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Fast frequency response (FFR) is an option in maintaining system security under low inertia conditions. Power electronics interfaced energy resources such as wind and photovoltaics have the capability to deliver FFR. At present, almost all installed power electronics interfaced energy resources are connected to the grid by the phase locked loop (PLL)-synchronized voltage source converter (VSC) and they usually implement inertial response by measuring the rate of change of frequency (RoCoF). However, RoCoF measurements are highly susceptible to disturbances in the grid. In this paper, a novel inertia controller is developed for PLL-synchronized VSC interfaced energy resources to implement natural inertial response without measuring RoCoF. A thorough stability analysis is performed to study the impact of proposed inertia controller on the VSC in weak grid. The proposed inertia controller makes the deviation of DC voltage proportional to the deviation of system frequency. Further, a method of primary frequency control is proposed by measuring DC voltage rather than grid frequency. The proposed FFR scheme of inertia and primary frequency control is applied to a direct-drive windfarm connected to a grid, and its correctness and advantages are verified by simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge graph completion (KGC) aims to infer missing links between entities in knowledge graphs (KGs). Recently, models based on graph neural networks (GNNs) have gained widespread attention due to their effectiveness in leveraging the topological structure information of entities. Meanwhile, contrastive learning (CL) has been employed in GNNs-based models to provide more supervised signals for better entity representation in a self-supervised manner. However, existing methods overlook the potential global semantic collaboration among entities within the entire KG. And the application of CL in KGC models often adopt random graph augmentation or basic node structure contrast, leading to suboptimal performance. To tackle them, we propose a G lobal and L ocal S emantic- E nhanced C ontrastive Framework (GLSEC) for KGC. Specifically, we develop a global Attribute-aware encoder to capture the global semantic features of entities based on an entity-entity Attribute Interaction Graph (AIG). Additionally, we design a Light Graph Aggregation Network (Light-GAN) that innovatively updates the global semantic features using the AIG, combining both efficiency and a lightweight design. Furthermore, we introduce a Global-Local cross-view Contrastive Learning (GLCL) method that contrasts embeddings from global and local views, thereby improving contrastive sample quality and boosting the model's understanding of entities in various contexts. Extensive experiments show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art KGC methods on benchmark datasets FB15k-237 and WN18RR. • We consider both global attribute and local topology information of entities. • We construct a global attribute interaction graph based on entity attribute pairs. • We design a light graph aggregation network for efficient vector updates. • We develop a novel global-local cross-view contrastive learning method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The snowline altitude at the end of melting season (SLA-EMS) provides a possibility to rapidly obtain a proxy for their equilibrium line altitude (ELA) which in turn is an indicator for the glacier mass balance. SLA-EMS is also an important parameter for the study of the relationships between climate and cryosphere. High Mountain Asia (HMA) hosts the largest glacier and perennial snow cover concentration outside the polar regions, but the spatial and temporal patterns of SLA-EMS are poorly understood. Here we investigate the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of SLA-EMS over the HMA on a grid-by-grid (30 km) basis, by using the cloud-removed MODIS fractional snow cover datasets from 2001 to 2016. The possible linkages between the SLA-EMS, temperature, precipitation and solar radiation changes over the HMA are also investigated. The results are as follows: (1) the proposed MODIS-based grids (30 km) SLA-EMS extracting method is efficient in monitoring the spatiotemporal patterns of the SLA-EMS for a large-scale area. (2) In the HMA, the spatial change of the SLA-EMS (from 3114 to 6907 m) exhibits a large spatial heterogeneity. The SLA-EMS decreases from the high altitude region of Himalayas and inner Tibet to surrounding low mountainous area. (3) The SLA-EMS of HMA generally shows a rising trend in the recent years (2001–2016). In total, 82.35% (26.32% with a significant increase) and 17.65% (0.74% with a significant decrease) of the study area show increasing and decreasing trends in SLA-EMS, respectively. The SLA-EMS significantly increases in east Tien Shan (5.16 m yr−1), west Tien Shan (4.64 m yr−1), Inner Tibet (3.64 m yr−1), south and east Tibet (9.18 m yr−1), east Himalaya (8.52 m yr−1) and Hengduan Shan (7.48 m yr−1). (4) The summer temperature trends to be the dominant climatic factor affecting the variations of SLA-EMS over the HMA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User interest mining is widely used in the fields of personalized search and personalized recommendation. Traditional methods ignore the formation of user interest which is a process that evolves over time. This leads to the inability to accurately describe the distribution of user interest. In this paper, we propose the interest tracking model (ITM). To add the timing, ITM uses Dirichlet distribution and multinomial distribution to describe the evolutional process of interest topics and frequent patterns, which well adapts to the evolution of user interest hidden in short texts between different time slices. In addition, it is well known that user interest is composed of long-term interest and situational interest including