and combined defense structures to empirically study the remains of eight towers in Moluo village, western China. This study demonstrated that towers serve as regional defense structures and are essential for constructing a comprehensive and effective visual defensive system (VDS) in Moluo village, a typical military defense village. The effectiveness and coverage of the towers vary depending on their location, height, type, and other factors. They form a complementary and synergistic relationship, playing a dual mechanism of public and private, local and overall defense. In summary, this method enables the feasible quantification and analysis of the functional value of rural heritage through landscape visual analysis. It provides a new perspective for studying the authenticity of heritage functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of aberrantly expressed genes in the pathogenesis and progression of various human malignancies has been widely reported, including clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). This study aimed to identify potential crucial genes in ccRCC and further investigate the role of these genes in ccRCC prognosis. Three gene expression profiles (GSE3, GSE6344 and GSE53000) were downloaded from GEO database. GEO2R was performed to identify the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between ccRCC and normal samples. GO analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were applied for the function analysis. The DEGs were mapped into the PPI network, then the hub genes were identified and verified using the ONCOMINE database. Kaplan–Meier plotter was used to evaluate of the prognostic value of the identified hub genes. A total of 113 DEGs were identified from the three gene expression profiles, including 64 up-regulated genes and 69 down-regulated genes. DEGs were observed to be enriched in biological processes related to the progress and pathogenesis of human cancers. According to PPI network, 5 hub genes were collected, including TYROBP, C1QB, ITGB2, CD53 and FCER1G. Among them, CD53 was newly identified, and Kaplan–Meier survival curves suggested that high expression of CD53 was significantly associated with poor survival in ccRCC patients (log-rank P < 0.01). The present results may provide new insight into the understanding of molecular mechanisms and the clinical prognosis of ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In typical well-known cryptosystem, the hardness of classical problems plays a fundamental role in ensuring its security. While, with the booming of quantum computation, some classical hard problems tend to be vulnerable when confronted with the already-known quantum attacks, as a result, it is necessary to develop the post-quantum cryptosystem to resist the quantum attacks. With the purpose to bridge the two disciplines, it is significant to summarize known quantum algorithms and their threats toward these cryptographic intractable problems from a perspective of cryptanalysis. In this paper, we discussed the designing methodology, algorithm framework and latest progress of the mathematic hard problems on which the typical cryptosystems depend, including integer factorization problem, discrete logarithmic problem and its variants, lattice problem, dihedral hidden subgroup problems and extrapolated dihedral coset problem. It illustrated the reason why some cryptosystems such as RSA and ECC are not resistant to quantum attacks, yet some of them like lattice cryptosystems remain intact facing quantum attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Triassic epoch is the key to understanding the environment changes after the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. The Anisian Badong Formation is a carbonate and siliciclastic succession deposited on the Yangtze Platform, Upper Yangtze Block. In this paper, we use facies analysis combined with sequence stratigraphy of the Badong Formation in the Nashuixi section, Yangtze Block, to discuss the Anisian relative sea-level changes. Microfacies analyses were used to define ten microfacies in four depositional facies zones (tidal flat, restricted platform, restricted to open platform, and open platform) indicating an epeiric platform depositional environment. The lowstand, transgressive, and highstand systems tracts and two sequences were identified. Sequence stratigraphy interpretations indicate that relative sea-level at Nashuixi experienced two rises in the Middle Anisian, which is correlated with those in the Yangtze Block, confirming that sea-level changes during the Anisian were of eustatic origin. However, a distinct regression at Nashuixi occurred in the late Bithynian to IIIyrian while the global sea-level rose, which is likely to be caused by interference from regional tectonics during IIIyrian. The carbon and oxygen isotopic shifts in the Nashuixi section exhibit two negative-values stage in the time near end of Aegean and early Pelsonian, which is well correlated with the global typical sections, indicating two middle Anisian warming events. Our study indicated that the relative sea-level at Nashuixi was controlled by global sea-level change and regional tectonics (Indosinian Orogeny), and the C and O isotopes records respond to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this work is to reveal impacts of a nuclear power plant on environmental radioactivity