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Quantum conferencing enables multiple nodes within a quantum network to share a secure conference key for private message broadcasting. The key rate, however, is limited by the repeaterless capacity to distribute multipartite entangled states across the network. Currently, in the finite-size regime, no feasible schemes utilizing existing experimental techniques can overcome the fundamental rate-distance limit of quantum conferencing in quantum networks without repeaters. Here, we propose a practical, multi-field scheme that breaks this limit, involving virtually establishing Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states through post-measurement coincidence matching. This proposal features a measurement-device-independent characteristic and can directly scale to support any number of users. Simulations show that the fundamental limitation on the conference key rate can be overcome in a reasonable running time of sending 1014 pulses. We predict that it offers an efficient design for long-distance broadcast communication in future quantum networks. Quantum networks require secure conference keys for users to communicate and decrypt broadcasts. The authors propose a quantum conferencing protocol that overcomes key rate limits in networks without repeaters by using post-measurement coincidence matching, enabling secure, efficient, and flexible communication resistant to detector side channel attacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhalus acoroides (L.f.) Royle is a large and important foundation seagrass species in the tropical Indo-Pacific. The northern marginal populations in China have been declining over the last decades. The reproductive phenology and fruit set of this dioecious seagrass were investigated from June 2017 to February 2018 in two areas in Li'an lagoon, Hainan Island, China. We found that E. acoroides flowered year-round. However, the flowering intensity varied among seasons and was highest in the summer and lowest in the winter. The shoot sex ratio was male-biased, and the pollen-ovule ratio was approximately 104: 1, based on the sex ratio and the number of male florets per inflorescence. Female and male plants flowered at the same time in this population. Despite the high reproductive investment in terms of flower formation observed throughout the year, the abundance of the mature fruits was low, possibly due to physical disturbance and cover by epiphyte and algae. This study provides insight into the reproductive ecology of E. acoroides, which will be useful for the future conservation of this threatened seagrass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we successfully synthesized silicon nanotubes (Si-NTs) and silicon nanowires (Si-NWs) in a controllable manner using a catalyst- and template-free method through the direct electrolysis of SiO2 in a molten CaCl2-CaO system, while also proposing a novel formation mechanism for Si-NTs. Si-NWs are formed through electro-deoxidation when the cell voltage is within the range of CaO decomposition voltage and SiO2 decomposition voltage. By subsequently adjusting the voltage to a value between the decomposition potentials of CaCl2 and CaO, in-situ electro-deoxidation of CaO takes place on the surface of the synthesized Si-NWs, leading to the formation of a Ca layer. The formation of Ca-Si diffusion couple leads to the creation of vacancies within the Si-NWs, as the outward diffusion rate of Si exceeds the inward diffusion rate of Ca. These differential diffusion rates between Si and Ca in a diffusion couple exhibit an analogy to the Kirkendall effect. These vacancies gradually accumulate and merge, forming large voids, which ultimately result in the formation of hollow SiCa-NTs. Through a subsequent dealloying process, the removal of the embedded calcium leads to the formation of Si-NTs. Following the application of a carbon coating, the Si-NTs@C composite showcases a high initial discharge capacity of 3211 mAh·g−1 at 1.5 A·g−1 and exhibits exceptional long-term cycling stability, maintaining a capacity of 977 mAh·g−1 after 2000 cycles at 3.0 A·g−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase (LPMO) of Auxiliary Activity 9 family has great potential for lignocellulose biomass degradation, and obtaining AA9 LPMOs with high catalytic activity and thermalstability is necessary for its industrial application. In this study, rational design and molecular modification was conducted on AnLPMO15g from Aspergillus niger to boost its performance on lignocellulose hydrolysis. The catalytic performance of mutant AnLPMO15g-293 (C293F) and AnLPMO15g-351 (S351F) with increased α-helix content in the secondary structure were improved. The catalytic efficiency (Kcat/Km) of C293F and S351F on 2,6-dimethoxyphenol was 1.27 and 1.17 times higher than that of AnLPMO15g respectively, and their activities on Avicel® increased by 81.17% and 40.78%, respectively. The half-life of C293F and S351F at 55 ℃ was 1.5 and 2.5 times longer than that of AnLPMO15g. Surface plasmon resonance analysis showed that the association velocity constant (Ka) of S351F increased tenfold compared with that of AnLPMO15g, indicating the substrate affinity of S351F was significantly improved. When C293F and S351F acted together with cellulase on straw powder, the reducing sugar yields increased by 1.81 and 1.53 times and the synergistic degree increased 30.7% and 11.8%, respectively. This study provides a good alternative for preparing efficient enzyme cocktails to hydrolyze lignocellulosic biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new three-dimensional (3D) Ni(II) coordination polymers (CPs), namely, {[Ni(L1)2(H2O)2]·(1,5-NDS)}n (1) and [Ni(L2)2(1,5-NDS)]n (2) have been hydrothermally synthesized based on 1,5-naphthalenedisulfonate (1,5-NDS) and two bis(benzimidazole) ligands (L1 = 1,4-bis(1H-benzimidazol-1-yl)butane, L2 = 1,2-bis(benzimidazol-1-ylmethyl)benzene). CP 1 presents a 3D framework with 4-connected 66dia topology. While CP 2 shows a 3D network with 6-connected (412.63) pcu topology. CPs 1 and 2 both exhibit excellent luminescent properties and good water stability. And luminescent sensing experiments reveal that both CPs can detect uric acid (UA) in aqueous solution through the luminescent quenching effect, and they also can detect tryptophan (Trp) in aqueous solution with red-shift and turn-on luminescent effect. The detection limits toward UA and Trp are 1.30 and 0.92 μM for 1, and those are 1.20 and 1.30 μM for 2, respectively. Furthermore, the luminescence sensing mechanisms were studied via PXRD patterns, UV–Vis spectra, lifetimes and theoretical calculations. The luminescence test films of 1 and 2 were also prepared for visual detection of UA and Trp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous evolution of additive manufacturing technology, the production of spherical powders has become increasingly vital. Various studies suggest that factors such as the preparation process, powder materials, and sphericity are crucial in determining product performance. