Search

Characterizing the anomalous diffusion behavior of sediment transport is a key factor in calculating sediment concentration. This study attempts to seek an equation that captures the nonlocal movement feature of the transport of an ensemble of sediment particles on ice-covered channels with a steady uniform flow field. Given that the fractional advection-dispersion equation with a noninteger order on the space term is nonlocal and able to describe the long-distance transport, a mathematical model with the Caputo fractional derivative is proposed to estimate the vertical diffusion of suspended sediment particles in the ice-covered channel. Results show that the fractional derivative model has a good predictive ability to the suspended sediment concentration as compared to the measurements. Especially in regions close to the undersurface of the ice cover, the proposed model matches better with experiments than the existing analytical model. Sensitivity analyses indicate that the strength of the turbulent diffusion effect dominates the uniformity of the sediment concentration profile. Besides, the sediment concentration is more sensitive to the variation of the boundary roughness than to the change of the sediment settling velocity. It should be noted that the sediment concentration reduces with the decrease of the order of the fractional derivative, which differs from the findings in previous studies.

Background Metabolic reprogramming has been shown to be involved in cancer-induced PMN formation, but the underlying mechanisms have been insufficiently explored. Methods HAO1 expression in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells were deteted by qPCR and Western blotting. The effect of HAO1 on the lung metastasis of cancer was investigated by orthotropic metastasis assay. Lungs and cells oxalate levels were determined using an oxalate assay kit. The effect of oxalate on neutrophil extracellular trap formation was investigated by immunofluorescence. The effect of oxalate on proliferation of breast cancer cells was revealed by immunofluorescence by colony formation assay. Results HAO1 was up-regulated in the alveolar epithelial cells of mice bearing metastatic breast cancer cells at the pre-metastatic stage. Upregulation of HAO1 led to oxalate accumulation in lung tissues and alveolar epithelial cells. Pharmacologic inhibition of HAO1 could effectively suppress the lung oxalate accumulation induced by primary cancer. Lung oxalate accumulation induced NET formation by activating NADPH oxidase. Lung oxalate accumulation promoted the proliferation of metastatic cancer cells by activating the MAPK signaling pathway. Breast cancer cells induced HAO1 expression and oxalate accumulation in alveolar epithelial cells by activating TLR3-IRF3 signaling. Conclusion These findings underscore the role of HAO1-mediated oxalate metabolism in cancer-induced lung PMN formation and metastasis. HAO1 could be an appealing therapeutic target for preventing lung metastasis of cancer.

Background Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) represents the fourth most essential cereal crop in the world, vulnerable to barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV) and/or barley mild mosaic virus (BaMMV), leading to the significant yield reduction. To gain a better understanding of the mechanisms regarding barley crop tolerance to virus infection, we employed a transcriptome sequencing approach and investigated global gene expression among three barley varieties under both infected and control conditions. Results High-throughput sequencing outputs revealed massive genetic responses, reflected by the barley transcriptome after BaYMV and/or BaMMV infection. Significant enrichments in peptidase complex and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum were clustered through Gene ontology and KEGG analysis. Many genes were identified as transcription factors, antioxidants, disease resistance genes and plant hormones and differentially expressed between infected and uninfected barley varieties. Importantly, general response genes, variety-specific and infection-specific genes were also discovered. Our results provide useful information for future barley breeding to resist BaYMV and BaMMV. Conclusions Our study elucidates transcriptomic adaptations in barley response to BaYMV/BaMMV infection through high-throughput sequencing technique. The analysis outcome from GO and KEGG pathways suggests that BaYMV disease induced regulations in multiple molecular-biology processes and signalling pathways. Moreover, critical DEGs involved in defence and stress tolerance mechanisms were displayed. Further functional investigations focusing on these DEGs contributes to understanding the molecular mechanisms of plant response to BaYMV disease infection, thereby offering precious genetic resources for breeding barley varieties resistant to BaYMV disease.

Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) does not respond well to current treatment options like sorafenib, and there is an urgent need for developing therapeutical strategies for HBV + HCC. Brassicasterol has previously shown anti-cancer and anti-viral activities, however, its value against HBV + HCC remains to be explored. Methods The inhibitory effect of brassicasterol and sorafenib was evaluated on HBV + HCC cell lines and xenograft mouse model. The cytotoxicity of brassicasterol on normal liver cells were measured by LDH assay. AKT agonist was used to identify the targeted signaling pathway by brassicasterol. Results Brassicasterol induced HBV + HCC cell death in a both dose-dependent and time-dependent manner, and such inhibition was more potent than sorafenib. Brassicasterol did not show apparent cytotoxicity to normal liver cells. Xenograft mouse model further confirmed the inhibitory effect of brassicasterol on the growth of HBV + HCC. Furthermore, signaling pathway analysis showed that brassicasterol-treated HBV + HCC cells had decreased level of phosphor-AKT expression while the addition of AKT agonist could counteract the inhibitory effect of brassicasterol on HCC, indicating that brassicasterol suppressed AKT pathway to exhibit anti-cancer activity in HBV + HCC cells. In addition, brassicasterol showed similar levels of inhibition on HBV− and HBV + HCC cells. Conclusion Brassicasterol possesses anti-cancer activity against HCC through the downregulation of AKT pathway and such activity is independent of HBV infection.