and public health since commission in the South China Sea. After long-term monitoring, it turns out that radioactivity in ambient air environment, water, soil, sweet potato, rice, chicken, lamb, butterfish and prawn meet demands of national environment protection standards and food safety standards in China. After 6 years' statistic check of local residents, the top tree diseases before and after the plant's commission remained pulmonary tuberculosis, hand-foot-and-mouth disease, and hepatitis B. Incidence of malignant tumor did not rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic membranes containing metal nano-catalyst are widely used in dye wastewater treatment. Comparing to the traditional catalyst loading methods, such as the co-precipitation, the surface grafting, and impregnation et al., hydrothermal method is simple, and the crystals obtained have a uniform distribution and high purity. In this study, CuO nano-catalysts is immobilized on ceramic substrate by hydrothermal method. The prepared membrane is used to activate persulfate (PMS) for the degradation of azo dyes. FTIR, XPS, XRD, and FESEM characterizations prove that CuO is successfully loaded onto the Al2O3 substrate, the optimal loading amount is 0.03 g/cm2. Static degradation experiments show that the composite membrane could degrade 85% of the Congo red within 80 min. In the dynamic degradation process, the degradation efficiency is further improved to a maximum of 96.8% within 80 min, and the permeation flux of catalytic membrane is relatively stable during the degradation process. In long-term experiments, the degradation efficiency still remains at ~ 87% after 4 cycles, indicating good stability. Quenching experiment shows that the main oxidizing radicals are sulfate radical. In conclusion, the prepared membrane can activate PMS efficiently, which has a potential applications in dye wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevalence of type-2 diabetes is rapidly increasing. Currently, exenatide is the first medicine which mimics incretin. However, it requires subcutaneous injection twice a day, an inconvenient way for patients. In this study, we identified a novel peptide with similar pharmacology to exenatide in rodents as GLP-1 receptor agonist which consists of 17 amino acids (17P). It promotes Ins-1 cell proliferation and insulin secretion and lowers blood glucose of diabetic rats. 17P was synthetized by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Interactions between GLP-1 receptor and 17P were studied by Bio-layer interferometry. Ins-1 cell proliferation was studied by MTT assay. ELISA was used to study Ins-1 cell insulin secretion. In vivo tests were performed with male Wistar rats. We used high fat diet and STZ injection to induce a type-2 diabetic rats model. Then, those rats were randomized to different test groups, and administered exenatide, 17P and saline water injection, to evaluate different responses. Based on HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) and MS (mass spectrometry), 17P synthesis was successful. Bio-layer interferometry data showed a close interaction between GLP-1 receptor and 17P. 17P treatment of Ins-1 cells for 24 h could promote cell proliferation and insulin secretion in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of 17P in HF-STZ male Wistar rats demonstrated that 17P could lower the level of blood glucose and stabilize the body weight of the diabetic rats. All 17P treatments were similar to treatment with exenatide. In vitro and in vivo studies demonstrated that 17P could relieve symptoms of type-2 diabetes. Therefore, 17P could be developed as a promising type-2 diabetes therapeutic drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a novel paradigm where many of the objects that surround us can be connected to the internet. Since IoT is always related to user's personal information, it raises lot of data security and privacy issues. In this paper, we present a secure and fine-grained data access control scheme for constrained IoT devices and cloud computing based on hierarchical attribute-based encryption, which reduces the key management by introducing hierarchical attribute authorities. In order to relieve local computation burden, we propose an outsourced encryption and decryption construction by delegating most of laborious operations to gateway and cloud server. Further, our scheme achieves efficient policy updating, which allows the sender device to update access policies without retrieving and re-encrypting the data. The security and performance analysis results show that our scheme is secure and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Muang Xai Basin, located in northern Laos, is associated with the Simao, Vientiane, and Khorat Basins. The paleogeographic link of these basins has not been investigated in great detail; thus, the investigation presented in this study is a comprehensive analysis of petrology, whole-rock geochemistry, and detrital zircon U-Pb chronology used to characterize the provenance of the Muang Xai Basin. Results suggest that the sedimentary source includes felsic rocks from an active continental margin or continental arc with minor amounts of recycled passive continental margin sediments. Sandstones of the Muang Xai Basin contain detrital zircons with varying U-Pb peak ages. The youngest age peak of all the zircons is 103 