short-term interest and social hot topics. State-of-the-art methods simply regard the users' long-term interest as the users' final interest, which makes those unable to completely describe the user interest distribution. To solve this problem, we propose the deformable interest model (DIM) which designs an objective function to combine users' long-term interest and situational interest and more comprehensively and accurately mine user interest. Furthermore, we present the degree of deformation which measures the subinterest's degree of influence on final interest and propose in DIM the influence real-time update mechanism. The mechanism adaptively updates the degree of deformation through the linear iteration and reduces the degree of dependence of the interest model on training sets. We present results via a dataset consisting of Flickr users and their uploaded information in three months, a dataset consisting of Twitter users and their tweets in three months, and a dataset consisting of Instagram users and their uploaded information in three months, showing that the perplexity is reduced to 0.378, the average accuracy is increased to 94%, and the average NMI is increased to 0.20, which prove better interest prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid and accurate diagnosis of swine diseases is indispensable for reducing their negative impacts on the pork industry. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a promising diagnostic tool for swine diseases. To support the application of NGS in the diagnosis of swine disease, we established the Swine Pathogen Database (SPDB). The SPDB represents the first comprehensive and highly specialized database and analysis platform for swine pathogens. The current version features an online genome search tool, which now contains 26 148 genomes of swine, swine pathogens and phylogenetically related species. This database offers a comprehensive bioinformatics analysis pipeline for the identification of 4403 swine pathogens and their related species in clinical samples, based on targeted 16S rRNA gene sequencing and metagenomic NGS data. The SPDB provides a powerful and user-friendly service for veterinarians and researchers to support the applications of NGS in swine disease research. Database URL : http://spdatabase.com:2080/ [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Influence of MILs on LRC surface wettability was analyzed. • Mechanism of coal wettability modification was explained from adsorption. • Propose salting out the separation-strong magnetic recovery process and key parameters. Three types of magnetic ionic liquids (MIL) ([C 12 mim]FeCl 4 , [C 12 mim] 2 CoCl 4 , and [C 12 mim] 2 NiCl 4) were chosen to study the enhancement of the quality and utilization of low-rank coal (LRC). The mechanism of coal wettability modification was explained from the macrocosm and microcosm points of view by contact angle, adhesion work, and adsorption studies, and the recovery of MIL was realized by salting out the separation-strong magnetic recovery (SMR). The contact angle and adhesion work results showed that [C 12 mim]FeCl 4 had the greatest effect on coal wettability. The adsorption on the LRC surface was as follows: [C 12 mim]FeCl 4 > [C 12 mim] 2 CoCl 4 > [C 12 mim] 2 NiCl 4. The adsorption thermodynamics indicated that MIL conformed to the Langmuir isotherm model, which is a spontaneous reaction of exothermic entropy minus physical adsorption. The adsorption kinetic process belong to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and was influenced by the combined action of intraparticle and liquid film diffusion. From the contact angles and adsorption thermodynamics, it can be inferred that [C 12 mim]FeCl 4 has the highest activity and can better adsorb onto the LRC surface, covering the oxygen-containing functional groups and reducing the wettability to achieve efficient quality improvement and utilization of LRC. Through the research of salting-out separation-SMR, the most suitable salting-out reagent was found to be NaCl, and the highest recovery was obtained when the concentration reached the solubility level. As the magnetic field strength increases, the recovery rate gradually increases. The recovery of [C 12 mim]FeCl 4 was more than 90% when it reaches 1.5 T, and it could be recovered by magnetic separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) causes tracheal damage and heterophilic granulocytic infiltration and inflammation in infected chicks. In this study, we infected chick tracheal tissue with strain AE17 and produced pathological sections with proteomic sequencing. We compared the results of pathological sections from the APEC-infected group with those from the PBS control group; the pathological sections from the experimental group showed hemorrhage, fibrinization, and infiltration of heterophilic granulocytes in the tracheal tissue. In order to explore the effect on proteomics on inflammation and to further search for the caus. Results: The tandem mass tag-based (TMT) sequencing analysis showed 224 upregulated and 140 downregulated proteins after infection with the AE17 strain. Based on the results of KEGG in Complement and coagulation cascades, differential protein expression in the Protein export pathway was upregulated. Conclusions: With these results, we found that chemokines produced by the Complement and coagulation cascades pathway may cause infiltration of heterophilic granulocytes involved in inflammation, as well as antimicrobial factors produced by the complement system to fight the infection together.These results suggest that APEC causes the infiltration of heterophilic granulocytes through the involvement of the complement system with serine protease inhibitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extensive existence of governor deadband has a significant influence on the minimum frequency of power system after a disturbance. However, the strong non-linearity of