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of three widely used preparation technologies for spherical powders: gas atomization (GA), plasma rotating electrode process (PREP), and radio frequency plasma (RFP). Next, we identify the current research gaps in the preparation process for spherical powders and analyze the techniques for controlling particle size, sphericity, and purity during powder production. Finally, we proposed the development trend of spherical powder preparation technology, which provides crucial insights for optimizing the preparation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Cd(II) MOFs based on the 1,4-bis[(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-methyl]benzene (1,4-mbix) and succinate (Suc2−) or azelate (Aze2−) ligands have been hydrothermally synthesized, namely, {[Cd2(Suc)2(1,4-mbix)2]·5H2O}n (1) and [Cd(Aze)(1,4-mbix)]n (2). Both MOFs were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In MOF 1, the Cd(II) centers are connected by Suc2− and 1,4-mbix to generate a two-dimensional (2D) sql layer with (H2O)5 water cluster. Each 2D layer is further interlocked with two adjacent layers to form a 2D + 2D → 3D parallel polycatenated structure. In MOF 2, when the Suc2− was placed by Aze2−, the Cd(II) centers are connected by Aze2− and 1,4-mbix into a 2D sql layer but without any water molecules. And two 2D sql layers interpenetrate with each other to generate a twofold 2D + 2D → 2D sheet. MOFs 1 and 2 display photoluminescence at 343 nm (λex = 288 nm) and 298 nm (λex = 271 nm), respectively. Luminescent quenching experiments show that 1 and 2 have good ability for detection of Fe3+ in deionized water with low detection limits as 0.58 μM for 1 and 0.54 μM for 2, respectively. Two MOFs also can serve as luminescent sensors for Fe3+ in real tap water and river water. The luminescent quenching of 1 and 2 toward Fe3+ can be attributed to the competition among the absorption of Fe3+ with the excitation and emission of two MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two Cd(II) MOFs based on the 1,4-bis[(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-methyl]benzene (1,4-mbix) and succinate (Suc2−) or azelate (Aze2−) ligands have been hydrothermally synthesized, namely, {[Cd2(Suc)2(1,4-mbix)2]·5H2O}n (1) and [Cd(Aze)(1,4-mbix)]n (2). Both MOFs were structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In MOF 1, the Cd(II) centers are connected by Suc2− and 1,4-mbix to generate a two-dimensional (2D) sql layer with (H2O)5 water cluster. Each 2D layer is further interlocked with two adjacent layers to form a 2D + 2D → 3D parallel polycatenated structure. In MOF 2, when the Suc2− was placed by Aze2−, the Cd(II) centers are connected by Aze2− and 1,4-mbix into a 2D sql layer but without any water molecules. And two 2D sql layers interpenetrate with each other to generate a twofold 2D + 2D → 2D sheet. MOFs 1 and 2 display photoluminescence at 343 nm (λex = 288 nm) and 298 nm (λex = 271 nm), respectively. Luminescent quenching experiments show that 1 and 2 have good ability for detection of Fe3+ in deionized water with low detection limits as 0.58 μM for 1 and 0.54 μM for 2, respectively. Two MOFs also can serve as luminescent sensors for Fe3+ in real tap water and river water. The luminescent quenching of 1 and 2 toward Fe3+ can be attributed to the competition among the absorption of Fe3+ with the excitation and emission of two MOFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heart is the most energy-demanding organ throughout the whole body. Perturbations or failure in energy metabolism contributes to heart failure (HF), which represents the advanced stage of various heart diseases. The poor prognosis and huge economic burden associated with HF underscore the high unmet need to explore novel therapies targeting metabolic modulators beyond conventional approaches focused on neurohormonal and hemodynamic regulators. Emerging evidence suggests that alterations in metabolic substrate reliance, metabolic pathways, metabolic by-products, and energy production collectively regulate the occurrence and progression of HF. In this review, we provide an overview of cardiac metabolic remodeling, encompassing the utilization of free fatty acids, glucose metabolism, ketone bodies, and branched-chain amino acids both in the physiological condition and heart failure. Most importantly, the latest advances in pharmacological interventions are discussed as a promising therapeutic approach to restore cardiac function, drawing insights from recent basic research, preclinical and clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of the factorization approach we calculate the branching fractions of 100 two-body nonleptonic decay channels in total, including 44 channels of the charm meson decays and 56 channels of the bottom meson decays. For charm meson decays, we test and confirm the previous observation that taking the limit for the number of colors N → ∞ significantly improves theoretical predictions. For bottom meson decays, the penguin contributions are included in addition. As an essential input, we employ the weak decay form factors obtained in the framework of the relativistic quark model based on the quasi-potential approach. These form factors have well been tested by calculating observables in the semileptonic D and B meson decays and confronting obtained results with experimental data. In general, the predictions for the nonleptonic decay branching fractions are acceptable. However, for a quantitative calculation it is necessary to account for a more subtle effects of the final-state interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetanus toxin (TeNT) and botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are neuroprotein toxins, with the latter being the most toxic known protein. They are structurally similar and contain three functional domains: an N-terminal catalytic domain (light chain), an internal heavy-chain translocation domain (HN domain), and a C-terminal heavy chain receptor binding domain (Hc domain or RBD). In this study, fusion functional domain molecules consisting of the TeNT RBD (THc) and the BoNT/A RBD (AHc) (i.e., THc-Linker-AHc and AHc-Linker-THc) were designed, prepared, and identified. The interaction of each Hc domain and the ganglioside receptor (GT1b) or the receptor synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2 (SV2) was explored in vitro. Their immune response characteristics and protective efficacy were investigated in animal models. The recombinant THc-linker-AHc and AHc-linker-THc proteins with the binding activity had the correct size and structure, thus representing novel subunit vaccines. THc-linker-AHc and AHc-linker-THc induced high levels of specific neutralizing antibodies, and showed strong immune protective efficacy against both toxins. The high antibody titers against the two novel fusion domain molecules and against individual THc and AHc suggested that the THc and AHc domains, as antigens in the fusion functional domain molecules, do not interact with each other and retain their full key epitopes responsible for inducing neutralizing antibodies. Thus, the recombinant THc-linker-AHc and AHc-linker-THc molecules are strong and effective