Light scattering by biological tissues sets a limit to the penetration depth of high-resolution optical microscopy imaging of live mammals in vivo. An effective approach to reduce light scattering and increase imaging depth is to extend the excitation and emission wavelengths to the second near-infrared window (NIR-II) at >1,000 nm, also called the short-wavelength infrared window. Here we show biocompatible core–shell lead sulfide/cadmium sulfide quantum dots emitting at ~1,880 nm and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors for single-photon detection up to 2,000 nm, enabling a one-photon excitation fluorescence imaging window in the 1,700–2,000 nm (NIR-IIc) range with 1,650 nm excitation—the longest one-photon excitation and emission for in vivo mouse imaging so far. Confocal fluorescence imaging in NIR-IIc reached an imaging depth of ~1,100 μm through an intact mouse head, and enabled non-invasive cellular-resolution imaging in the inguinal lymph nodes of mice without any surgery. We achieve in vivo molecular imaging of high endothelial venules with diameters as small as ~6.6 μm, as well as CD169 + macrophages and CD3 + T cells in the lymph nodes, opening the possibility of non-invasive intravital imaging of immune trafficking in lymph nodes at the single-cell/vessel-level longitudinally.

Key Message A major QTL (qS7.1) for salinity damage score and Na+ exclusion was identified on chromosome 7H from a barley population derived from a cross between a cultivated variety and a wild accession. qS7.1 was fine-mapped to a 2.46 Mb physical interval and HvNCX encoding a sodium/calcium exchanger is most likely the candidate gene. Abstract Soil salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting crop yield. Developing salinity-tolerant varieties is critical for minimizing economic penalties caused by salinity and providing solutions for global food security. Many genes/QTL for salt tolerance have been reported in barley, but only a few of them have been cloned. In this study, a total of 163 doubled haploid lines from a cross between a cultivated barley variety Franklin and a wild barley accession TAM407227 were used to map QTL for salinity tolerance. Four significant QTL were identified for salinity damage scores. One (qS2.1) was located on 2H, determining 7.5% of the phenotypic variation. Two (qS5.1 and qS5.2) were located on 5H, determining 5.3–11.7% of the phenotypic variation. The most significant QTL was found on 7H, explaining 27.8% of the phenotypic variation. Two QTL for Na+ content in leaves under salinity stress were detected on chromosomes 1H (qNa1.1) and 7H(qNa7.1). qS7.1 was fine-mapped to a 2.46 Mb physical interval using F4 recombinant inbred lines. This region contains 23 high-confidence genes, with HvNCX which encodes a sodium/calcium exchanger being most likely the candidate gene. HvNCX was highly induced by salinity stress and showed a greater expression level in the sensitive parent. Multiple nucleotide substitutions and deletions/insertions in the promoter sequence of HvNCX were found between the two parents. cDNA sequencing of the HvNCX revealed that the difference between the two parents is conferred by a single Ala77/Pro77 amino acid substitution, which is located on the transmembrane domain. These findings open new prospects for improving salinity tolerance in barley by targeting a previously unexplored trait.

Protein O-GlcNAcylation is a post-translational modification that links environmental stimuli with changes in intracellular signal pathways, and its disturbance has been found in neurodegenerative diseases and metabolic disorders. However, its role in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system, especially in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), needs to be elucidated. Here, we found that injection of Thiamet G, an O-GlcNAcase (OGA) inhibitor, in the VTA and nucleus accumbens (NAc) of mice, facilitated neuronal O-GlcNAcylation and decreased the operant response to sucrose as well as the latency to fall in rotarod test. Mice with DAergic neuron-specific knockout of O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) displayed severe metabolic abnormalities and died within 4-8 weeks after birth. Furthermore, mice specifically overexpressing OGT in DAergic neurons in the VTA had learning defects in the operant response to sucrose, and impaired motor learning in the rotarod test. Instead, overexpression of OGT in GABAergic neurons in the VTA had no effect on these behaviors. These results suggest that protein O-GlcNAcylation of DAergic neurons in the VTA plays an important role in regulating the response to natural reward and motor learning in mice.