Ma, which limits the age of the Mesozoic strata to the Late Cretaceous. Detrital zircon U-Pb and trace element data, combined with geochemical result, reveal that the pre-Ordovician zircons were derived from recycled sediments of the Yangtze Block, which are originally sourced from the Qinling Orogenic belt. This provenance is shared with coeval sediments in the Simao and Khorat Basins, while magmatic rocks of the Ailaoshan, Truong Son Belt, and Lincang terrane are responsible for zircons of 416-466 and 219-308 Ma in age. Zircons of 101-110 and 149-175 Ma in age were sourced from magmatic rocks of the southwestern South China Block and northern Vietnam. These provenance results suggest that sediments flow into the Khorat red beds was likely from the Great Simao Basin and northern Vietnam, and not directly from the Yangtze Block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a special type of factorization of finite groups, logarithmic signature (LS) is used as the main component of cryptographic keys for secret key cryptosystems such as PGM and public key cryptosystems like $$MST_1$$ , $$MST_2$$ and $$MST_3$$ . An LS with the shortest length, called a minimal logarithmic signature (MLS), is even desirable for cryptographic applications. The MLS conjecture states that every finite simple group has an MLS. Recently, the conjecture has been shown to be true for general linear groups $$GL_n(q)$$ , special linear groups $$SL_n(q)$$ , and symplectic groups $$Sp_n(q)$$ with q a power of primes and for orthogonal groups $$O_n(q)$$ with q a power of 2. In this paper, we present new constructions of minimal logarithmic signatures for the orthogonal group $$O_n(q)$$ and $$SO_n(q)$$ with q a power of an odd prime. Furthermore, we give constructions of MLSs for a type of classical groups-the projective commutator subgroup $$P{\varOmega }_n(q)$$ . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jurassic marine sequences of the Qiangtang Basin in the northern part of the Tibet Plateau have the best petroleum exploration prospect. The prototype basin has undergone multi-stage and complicated tectonic events since the Cretaceous, especially the mid-Cretaceous tectonic event and the Cenozoic uplift of Tibetan Plateau. However, little information about the impact of these tectonic events on petroleum preservation has been done. In this paper, the burial and thermal histories modeling using vitrinite reflectance (R) are used to characterize the impact. The results showed that there is a regional falling of palaeotemperature in the Qiangtang Basin during the mid-Cretaceous indicating a regional tectonic event caused by the collision between Lhasa and Qiangtang blocks. However, the Cenozoic tectonic event caused by the uplift of Tibetan Plateau since 30 Ma was only recorded in the Southern Qiangtang Depression and not obvious in the Northern Qiangtang Depression, which indicates that uplift-denudation caused by the mid-Cretaceous tectonic event was extensive in whole Qiangtang Basin and more significant to the hydrocarbon accumulation than those in the Cenozoic. The event could damage the previously formed hydrocarbon traps and caused the leaking of cap-rocks for the dramatically denudation especially in the Southern Qiangtang Depression. We speculated that the Northern Qiangtang Depression has the lower thickness of denudation and barely influenced by the Cenozoic tectonic events and thus is primary exploration target for gas or gas hydrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a special type of factorization of finite groups, logarithmic signature (LS) is used as the main component of cryptographic keys for secret key cryptosystems such as PGM and public key cryptosystems like $$MST_1, MST_2$$ and $$MST_3$$ . An LS with the shortest length is called a minimal logarithmic signature (MLS) that is highly favourable to be used for cryptographic constructions. The MLS conjecture states that every finite simple group has an MLS. Recently, Nikhil Singhi et al. proved the MLS conjecture to be true for some families of simple groups. In this paper, we firstly prove the existence of MLSs for the exceptional groups of Lie type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel mosaic structure Silica@C/Co@ZIF-67 composite was synthesized by successfully embedding Co nanoparticles on the surface of silica spheres with the help of thermoplastic polyethyleneimine by carbon-reduction. The ZIF-67 half-shell layer structure was synthesized by the in-situ growth of ZIF-67 on the surface of silica spheres through the coordination of 2-methylimidazole with Co metal nodes. The composite was used as a magnetic solid-phase extraction adsorbent combined with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (HPLC–UV) for the extraction and determination of benzoylurea insecticides (BUs) in vegetables and tea. Based on the presence of π-π, hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions between Silica@C/Co@ZIF-67 and BUs, the BUs were rapidly captured by the composites resulting in high adsorption performance. Under the optimal extraction parameters, the linear ranges were 0.3–200 µg L−1 for diflubenzuron, 0.6–200 µg L−1 for chlorbenzuron, and 1.0–200 µg L−1 for triflumuron, teflubenzuron, and flufenoxuron, with correlation coefficients (R2) greater than 0.9991. The limits of detection (LODs) of the method were 0.1–0.3 μg