bivalent biotoxin vaccines, protecting against two biotoxins simultaneously. Our experimental design will be valuable to develop recombinant double-RBD fusion molecules as potent bivalent subunit vaccines against bio-toxins. Key points: • Double-RBD fusion molecules from two toxins had the correct structure and activity. • THc-linker-AHc and AHc-linker-THc efficiently protected against both biotoxins. • Such bivalent biotoxin vaccines based on the RBD are a valuable experimental design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that polo-like kinase 3 (PLK3) plays an essential role in tumor cells and induces cell proliferation and may have implications for the prognosis of various cancers. We sought to define the role of PLK3-dependent proneural–mesenchymal transition (PMT) in the glioblastoma (GBM) therapy. Methods and results: We analyzed the expression data for PLK3 by using the TCGA database. PLK3 expression in GBM cell lines was determined by qRT-PCR and Western blotting. PLK3 levels were modulated using Lentivirus infection, and the effects on symptoms, tumor volume, and survival in mice intracranial xenograft models were determined. Irradiation (IR) was performed to induce PMT. PLK3 expression was significantly elevated in mesenchymal subtype GBM and promoted tumor proliferation in GBM. Additionally enriched PLK3 expression could be associated with poor prognosis in GBM patients compared with those who have lower PLK3 expression. Mechanically, PLK3-dependent PMT induced radioresistance in GBM cells via transcriptional regulation of complement C5a receptor 1 (C5AR1). In therapeutic experiments conducted in vitro, targeting PLK3 by using small molecule inhibitor decreased tumor growth and radioresistance of GBM cells both in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions: PLK3-C5AR1 axis induced PMT thus enhanced radioresistance in GBM and could become a novel potential therapeutic target for GBM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Botulinum neurotoxin (BoNTs; serotypes A, B, E, and F) cause botulism disease in humans, which could be effectively treated using antitoxins. Herein, we established a novel receptor-binding domain (RBD)-based antitoxin using recombinant C terminal heavy chain (Hc) domains of BoNTs as immunogens. Immunization of horses with these recombinant Hc domains allowed the purification and digestion of IgGs from hyper-immune sera to produce high-quality and high-efficiency monovalent botulism antitoxin F(ab′)2 against each BoNT (M-BATs). However, these M-BATs could not bind or neutralize other serotypes of BoNTs, and that there were no cross-protective effects among these M-BATs. This suggested the need to prepare tetravalent antitoxins to neutralize the four BoNTs simultaneously. Thus, these M-BATs were formulated into a novel tetravalent botulism antitoxin (T-BAT), in which a 10-ml volume contained 10000 IU of BoNT/A and 5000 IU of BoNT/B, BoNT/E, and BoNT/F antitoxins. The novel antitoxin preparation could prevent and treat the four mixed botulinum neurotoxins simultaneously in vivo, representing strong efficacy in an animal poisoning model. Moreover, these antibodies in T-BAT could bind the RBD, whereas conventional antitoxins based on inactivated toxins mainly bind the light chain or heavy chain translocation domain (HN) and weakly bind the important RBD in current experimental conditions. The high levels of RBD-specific novel antitoxins can efficiently bind the RBD and neutralize natural or recombinant toxins containing this RBD. The findings of the present study experimentally support the use of RBD-specific antitoxins to treat BoNT serotype A, B, E, and F-mediated botulism. This study demonstrated the concept of developing potent novel multivalent antitoxins against all BoNTs or other toxins, using the RBD of these toxins as an alternative antigen to inactivated toxins. Key points: • Antitoxins based on the receptor-binding domains of botulinum neurotoxins were made. • Novel antitoxin binds RBD; traditional antitoxin mainly binds light chain or HN domain. • A tetravalent antitoxin could prevent and treat the four mixed neurotoxins in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropeptides are ubiquitous intercellular signaling molecules in the CNS and play diverse roles in modulating physiological functions by acting on specific G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Among them, the elevenin signaling system is now believed to be present primarily in protostomes. Although elevenin was first identified from the L11 neuron of the abdominal ganglion in mollusc Aplysia californica, no receptors have been described in Aplysia, nor in any other molluscs. Here, using two elevenin receptors in annelid Platynereis dumerilii, we found three putative elevenin GPCRs in Aplysia. We cloned the three receptors and tentatively named them apElevR1, apElevR2, and apElevR3. Using an inositol monophosphate (IP1) accumulation assay, we demonstrated that Aplysia elevenin with the disulfide bond activated the three putative receptors with low EC50 values (ranging from 1.2 to 25 nM), supporting that they are true receptors for elevenin. In contrast, elevenin without the disulfide bond could not activate the receptors, indicating that the disulfide bond is required for receptor activity. Using alanine substitution of individual conserved residues other than the two cysteines, we showed that these residues appear to be critical to receptor activity, and the three different receptors had different sensitivities to the single residue substitution. Finally, we examined the roles of those residues outside the disulfide bond ring by removing these residues and found that they also appeared to be important to receptor activity. Thus, our study provides an important basis for further study of the functions of elevenin and its receptors in Aplysia and other molluscs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant adventitious root (AR) culture is an alternative route to obtain plant raw material. Hypericum perforatum L. is a precious medicinal herb and its ARs have been mass produced in bioreactors. To utilization of the cultured H. perforatum ARs in the production of food products, this study explored the effect of crude extract (CE) of ARs and its five fractions (i.e., petroleum ether, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, n-butyl alcohol, and water) from stepwise extraction with different solvents on antibacterial activity against four foodborne pathogenic bacterial species (i.e., Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella choleraesuis); and antibacterial mechanisms of petroleum ether fraction were investigated in terms of cell permeability and respiration. The results showed that CE and five fractions all had antibacterial effects on the tested four bacterial species, and the lowest minimal inhibitory concentration against B. cereus and S. aureus was found in the fraction of petroleum ether (PE-F). PE-F increased the leakage of alkaline phosphatase, electrolyte, nucleic acid, and protein of B. cereus and S. aureus, indicating that bacterial cell permeability was increased. Meanwhile, PE-F inhibited respiration of B. cereus and S. aureus, and the superposition rate of the combination group of PE-F and iodoacetic acid (IA) was lowest, demonstrating that PE-F might be involved in regulation of IA-represented respiratory pathway, namely, tricarboxylic acid cycle. This study suggested that H. perforatum ARs have potential application value and could be used in the food industry. Key message: 1. Adventitious roots of Hypericum perforatum possessed antibacterial activity. 