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Upstream stages of production chains are often capital intensive, so financial liberalization which improves the availability of financial resources may expand the supply of domestic inputs and then raise domestic value added in exports of downstream firms. After China's accession to the WTO, China's government removed the restrictions on foreign banks' business and allowed foreign banks in China to offer Chinese currency (RMB) services to Chinese firms. We utilize this policy change to test the effects of financial liberalization on Chinese firms' domestic value added in exports. We have three main findings: (1) domestic value added in Chinese firms' exports is positively associated with the removal, (2) the removal of foreign bank business restrictions leads to a general change of local financial markets, which facilitates firms' financing activities and (3) the improvement in domestic value added following the removal is not mainly driven by export mode switching from processing trade to ordinary trade but by the increase in domestic inputs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uveal melanoma (UM) is an aggressive intraocular malignancy derived from melanocytes in the uvea tract of the eye. Up to 50% of patients with UM develop distant metastases which is usually fatal within one year; preventing metastases is therefore essential. Metabolic reprogramming plays a critical role in UM progression and metastasis. However, the metabolic phenotype of UM cells in the hypoxic tumor is not well understood. Here, we report that hypoxia-induced BNIP3 reprograms tumor cell metabolism, promoting their survival and metastasis. In response to hypoxia, BNIP3-mediated mitophagy alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction and enhances mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) while simultaneously reducing mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) production. This, in turn, impairs HIF1A/HIF-1α protein stability and inhibits glycolysis. Inhibition of mitophagy significantly suppresses BNIP3-induced UM progression and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, these observations demonstrate a novel mechanism whereby BNIP3 promotes UM metabolic reprogramming and malignant progression by mediating hypoxia-induced mitophagy and suggest that BNIP3 could be an important therapeutic target to prevent metastasis in patients with UM.Abbreviations: AOD: average optical density; BNIP3: BCL2/adenovirus E1B interacting protein 3; CQ: chloroquine; CoCl2: cobalt chloride; GEPIA: Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis; HIF1A: hypoxia inducible factor 1, alpha subunit; IHC: immunohistochemistry; mtROS: mitochondrial reactive oxygen species; NAC: N-acetylcysteine; OCR: oxygen consumption rate; OXPHOS: oxidative phosphorylation; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TCGA: The Cancer Genome Atlas; UM: uveal melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that input-based language and literacy environments provide socioculturally-enriched contexts for bilingual and biliteracy acquisition, the current study aims to explore the contribution of early input in various sociocultural contexts to later biliteracy development among -college-level Chinese heritage language (CHL) students. A group of CHL students (N = 195) participated in this study and completed a background survey about their early oral and print experiences in different sociocultural contexts. Biliteracy measurements including Chinese-English bilingual morphological awareness and reading ability were administered to the participants. Drawing on multivariate analyses, the study verified both intralingual and interlingual contributions of input-based experiences to biliteracy development. The study suggests that (1) community and after-school language and literacy support can have a long-term impact on the maintenance of heritage language literacy skills. (2) heritage language input experiences do not create obstacles for dominant language literacy development. (3) heritage language literacy input provides facilitations for the abstraction of bilingual structures and units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

AbstractIn this paper, a plasma actuator (PA), treated by the Suzen model, is introduced into film cooling, and four rows of rectangular ribs are employed in internal cooling. Combined action and individual action of film cooling and internal cooling are then investigated at four blowing ratios (M = 0.25; 0.5; 0.75; 1.0). Results show that (no PA, no ribs) the coolant is ejected from the film hole in a spiral form under the action of internal crossflow, and its distributions are inclined to crossflow direction. When the plasma actuator is opened (no ribs), the strength and scale of the counter-rotating vortex pairs are weakened, and the motion of coolant is accelerated, the average cooling effectiveness shows an increase of 82.4% (M = 0.25), 98.9% (M = 0.5), 33.4% (M = 0.75) and a decrease of 2.1% (M = 1.0), the spanwise cooling effectiveness is raised by 57.3–143.3% for each streamwise position, the flow coefficient is lowered by 1.8–3.2%. Ribs (no PA) interfere with the coolant flow in the internal channel, reducing the rotation degree and exit momentum of the coolant, and greatly eliminate the uneven distribution of coolant along the spanwise direction, resulting in an enhancement of 50.4–162.8% in the spanwise cooling effectiveness and of 59.2% (M = 0.25) and 79.5% (M = 0.5) in average film cooling effectiveness. The effect of combined action (PA plus ribs) is lower than those effects of individual factors, and wall average film cooling effectiveness with PA and ribs exhibits a 62.4% (M = 0.25) and 49.4% (M = 0.5) higher to PA off a case (no PA, no ribs); however, a local or global heat transfer deterioration appears at M = 0.75 and 1.