deadband makes it difficult to quantify its impact on the frequency response. For this end, the backlash non-linearity is adopted to represent for the governor with deadband. The non-linear characteristics of governor with deadband are thus well approximated. The describing function method is applied to linearise the backlash non-linearity. Then a first-order model of governor system is derived to consider the deadband effect quantitatively. Minimum frequency estimation algorithm is proposed based on the first-order model. The proposed algorithm is effective to reflect the effects of various widths of deadbannd on the minimum value of frequency. Case study is conducted to prove its adequate performance in minimum frequency estimation with a practical power grid in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An adaptive power system critical eigenvalues tracing approach based on the projected continuation of invariant subspace (CIS) is proposed in this study. The proposed method reduces problem size by applying projections to invariant subspace corresponding to critical eigenvalues to ensure efficiency. An adaptive update strategy is adopted to detect and include new critical eigenvalues, ensuring that eigenvalues of interest are always traced. Testing on New England 39‐ and IEEE‐118 bus systems shows that the proposed approach can detect and trace new critical eigenvalues as soon as they emerge and immediately find bifurcation, thus avoiding missing instability information. It also shows that the proposed approach has an advantage in terms of computational time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commitment and differentiation of the alveolar type I (AT1) cell lineage is a critical step for the formation of distal lung saccules, which are the primitive alveolar units required for postnatal respiration. How AT1 cells arise from the distal lung epithelial progenitor cells prior to birth and whether this process depends on a developmental niche instructed by mesenchymal cells is poorly understood. We show that mice lacking histone deacetylase 3 specifically in the developing lung mesenchyme display lung hypoplasia including decreased mesenchymal proliferation and a severe impairment of AT1 cell differentiation. This is correlated with a decrease in Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the lung epithelium. We demonstrate that inhibition of Wnt signaling causes defective AT1 cell lineage differentiation ex vivo . Importantly, systemic activation of Wnt signaling at specific stages of lung development can partially rescue the AT1 cell differentiation defect in vivo . These studies show that histone deacetylase 3 expression generates an important developmental niche in the lung mesenchyme through regulation of Wnt signaling, which is required for proper AT1 cell differentiation and lung sacculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a severe malignant cancer worldwide, in both adult and pediatric patients. Since bone marrow cell transplantation is seriously limited by the availability of the immune-paired donor sources, the therapy for pediatric leukemia remains challenging. Ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2) is a well-characterized component in red ginseng, and has established therapeutic effects for different diseases, although whether GRh2 may have a therapeutic effect on pediatric leukemia has not been investigated. Methods: We examined the effects of GRh2 on the survival of mice in an acute leukemia model. We analyzed the effects of GRh2 on the cell viability of leukemia cell lines in vitro, using a CCK-8 assay and an MTT assay. We analyzed the effects of GRh2 on the apoptosis of leukemia cell lines in vitro, by flow cytometry. We analyzed the levels of Bcl-2 and microRNA-21 (miR-21) in GRh2-treated leukemia cells. Prediction of binding between miR-21 and 3'-UTR of Bcl-2 mRNA was performed by a bioinformatics algorithm and confirmed by a dual luciferase reporter assay. Results: GRh2 significantly prolonged the survival of mice with pediatric leukemia. GRh2 significantly decreased the viability of leukemia cells in vitro, through induction of apoptosis. GRh2 significantly decreased the levels of an anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in leukemia cells, possibly through induction of miR-21, which suppressed the translation of Bcl-2 mRNA via 3'-UTR binding. Conclusion: GRh2 may be an effective treatment for pediatric leukemia, and GRh2 may induce apoptosis of leukemia cells through miR-21-modulated suppression of Bcl-2. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this study, the interaction of the endocrine disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) and human serum albumin (HSA) was investigated by molecular modelling, fluorescence, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and circular dichroism spectroscopy (CD). The association constants between BPA and HSA were determined using the Scatchard equation. The thermodynamic parameters of the binding reaction (ΔG 0, ΔH 0 and ΔS 0) were measured, and they indicated the presence of hydrophobic forces in the BPA–HSA interaction, which agreed well with the results from molecular modelling. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of BPA were confirmed by UV–vis, FT-IR and CD spectroscopy. Lastly, the average binding distance, r, between BPA and HSA was evaluated and found to be 1.82nm according to Förster’s theory of non-radiation energy transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhanced anticoagulation and/or even bleeding are often observed when patients on long-term warfarin (WAR) therapy consumed Danshen, a well-known medicinal herb in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). This study demonstrates that altered WAR metabolism, arising from its interaction with the active components in Danshen, played a significant role in this curative effect. Mass spectrometric techniques including ESI-ITMS (electrospray ionization ion-trap mass spectrometry) and ESI-TOF (time-of-flight)-MS have been developed for the study of such drug–herb interactions. The experimental approach involved a detailed analysis and comparison of WAR metabolites in vivo from blood or urine of rats that had been orally administrated with WAR, either singly or together with the representative bioactive component of Danshen–lipid soluble TIIA (Tanshinon IIA), and a study of the interaction of human serum albumin (HSA), WAR, and water-soluble sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) in vitro. Results demonstrate that TIIA accelerates the metabolic rate of WAR, whereas STS displaces WAR from the WAR–HSA complex, resulting in an increase of free WAR concentration in blood. It is suggested that the elevated level and enhanced metabolism of WAR is responsible for the over-anticoagulation effect observed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, few-shot knowledge graph completion (FKGC) has gained popularity as a solution to the long-tail distribution problem of real-world knowledge graphs (KGs). The previous knowledge graph completion (KGC) models obtain triple representation merely relying on the structure view, ignoring the valuable semantic knowledge. In this paper, we propose a multi-view framework for few-shot relation learning to address the issue. Specifically, based the structural information of the graph obtained using the structure view, we add the text view and the commonsense view. The text view employs text descriptions of entities and relations to obtain a richer semantic representation. The commonsense view performs high-quality negative sampling based on complex relations. Moreover, commonsense semantic constraints are invoked to suppress the overfitting caused by the complexity of the relation matrix. Extensive experiments show that our model outperforms state-of-the-art FKGC methods on the frequently-used benchmark datasets FB15k237-One and NELL-One. • We design a multi-view joint encoder to learn semantic information. • Commonsense semantic constraints are introduced to explore semantic relations. • We leverage the commonsense view to generate high-quality negative triples. • We identify candidate entities that match commonsense in the prediction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphofructokinase, platelet (PFKP) is a rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis that plays a decisive role in various human physio-pathological processes. PFKP has been reported to have multiple functions in different cancer types, including lung cancer and breast cancer. However, no systematic pancancer analysis of PFKP has been performed; this type of analysis could elucidate the clinical value of PFKP in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, drug sensitivity, and immunological correlation. Systematic bioinformation analysis of PFKP was performed based on several public datasets, including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx), and Human Protein Atlas (HPA). Prospective carcinogenesis of PFKP across cancers was estimated by expression analysis, effect on patient prognosis, diagnosis significance evaluation, and immunity regulation estimation. Then, pancancer functional enrichment of PFKP was also assessed through its effect on the signaling score and gene expression profile. Finally, upstream expression regulation of PFKP was explored by promoter DNA methylation and transcription factor (TF) prediction. Our analysis revealed that high expression of PFKP was found in most cancer types. Additionally, a high level of PFKP displayed a significant correlation with poor prognosis in patients across cancers. The diagnostic value of PFKP was performed based on its positive correlation with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). We also found an obvious immune-regulating effect of PFKP in most cancer types. PFKP also had a strong negative correlation with several cancer drugs. Finally, ectopic expression of PFKP may depend on DNA methylation and several predicated transcription factors, including the KLF (KLF transcription factor) and Sp (Sp transcription factor) families. This pancancer analysis revealed that a high expression level of PFKP might be a useful biomarker and predictor in most cancer types. Additionally, the performance of PFKP across cancers also suggested its meaningful role in cancer immunity regulation, even in immunotherapy and drug resistance. Overall, PFKP might be explored as an auxiliary monitor for pancancer early prognosis and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Use quantum chemistry predict MIL structure and properties. • MIL break hydrogen bond in coal and cause coal swelling by simulation methods. • Pretreatment of coal reduces the loss of weight temperature and improves tar yield. Since direct combustion of low-rank coal is inefficient, expansion and dissolution are essential for better use of coal as an energy source. In this study, [C 8 mim]FeCl 4 molecular configuration was synthesized by quantum chemical simulation method, and Magnetic ionic liquid (MIL) was used to modify coal to improve its swelling efficiency. The FT-IR and Raman properties of MIL were measured by simulation combined with practical methods. Dmol3 was used to study the hydrogen bond changes of coal molecules induced by MIL. When MIL interacts violently with organic matter in coal, the cross-linking network structure generated by non-covalent bonds is destroyed, resulting in the break of covalent bonds such as hydrogen bonds. Further experimental study shows that the pore structure and surface morphology of modified coal samples will be damaged, indicating that the MIL has the ability to dissolve hydrogen bonds and pretreat low-rank coal. It was found by TGA that MIL treatment can increase the tar yield of coal by up to 4.79% and reduce ash content by 3.51%. Through the integration of molecular modeling