2. The highest antibacterial activity was in fraction of petroleum ether. 3. Fraction of petroleum ether affected cell permeability and respiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Severe viral keratitis with hypopyon and retrocorneal plaques is easily misdiagnosed as it mimics fungal or bacterial keratitis and is more likely to undergo emergency therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (TPK) in the presence of active infection, resulting in poor outcomes. This case series offers some important insights for the management strategy of severe viral keratitis. Methods: This retrospective case series involved five patients with unilateral severe infectious keratitis with hypopyon over 3 mm and retrocorneal endothelial plaques. Testing for corneal sensation, microscopy, culture, and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (ASOCT) were performed. Results: At presentation, all five cases had visual acuity of counting fingers (CF) or worse, large centrally located ulcer with clean ulcer surface, hypopyon, and retrocorneal plaques with reduced corneal sensation. ASOCT demonstrated the presence of retrocorneal plaques with clear space between corneal endothelium and plaques. All cases received systemic and topical ganciclovir and topical steroids. Two patients received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) weekly for 2 weeks. Complete resolution was achieved in all cases except one patient who underwent TPK because of diffuse anterior synechiae of the iris, with recurrence of infection after 10 days. The patients who received IVIG showed resolution earlier compared to the other patients. Conclusions: Evaluation of characteristics of retrocorneal plaques by ASOCT and reduced corneal sensation are valuable aids in diagnosis of complicated viral keratitis. Conservative medical management may be a viable option even in severe cases. IVIG may have a role in speedy resolution of severe cases, but more research is needed to confirm this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific collaboration is getting tremendous attention from scholars and becoming the most common way of producing research works from different disciplines, enabling them to solve complex problems. Nevertheless, when the number of collaborators increases in research work, it becomes challenging to single out and recognize one scholar who contributes the most to the collaboration team of multiauthored publications. Hence, determining an influential author either from multiauthored papers or co-authorship networks is an interesting research problem. To address these problems, we develop a citation and similarity-based author ranking method, namely CLARA, that captures the influential author in multiauthored publications. The method considers attributes of publications such as citing papers and co-cited papers and similarity between publications. Firstly, the method computes the contribution of the co-authors in a given paper by employing fractional counting metrics. Secondly, it computes the contextual similarity between the given paper and its co-cited papers. Finally, the method ranks each co-author using the mathematically defined metric, called KeyScore, and discovers the "key" author among the co-authors of the given paper. We validate our method by extracting the papers of the "Chinese Outstanding Youth" winning researchers from the Microsoft Academic Graph dataset. The experimental results show that the CLARA method performs well in identifying key authors accurately and effectively, despite the position of the authors in the author list of their corresponding papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Plant-deleterious microbial volatiles activate the transactivation of hypoxia, MAMPs and wound responsive genes in Arabidopsis thaliana. AtMKK1 and AtMKK3 are involved in the plant-deleterious microbial volatiles-induced defense responses. Microbial volatile compounds (mVCs) are a collection of volatile metabolites from microorganisms with biological effects on all living organisms. mVCs function as gaseous modulators of plant growth and plant health. In this study, the defense events induced by plant-deleterious mVCs were investigated. Enterobacter aerogenes VCs lead to growth inhibition and immune responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. E. aerogenes VCs negatively regulate auxin response and transport gene expression in the root tip, as evidenced by decreased expression of DR5::GFP, PIN3::PIN3-GFP and PIN4::PIN4-GFP. Data from transcriptional analysis suggests that E. aerogenes VCs trigger hypoxia response, innate immune responses and metabolic processes. In addition, the transcript levels of the genes involved in the synthetic pathways of antimicrobial metabolites camalexin and coumarin are increased after the E. aerogenes VCs exposure. Moreover, we demonstrate that MKK1 serves as a regulator of camalexin biosynthesis gene expression in response to E. aerogenes VCs, while MKK3 is the regulator of coumarin biosynthesis gene expression. Additionally, MKK1 and MKK3 mediate the E. aerogenes VCs-induced callose deposition. Collectively, these studies provide molecular insights into immune responses by plant-deleterious mVCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corrosion of carbon steel exposed to natural aeration and aqueous solutions containing HCO3− was investigated as a function of the dissolved H2S concentration under static and dynamic conditions through electrochemical and surface characterization. The results revealed the occurrence of more pitting corrosion of carbon steel at a 10 ppm H2S concentration than at a 50 ppm H2S concentration, which was mainly associated with the formation of FeCO3 crystals (higher pH condition at 10 ppm H2S) and followed by a loss of integrity for the corrosion products due to the action of dissolved oxygen; however, defective iron sulfide scale with poor adhesion to the steel was formed once the steel surface was in contact with an aqueous solution containing 50 ppm H2S, and the loose scale was easily spalled by the action of fluid flow, which resulted in an increase in the general corrosion rate for carbon steel. Thus, this study holds promise for understanding the transformation mechanisms of corrosion types and reducing corrosion failures of transportation pipelines in the oil and gas industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rational design of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as luminescent sensors, has attracted great interest in recent years. 