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the impact of land, sea ice, rainfall and strong wind, the wet tropospheric correction (WTC) of HY-2C (the third marine dynamic environmental monitoring satellite of China) altimeter cannot be obtained accurately by the calibration microwave radiometer (CMR) over the coastal ocean. The conducted evaluation of the HY-2C CMR WTC over the coastal ocean by the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) data showed that the CMR WTC is abnormal or invalid. To solve this issue, a new method to determine the WTC of the HY-2C altimeter based on objective analysis (OA) by combining the GNSS WTC, ERA5 WTC and valid CMR WTC is developed. The OA WTC and HY-2C CMR WTC are compared to the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) WTC to validate the OA method. The results show that the RMSE of the WTC differences significantly decreases and the correlation coefficient increases. The number of available WTC data increases over the open ocean. The variances of sea level anomaly corresponding to the OA WTC in most areas are significantly smaller than those of the HY-2C CMR WTC. In general, the availability and accuracy of HY-2C altimeter data are largely enhanced with the OA WTC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined the role of Chinese-Japanese cognate awareness in Japanese vocabulary acquisition among college Chinese learners of Japanese. Thirty-seven college-level students participated in this study and they completed a bilingual cognate awareness test which covered both crosslinguistic similarities and differences. In addition, vocabulary learning measurements including vocabulary knowledge and lexical inference ability were also administered to them. The results showed that Chinese-Japanese cognate awareness in general predicted vocabulary knowledge and lexical inference. More critically, the awareness of false cognates was found to systematically predict all the tested vocabulary measurements. The discussion emphasised the cognitive demands and language specificity underlying the cognate facilitation of vocabulary acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study reported an empirical investigation that tested the collective and individual effects of morphological awareness and cognate awareness on Japanese word learning among Chinese learners of Japanese. 131 Chinese learners of Japanese participated in this study. They completed morphological awareness measurements (morpheme segmentation, morpheme analysis and homophone awareness), cognate awareness measurements that tapped into three different types of bilingual cognates, as well as two word-learning measurements (definitional knowledge and lexical inference). Drawing upon multivariate regression analysis, the study demonstrated that cognate awareness contributed to L2 Japanese word learning. Awareness of false cognates yielded stronger predictions in both outcome measurements. Regarding morphological awareness, the study indicated that morphological awareness had a unique contribution to L2 Japanese word learning above and beyond cognate awareness. More specifically, the findings underscored the importance of morpheme analysis and homophone awareness in Japanese word learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavonoids are ubiquitous compounds in nature and are found in many Chinese herbal medicines. Due to their biological activity, flavonoids show potential for decreasing insulin resistance (IR), thereby delaying the progression of diabetes and accompanying metabolic syndromes. This review focuses on the mechanisms of flavonoids decreasing IR: (1) the interaction between flavonoids and target proteins of the insulin signalling pathway; (2) bioactivities of flavonoids, such as anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering and antioxidant. Meanwhile, we summarise the structural characteristics, structure activity relationships and biological activity of flavonoids, providing evidence for their potential in the treatment of IR. Here, we also analyse the potential and limitations of their therapeutic use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing scene classification is the basis of advanced smart urban planning tasks such as urban functional zone division and land use type identification. In recent years, a wide range of emerging data sources is receiving progressive attention for urban features extraction, such as satellites, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and ground sensors. How to effectively utilize these multi-view data jointly to improve scene classification performance has become a hot topic of remote sensing challenge. Existing feature fusion methods tend to map data from different views into a common feature space, which is often difficult to find when the data between views differ greatly. Furthermore, because these methods require data from all views as input, they are not flexible enough to handle situations where there is only one view input when inferring. To address the aforementioned issues, a novel Coupled Parallel Architecture (CPA) using Weighted Collaboration Fusion Constrained by Consistency Between Views (CBV-WCF) is proposed in this paper. In the training phase, the CBV module reduces the impact of the heterogeneous gap across views by capturing the consistency information between views. Well the WCF module is used to fully mine and effectively fuse the complementary information between views to improve the performance of downstream tasks. In the inference phase, the proposed architecture can effectively improve the classification performance in both cases of multi-view and single-view input. Our method is evaluated on air-ground dual-view scene classification, which is a typical multi-view task with large image differences between views. Experimental results on two publicly available air-ground dual-view datasets demonstrate that the proposed framework significantly improves classification performance while bringing some inspiration and new solutions to multi-view tasks. The code of this paper will be published at: . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wen-Shen-Tong-Luo-Zhi-Tong (WSTLZT) Decoction is a Chinese prescription with antiosteoporosis effects, especially in patients with abnormal lipid metabolism. To explore the effect and mechanism of WSTLZT on osteoporosis (OP) through adipocyte-derived exosomes. Adipocyte-derived exosomes with or without WSTLZT treated were identified by transmission electron microscopy, nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and western blotting (WB). Co-culture experiments for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and exosomes were performed to examine the uptake and effect of exosome in osteogenesis and adipogenic differentiation of BMSC. MicroRNA profiles, luciferase and IP were used for exploring specific mechanisms of exosome on BMSC. In vivo, 80 Balb/c mice were randomly divided into four groups: Sham, Ovx, Exo (30 μg exosomes), Exo-WSTLZT (30 μg WSTLZT-exosomes), tail vein injection every week. After 12 weeks, the bone microstructure and marrow fat distribution were analysed by micro-CT. ALP, Alizarin red and Oil red staining showed that WSTLZT-induced exosomes from adipocyte can regulate osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSC. MicroRNA profiles observed that WSTLZT treatment resulted in 87 differentially expressed miRNAs (p < 0.05). MiR-122-5p with the greatest difference was screened by q-PCR (p < 0.01). The target relationship between miR-122-5p and SPRY2 was tested by luciferase and IP. MiR-122-5p negatively regulated SPRY2 and elevated the activity of MAPK signalling pathway, thereby regulating the osteoblastic and adipogenic differentiation of BMSC. In vivo, exosomes can not only improve bone microarchitecture but also significantly reduce accumulation of bone marrow adipose. WSTLZT can exert anti-OP effect through SPRY2 via the MAKP signalling by miR-122-5p carried by adipocyte-derived exosomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognate awareness is the ability to recognise cognate relationships in languages, which requires activation of vocabulary knowledge in both languages. Different types of cognates may have various degrees of contributions to vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension. Few studies have explored the role of different cognate types in vocabulary knowledge and reading across languages, especially in the L3 learner population. To this end, the present study examined the role of different facets of cognate awareness in L3 vocabulary and reading acquisition. Chinese college students of L2 English and L3 French (N = 121) participated in the study, all of whom had learned L2 English for over nine years and L3 French for at least one semester in classrooms. They were required to complete a researcher-developed English-French cognate test, a French vocabulary test and a French reading test. The English-French cognate test contained three types of cognates (same, similar, and false types). The French vocabulary test consisted of a vocabulary size subtest and a Word Associates subtest to measure breadth and depth knowledge. Results of path analysis revealed indirect effects of two types of cognate awareness (similar and false types) on L3 French reading comprehension via the mediation of vocabulary knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better describe the characteristics of time series of counts showing over-dispersion, asymmetry and structural change features, this paper considers a class of random coefficient integer-valued threshold autoregressive processes that properly capture flexible asymmetric and nonlinear responses without assuming the distributions for the errors. By the Taylor expansion, a normally distributed working likelihood is obtained and the Bayesian empirical likelihood inference is conducted for the model parameters. Through the normalized approximation of the nonparametric likelihood, the originally complicated Bayesian calculation has been greatly simplified. Finally, the proposed method is verified via some simulations and an empirical analysis of the meningococcal disease data set in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study whether public announcements (through delisting warnings) of financial distress of some firms in an industry affect the conditional accounting conservatism of intra-industry non-distressed firms. We hypothesize that the lenders of non-distressed firms perceive higher riskiness and demand for stricter debt covenants and more efficient monitoring of debt contracts when some firms show signals of financial distress in that industry. Intra-industry non-distressed firms increase their levels of conditional conservatism to meet the lenders' demands for stricter monitoring of debt contracts and to reduce debt costs. Using the delisting warning data from the Chinese stock exchanges, we find that financial distress announcements lead to increases in conditional conservatism of non-distressed firms in that industry. We provide new evidence for the spillover effects of financial distress within an industry and the usefulness of conditional conservatism in debt contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal employment in tourism is an important component of urban economies. A mixed-method approach using a questionnaire survey combined with in-depth interviews was used to analyze urban resident perceptions and attitudes toward tourism informal employment in Beijing, while considering the residents as both hosts and consumers. The results showed that: (1) resident perceptions toward tourism informal entrepreneurs are positive and negative, and the latter is comparatively stronger. (2) Favorable evaluations positively influence retention willingness and regulate management willingness. (3) Negative evaluations negatively influence retention willingness whist positively influencing regulative management willingness. (4) Retention willingness negatively influences regulative management willingness. (5) Consumption experience moderates the relationship between retention willingness and regulative management willingness. This study extends the theoretical research on informal employment and informs decision-making for effective city management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the impulsive synchronisation of linear complex dynamical networks (CDNs) with time delay on time scales by a method of pinning impulsive control. We use the time scales theory and the Lyapunov method to derive a synchronisation criterion. We find that we can achieve the synchronisation of CDNs through only controlling a small number of nodes and the modelling framework here can enrich the models of continuous/discrete-time CDNs. In the end, we give some numerical simulations to demonstrate the feasibility of the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and Differences-in-Differences (DID) models, this study evaluates the effects of the Basic Ecological Compensation (BEC), an incentivized command-and-control environment regulation formulated by the Weihe River Basin of China for environmental protection, on the comprehensive performance of prefecture-level cities along the Weihe River Basin from 2009 to 2019. Results show that the BEC policy can improve the performance of the Weihe River Basin and that fiscal decentralization has a positive regulatory effect on the policy. We suggest improving compensation mechanisms and standards, appropriately intensifying fiscal decentralization, and popularizing successful experiences of provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