Utilization of high temperature cooling sources or natural energy sources can potentially contribute to improving energy efficiency in buildings. In this study, a dual-cavity window with gravity-driven cooling mechanism (GDC window) was proposed to integrate the low-grade cooling sources into the glazing system for improving the thermal performance of the window. The embedded pipes circulated with low-grade cooling water are the key component of GDC window, which can remove the absorbed solar heat and reduce the heat gain through the window. A numerical model based on CFD simulation was developed to analyze the flow characteristic and heat transfer within the GDC window. Model validation was conducted by comparing the simulation results with measurement data obtained from previous study. Numerical simulations were carried out to compare the thermal performance of GDC window with that of conventional blinds window. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the influence of some design parameters on the flow characteristic and thermal performance of GDC window. The simulated results show that compared with the blinds window, the GDC window reduces 57.4% and 40.4% of heat gain in summer for the low-grade cooling water of 18 °C and 25 °C, respectively. Reducing the flow resistance within the GDC window is significant for improving the heat removal performance of the embedded pipes. This study provides an alternative solution to integrate the low-grade cooling sources into the glazing system for enhancing the energy-efficiency and decreasing the building energy demand in cooling-dominated buildings.

Dynamic text documents, including news articles, user reviews, and blogs, are now commonly encountered in many fields. Accordingly, the topics underlying text streams also change over time. To grasp the topic changes in the increasing accumulation of text documents, there is a great need to develop automatic text analysis models to find the key changes in topics. To this end, this study proposes a topic change point detection (Topic-CD) model. Different from previous studies, we define the change point of topics from the perspective of hyperparameters associated with topic-word distributions. This allows the model to detect change points underlying the whole topic set. Under this definition, the topic modeling and change point detection are combined in a unified framework and then performed simultaneously using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. In addition, the Topic-CD model is free from setting the number of change points in advance, which makes it more convenient for practical use. We investigate the performance of the Topic-CD model numerically using synthetic data and three real datasets. The results show that the Topic-CD model can well identify the change points in topics when compared with several state-of-the-art methods.

Plasticity of neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) is critical for establishment of drug dependence. However, the remodeling of the circuits mediating the transition between positive and negative effect remains unclear. Here, we used neuronal activity-dependent labeling technique to characterize and temporarily control the VTA neuronal ensembles recruited by the initial morphine exposure (morphine-positive ensembles, Mor-Ens). Mor-Ens preferentially projected to NAc, and induced dopamine-dependent positive reinforcement. Electrophysiology and rabies viral tracing revealed the preferential connections between the VTA-projective corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons of central amygdala (CRHCeA→VTA) and Mor-Ens, which was enhanced after escalating morphine exposure and mediated the negative effect during opiate withdrawal. Pharmacologic intervention or CRISPR-mediated repression of CRHR1 in Mor-Ens weakened the inhibitory CRHCeA→VTA inputs, and alleviated the negative effect during opiate withdrawal. These data suggest that neurons encoding opioid reward experience are inhibited by enhanced CRHCeA→VTA inputs induced by chronic morphine exposure, leading to negative effect during opiate withdrawal, and provide new insight into the pathological changes in VTA plasticity after drug abuse and mechanism of opiate dependence.

Environmentally friendly aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have unique advantages, safer and less flammable than lithium-ion battery and lead acid batteries. The crucial issue is the poor mechanical stability and low electronic conductivity, resulting in insufficient rate capability and shortened cycle life. In this paper, by thermal-decomposition of polyaniline (PANI) at high temperature, the nitrogen-doped carbon (NDC) is formed and doped in zinc pyrovanadate (ZVO) nanowires. According to theoretical simulation, after doped by NDC the band gap of ZVO is greatly decreased and the structure stability is increased. As a result, the ZVO/NDC as cathode demonstrates large capacity of 295 mAh g−1 at the 0.1 A g−1 current density and a high-rate capability. In addition, ZVO/NDC nanowires also show a fairly large mass energy density of 132.8 mWh kg−1 and a volumetric energy density of 39.84 mWh L−1, along with a high long-term stability (91% retention after 5000 charge–discharge cycling at 1.0 A g−1). The present work certifies the proof-of-concept that exploiting nitrogen-rich carbon-doped electrodes for AZIBs in the future electronics.