and experimental analysis, this study elucidates the fundamental principles underlying MIL pretreatment of coal, thereby providing a viable strategy for efficient quality improvement utilization of low-rank coal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The time sequence probabilistic model of traction station load of high-speed railway considering the spatial correlation is proposed by applying the diffusion-based kernel density estimator (DKDE). • The model of time sequence three-phase probabilistic power flow (3PPF) calculation for power system connected with traction load is proposed through the port transformation of traction power supply system (TPSS). • The algorithm of time sequence 3PPF calculation model based on the three-point estimation method (3PEM) owned both the accuracy and the computational efficiency. • The time sequence probability density curves of voltage amplitude and three phase voltage unbalance degree of grid are obtained under the impact of the asymmetry and spatiotemporal of traction load of high-speed railway. The increasing traction station load of high-speed railway with single-phase, high-power, spatiotemporal mobility, and uncertainty has brought major impacts and challenges to the power system. The non-negligible characteristics are the spatial distribution of traction stations on high-speed railway lines, the time sequence of traction load moving with EMUs, as well as the nonparametric probabilistic features and correlation of traction load. A method of time sequence three-phase probabilistic power flow (3PPF) calculation for power system including traction station load of high-speed railway is proposed in this paper. Firstly, through the port transformation of traction power supply system (TPSS), the three-phase equivalent model of TPSS is established to construct an unbalanced three-phase power flow calculation model of grid with traction station load. Secondly, considering the spatial correlation, time sequence and non-parametric probabilistic feature of traction load, the time sequence probabilistic models of multiple traction station loads are built based on diffusion-based kernel density estimator (DKDE). Then, the algorithm of time sequence 3PPF calculation based on three-point estimation method (3PEM) is applied to deal with the computational efficiency and accuracy problems of 3PPF considering correlation and timing. Finally, the two modified three-phase power systems are employed for case studies in combination with the measured data of traction station of a high-speed railway. The validity and computing efficiency of the proposed method are verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phosphofructokinase, platelet (PFKP) is a rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis that plays a decisive role in various human physio-pathological processes. PFKP has been reported to have multiple functions in different cancer types, including lung cancer and breast cancer. However, no systematic pancancer analysis of PFKP has been performed; this type of analysis could elucidate the clinical value of PFKP in terms of diagnosis, prognosis, drug sensitivity, and immunological correlation. Systematic bioinformation analysis of PFKP was performed based on several public datasets, including The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE), Genotype-Tissue Expression Project (GTEx), and Human Protein Atlas (HPA). Prospective carcinogenesis of PFKP across cancers was estimated by expression analysis, effect on patient prognosis, diagnosis significance evaluation, and immunity regulation estimation. Then, pancancer functional enrichment of PFKP was also assessed through its effect on the signaling score and gene expression profile. Finally, upstream expression regulation of PFKP was explored by promoter DNA methylation and transcription factor (TF) prediction. Our analysis revealed that high expression of PFKP was found in most cancer types. Additionally, a high level of PFKP displayed a significant correlation with poor prognosis in patients across cancers. The diagnostic value of PFKP was performed based on its positive correlation with programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1). We also found an obvious immune-regulating effect of PFKP in most cancer types. PFKP also had a strong negative correlation with several cancer drugs. Finally, ectopic expression of PFKP may depend on DNA methylation and several predicated transcription factors, including the KLF (KLF transcription factor) and Sp (Sp transcription factor) families. This pancancer analysis revealed that a high expression level of PFKP might be a useful biomarker and predictor in most cancer types. Additionally, the performance of PFKP across cancers also suggested its meaningful role in cancer immunity regulation, even in immunotherapy and drug resistance. Overall, PFKP might be explored as an auxiliary monitor for pancancer early prognosis and diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An annealing method capable of forming highly activated shallow junctions in Ge CMOS is still lacking. For the first time, nonmelt submillisecond laser spike annealing (LSA) is demonstrated to achieve high activation level, excellent diffusion control, and resulting low contact resistivity for both n-type and p-type Ge junctions when using P and B as the dopants, respectively. The thermal stability of the junctions activated by LSA is investigated. In addition, our results on Ge junctions and contacts are benchmarked systematically against published results using sheet resistance-junction depth ( Rs-{X}{\!{j}} ) plots and contact resistivity-dopant concentration ( \rho c-{N} ) plots. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Bacteria deliver effector proteins into the host cell via a secretory system that can directly act on the target to cause disease. As an important pipeline structural protein of the type VI secretion system (T6SS) complex, Hcp acts together with other virulence factors in the target cell. There is growing evidence that T6SS plays a key role in the pathogenic mechanism of APEC. However, the regulatory function played by the effector protein Hcp during its interaction with host cells is not clear. Here, tandem mass tag (TMT) analysis was used to quantify the proteins affected by increased expression of Hcp2a in DF-1 cells. Results: The host response was significantly different between the overexpression and null groups at the protein level. A total of 195 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were detected in the overexpression group (upregulated, n = 144, downregulated, n = 51). Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed to predict the biological functions and pathways of differentially expressed proteins. The results showed that these DEPs were mainly enriched in RNA degradation, spliceosome, and mRNA surveillance pathways. Conclusions: This study suggests that Hcp2a, the effector protein of APEC, plays an important role in regulating mRNA splicing and protein quality control in DF-1 cells. These findings provide useful clues to elucidate the pathogenic mechanism of effector protein Hcp2a on host target cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been reported to be associated with the development of cancer. Nevertheless, the exact role of TRAF6 in cancer remains unclear. The purpose of the present study was to explore the mechanism of 2-benzoyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one leading to the inhibition of the activation of AKT and TGF-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1), and to the apoptosis of MCF-7 cells. Using a computational docking program and examination of AKT and TAK1 level changes, a new small molecule was identified, 2-benzoyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one, which competitively bound to TRAF6. Next, the effect of this new compound on MCF-7 cells' biological behavior was studied in vitro. MTT assays were used to investigate cell viability; flow cytometry and invasion assays were performed to detect early apoptosis and invasion in MCF-7 cells, respectively. Immunoprecipitation, western blotting and caspase-3/9 activity assays were carried out to explore changes in protein expression. Briefly, the present data indicated that 2-benzoyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one could suppress proliferation, induce early apoptosis and inhibit invasion in MCF-7 cells by suppressing the expression of Bcl-2 and promoting the expression of Bax, caspase-9, and caspase-3. These findings indicated that 2-benzoyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-9H-xanthen-9-one could induce apoptosis by inhibiting the activation of AKT and TAK1, and affecting the Bcl-2/Bax-caspase-9-caspase-3 pathway by competitively binding with TRAF6. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WS-299 binds to RBX1 and disrupts the interaction of RBX1–UBE2M, thus causing selective inhibition of CUL3/5 neddylation and the collapse of neddylation complex. [Display omitted] • WS-299 showed excellent anti-proliferative activity in vivo and vitro. • WS-299 inhibited CUL3 neddylation by inhibiting RBX1-UBE2M interaction. • WS-299 induced ROS level was weakened by Nrf2 and the anticancer effect of WS-299 was enhanced by combination with shNrf2. The abnormal activation of Cullin RING E3 Ligases (CRLs) is closely associated with the occurrence and development of various cancers. Targeting the neddylation pathway represents an effective approach for cancer treatment. In this work, we reported that WS-299 , structurally featuring a coumarin moiety attached to the triazolopyrimidine, exhibited excellent anti-proliferative activity in MGC-803 and HGC-27 cells. WS-299 exerted potent anticancer effects by inhibiting clone formation, EdU incorporation and inducing cell cycle arrest. WS-299 inhibited CUL3/5 neddylation and caused an obvious accumulation of Nrf2 and NOXA, substrates of CRL3 and CRL5, respectively. Biochemical studies showed that WS-299 inhibited CUL3 neddylation by inhibiting RBX1-UBE2M interaction. The anti-proliferative effect of WS-299 was mainly induced by NOXA-mediated apoptosis. Of note, Nrf2 attenuated WS-299- induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. Furthermore, Nrf2 accumulation also had an antagonistic effect on NOXA-induced apoptosis. Therefore, WS-299 and siNrf2 synergistically increased ROS levels, apoptotic cells and suppressed tumor growth in vivo. Taken together, our research clarified the anti-cancer mechanisms of WS-299 through targeting the RBX1-UBE2M protein-protein interaction and inhibiting the neddylation modification of CUL3 and CUL5. More importantly, our studies also demonstrated that combination of WS-299 with shNrf2 could be an effective strategy for treating gastric cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, novel multicore-shell ZnO microspheres were synthesized via a simple solvothermal method based on the coordination of salicylic acid under the protection of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). In this process, as an organic acid, salicylic acid with a benzene ring structure rich in hydroxyl and carboxyl functional groups can not only play a structure-oriented role, but also can etch materials to form a hollow structure. Compared with traditional basic synthesis methods, the diversity of coordination forms makes the structure more abundant. The multicore-shell ZnO was annealed at 450, 600, and 750 °C respectively. Under the driving force of reducing the surface free energy, part of the multi-nucleus inside the microspheres aggregated to form large particles, and the other part adhered to the shell layer to grow. The crystallinity, morphology and surface composition of the ZnO microspheres were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, XPS, BET and FT-IR analyses. The multicore-shell ZnO-based sensor that