THZ1, a CDK7 inhibitor, has potent antitumor effects in several cancers; however, its role in Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is unclear. We explored the effects and potential mechanisms of THZ1, alone and in combination with azacitidine (AZA), in AML cells and xenograft models. THZ1 decreased cell viability, induced apoptosis in a dose and time-dependent manner, induced G0/G1 cell cycle arrest, decreased phosphorylated CDK1 and CDK2 expression, and inhibited RNA Pol II phosphorylation at multiple serine sites. The combination of AZA and THZ1 exhibited synergistic antileukemic effects in AML cell lines and primary cells with MCL1 and c-MYC downregulation. Moreover, the combination therapy significantly decreased tumor burden and prolonged animal survival in xenograft mice models. Our data demonstrate that CDK7 inhibition induces the apoptosis of AML cells and exerts a synergistic antileukemia effect with AZA in vitro and in vivo, which supports future exploration of this combination in clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several flow assurance problems for the energy development in deep-water, the coexistence of wax and hydrate resulting to multi-solid phase deposition is among the most difficult to overcome. The results of an experimental study on the effect of wax content, water cut, subcooling and static time on the CP hydrate-forming mixtures are reported. The droplet distribution at different wax contents is determined by using microscopic observation method. Using dynamic stress measurements method, a correlation between rheological properties and water cut is obtained. Hydrate nucleation, growth, dissociation, and slurry rheological properties, including critical time, growth time, final viscosity, and yield properties are determined. Results indicated that wax inhibit hydrate nucleation and growth, but the viscosity of hydrate slurry in waxy system is still higher than wax-free system due to the wax-hydrate aggregates contribute more to the viscosity of the system. The structure of hydrate slurry containing wax system is more stable and more difficult to be damaged by shear. Wax increases the hydrate slurry yield stress, and this effect is more significant at higher water cut and longer static times. The yield stress of the hydrate slurry was linearly related to the water cut. 35% was the critical water cut. Below the critical water cut, the slurry had better flow ability and less yield stress. Above the critical water cut, the yield stress increased significantly with water cut. The yield stress increased with increasing static time and decreases with increasing temperature. Nevertheless, the coupling effect of temperature with water cut and wax content was complex. Below 3 wt% wax content, temperature only has a significant effect on the yield stress of slurries with 40% and 50% water cut. Above 3 wt% wax content, temperature has a significant effect on the yield stress of all slurries with a 20–50% water cut. No ice formation in the CP hydrate-forming mixtures at −4°C, and the dissociation temperature of the hydrate decreases as the concentration of CP in the oil phase decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an immunocompromised rat model was established by long-term diet control and excessive swimming and treated with extracts of raw licorice (RL) and honey-roasted licorice (HL) to explore the immunomodulatory efficacy and gut microbiota composition with their metabolites. Pharmacological experiment confirmed that honey-roasting enhanced the ability of RL to regulate inflammatory cytokines and gut mucosal-layer homeostasis. The analysis of 16S rRNA sequences showed that both RL and HL regulated the balance of gut microbiota, but HL exhibited better effects than RL in regulating microbiota closely related to inflammatory cytokines (Coriobacteriaceae_UCG-002) as well as short-chain fatty acids-producing bacteria (Dubosiella and Ruminococcus). Moreover, HL improved the contents of butyrate and isobutyrate in feces more significantly than RL. In conclusion, the balance of gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids might be one of the pathways that honey-roasting improve the immunomodulatory efficacy of licorice. Abbreviations: ANOVA: analysis of variance; BCA: bicinchoninic acid; ELISA: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; HRP: horseradish peroxidase; LDA: the linear discriminant analysis; LEfSe: the linear discriminant analysis effect size; MS: mass spectrometry; OTU: operational taxonomic units; PBS: phosphate buffered saline; PCoA: principal coordinate analysis; PVDF: polyvinylidene fluoride; RIPA: radio immunoprecipitation assay; SCFAs: short-chain fatty acids; [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the use of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and graph neural networks (GNNs) to identify hyperspectral images (HSIs) has achieved excellent results, and such methods are widely used in agricultural remote sensing, geological exploration, and marine remote sensing. Although many generalization classification algorithms are designed for the purpose of learning a small number of samples, there is often a problem of a low utilization rate of position information in the empty spectral domain. Based on this, a GNN with an autoregressive moving average (ARMA)-based smoothing filter samples the node information in the null spectral domain and then captures the spatial information at the pixel level via spatial feature convolution; then, the null spectral domain position information lost by the CNN is located by a coordinate attention (CA) mechanism. Finally, autoregressive, spatial convolution, and CA mechanisms are combined into multiscale features to enhance the learning capacity of the network for tiny samples. Experiments conducted on the widely used Indian Pines (IP) dataset, the Botswana (BS) dataset, Houton 2013 (H2013), and the WHU-Hi-HongHu (WHU) benchmark HSI dataset demonstrate that the proposed GACP technique can perform classification work with good accuracy even with a small number of training examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple one-pot method was developed to complete the α-diphenyl