Social recognition memory (SRM) is critical for maintaining social relationships and increasing the survival rate. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is an important brain area associated with SRM storage. Norepinephrine (NE) release regulates mPFC neuronal intrinsic excitability and excitatory synaptic transmission, however, the roles of NE signaling in the circuitry of the locus coeruleus (LC) pathway to the mPFC during SRM storage are unknown. Here we found that LC-mPFC NE projections bidirectionally regulated SRM consolidation. Propranolol infusion and β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) or β-arrestin2 knockout in the mPFC disrupted SRM consolidation. When carvedilol, a β-blocker that can mildly activate β-arrestin-biased signaling, was injected, the mice showed no significant suppression of SRM consolidation. The impaired SRM consolidation caused by β1-AR or β-arrestin2 knockout in the mPFC was not rescued by activating LC-mPFC NE projections; however, the impaired SRM by inhibition of LC-mPFC NE projections or β1-AR knockout in the mPFC was restored by activating the β-arrestin signaling pathway in the mPFC. Furthermore, the activation of β-arrestin signaling improved SRM consolidation in aged mice. Our study suggests that LC-mPFC NE projections regulate SRM consolidation through β-arrestin-biased β-AR signaling.

Sentinel lymph node imaging and biopsy is important to clinical assessment of cancer metastasis, and novel non-radioactive lymphographic tracers have been actively pursued over the years. Here, we develop gold molecular clusters (Au25) functionalized by phosphorylcholine (PC) ligands for NIR-II (1000–3000 nm) fluorescence imaging of draining lymph nodes in 4T1 murine breast cancer and CT26 colon cancer tumor mouse models. The Au-phosphorylcholine (Au-PC) probes exhibit ‘super-stealth’ behavior with little interactions with serum proteins, cells and tissues in vivo, which differs from the indocyanine green (ICG) dye. Subcutaneous injection of Au-PC allows lymph node mapping by NIR-II fluorescence imaging at an optimal time of ~ 0.5 − 1 hour postinjection followed by rapid renal clearance. Preclinical NIR-II fluorescence LN imaging with Au-PC affords high signal to background ratios and high safety and biocompatibility, promising for future clinical translation.

In this study, the combined techniques of macroporous resin column chromatography and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography were applied for the separation of steroidal saponins from the stems and leaves of Paris polyphylla. Eight types of macroporous resins were examined using adsorption and desorption tests. Resin HPD-600 showed the maximum effectiveness and thus was selected for the first cleaning-up, in which 30% ethanol was used to remove the undesired constituents and 90% ethanol was used to elute the targets. Paris saponin II (36.2 mg) and dioscin (14.0 mg) were obtained from 500.5 mg of the extracts after purification by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography, with purities above 95% and yields of 81.87 and 72.89%, respectively. These results suggest that combined strategy is a useful and economic method to enrich and purify steroidal saponins from the stems and leaves of P. polyphylla.

The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) core scanning method is widely applied in studies of sedimentary paleoenvironments due to its convenient pretreatment, nondestructive characteristics, fast execution, continuous scanning, and high resolution. XRF core scanning for sediments is commonly used in the studies on the South China Sea. This study compares XRF-scanned intensities and measured inductively coupled plasma (ICP) elemental contents of core CS11 in the northeast South China Sea deep basin. The results show that the analyzed elements can be separated into three classes. Class I includes elements with high correlation coefficients, such as Ca, Sr, and Zr; Class II contains elements with average correlation coefficients, such as Fe, Mn, Ti, and Cu; and Class III comprises elements with low correlation coefficients, such as K, Ni, Zn, Rb, and Al. In the South China Sea deep basin, pore water, compaction, and grain size have weak effects on the elemental intensities and contents of short core sediments. Hence, for elements with high correlation coefficients, a linear relationship model can be established by the least-squares method, in which the converted XRF intensities are approximately equal to the measured ICP contents. Based on the established log-ratio calibration model, the resulting ln(K/Ca), ln(Ti/Ca), ln(Fe/Ca), and ln(Zr/Ca) values generally display the same variation trends as the measured curves. The elemental contents and ratios produced by the linear model via the least-squares method and the log-ratio calibration model are expected to provide high-resolution data support for future paleoenvironmental research on the South China Sea deep basin.

In order to get the law of rainwater infiltration and the law of progressive water damage, the slope of Tianshang bridge foundation in Yunnan Province is taken as the engineering basis. The site investigation of the damaged slope is carried out, The traditional Green-Ampt model is improved by considering the ponding effect of dynamic water flow on the slope surface. Based on the variation characteristics of wetting front obtained by the improved infiltration model, the progressive failure process of slope with continuous infiltration is simulated by FLAC3D software. The results show that: the water damage of Tianshang bridge slope is mainly caused by the slope absorbing a lot of rainwater in a short time, which has obvious time discontinuity characteristics in time, and shows obvious multi-layer progressive failure characteristics in failure space. The wetting front characteristics obtained by the improved Green-Ampt infiltration model are more consistent with the engineering practice, the water accumulation effect of surface water gradually weakens with the increase of the wet front depth. the slope failure develops gradually from the toe to the top and from shallow to deep, and the intermittent failure characteristics provide surplus time for the engineering treatment, the gravel soil slope should be treated after a small-scale water damage occurs.