L−1, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 1.2–3.0% for intra-day and 2.6–4.6% for inter-day. In the spiked recovery experiments of vegetables and tea, the recoveries of the five kinds of BUs ranged from 75.8 to 112.9%. In addition, after 10 repetitions using Silica@C/Co@ZIF-67, the recoveries of the five kinds of BUs were still as high as 78.4 to 83.9%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stripe (yellow) rust is one of the most destructive diseases in wheat production. More than 80 stripe rust resistance (Yr) genes have been officially named, however Yr26 gene has lost resistance to CYR34 (V26) since 2011. In this study, we evaluated resistance of 692 elite wheat cultivars from China to stripe rust in adult plant stage and resistance to CYR32, CYR33, and CYR34 Pst races in seedling stags. Yr26 was deduced in 692 cultivars by WE173 and WE33 molecular marks. The result showed that 45 (7%) entries had all-stage resistance, 79 (11%) entries had adult-plant resistance, and 568 (82%) entries were susceptible to one or more stripe rust races. Besides, 48 (81%) entries in over-summering region were resistant to CYR34, 4 (10%) in over-wintering region, 121 (20%) in spring epidemic region. And 43 entries across China were detected to have Yr26 gene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, blockchain technology, which is decentralized and may provide tamper-resistance to recorded data, is experiencing exponential growth in industry and research. In this paper, we propose the MIStore, a blockchain-based medical insurance storage system. Due to blockchain’s the property of tamper-resistance, MIStore may provide a high-credibility to users. In a basic instance of the system, there are a hospital, patient, insurance company and n servers. Specifically, the hospital performs a (t, n)-threshold MIStore protocol among the n servers. For the protocol, any node of the blockchain may join the protocol to be a server if the node and the hospital wish. Patient’s spending data is stored by the hospital in the blockchain and is protected by the n servers. Any t servers may help the insurance company to obtain a sum of a part of the patient’s spending data, which servers can perform homomorphic computations on. However, the n servers cannot learn anything from the patient’s spending data, which recorded in the blockchain, forever as long as more than n − t servers are honest. Besides, because most of verifications are performed by record-nodes and all related data is stored at the blockchain, thus the insurance company, servers and the hospital only need small memory and CPU. Finally, we deploy the MIStore on the Ethererum blockchain and give the corresponding performance evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bromine contents of a 17-cm halite core from drilling hole of K203 in the Khorat Basin were analysed at 1 cm intervals (17 samples in total). The Br contents range from 99 to 184 ppm with a rapid variation. The K/Mg ratios of halite samples are tens of times higher than those of primary halite fluid inclusions. There is no positive correlation between Mg and Br contents, suggesting that fluid inclusions impose very little or negligible influence on Br contents of halites. The Br contents are not controlled by potash minerals either because the SEM examination shows no potash minerals and there is no relationship between K and Br contents. The Br contents of halite are thus primarily controlled by the Br concentrations of parent brines. The rapid variation of Br contents of halite within this section suggests a shallow saline pan wherein the giant Khorat evaporites were formed. This is contradictory to previous Br profiles of the Lower Salt Member which showed relatively stable and continuously increasing trends. The shallow saline pan model evidenced by high-resolution Br profile is consistent with sedimentary facies and salt mineral textures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the pinning synchronization control issue for a class of discrete-time complex dynamical networks. By resorting to the interval observer approach, a novel pinning synchronization control strategy is adopted to control a small fraction of the network nodes with hope to reduce the implementation cost. By using the Lyapunov stability theorem, some synchronization criteria have been derived to ensure the desired synchronization performance. Finally, a numerical simulation is presented to illustrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attributed-based encryption (ABE) is a promising cryptographic access control mechanism with a rich expressiveness of ABE policies. Due to the high complexities of encryption and decryption, users are burdened with large computation cost. Fortunately, outsourcing technologies can be used to reduce the computation overhead for the ABE schemes. In the recent decade, the achievements of the outsourced ciphertext-policy ABE (CP-ABE) schemes are inspiring. But, the outsourcing encryption algorithms for CP-ABE schemes are not addressed properly since the encryption exponents are dynamic. In this paper, we present an efficient outsourced CP-ABE scheme with checkability, where the number of the exponential operations in the encryption can be reduced to a constant by introducing a blinding algorithm. Meanwhile, the ciphertext size is not increased. Furthermore, to guarantee the correctness