substitution and cyclization of acetophenone using acetophenone and substituted benzene as substrates, and a series of benzofuran derivatives was synthesized efficiently. It had the advantages of medium to excellent yield and easily obtained substrate. Compared with other methods, the method avoids the use of precious metals and cumbersome operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To determine the effects of tract embolization with gelatin sponge particles on the prevention of pneumothorax after percutaneous microwave ablation (MWA) in rabbit lungs. Twenty-four New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into Group A (MWA followed by tract embolization with gelatin sponge particles, n = 12) and Group B (MWA without tract embolization, n = 12). For each group, CT images were reviewed for the occurrence of pneumothorax within 30 min after MWA. The rate of pneumothorax was compared by Chi-square Test. Lung tissue around the needle tract was harvested after the rabbits were euthanized, and histopathological examinations were performed and studied with hematoxylin and eosin stains. Twenty-four animals underwent 47 sessions of MWA (24 sessions in Group A and 23 sessions in Group B). Group A had a statistically lower rate of pneumothorax than Group B (25.0 vs. 56.5%; p = 0.028). The pathological examinations of both groups demonstrated thermal injury of the needle tract characterized by a rim of the coagulated lung parenchyma, which might be responsible for pneumothorax after MWA. Gelatin sponge particles could be arranged in irregular flakes densely to effectively seal the needle tract, thus reducing the occurrence of pneumothorax. The gelatin sponge particles could be almost completely absorbed about 14 days later. Results of the present study showed needle tract embolization with gelatin sponge particles after CT-guided pulmonary MWA can significantly reduce the incidence of pneumothorax. Gelatin sponge particles can effectively seal the needle tract after ablation and can be completely absorbed in the body with good safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; cotton; plant sciences category; VOSviewer; Web of Science; ; ; ; EN Bibliometric analysis cotton plant sciences category VOSviewer Web of Science ZH 7579 7593 15 11/21/22 20221220 NES 221220 Introduction Cotton ( I Gossypium spp i .) Cotton fibers are natural hollow fibers; they are soft, cool, known as breathable fibers and absorbent. VOSviewer co-occurrence Network visualization mapping of most frequent all keywords (minimum of 5 occurrences) in cotton research from Plant Sciences category during 1990 to 2021 The same data were then arranged by a period of cotton research from Plant Sciences category as overlay map (Figure 6). [Extracted from the article]

Copyright of Journal of Natural Fibers is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The fluorescent hue is brilliant and attractive, and is usually used in outdoor, traffic, and teenage clothes industry, as well as in marker and fields of warning signs. But the fluorescence coloration of natural fibers with fluorescent dyes is rare because of the inherent polymeric and optical property of natural fibers, and the dyes state on fiber. The wool fabrics can be colored with pigments emulsion or water dispersions by exhaustion process. In this paper, the wool fabrics were colored with fluorescent pigment emulsions by padding, and their dyeing properties were investigated by color measurement, spectrofluorometer, SEM, TG, and fastness testing. The color data, dominant wavelength (or complementary wavelength), and excitation purity of colored samples were measured and illustrated with chromaticity diagram. The fluorescence spectrum of colored samples was tested as well. The results showed, with the raise of amount of pigments emulsion, the K/S value, reflectivity, durability, and shrinkage of colored samples increased, whereas the softness decreased. There were FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) phenomena in the colored samples. The fluorescent pigments emulsion deposited on the fabrics as resins between the wool fibers. The migration and rubbing fastnesses of all samples were good and were at grade 4 or above, but the light fastnesses were not good, and only at grade 3 or grade 3–4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the synergetic effect of coating properties and fibrous architecture on the evolution of thermal stress was studied by finite element simulation. The numerical implementation was conducted on the plain-woven ceramic matrix composites coated with environmental barrier coatings (EBCs). Within the simulations, the microstructure of both coating layer and composite substrate was precisely modeled. The distributions of thermal residual stress of different yarn waviness and layer properties were simulated and compared. Their synergetic effect on the evolution of stress was then investigated by comparing the simulated results under different mechanical loadings which can enlarge the nonuniform distribution of stress induced by fibrous architecture. The results show that the cooling process causes considerable thermal residual stress in each layer of a Si/mullite/Yb2Si2O7 EBCs. Similar to the layer properties of coatings, the fibrous architecture of the composite substrate also plays an important role in the stress distribution in the coatings. Thus, it can be concluded that an adequate prediction of the local stress distribution and the failure modes for the EBCs requires a realistic representation of fibrous architecture as well as the coating layers. The former is usually ignored in the previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a type of progressive dementia caused by degeneration of the nervous system. A single target drug usually does not work well. Therefore, multi-target drugs are designed and developed so that one drug can specifically bind to multiple targets to ensure clinical effectiveness and reduce toxicity. We synthesised a series of 2-arylbenzofuran derivatives and evaluated their in vitro activities. 