In order to obtain the characteristics of in-situ stress field of deep buried tunnel in complex geological environment, the Taoziya tunnel is used as a background project. A three-dimensional numerical model is established by combining with a variety of software. The in-situ stress field is inversed by multiple regression method and FLAC3D software, the distribution characteristics of the in-situ stress field near the tunnel fault zone are analyzed. Research shows that the maximum thermal stress of the rock mass on the axis of the Taoziya tunnel reaches 9.53 MPa, which is about 38.98% of the self-weight stress. The inversion error considering high ground temperature is generally less than 10%, which is more accurate than the result without considering high ground temperature. The maximum stress of the footwall of the Taoziya tunnel is 25.78 MPa, and there is a risk of high in-situ stress. The fault has a great disturbance to the in-situ stress field, the maximum in-situ stress of the footwall is about 1.5 times that of the hanging wall. In the fault-affected zone, the stress increases by 5%–49% near the hanging wall and decreases by 28%–45% near the footwall. The maximum shear stress in the plane of tunnel axis is about 6.44 MPa, and shear failure may occur after the tunnel is excavated. The research results prove the rationality and necessity of considering the influence of temperature in the inversion of in-situ stress, and provide reference for the research, design and construction of similar projects.

Tribonema biomass is considered promising biorefinery feedstock for the co-production of biodiesel and valuable bioproducts; however, the extraction of these useful compounds produces large amounts of algal residues, which produce increased environmental concerns. Herein, cellulose was extracted from the waste residue of T. utriculosum via alkalization and bleaching, followed by the production of high-value-added cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) via acid hydrolysis. The hydrolysis was performed with 60% (wt%) H2SO4 at a yield of 13.31%, resulting in the generation of rod-shaped nanoparticles averaging 39.5 nm in diameter and 239.2 nm in length. The structural characterization analysis revealed that the prepared CNCs had high crystallinity (73.0%) due to the removal of non-cellulose components and amorphous regions by chemical treatment, as well as possessing good aqueous suspension stability (zeta potential = – 40.1 mV). Although the CNCs showed lower thermal stability than extracted cellulose, they spanned a broader temperature range due to two-stage degradation behaviour, with higher residue weight (16.7%). This work represents the first report on the preparation of a high-value-added industrial product, CNCs, from the filamentous microalga T. utriculosum, aiming to maximize benefits from waste algal residue reutilization.

Nowadays the concern on the treatment of refractory organic pollutants (e.g., Congo red and phenolic compounds) in industrial wastewaters and their treated effluents with conventional technologies has been still continuously increasing. In this study, a novel visible light photocatalyst material, Ag/AgBr and Al loading on the attapulgite (ATP), was prepared for efficiently catalyzing the photodegradation of the two refractory substances, and its photocatalytic performance and recyclability were assessed. Results from transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction confirmed the successful loading of Ag/AgBr and Al on the ATP. The prepared Ag/AgBr-Al-ATP composite presented substantially better catalytic performance than Ag/AgBr alone probably because the ATP as a carrier of catalyst provided more contact surface for catalyst Ag/AgBr and Congo red/phenol. In the Ag/AgBr-Al-ATP composite, the photocatalyst AgBr content increased from 20.4 to 34.9% due to the modification of ATP by Al. Correspondingly, the Ag/AgBr-Al-ATP composite presented its excellent photocatalytic performance under visible light irradiation: photodegradation efficiencies of Congo red and phenol of 1.73 mg/100 mg and 0.86 mg/100 mg were achieved. With the increase of pH, the photolysis efficiencies of Congo red and phenol both first increased and then decreased, whereas the optimal photocatalytic performance occurred at pH 7 for Congo red and pH 10 for phenol. The Ag/AgBr-Al composite presented a high catalytic activity for photolysis of Congo red and phenol in all the four consecutive reused cycles. The results in this study comprehensively demonstrated a promising photocatalyst for efficient removal of the similar refractory organics presented in industrial wastewaters, which deserves further investigation and development.