of our scheme, we provide the verification mechanism based on a collision-resistance hash function, which allows the users to efficiently check the validity of messages and outsourced computation results. Besides, the proposed scheme is secure against replayable chosen ciphertext attacks based on Green’s outsourcing security model. Intensive experiments are carried out to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dihedral coset problem (DCP) that comes from the hidden subgroup problem over dihedral group is one of the fundamental problems in quantum computation, and its hardness has become a promising cryptographic assumption of post quantum cryptography. In this work, we carry out a quantum cryptographic scheme based on dihedral coset states, which is a novel quantum cryptography that not only exploits the principles of quantum physics but also depends on the post-quantum hardness of DCP N ℓ , where ℓ is the number of samples of DCP states and N is the modulus. Specifically, we propose a bipartite quantum key agreement protocol based on dihedral coset states, and by using it we demonstrate a quantum secure communication scenario that ⌊ ℓ / 4 ⌋ bits of information can be transmitted securely. Finally, we discuss the security analysis of our proposal under the optimal measurement attack and show that the proposal can achieve the maximum secrecy capacity with information-theoretic security under the constraint of m = Θ (log N - 4) for the large N, where m denotes the number of DCP states transmitted in the quantum channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By introducing functional groups such as quaternary amine groups, sulfonic acid groups, triazine groups, and other mespore nanomaterials into the hydrogel, better separation effect of some organic framework materials has been obtained. Due to a reasonable design and preparation strategy, the hydrogel composite-modified silica can be used in the selective separation of various analytes such as pesticides, alkylbenzenes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nucleosides/bases, benzoic acids, antibiotics, and carbohydrates. Through the exploration of chromatographic retention behavior, it is proved that the column can be used in mixed-mode liquid chromatography. The intra-day relative standard deviation for retention time of this new stationary phase is 0.12–0.16% (n = 10), and the inter-day relative standard deviation is less than 0.39% (n = 5). This new stationary phase can also be used for separation in complex samples. The limit of detection (LOD) for chlorotoluron in farm irrigation water is 0.21 µg/L and the linear range is 2–250 µg/L. After optimizing the chromatographic conditions, the highest efficiency of the hydrogel column in RPLC and HILIC modes has reached 32,400 plates/m (chlorobenzuron) and 41,300 plates/m (galactose). This new type of hydrogel composite is a porous network material with flexible functional design and simple preparation method and its application has been expanded in liquid chromatography separation successfully. The hydrogel composed of triallyl cyanate cross-linking agent and 3-(2-(methacryloyloxy) ethyl) dimethylamine) propane-1-sulfonate (SBMA) monomer which were co-modified on the surface of mesoporous silica with MOF-919 for separation in mixed-mode liquid chromatography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two types of potash ores were sampled from the Mengyejing potash deposit (the MPD) which is the only ancient potash deposit ever found in China. Geochemical analyses, including Br, K, Mg and some heavy metals, were performed on those samples. The relatively consistent Br contents (141.42 to 763.67 ppm) in both bedded potash and veined potash ores show that the potash-forming brine was likely derived from seawater. K contents and Br/Cl ratios of the veined potash ores are relatively high in contrast to bedded potash ores. The K/Br ratios of veined potash ores exhibit a positive correlation with Br contents, which is opposite to that of the bedded potash ore of the MPD and potassium-salts from the evaporation of modern seawater. The contents of heavy metals in veined potash ores are much higher than those of bedded potash ores in the MPD and potash in other evaporite basins of the world. Sr and S isotopic compositions of these two types of potash ores suggest that the brines for precipitating veined potash were formed by mixing of connate waters (seawater or/and continental freshwater) and hydrothermal fluids. The geochemical and petrological characteristics of the veined potash ores indicate that the brine for forming veined potash orebodies caused by dissolution of previous bedded potash orebodies by hydrothermal fluids. The veined potash orebodies were formed through a cooling process by which sylvite precipitated first prior to halite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general method was developed for preparing a metal–organic framework–polymer composite coated silica core–shell stationary phase. Silica microspheres were comodified with metal–organic framework and polyvinylpyrrolidone rather than the in situ method of silica modification by original metal–organic framework particles. Metal–organic framework particles and polyvinylpyrrolidone on silica surface were beneficial to suppress silanol activity and enhance composite material tolerance, as well as increasing