2-Arylbenzofuran compounds have good dual cholinesterase inhibitory activity and β-secretase inhibitory activity. The IC50 value of compound 20 against acetylcholinesterase inhibition (0.086 ± 0.01 µmol·L−1) is similar to donepezil (0.085 ± 0.01 µmol·L−1) and is better than baicalein (0.404 ± 0.04 µmol·L−1). And most of the compounds have good BACE1 inhibitory activity, of which 3 compounds (8, 19 and 20) show better activity than baicalein (0.087 ± 0.03 µmol·L−1). According to experimental results, 2-arylbenzofuran compounds provide an idea for drug design to develop prevention and treatment for AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic disease characterised by an unknown aetiology of inflammatory synovitis. A large number of studies have shown that synoviocytes show tumour-like dysplasia in the pathological process of RA, and the changes in the expression of related cytokines are closely related to the pathogenesis of RA. In this thesis, a series of novel 3-(4-aminophenyl) coumarins containing different substituents were synthesised to find new coumarin anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The results of preliminary activity screening showed that compound 5e had the strongest inhibitory activity on the proliferation of fibroid synovial cells, and it also had inhibitory effect on RA-related cytokines IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-α. The preliminary mechanism study showed that compound 5e could inhibit the activation of NF-κB and MAPKs signal pathway. The anti-inflammatory activity of compound 5ein vivo was further determined in the rat joint inflammation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, an optimization strategy of mechanical ventilation was carried out to reduce frost heaving and heating power in a large cold storage operation. Then, a response surface method is used to determine influential factors and mechanisms of mechanical ventilation by using a standard pre-assembled cold storage system as a test case. Results show that the main factors affecting the soil surface temperature critical to frost-heaving prevention include the soil temperature, airflow speed, pipe diameter, and pipe spacing. For a case study, the spacing of the ventilation pipes has the most significant influence on the surface temperature of the soil layer. In contrast, the soil temperature at a depth of 3.2 m has a minor impact on the surface temperature. Especially for the design criteria that the soil surface temperature cannot be less than 2 °C, the diameter of the ventilation pipe should be greater than 0.28 m, the spacing of the ventilation pipe should be less than 1.01 m and the airflow speed should be greater than 2.09 m·s−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-target drugs can better address the cascade of events involved in oxidative stress and the reduction in cholinergic transmission that occur in Alzheimer's disease than cholinesterase inhibitors alone. We synthesised a series of 3-arylbenzofuranone derivatives and evaluated their antioxidant activity, cholinesterase inhibitory activity, and monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity. 3-Arylbenzofuranone compounds exhibit good antioxidant activity as well as selective acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity. The IC50 value of anti-acetylcholinesterase inhibition of Compound 20 (0.089 ± 0.01 μM) is similar to the positive drug donepezil (0.059 ± 0.003 μM). According to the experimental results, Compounds 7, 13 show a certain effect in the in vitro evaluation performed and have the potential as drug candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new one-dimensional (1-D) copper(II) coordination polymer, namely, {[Cu(L)(2,2'-bipy)]·0.5DMF}n (1) (H2L= 2,2'-[benzene-1,4-diylbis(methanediylsulfanediyl)]dibenzoic acid, 2,2'-bipy= 2,2'-bipyridine), has been synthesized using Cu(NO3)2·3H2O with long flexible carboxylic acids and N-containing ligands. Furthermore, a green hand grinding technique has been implemented to reduce the particle size of the compound 1 to generate nanoscale 1 (denoted as nano 1 hereafter). Furthermore, the protective effect of the compound on the ulcerative colitis was evaluated. Firstly, the Colon Tissue Mucosal Injury Score (CMDI) of the ulcerative colitis rat was measured after compound treatment. Then, the pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the UC rat model after compound treatment was measured with ELISA detection assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Response surface methodology was applied to maximize the yield and production of carotenoids by Sporidiobolus pararoseus WZ012 using citrus juice. A high concentration of yeast extract and citrus juice favored carotenoid production and biomass concentration, respectively. Under optimal conditions, a more than 51 percent (from 860 to 1300 µg/g) and 62 percent (from 17.05 to 27.66 mg/L) respective enhancement in intracellular and total carotenoid production was achieved. Finally, this process was successfully upscaled in a 5-L fermentor. A comparison of the carotenoid distributions revealed that torulene (61.3%) was the dominant carotenoid when using the citrus based medium, while the main carotenoid was β-carotene (62.5%) when using the glucose medium. The present work provides an alternative method to produce high-value products derived from waste and low-grade citrus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work is focused on the design of drugs that prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its complications. A series of 3–(4-aminophenyl)-coumarin derivatives designed, synthesised, fully characterised and evaluated in vitro/vivo. The biological assay experiments showed that some compounds displayed a clearly selective inhibition for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). Among all compounds, compound 4m exhibited the highest AChE inhibition with an IC50 value of 0.091 ± 0.011 µM and compound 4k exhibited the highest BuChE inhibition with an IC50 value of 0.559 ± 0.017 µM. A zebrafish behaviour analyser (Zebrobox) was used to determine the behavioural effects of the active compound on the movement distance of the aluminium chloride-induced zebrafish. Compound 4m offered a potential drug design concept for the development of therapeutic or preventive agents for AD and its complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease, a neurodegenerative illness, has the extremely complex pathogenesis. Accumulating evidence indicates there is a close relationship between several enzymes and Alzheimer's disease. Various substituted 3-arylcoumarin derivatives were synthesised, and their in vitro activity, including cholinesterase inhibitory activity, monoamine oxidase inhibitory activity, and antioxidant activity were investigated. Most