For the problems of traditional overburden hole detection methods, such as overtime, low accuracy and high running cost, etc. A multi factor reliable coverage hole detection method based on LEACH algorithm is proposed. Based on the analysis of the QoS architecture of wireless sensor networks and the research of representative network layer symmetry protocols, a symmetric network model is constructed according to the selection of gateway performance parameters, gateway selection criterion function and symmetry criterion, and a symmetric criterion design and optimization strategy is given. It uses this strategy to improve LEACH algorithm in three aspects. Two reliability optimization factors are added to the similarity calculation of coverage hole detection, which are node intrusion optimization factor and multipath transmission optimization factor respectively. Multipath transmission optimization factor is used in data transmission. In hostile environments, in order to avoid a large number of malicious nodes interfering with real data, the data containing noise should be filtered and processed. Then, the similarity is calculated by multi-path transmission optimization factor, and the coverage holes of wireless sensor networks are detected by weighted average. The experimental results show that the proposed method takes less time to detect the covering holes, which has higher detection accuracy and lower operation cost.

Two-dimensional (2D) ternary chalcogenides have attracted great attentions because of their novel chemical and physical properties arising from the synergistic effect and stoichiometric variation with the additional third element compared with their binary counterparts. Here, high-quality 2D tantalum nickel selenide (Ta2NiSe5) nanosheets are successfully fabricated by a liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) method. The ultrafast excited carrier relaxation time and nonlinear optical absorption response are investigated and reveal that the prepared 2D Ta2NiSe5 nanosheets have excellent broadband saturable absorption properties, which are further illustrated by three passively Q-switched (PQS) all-solid-state lasers operating at 1.0, 2.0 and 2.8 µm with the Ta2NiSe5 nanosheet-based saturable absorber (SA). Furthermore, mode-locked laser operation with the pulse width as short as 356 fs is also realized at 1.0 µm. This work not only demonstrates the excellent nonlinear optical proprieties and optical modulation performance of Ta2NiSe5, but also paves the way for exploring the photonic and optoelectronic proprieties of ternary chalcogenide materials.

Purpose Walking has beneficial effects on sleep quality in elderly population and patients in clinical settings. However, less is known whether walking improves sleep quality among healthy young adults. This study examined the effectiveness of a 12-week walking intervention on sleep quality among sedentary young adults. Methods Fifty-four healthy adults aged 19 to 36-years old participated a pedometer based aerobic walking intervention, a cross-over randomized control trial. Participants were assigned into two groups (group A and group B) randomly. The 12-week intervention was divided into three sessions equally. Sleep quality was assessed by Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) before and after session 1 and session 3. Omron HJ-112 pedometer and daily walking diary facilitated the intervention process. Within group and between group comparisons were made for statistical analysis. Results Within group comparison by repeated measures showed that sleep duration (p F-test 22.79), sleep medication (p F-test 5.22), subjective sleep (p F-test 5.51) and global sleep quality (p F-test 12.19) were significantly improved. The comparison between intervention group and control group showed that sleep disturbance was significantly improved (p Conclusion Daily walking exercise has a significant effect on facilitating sleep quality and sleep components among young adults. Further studies are suggested to examine the impact of walking intensity on sleep quality.

Some studies have shown that telemedicine is effective for managing serum glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but few studies have examined the effect of telemedicine on the management of complications in T2DM. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of telemedicine with those of outpatient care on the following parameters in T2DM patients: hemoglobin Alc (HbA1c), urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (UACR), carotid plaque, and incidence of hypoglycemia. In total, 148 adult patients with T2DM were randomized into a telemedicine group (n = 74) and a control group (n = 74). In the telemedicine group, a wireless intelligent blood-glucose meter was used to monitor blood-glucose levels, transmit data, and upload information on diet, exercise frequency, and oral medications, while the control group underwent routine outpatient follow-up. HbA1c, UACR, incidence of hypoglycemia, and carotid plaque were measured at baseline and at 3 and 6 months in the telemedicine group and the control group. There were no statistically significant differences in baselines data (p > 0.05) between the telemedicine group and the control group such as age (50.04 ± 5.76 vs. 52.21 ± 8.38, p = 0.750), diabetes course (6.24 ± 1.95 vs. 6.09 ± 1.66, p = 0.622), and gender (51/21 vs. 43/27, p = 0.236). After 6 months of follow-up, the telemedicine group, compared with the control group, showed significant decreases in incidence of hypoglycemia (25% vs. 41.4%, p = 0.038) and HbA1c (7.38 ± 1.67% vs. 8.22 ± 2.04%, p 0.05) between the telemedicine group and the control group. The telemedicine system reduced rate of hypoglycemia and indexes of HbA1c in patients with T2DM, whereas no significant differences in UACRs or carotid plaque were found.