the water compatibility of the original metal–organic framework-based stationary phases. The stationary phase exhibited superior hydrophilic and hydrophobic performance in terms of separation for various analytes including seven alkaloids, six sulfonamides, five antibiotics, and five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Moreover, the composite material also showed excellent stability with the relative standard deviation of the retention time of 0.4 to 0.7%. The separation performance with real samples proved that the column has good practical application potential. In summary, the poposed method provides a general way for preparing metal–organic framework–polymer composite material and changed the current status of original metal–organic framework particles modified silica as a single mode chromatographic stationary phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sichuan Basin contains the most prolific marine potash salt deposits in China. Although a vast amount of polyhalite has been found in the Triassic Jialingjiang Formation, the production of soluble potash deposits has yet to begin. The origin and sedimentary environment of polyhalite has remained unclear, and this information could have a significant economic impact. The recent discovery of protogenetic polyhalite co-existing with halite crystals in cores from the early Triassic Jialingjiang Formation in eastern Sichuan Basin provides vital clues to its origin and depositional environment. Two types of polyhalite have been identified, through the examination of sedimentary textures and fabrics, mineral composition and contents, and major and trace elements from cores. The first type is protogenetic polyhalite, which co-exists and is commingled with halite crystals. The second type is secondary in origin with a radiating texture and was formed by the metasomatism of gypsum. Triassic polyhalite and halite was deposited during periods of freshwater and sylvite-saturated, evaporated seawater mixing. Further dilution of the freshwater resulted in gypsum precipitation among the halite crystals. After periods of desalination, increasing evaporation leads to the formation of highly concentrated and dense brines that are rich in potassium and magnesium. These heavy brines sink downward through intercrystalline pores and fractures, replacing gypsum with polyhalite through metasomatism. These sequential phenomena occur because the Triassic marine basins were relatively small and tectonically active. Although these shallow, small salt basins can have a fast concentration rate, they can be easily desalinated by the peripheral freshwater input in an overall arid but fluctuating arid and wet climate. The alternating periods of evaporation and desalination are responsible for the formation of soluble potassium salt deposits. Our proposed mechanisms provide useful information for understanding the distribution of polyhalite. These mechanisms can be used to guide future exploration and production of Triassic marine potash salts in the periphery of the Tethys Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetic hierarchical nickel/nickel oxide/carbon nanorods (Ni/NiO@C) were prepared via the pyrolysis of a metal-organic framework containing nickel(II) nickel (Ni-MOF; Ni3(BTC)2) under argon atmosphere. In this material, magnetic Ni/NiO@C nanoparticles are embedded in porous carbon nanorods, and the morphology is similar to that of the original Ni-MOF precursor. The synthesized nanorods were applied as magnetic sorbents in the solid-phase extraction of five benzoylurea insecticides (flufenoxuron, chlorbenzuron, teflubenzuron, diflubenzuron and triflumuron), and their performance was evaluated under optimized conditions. The results show that the material exhibits high extraction recoveries from spiked samples (82.9%–107.6%) and linear response in the range of 0.2–450 μg·L−1. It is also characterized by relatively low limits of detection (50–100 ng·mL−1) at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The sorbent is chemically stable and can be repeatedly recycled, with little decline in extraction capacity after 20 cycles of reuse. The method was successfully applied to the quantification of benzoylureas in tea, wolfberry, millet, and oat samples, and it showed high extraction efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precedence of cricket teams depicts the authority of teams over the counter peers. The existing ad-hoc ranking systems either incorporate the count of won or lost matches, or just consider the winning margins. The batting and bowling productivity at team level along with the reward for each win and penalty against each lost never adopted for extracting the supremacy of teams over the others. The intuition of this paper is to address the aforementioned limitations while presenting an effective mechanism. With this aim, first of all, effective features are explicitly formulated for finding batting and bowling productivity precedence. Subsequently, these features are combined to devise the team productivity metric. Moreover, an efficient productivity precedence algorithm is presented that incorporates the defined features to retrieve the batting, bowling and team precedences in one day international matches. Extensive experiments are performed for this purpose, the results of which show that the presented method renders quite promising