exhibited excellent sensitivity to acetone (2 ppm, S Ra/Rg = 8.6) at an optimal working temperature of 240 °C, with a low limit of detection of 100 ppb with a S Ra/Rg = 2.9. The annealed ZnO-based sensors also performed well, among them, the product annealed at 750 °C (ZnO-750) is the best, with a response of 6.4 to 2 ppm acetone. The sensors exhibited satisfactory selectivity and can detect acetone in the presence of other interfering gases, including NO, CO, NH 3 , HCHO, CH 3 OH and C 2 H 5 OH. The outstanding sensitivity of the multicore-shell ZnO sensor to acetone can be attributed to its large specific surface area and pore volume, which favors gas adsorption, penetration and diffusion. For the annealed ZnO, we speculated that the specific exposed crystal plane (002) plays a decisive role in the good adsorption and reaction of acetone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• PtCo nanocrosses (PtCo CNCs) with concave structure were easily synthesized. • Iminodiacetic acid plays a key role in regulating the concave cross-like structure. • Concave cross-like structure can provide more under-coordinated atoms as active sites. • PtCo CNCs shows great enhanced MOR performance than commercial Pt/C. Concave nanostructures with the high-index facets and highly exposed active sites are desirable in energy conversion technology, whereas the current synthetic strategies still remain challenging. Herein, we report a facile and effective strategy for the synthesis of concave PtCo nanocrosses (PtCo CNCs) with the assist of iminodiacetic acid (IDA). Owing to strong chelation of IDA with metal ions through carboxyl and imino groups, the IDA molecule plays a key role as the structure-directing agent in regulating the cross-like structure. The as-prepared PtCo CNCs are constructed by six arms in three-dimensional space and each protruding arm has concave surface bounded by high-index facets. As an electrocatalyst towards methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), the developed PtCo CNCs exhibit much enhanced specific and mass activity of 3.04 mA cm Pt −2 and 692 mA mg Pt −1 that are 3.1 and 2.6 times greater than those of commercial Pt black, respectively. The excellent electrocatalytic stability and improved tolerance toward CO ads are also demonstrated on PtCo CNCs catalyst. The remarkable electrocatalytic performance of PtCo CNCs towards MOR is highly related with their concave surface and high-index facets, as well as synergistic effect between Pt and Co atoms. The facile synthetic strategy and outstanding MOR performance endow PtCo CNCs with great application potential in fuel cells as an anode catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effect of calcium on tungsten oxide, tungsten, tungsten carbide and WC-Co cemented carbides, and the evolution of Ca during the preparation of cemented carbides were investigated studied by the liquid-solid doping method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were employed to analyze the phase compositions, particle sizes and morphologies of them, respectively. The results showed that 1% Ca-doped tungsten oxide consisted of WO 3 and CaWO 4 phases. After hydrogen reduction, the size of Ca-doped tungsten decreased slightly. During carbonization, most of the CaWO 4 and Ca 4.26 W 10 O 30 transformed to CaC 2 . After that, the majority rest of the CaWO 4 and Ca 4.26 W 10 O 30 both reduced to CaO in the sintering process. The microhardness, flexural strength and fracture toughness of 1%Ca-doped WC-6wt.%Co cemented carbide were 14.83 GPa, 1456 MPa and 9.98 MPa m 1/2 , decrement of 10.12%, 29.53%, and 10.57%, respectively. A refining mechanism for tungsten and a weakening mechanism for WC-Co cemented carbides were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We performed an epidemiological investigation of subjects with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) to identify the clinical distribution of the major syndromes and symptoms. The pathogenesis of PMDD mainly involves the dysfunction of liver conveyance and dispersion. Excessive liver conveyance and dispersion are associated with liver-qi invasion syndrome, while insufficient liver conveyance and dispersion are expressed as liver-qi depression syndrome. Additionally, a nonconditional logistic regression was performed to analyze the symptomatic features of liver-qi invasion and liver-qi depression. As a result of this analysis, two subtypes of PMDD are proposed, namely, excessive liver conveyance and dispersion (liver-qi invasion syndrome) and insufficient liver conveyance and dispersion (liver-qi depression syndrome). Our findings provide an epidemiological foundation for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of PMDD based on the identification of different types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to develop an exact mass suspect screening approach to perform finding of multiple lipophilic marine toxins (LMTs) in seawater, suspended particulate matter (SPM), and marine sediment from marine aquaculture area using liquid chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry (LC-TOF/MS). The method was validated and proven to be reliable for the screening of various LMTs. Then, the method was applied to screen LMTs in marine environmental samples collected from mariculture area of Jiaozhou Bay, China. Okadaic acid (OA), pectenotoxin 2 (PTX2), etc were detected and tentatively identified. Positive detection results were confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), and contents of OA and PTX2 in seawater, SPM and marine sediment were also quantified. The mean concentration of OA ranged from 2.71 to 14.06 ng L −1 in seawater and from 0.78 to 3.34 ng g −1 dry weight in marine sediment. The mean concentration of PTX2 ranged from 0.86 to 7.90 ng L −1 in seawater, from 1.56 to 10.67 ng in SPM obtained from 1 L seawater sample and from 0.95 to 2.23 ng g −1 dry weight in marine sediment. The above results