2,6-dipicolinic acid (DPA) is the specific biomarker of Bacillus anthracis, Cr(VI) oxo-anions are toxic ions in environmental water, and the detection of DPA and Cr(VI) oxo-anions is of great significance. Herein, a new three-dimensional (3D) Cd(II) MOF, {[Cd2(bpda)(1,4-bbix)0.5(H2O)4]·H2O}n (1) (H4bpda = 2,3,3′,4′-biphenyltetracarboxylic acid, 1,4-bbix = 1,4-bis(benzimidazol-1-yl-methyl)benzene) has been synthesized and characterized. Its crystal structure is a 3D framework, which presents a trinodal (3,3,5)-connected topology with the point symbol of (42·6)(62·8)(42·62·84·102). 1 shows excellent luminescence and stability in water, which was explored as luminescent sensor for detection of DPA, CrO42- and Cr2O72- in aqueous solutions via luminescence quenching effect. The detection limits of 1 toward DPA, CrO42- and Cr2O72- are 0.90, 0.53 and 0.41 μM, respectively. Furthermore, 1 also can serve as luminescent sensor to detect DPA in serum and Cr(VI) oxo-anions in river water. The quenching mechanisms were studied by theoretical calculations, PXRD, UV-vis spectra and luminescent lifetimes. The luminescent film of 1 was prepared for the visual detection of DPA, CrO42- and Cr2O72-. This work presents an effective Cd(II) MOF as the functional platform for sensing of DPA, CrO42- and Cr2O72- in aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stainless steel is a kind of difficult-to-machine material, and the work hardening in milling easily leads to high energy consumption and poor surface quality. Thus, the influence of machined surface hardness on energy consumption and surface quality cannot be ignored. To solve this problem, the prediction models for machine tool specific energy consumption and surface roughness are developed with tool wear and machined surface hardness considered firstly. Then, the validity of the models is verified through AISI 304 stainless steel milling experiments. The results show that the prediction accuracy of the machine tool specific energy consumption model can reach 98.7%, and the roughness model can reach 96.8%. Later, according to the developed prediction models, the influence of milling parameters, surface hardness, and tool wear on the machine specific energy consumption and surface roughness is studied. Results show that in stainless steel milling, the most significant parameter for surface roughness is the machined surface hardness, while that for energy consumption is the feed per tooth. The machine specific energy consumption increases linearly with the increase of the tool wear and the machined surface hardness gradually. The proposed models are helpful to optimize the process parameters for energy-saving and high-quality machining of stainless steel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the invading phenomenon of an alien predator to the habitat of two aborigine preys by traveling waves connecting the predator-free state to the co-existence state. We characterize the minimal wave speed of this invading process based on an application of Schauder's fixed point theorem with the help of (generalized) upper-lower-solutions. New form of upper-lower-solutions are constructed to derive the existence of traveling waves for all admissible speeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a comprehensive transient numerical model of electroslag remelting cladding process with dynamic mesh technology is simulated to study the effect of the applied power on the uniformity of melting layer depth along the height of the as-prepared compound roll. The multi-physics fields are solved by the ANSYS Parametric Design Language and Fluent simulation software. The simulation results show that the mandrel absorbs heat (Qmsi) from the slag pool and the melting layer is formed on the mandrel surface. A sufficient metallurgical bonding quality between the mandrel and the clad is confirmed by the close contact of the melting layer with the molten bath of the clad. In addition, the use of high and low power during the early and later stages, respectively, improves the uniformity of the melting layer depth along the height. When high power (235 kW) is applied during the early stage, the height of the compound roll without metallurgical bonding decreases to 52 mm. After the melting layer depth increases to 6 mm along the height, the power decreases to 187 kW. The slag temperature and Qmsi decreases rapidly, and consequently, the melting layer depth initially decreases and then slightly increases along the height. The melting layer depth is acceptable within height of 52 to 260 mm. The change tendency of the melting layer depth along the height of the compound roll obtained by the semi-industrial experiment is in agreement with the simulation results, proving the reliability of the process. Moreover, the results of tensile and Charpy impact tests indicate good metallurgical bonding quality. The process investigated in this paper is expected to be efficient for industrial production of the compound rolls with a uniform melting layer depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of cisplatin for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer has long been constrained by the rapid acquisition of tumor cell chemoresistance. In the present study, we sought to better elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying this resistance phenotype. To that end, we assessed gene expression patterns in cisplatin-resistant lung adenocarcinoma cells, revealing pyruvate dehydrogenase lipoamide kinase isozyme 4 (PDK4) to be the most up-regulated kinase in resistant cells. We further found PDK4 upregulation to be directly linked with the acquisition of chemoresistance, driving enhanced tumor cell growth in vitro and in vivo. In clinical samples, we also found that PDK4 upregulation was detectable in patients with lung adenocarcinoma and that it was correlated with a poorer prognosis for these patients. From a mechanistic perspective, we further determined that PDK4 was able to promote lung adenocarcinoma cell growth and cisplatin resistance at least in part via regulating endothelial PAS domain-containing protein 1 (EPAS1) expression, thus highlighting PDK4 as a potentially viable therapeutic target in efforts to treat lung adenocarcinoma patients that have become resistant to cisplatin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most modern parallel programs are written with the moldable property. However, most existing parallel computing systems treat such parallel programs as rigid jobs for scheduling, resulting in two drawbacks. The first is inflexibility and inefficiency in processor allocation, leading to resource fragmentation and thus poor performance. The second is about usage inconvenience, requiring users to figure out the best number of processors for executing a job. As HPC as a service emerges, moldable job scheduling has become an important research issue for achieving both high performance and user convenience. This paper presents our research work on developing new processor allocation approaches for moldable job scheduling based on two-level resource utilization calculation, preemptive job execution, and dual-criteria iterative improvement. A series of simulation experiments have been conducted to evaluate the proposed approaches and compare