of the compounds exhibited high activity; therefore 3-arylcoumarin compounds have the potential as drug candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of substituted 3-arylcoumarin derivatives were synthesised through microwave radiation heating. The method has characteristics of environmental friendliness, economy, simple separation, and purification process, less by-products and high reaction yield. Those 3-arylcoumarin derivatives were screened for antioxidant, α-glucosidase inhibitory and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) formation inhibitory. Most compounds exhibited significant antioxidant and AGEs formation inhibitory activities. Anti-diabetic activity studies showed that compounds 11 and 17 were equipotent to the standard drug glibenclamide in vivo. According to the experimental results, the target compound 35 can be used as a lead compound for the development of new anti-diabetic drugs. The whole experiment showed that anti-diabetic activity is prevalent in 3-arylcoumarins, which added a new natural skeleton to the development of anti-diabetic active drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are promising for cell therapy and regenerative medicine. An increased need for expanding of MSCs under serum-free condition to achieve a sufficient quantity for therapeutic applications is inevitable. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is widely used for expanding clinical-grade MSCs in vitro. This work focuses on the influence of TGF-β1 on proliferation in rat bone marrow-derived MSCs (BMSCs) and the underlying mechanism. Materials and Methods: BMSCs were isolated and cultured with or without TGF-β1 in a serum-free medium and Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to detect BMSCs proliferation. Cell cycle transition was also analyzed. Further, the expression levels of cyclin D1, phosphorylated focal adhesion kinase, and downstream effectors in Akt-mTOR-S6K1 signaling pathway were examined by western blotting. Results and Conclusion: TGF-β1 triggered proliferation via accelerating G1/S cell cycle transition in BMSCs. The addition of TGF-β1 can activate Akt-mTOR-S6K1 pathway. Additionally, FAK was found to be involved in the process. Upon adding the FAK inhibitor, both the activation of Akt-mTOR-S6K1 and TGF-β1-induced cell proliferation were abrogated. Together, an insight understanding of how TGF-β1 influences BMSCs proliferation is achieved. This study provides a possible strategy of supplementing TGF-β1 in serum-free medium for in vitro expansion, which eventually would advance the production of clinical-grade MSCs for regenerative medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, five V-type stilbene dyes (VD, 1a-1e) that had unchanged dimethylamino phenylethenyl (DMPE) arm as inclusive location with CB[7] and another arm with different steric hindrance aryloxyethyl (AE) group were designed and synthesized. Their inclusive characteristics and stability to CB[7] were studied. Fluorescence spectroscopy and 1H NMR method were used respectively to study the inclusive characteristics of 1a⊂CB[7], 1b⊂CB[7], 1c⊂CB [7], 1d⊂CB[7] and 1e⊂CB[7]. Fitting curves results of fluorescent titration indicated that 1:1 complexes between CB[7] and VD were constructed, and their inclusive constants were calculated respectively. The order of inclusive constants K1a⊂CB[7]> K1b⊂CB[7]> K1c⊂CB[7] > K1d⊂CB[7] was consistent with the magnitude of the steric hindrance, however, 1e did not include with CB[7]. Therefore, a series of steric hindrance controlled [2]pseudorotaxanes were constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to increase use of soybean protein in meat products, the objective of this research was to investigate the effects of k-carrageenan on the gel properties of the myofibrillar protein (MP)–soybean protein isolate (SPI) composite with various salt levels. The results showed that the addition of SPI in a small amount improved the gelation and WHC of MP-SPI composite gel, and incorporation of k-carrageenan enhanced WHC at low NaCl concentration (0.1 mol/L and 0.3 mol/L). The observation results of the environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) suggested that the strong WHC of k-carrageenan and the filling of soybean protein promoted the gelation forming. It was related to the positive effects on the elastic modulus, gel strength and WHC of MP mixing with a small amount of soybean protein and larger content of k-carrageenan. However, at a high salt concentration (0.6 mol/L), SPI showed negative effects on the gel strength and WHC of composite MP-SPI. The gel strength and WHC of mixed MP-SPI were reinforced with the addition of k-carrageenan. In conclusion, the results of this research showed that the interactions in the system of the k-carrageenan-MP-SPI composite were significantly influenced by salt concentration. Low concentration of soybean protein and high level of k-carrageenan at low-salt concentration improved composite gel properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 12-bit time-interleaved 1.0/2.0 GS/s pipeline analogue-digital converter (ADC) is presented and implemented in 0.18 µm SiGe BiCMOS. Such an ADC consists of two identical channels, each of which can operate at 1 GS/s. The two same channels can be interleaved to achieve 2 GS/s speed. In one-channel ADC, four lanes of pipeline ADCs with 250 MS/s are interleaved to realise 1 GHz conversion. To avoid the timing skew-induced error among the four lanes, a dedicated T/H is adopted in one channel. A clock buffer with low jitter is presented to provide a low-voltage swing clock for the T/H by using SiGe devices. The proposed timing system generates the phases needed accurately. A single reference buffer is employed in one-channel ADC to avoid the gain mismatches among the four lanes. An analogue mux with the proposed switch chooses the mode of interleaving or non-interleaving. A trimming digital-analogue converter is employed to eliminate the gain mismatches between the two channels. The measured SNDR and SFDR for one-channel ADC @ 1 GS/s are 60 and 76 dB with Nyquist input. For the interleaved two channels @ 2 GS/s, SNDR and SFDR can achieve 58 and 61 dB with Nyquist input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vitamin A deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction are both associated with neural differentiation-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Down