We report a method of in-situ modification of phenolic resin (PR) on improving thermal stability with graphene/SiO2 hybrids at an ultralow filler loading. GO/SiO2 hybrids were prepared by electrostatic adsorption method and chemically reduced to RGO/SiO2 hybrids by NaBH4. The effect of in-situ modification of PR by GO/SiO2 and RGO/SiO2 on thermal stability of PR was studied. The results of SEM, XRD and FTIR showed that the hybrids and in-situ polymerization had a significant effect on improving the thermal property of PR. The TG and DTG analyses demonstrated that the thermal performance of PR in 350–500 °C was improved prominently. The T5% and T10% of 0.1 wt% (RGO–SiO2)/PR were increased by 165.56 °C and 89.23 °C compared with the pure PR, reaching 381.77 °C and 466.20 °C, respectively. Moreover, the R800°C of 0.1 wt% (GO–SiO2)/PR and 0.1 wt% (RGO–SiO2)/PR reached 69.86 wt% and 70.20 wt%, which increased by 10.75% and 11.29%, respectively, compared with pure PR. Therefore, the application of graphene/SiO2 hybrids in the in-situ polymerization modification of PR can significantly improve the thermal stability of PR and broaden its application fields.

Excessive growth of filamentous green algae in rivers has attracted much attention due to their functional importance to primary production and carbon cycling. However, comprehensive knowledge of how filamentous green algae affect carbon cycling, especially the CH4 emissions from river ecosystems, remains limited. In this study, incubation experiments were conducted to examine the factors regulating CH4 emissions from a eutrophic river with dense growth of filamentous green algae Spirogyra through combinations of biogeochemical, molecular biological, and stable carbon isotope analyses. Results showed that although water dissolved oxygen (DO) in the algae+sediment (A+S) incubation groups increased up to 19 mg L-1, average CH4 flux of the groups was 13.09 μmol m-2 day-1, nearly up to two times higher than that from sediments without algae (S groups). The significant increase of sediment CH4 oxidation potential and methanotroph abundances identified the enhancing sediment CH4 oxidation during Spirogyra bloom. However, the increased water CH4 concentration was consistent with depleted water [Formula: see text] and decreased apparent fractionation factor (αapp), suggesting the important contribution of Spirogyra to the oxic water CH4 production. It can thus be concluded that high DO concentration during the algal bloom promoted the CH4 consumption by enhancing sediment CH4 oxidation, while algal-linked oxic water CH4 production as a major component of water CH4 promoted the CH4 emissions from the river. Our study highlights the regulation of Spirogyra in aquatic CH4 fluxes and will help to estimate accurately CH4 emissions from eutrophic rivers with dense blooms of filamentous green algae. Graphical abstract.

In order to obtain a high removal efficiency of Cd(II) in aqueous solution, natural attapulgite (ATP) was modified with hydrochloric acid (HCl), octadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), and ethanediamine (EDA) to develop an effective Cd(II) adsorbent. The characteristics of the modified adsorbents and the natural ATP were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The adsorption kinetics of Cd(II) in aqueous solution were well described by a pseudo-second-order kinetic equation, and the sorption isotherm most closely followed the Langmuir model. Complexation was determined to be the main adsorption mechanism. Among the four modified ATPs, EDA-ATP (ATP modified by EDA) showed the best adsorption capacity for Cd(II), reaching 10.55 mg g−1, which was 115 and 27 percentages higher than the capacity of the unmodified ATP and NTA-ATP (ATP modified by NTA), respectively. The ionic strength and pH of the initial solution had no significant impact on the adsorption capacities of Cd(II) onto EDA-ATP. The EDA-ATP loaded with Cd(II) could be regenerated easily by acid treatment. These results give an available choice for the effective and recyclable Cd(II) ions sorbents from water.

Temperley-Lieb (T-L) algebra plays an important role in quantum computation, quantum teleportation, knot theory, statistical physics and topological quantum field theory. At the same time, a large number of models are represented by the generators of T-L algebra. In this paper, it is shown that the XY model can be constructed from the linear combination of the T-L algebra generators.We construct three new topological basis states, then investigate the particular properties of the topological basis in this system. For instance the energy ground state of the system falls on one of the topological basis states.

Al2O3/TiO2-Ni-WC composite coatings were fabricated on Ti-6Al-4V alloy by laser cladding. The influences of WC addition and high-frequency micro-vibration (HFMV) on the microstructure and performance of the Al2O3/TiO2-Ni-WC composite coatings were investigated. The results show that the coatings are characterized by a compact and uniform microstructure. With the increase of WC content, the average microhardness of the coatings increased from 878.2 to 1122.0 HV0.3, which was 2.4–3.4 times that of the substrate. The microhardness of the coating prepared under HFMV was higher than that without vibration. In addition, the average coefficient of friction (COF) and wear loss of the coatings decreased because of the increase of WC content. The coating prepared at WC content of 20% has the best wear resistance. The average wear loss of the coating prepared at WC content of 20% under HFMV was 1.6 mg, which was lower than that of the other coatings.

Piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties as well as strain behavior of 0.5 mol% Mn-doped 0.36Pb(In1/2Nb1/2)O3-0.36Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-0.28PbTiO3 (Mn-PIMNT) ceramics were studied. High piezoelectric coefficient of d33 = 235 pC/N, planar electromechanical coupling factor of kp = 43.1% and the high-power Figure of Merit (FOM = 60160 pC/N) were achieved in Mn-PIMNT ceramics. Furthermore, the ceramics exhibited high pyroelectric coefficient of p = 4.8×10-4 Cm-2K-1, figures of merit for the current responsivity of Fi = 1.92×10-10 mV-1, the voltage responsivity of Fv = 0.028 m2C-1, and the detectivity of Fd = 2.317×10-5 Pa-1/2 at room temperature. The excellent piezoelectric and pyroelectric properties together with high ferroelectric rhombohedral to tetragonal phase transition temperature of Trt = 146 ℃ and ferroelectric tetragonal to cubic phase transition temperature of TC = 188 ℃ make the Mn-PIMNT ceramics suitable for high-temperature piezoelectric and pyroelectric devices.

The stability of open-pit slope is related to mine safety, especially for high and steep slope. In order to obtain the design slope stability and slope angle optimization of K mine open-pit in Myanmar, limit equilibrium analysis method and three-dimensional numerical simulation are used to carry out the study on the slope stability. The results show that: (1) The safety factor of the designed slope is larger than the allowable safety factor by using the limit equilibrium analysis, which belongs to the stable slope. Some areas can be optimized for design. (2) Through three-dimensional numerical analysis, the design slope and the optimized slope are both stable. The area with large deformation of the optimized slope is mainly concentrated in the area of 562 m level moderately weathered pyroclastic rock in area A and 560 m level moderately weathered rock in area B. The calculation results of three-dimensional numerical simulation are basically consistent with the results of the limit equilibrium analysis. (3) Compared with the designed slope, the potential sliding surface position of the optimized slope is lower. The safety factor is smaller, but larger than the allowable safety factor. The shape of the sliding surface of the whole slope is nearly circular arc. The sliding mode of the slope is circular arc sliding. (4) The reasonable slope angle of different engineering geological divisions of the open-pit slope of K mine is determined. The overall slope angle of area A is ≤ 46°. The overall slope angle of area B is ≤ 44°. The overall slope angle of area C is ≤ 45°. The overall slope angle of area D is ≤ 50°. The research results can provide reference for mine safety production.

In order to obtain the stability of pillars in Daqiao Phosphate Mine, the stability of pillars in goaf was studied by theoretical calculation. Based on the results of investigation and the calculation formula of pillar strength, a mathematical formula for calculating pillar stability was established to predict the stability of uninvestigated pillars. The effect of various factors on the stability of the pillar was analyzed by orthogonal test. The research results show that the pillar area, rock column area, and mining depth have the most significant effect on pillar stability. A mathematical formula for predicting pillar stability is constructed by means of dimensional grading method. The critical value of pillar factor is 0.06 in Daqiao Phosphate Mine. When the pillar factor is greater than 0.06, the pillar is stable. When the pillar factor is less than 0.06, the pillar is unstable. The reliability of theoretical calculation method of pillar factor is verified by numerical simulation. A mathematical formula for predicting the stability of pillars is proposed, which can be used as a reference for the stability analysis of goafs in similar mines.

This study investigated the formation and emission characteristics of nitric oxide (NO) from flameless MILD (moderate or intensive low-oxygen dilution) combustion (MILDC) versus traditional visible-flame combustion (TC) in a 30-kW furnace. Both combustion processes were experimentally operated successively in the same furnace, burning natural gas at a fixed rate of 19 kW and the equivalence ratio of 0.86. Numerical simulations of TC and MILDC were carried out to explain their distinction in the measured furnace temperature and exhaust NO emissions. Present measurements of the NO emission (XNO) versus a varying furnace wall temperature (Tw) have revealed, at the first time, that the relationship of XNO ∼ Tw was exponential in both TC and MILDC. By analyzing the simulated results, the average temperature over the reaction zone was identified to be the common characteristic temperature for scaling NO emissions of both cases. Moreover, relative to TC, MILDC had a fairly uniform temperature distribution and low peak temperature, thus reducing the NO emission by over 90%. The thermal-NO formation was found to contribute more than 70%–80% to the total XNO from TC while the N2O-intermediate route dominated the NO emission from MILDC.