them to previous methods. The experimental results demonstrate significant performance improvement in terms of average turnaround time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric materials play a supporting role for electronic circuits. With the development of 5G millimeter wave communication, precision measurement of dielectric property becomes increasingly important. This paper introduces a free-space quasi-optical spectroscopy for complex dielectric property measurement. This spectroscopy can work in both transmission and reflection modes to accommodate both low-loss and high-loss materials. By applying the transfer matrix theory, both solid and liquid samples can be characterized using this system. In addition, the system employs a Gaussian telescope design, giving a possibility of broadband operation. Furthermore, this system is much simpler in calibration compared to other systems. A detailed description of the quasi-optical system is presented. Four materials are measured in the E-band (60–90 GHz). De-ionized water is also measured to represent liquid substrates in electronic circuits. The measurement is in good agreement with published data within a discrepancy of 5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism why two strange scholars become collaborators has been extensively studied from the perspective of social network analysis. In academia, two scholars may collaborate with each other more than once, which means that scientific collaboration is to some extent sustainable. However, less research has been done to explore the sustainability of scientific collaboration. In this paper, we examine to what extent the collaboration sustainability can be predicted. For this purpose, an extreme gradient boosting-based collaboration sustainability prediction model named CSTeller is devised. We propose to analyze the sustainability of scientific collaboration from the perspectives of collaboration duration and collaboration times. We investigate factors that may affect collaboration sustainability based on scholars' local properties and network properties. These factors are adopted as input features of CSTeller. Extensive experiments on two real scholarly datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to explore scientific collaboration mechanism from the perspective of sustainability. Our work may shed light on scientific collaboration analysis and benefit many practical issues such as collaborator recommendation since a scientific collaboration is not a one-shot deal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shield tunnel lining is mainly composed of prefabricated segment, accurate description of longitudinal seam joint mechanics is important for design and analysis of shield tunnel segmental linings, however, due to its stress state is complex and internal force changes show the characteristics of nonlinear, there is no more rapid and accurate calculation model to analysis the mechanics. In the view of the problem of the entity unit simulating bolt bending with low computing speed, the model of shield tunnel longitudinal seam that using the nonlinear spring to simulate bending bolt joint is proposed. Combined with longitudinal seam joint test, analysis the entity model and spring bolt model, the study concluded that: 1) the calculation results of spring bolt model are closer to the test results than entity unit model; and 2) calculation efficiency of spring bolt model bolt up 1 times than the physical model. Based on the spring bolt model, further study the relationship between viscous coefficient, friction coefficient and calculation efficiency, and analyzes the regularity of deformation and damage of shield tunnel connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution ice core records covering long time spans enable reconstruction of the past climatic and environmental conditions allowing the investigation of the earth system’s evolution. Preprocessing of ice cores has direct impacts on the data quality control for further analysis since the conventional ice core processing is time-consuming, produces qualitative data, leads to ice mass loss, and leads to risks of potential secondary pollution. However, over the past several decades, preprocessing of ice cores has received less attention than the improvement of ice drilling, the analytical methodology of various indices, and the researches on the climatic and environmental significance of ice core records. Therefore, this papers reviews the development of the processing for ice cores including framework, design as well as materials, analyzes the technical advantages and disadvantages of the different systems. In the past, continuous flow analysis (CFA) has been successfully applied to process the polar ice cores. However, it is not suitable for ice cores outside polar region because of high level of particles, the memory effect between samples, and the filtration before injection. Ice core processing is a subtle and professional operation due to the fragility of the nonmetallic materials and the random distribution of particles and air bubbles in ice cores, which aggravates uncertainty in the measurements. The future developments of CFA are discussed in preprocessing, memory effect, challenge for brittle ice, coupling with real-time analysis and optimization of CFA in the field. Furthermore, non-polluting cutters with many different configurations could be designed to cut and scrape in multiple directions and to separate inner and outer portions of the core. This system also needs to be coupled with streamlined operation of packaging, coding, and stacking that can be implemented at high resolution and rate, avoiding manual intervention. At the same time, information of the longitudinal sections could be scanned and identified, and then classified to obtain quantitative data. In addition, irregular ice volume and weight can also be obtained accurately. These improvements are recorded automatically via user-friendly interfaces. These innovations may be applied to other paleomedias with similar features and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaciers were solid reservoirs and important water resources in western China, but they were retreating significantly in context of global warming. Laohugou Glacier No. 12 was the largest valley glacier in Qilian Mountains. In this study, realtime kinematic (RTK) data, topographic map and WorldView-2 satellite imagery were used to measure changes in terminus, extent and volume of Laohugou Glacier No. 12. Results showed that Laohugou Glacier No. 12 was shrinking significantly since 1957. From 1960 to 2015, the terminus reduction of Laohugou Glacier No. 12 was 402.96 m (3.99%) in total, and glacier length decreased to 9.7 km from 10.1 km. Reduction of glacier area and volume were the most obvious. From 1957 to 2015, glacier area and volume decreased by 1.54 km2 (7.03%) and 0.1816 km3, respectively. Reduction trend of terminus and area was slowing in 1950 -1980s, even stable for a period in the mid-1980s, and then accelerated. Ice core analysis result and nearly meteorological station data shown an increasing trend of temperature in 1957 -2015, it was a main reason of continuous retreating of Laohugou Glacier No.12. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct lineage conversion offers a new strategy for tissue regeneration and disease modelling. Despite recent success in directly reprogramming fibroblasts into various cell types, the precise changes that occur as fibroblasts progressively convert to the target cell fates remain unclear. The inherent heterogeneity and asynchronous nature of the reprogramming process renders it difficult to study this process using bulk genomic techniques. Here we used single-cell RNA sequencing to overcome this limitation and analysed global transcriptome changes at early stages during the reprogramming of mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes (iCMs). Using unsupervised dimensionality reduction and clustering algorithms, we identified molecularly distinct subpopulations of cells during reprogramming. We also constructed routes of iCM formation, and delineated the relationship between cell proliferation and iCM induction. Further analysis of global gene expression changes during reprogramming revealed unexpected downregulation of factors involved in mRNA processing and splicing. Detailed functional analysis of the top candidate splicing factor, Ptbp1, revealed that it is a critical barrier for the acquisition of cardiomyocyte-specific splicing patterns in fibroblasts. Concomitantly, Ptbp1 depletion promoted cardiac transcriptome acquisition and increased iCM reprogramming efficiency. Additional quantitative analysis of our dataset revealed a strong correlation between the expression of each reprogramming factor and the progress of individual cells through the reprogramming process, and led to the discovery of new surface markers for the enrichment of iCMs. In summary, our single-cell transcriptomics approaches enabled us to reconstruct the reprogramming trajectory and to uncover intermediate cell populations, gene pathways and regulators involved in iCM induction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Device-to-Device (D2D) communications is predicted to be a major part of 5G wireless communications due to its benefits such as flexible connectivity and unloading of traffic burden off the cellular networks. However, interference scenarios in D2D communications are usually more complicated than conventional wireless communications, e.g., spectrum reuse is commonly involved in D2D communications, especially when it works as an underlay. Therefore, how to coordinate the challenges of significant interference with the demand of higher data rates under the constraints of efficient energy consumption and spectrum utilization has become a haunting problem in our way to the ideal performance of wireless communications system. The solution resides in multiple resource allocation techniques in D2D communications as each of them attempts to solve or optimize one or several essential elements in the system. In this paper, a survey of resource allocation schemes in D2D communications is presented. We discuss the optimization classification including objectives, constraints, problem types and solutions. This paper also highlights system characteristics. Finally, future research challenges are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists may encounter many collaborators of different academic ages throughout their careers. Thus, they are required to make essential decisions to commence or end a creative partnership. This process can be influenced by strategic motivations because young scholars are pursuers while senior scholars are normally attractors during new collaborative opportunities. While previous works have mainly focused on cross-sectional collaboration patterns, this work investigates scientific collaboration networks from scholars' local perspectives based on their academic ages. We aim to harness the power of big scholarly data to investigate scholars' academic-age-aware collaboration patterns. From more than 621,493 scholars and 2,646,941 collaboration records in Physics and Computer Science, we discover several interesting academic-age-aware behaviors. First, in a given time period, the academic age distribution follows the long-tail distribution, where more than 80% scholars are of young age. Second, with the increasing of academic age, the degree centrality of scholars goes up accordingly, which means that senior scholars tend to have more collaborators. Third, based on the collaboration frequency and distribution between scholars of different academic ages, we observe an obvious homophily phenomenon in scientific collaborations. Fourth, the scientific collaboration triads are mostly consisted with beginning scholars. Furthermore, the differences in collaboration patterns between these two fields in terms of academic age are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study to find isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci for Phragmites australis. Topics discussed include economic impact of Phragmites australis, information on population genetic, extraction of Genomic DNA using polymorphism, and analysis of population genetic structure and gene flow.

With the support of cloud computing techniques, social coding platforms have changed the style of software development. Github is now the most popular social coding platform and project hosting service. Software developers of various levels keep entering Github, and use Github to save their public and private software projects. The large amounts of software developers and software repositories on Github are posing new challenges to the world of software engineering. This paper tries to tackle one of the important problems: analyzing the importance and influence of Github repositories. We proposed a HITS based influence analysis on graphs that represent the star relationship between Github users and repositories. A weighted version of HITS is applied to the overall star graph, and generates a different set of top influential repositories other than the results from standard version of HITS algorithm. We also conduct the influential analysis on per-month star graph, and study the monthly influence ranking of top repositories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current studies were designed to explore the structure of sources of meaning in life among Chinese university students. In Study 1, we content-analyzed 171 students' answers to the question of what made their lives meaningful and derived 74 frequently mentioned ideas. Then, we composed a questionnaire based on these ideas and administered it to another sample of 523 university students in Study 2. Seven underlying dimensions were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Self- development (i.e., to accomplish one's aspirations and actualize one's potential), social commitment (i.e., to contribute to society and to adhere to moral principles), interpersonal relationships (i.e., relationships with family members, friends and others), secular pursuits (i.e., stable jobs, material possessions and social status), experiences in life (i.e., to experience all the joys and sorrows in