syndrome (DS). The mechanism of vitamin A-induced neural differentiation and the notion that vitamin A can regulate the morphology and function of mitochondria in its induction of neural differentiation through the RIP140/PGC-1α axis are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the roles and underlying mechanisms of RIP140/PGC-1α axis in vitamin A-induced neural differentiation. Human neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y) were used as a model of neural stem cells, which were incubated with DMSO, 9-cis-retinoic acid (9-cis-RA), 13-cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) and all-trans-retinoic acid (at-RA). Neural differentiation of SH-SY5Y was evaluated by Sandquist calculation, combined with immunofluorescence and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of neural markers. Mitochondrial function was estimated by ultrastructure assay using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with the expression of PGC-1α and NEMGs using real-time PCR. The participation of the RA signaling pathway was demonstrated by adding RA receptor antagonists. Vitamin A derivatives are able to regulate mitochondrial morphology and function, and furthermore to induce neural differentiation through the RA signaling pathway. The RIP140/PGC-1α axis is involved in the regulation of mitochondrial function in vitamin A derivative-induced neural differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The work is focused on the design of drugs that prevent and treat diabetes and its complications. A novel class of stilbene derivatives were prepared by coupling NO donors of alkyl nitrate and were fully characterised by NMR and other techniques. These compounds were tested in vitro activity, including α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, aldose reductase (AR) inhibitory activity and advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formation inhibitory activity. A class of modified compounds could play a significant effect for treatment of diabetic complications. Target compounds 3e and 7c offered a potential drug design concept for the development of therapeutic or preventive agents for diabetes and its complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied characteristics of [2] or [3]pseudorotaxanes based on stilbene dye SD⊂CB[7]. In neutral or weak alkaline conditions, SD could be encapsulated inside the stilbene site of CB[7] with 1:1 stoichiometry, whereas, with the pH changing to acidity, the hydrogen bonding between the carboxyl group and the carbonyl of CB[7] maked another CB[7] molecule include into hexanoic acid site, these processes were confirmed by fluorescence spectra,UV-Vis spectra and 1H NMR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to unravel the key determinants of individuals’ information seeking behavior during health crises. It challenges conventional perspectives that solely emphasize individual experiences. It also undermines frameworks that draw direct parallels between individual experiences and media factors, disregarding the mediating role of media. Models like the Comprehensive Model of Information Seeking (CMIS) also have limitations as they prioritize media mediation over recognizing the direct impacts of individual experiences on information seeking behaviors. We hereby propose a framework, the Media-Mediated Model of Information Seeking Behavior, that sheds light on the interplay between individual and media experiences. Analysis of survey data involving 5,469 participants in three Chinese societies, including mainland China (n = 2,067), Hong Kong (n = 1,913), and Taiwan (n = 1,489), reveals that individual experiences have both direct and indirect effects on information seeking, mediated by media utility. Experience of symptoms and risk perception depend on people’s perceptions of the utility of media, while efficacy and media trust directly influence information seeking behaviors. These findings contribute to theoretical understanding and offer practical guidelines. Public institutions and health promoters can leverage media platforms to shape people’s perceptions of health issues and encourage active information behaviors. It is also crucial to prioritize cultivating public trust in media and efficacy during crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partridge Shank chicken is a valuable broiler breed in China. The first complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of Partridge Shank chicken had been obtained using PCR amplification, sequencing and assembling. The complete mitochondrial genome was 16,788 bp in length, with the base composition of 30.2% for A, 23.7% for T, 32.5% for C and 13.5% for G. It exhibited the typical mitochondrial structure, including 2 ribosomal RNA genes, 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, and a non-coding control region (D-loop region). The phylogenetic tree construced with maximum-likelihood (ML) method based on the complete chicken mitochondrial genomes showed that the 26 chicken breeds could be divided into two groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obese women are at high risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) has been associated with weight gain, insulin resistance and impaired fertility, which are also factors involved in PCOS. However, there is limited information regarding the influence of SCH on the presence of PCOS. In order to determine whether SCH increases the prevalence of PCOS, we performed a cross-sectional study in a cohort of reproductive-aged obese women. All subjects underwent anthropometric evaluation, laboratory tests and ultrasound examination. Diagnosis of PCOS was based on the Rotterdam criteria. A total of 534 obese women were included and 108 (20.2%) of them were diagnosed with SCH. Patients with SCH showed similar insulin resistance, comparable androgen levels, and higher triglycerides levels (1.7 vs. 1.5 mmol/L, p = .002) compared to those with normal thyroid status. The frequency of PCOS did not differ between the two groups (56.1% for normal thyroid function vs. 60.2% for subclinical hypothyroidism, p = .514). In logistic regression analysis, SCH was not an independent risk factor for PCOS after adjusting for confounding factors (OR = 0.984, 95% CI 0.581-1.667). For the first time, our results suggest that SCH does not increase the risk of PCOS in obese women of reproductive age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]