insights. Further, the batting, bowling and team evolution is also presented to depict the precedences of different spans. The presented method can be explicitly adopted for cricket team rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method for the efficient analysis of trace phenolic acids (PAs, caffeic acid, ferulic acid, protocatechuic acid, cinnamic acid) in urine was established. In this work, a graphene oxide (GO) coating was grafted onto pure silica to be investigated as SPE material. The prepared GO surface had a layered and wrinkled structure that was rough and well organized, which could provide more open adsorption sites. Owing to its hydrophilicity and polarity, GO showed higher extraction efficiency toward PAs than reduced GO did, in agreement with the theoretical calculation results performed by Gaussian 09 software. The adsorption mechanism of PAs on GO@Sil was also investigated through static state and kinetic state adsorption experiments, which showed a monolayer surface adsorption. Extraction capacity of the as-prepared material was optimized using the response surface methodology. Under the optimized conditions, the as-established method provided wide linearity range (2-50 μg L for protocatechuic acid and 1-50 μg L for caffeic acid, ferulic acid, and cinnamic acid) and low limits of detection (0.25-1 μg L). Finally, the established method was applied for the analysis of urine from two healthy volunteers. The results indicate that the prepared material is a practical, cost-effective medium for the extraction and determination of phenolic acids in complex matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new kind of micellar polyoxometalate (POM) [CHN(CH)]PVMoO has been synthesized via ion exchange. This micellar polyoxometalate can assemble in water and concentrate substrates; resulting in higher or nearly identical performance compared to traditional catalysts, such as FeSO. This catalyst can be easily separated from the products and its retrieved polyoxometalates can be repeatedly used without loss of performance; which highlights the application of this important biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shulu Sag is a typical rift valley basin in Eastern China, where the formation mechanism of Cenozoic salt-bearing series has been poorly understood. In this paper, petrologic analysis, X-ray powder Diffraction (XRD) analysis and the analysis of halite ion concentrations of the first member of the Shahejie Formation from two drilling cores were conducted to interpret the formation mechanism of these salt-bearing series in Shulu Sag. The results indicated that the salt-bearing series is mainly composed of calcilutite or mudstone at top and bottom, and anhydrite-bearing halite and thin interbeds of salt-bearing calcilutite and dark grey shale in the middle part. These thin interbeds with porphyritic or petalshaped glauberite crystals or some thinner dark grey shale interbeds separated halites into several members with the average thickness of only 9~12 cm in the two drilling holes. This typical rhythmic pattern due to frequent alternation of concentration was evidenced by the variation of chemical composition and hydrogen isotopes of halite fluid inclusions. The presence of large number of primary fluid inclusions within chevron crystals and vertically oriented bottom-growth crystals showed that the halite were precipitated in shallow water (<60 cm). These features are direct evidence for this frequent alternation of dissolution and concentration of brines and terrigenous detrital-chemical shallow-water sedimentary model of these small rift-valley basins in Eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanotubular titania film was prepared in situ on titanium wire and was used as the fiber substrate for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) because of its high surface-to-volume ratio, easy preparation, and mechanical stability. Three different functional coatings, β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), β-cyclodextrin-co-poly(ethylenepropylene glycol) (β-CD/PEG), and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based sorbents were chemically bonded to the nanostructured wire surface via sol-gel technology to further enhance the absorbing capability and extraction selectivity. Coupled to gas chromatography-flame ionic detection (GC-FID), the prepared SPME fibers were investigated using diverse compounds. The results indicated that the fibers showed good mechanical strength, excellent thermal stability, and wonderful capacity and selectivity to polar compounds, including polar aromatic compounds, alcohols, and ketones. Combining the superior hydrophilic property of a bonded functional molecule and the highly porous structure of a fiber coating, the prepared PEG-coated SPME fiber showed much higher adsorption affinity to ephedrine and methylephedrine than β-CD and β-CD/PEG fibers. The as-established PEG-coated SPME-GC analytical method provided excellent sensitivity (LODs, 0.004 and 0.001 ng mL for ephedrine and methylephedrine, respectively) and better linear range (0.01-2 000 μg L). In addition, it has surprising repeatability and reproducibility. Finally, the present approach was used to analyze ephedrine and methylephedrine from real urine samples, and reliable results were obtained. [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]