life), civilization (i.e., reading, thinking, music and arts), and autonomy (i.e., to make decisions freely and take charge of one's own life). Results are discussed in light of the philosophical influences in Chinese culture, especially those from Confucianism and Taoism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senior care has become one of the pressing societal challenges faced by many developed and emerging countries, including the US (the aging baby boomer) and China (the reverse 4-2-1 family pyramid due to one child policy). Despite failing health, most senior citizens prefer to live independently at home and hence the focus of current healthcare technologies have shifted from traditional clinical care to ˵at-home″ care for the senior citizens. We propose to develop SilverLink, a system that is unique in its smart and connected technologies and will offer: (1) affordable and non-invasive home-based mobile health technologies for monitoring health-related motion and daily activities; (2) advanced mobile health analytics algorithms for fall detection, health status progression monitoring, and patient health anomaly detection and alert; and (3) a comprehensive patient health activity portal for reporting user activity and health status and for engaging with family members. This system will initially be launched in the US, in China and in Taiwan and will aim to overcome the limitations of existing home-care solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide with high mortality rate. Upstream transcription factor 1 ( USF1) is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor that regulates the expression of genes involving in different biological processes, including cancer. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between USF1 polymorphisms and HCC susceptibility. Ninety-four HCC patients and 100 healthy volunteers are recruited in our study. Tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (Tag-SNPs) were retrieved in the International HapMap Project Databases. Extraction of genomic DNAs was conducted with TaqMan Blood DNA kits. Genotyping of USF1 polymorphisms were carried out with TaqMan SNPs genotyping assay. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between USF1 polymorphisms and HCC risk. All statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 20.0 software. Five tag-SNPs were identified to represent the genetic variants of USF1. Our results suggested that rs2516839 in the 5′UTR of USF1 was significantly associated with increased HCC risk (AA vs GG: OR = 3.15; 95 % CI 1.44-6.87; P = 0.003; GA + AA vs AA: OR = 1.85; 95 % CI 1.04-3.30; P = 0.034; AA vs GG + GA: OR = 2.96; 95 % CI 1.40-6.26; P = 0.004; A vs G: OR = 2.09; 9 % CI 1.35-3.23; P < 0.001). Although rs2073655 in the intron region of USF1 was also shown to be correlated with decreased HCC susceptibility in recessive model (TT vs CC + CT: OR = 0.40; 95 % CI 0.54-0.75; P = 0.004), this association was not conclusive. Our results indicated that the SNP of rs2516839 have close association with increased risk of HCC. Further studies may be needed to validate our results and gain insights into the pathological mechanism of USF1 gene in the HCC tumorigenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following studies that showed negative effects of species loss on ecosystem functioning, newer studies have started to investigate if similar consequences could result from reductions of genetic diversity within species. We tested the influence of genotypic richness and dissimilarity (plots containing one, three, six or 12 genotypes) in stands of the invasive plant Solidago canadensis in China on the decomposition of its leaf litter and associated soil animals over five monthly time intervals. We found that the logarithm of genotypic richness was positively linearly related to mass loss of C, N and P from the litter and to richness and abundance of soil animals on the litter samples. The mixing proportion of litter from two sites, but not genotypic dissimilarity of mixtures, had additional effects on measured variables. The litter diversity effects on soil animals were particularly strong under the most stressful conditions of hot weather in July: at this time richness and abundance of soil animals were higher in 12-genotype litter mixtures than even in the highest corresponding one-genotype litter. The litter diversity effects on decomposition were in part mediated by soil animals: the abundance of Acarina, when used as covariate in the analysis, fully explained the litter diversity effects on mass loss of N and P. Overall, our study shows that high genotypic richness of S. canadensis leaf litter positively affects richness and abundance of soil animals, which in turn accelerate litter decomposition and P release from litter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive inflammation occurs during infection and autoimmunity in mice lacking the α-subunit of the interleukin 27 (IL-27) receptor. The molecular mechanisms underlying this increased inflammation are incompletely understood. Here we report that IL-27 upregulated IL-10 in effector T cells that produced interferon-γ and expressed the transcription factor T-bet but did not express the transcription factor Foxp3. These IFN-γ+T-bet+Foxp3− cells resembled effector T cells that have been identified as the main source of host-protective IL-10 during inflammation. IL-27-induced production of IL-10 was associated with less secretion of IL-17, and exogenous IL-27 reduced the severity of adoptively transferred experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by a mechanism dependent on IL-10. Our data show that IL-27-induced production of IL-10 by effector T cells contributes to the immunomodulatory function of IL-27. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 42-year-old woman presented with hypertensive crisis and bilateral hydronephrosis. She has a strong family history of ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Ureteropelvic junction obstruction is usually sporadic, unilateral, but inherited UPJO has also been reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-021-04275-5 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) combined with decoy-state method is currently the most practical protocol, which has been proved secure against general attacks in the finite-key regime. Thereinto, statistical fluctuation analysis methods are very important in dealing with finite-key effects, which directly affect secret key rate, secure transmission distance and most importantly, the security. There are two tasks of statistical fluctuation in decoy-state BB84 QKD. One is the deviation between expected value and observed value for a given expected value or observed value. The other is the deviation between phase error rate of computational basis and bit error rate of dual basis. Here, we provide the rigorous and optimal analytic formula to solve the above tasks, resulting to higher secret key rate and longer secure transmission distance. Our results can be widely applied to deal with statistical fluctuation in quantum cryptography protocols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]