suggested that the proposed method was convenient and reliable for the screening of LMTs in different marine environmental samples. In addition, typical LMTs exist in different marine environmental media of the mariculture area of Jiaozhou Bay, China. Follow-up studies should focus on improving current understanding on the environmental behavior of these LMTs in the marine aquaculture environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The terminal stages of pulmonary development, called sacculation and alveologenesis, involve both differentiation of distal lung endoderm progenitors and extensive cellular remodeling of the resultant epithelial lineages. These processes are coupled with dramatic expansion of distal airspace and surface area. Despite the importance of these late developmental processes and their relation to neonatal respiratory diseases, little is understood about the molecular and cellular pathways critical for their successful completion. We show that a histone deacetylase 3 (Hdac3)-mediated epigenetic pathway is critical for the proper remodeling and expansion of the distal lung saccules into primitive alveoli. Loss of Hdac3 in the developing lung epithelium leads to a reduction of alveolar type 1 cell spreading and a disruption of lung sacculation. Hdac3 represses miR-17-92 expression, a microRNA cluster that regulates transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling. De-repression of miR-17-92 in Hdac3-deficient lung epithelium results in decreased TGF-β signaling activity. Importantly, inhibition of TGF-β signaling and overexpression of miR-17-92 can phenocopy the defects observed in Hdac3 null lungs. Conversely, loss of miR-17-92 expression rescues many of the defects caused by loss of Hdac3 in the lung. These studies reveal an intricate epigenetic pathway where Hdac3 is required to repress miR-17-92 expression to allow for proper TGF-β signaling during lung sacculation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding power system dynamics is essential for online stability assessment and control applications. Global positioning system‐synchronised phasor measurement units and frequency disturbance recorders (FDRs) make power system dynamics visible and deliver an accurate picture of the overall operation condition to system operators. However, in the actual field implementations, some measurement data can be inaccessible for various reasons, for example, most notably failure of communication. In this study, a measurement‐based approach is proposed to estimate the missing power system dynamics. Specifically, a correlation coefficient index is proposed to describe the correlation relationship between different measurements. Then, the auto‐regressive with exogenous input identification model is employed to estimate the missing system dynamic response. The US Eastern Interconnection is utilised in this study as a case study. The robustness of the correlation approach is verified by a wide variety of case studies as well. Finally, the proposed correlation approach is applied to the real FDR data for power system dynamic response estimation. The results indicate that the correlation approach could help select better input locations and thus improve the response estimation accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) contamination in coastal waters around LaiZhou Bay and JiaoZhou Bay in Shandong Peninsula, northern China, was investigated. The areas around the two bays are both densely populated, thrived with intensive agriculture and industrial activities. Multi-techniques including GC–MS, GC–μECD coupled with chemical peak confirmation and strict QC procedures were used for the quantitative determination of 15 OCPs including alpha, beta, gamma and delta isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB), heptachlor, aldrin, endosulfan, p,p′-DDE, dieldrin, endrin, p,p′-DDD, o,p′-DDT, p,p′-DDT and methoxychlor. The survey results show that contaminations by OCP residues remain widespread in the areas, but the averaged concentration levels are all below the regulatory limits, e.g., CMC limits (acute criterion values) specified in US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and China national standards. Average concentration of OCPs in water samples were from undetectable to 3. 8ngl−1 in LaiZhou Bay and from 0. 1 to 3. 9ngl−1 in JiaoZhou Bay, respectively. A comparison between the current and historical data shows a rapidly decreasing trend of OCPs over the past twenty years in the study areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In view of the low sensitivity, high operating temperature and poor selectivity of acetone measurements, in this paper much effort has been paid to improve the performance of acetone sensors from three aspects: increasing the surface area of the material, improving the surface activity and enhancing gas diffusion. A hierarchical flower-like Pt-doped (1 wt %) 3D porous SnO2 (3DPS) material was synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. The micropores of the material were constructed by subsequent annealing. The results of the experiments show that the 3DPS-based sensor's response is strongly dependent on temperature, exhibiting a mountain-like response curve. The maximum sensor sensitivity (Ra/Rg) was found to be as high as 505.7 at a heating temperature of 153 °C and with an exposure to 100 ppm acetone. Additionally, at 153 °C, the sensor still had a response of 2.1 when exposed to 50 ppb acetone gas. The 3DPS-based sensor also has an excellent selectivity for acetone detection. The high sensitivity can be explained by the increase in the specific surface area brought about by the hierarchical flower-like structure, the enhanced surface activity of the noble metal nanoparticles, and the rapid diffusion of free-gas and adsorbed gas molecules caused by the multiple channels of the microporous structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bashang Plateau, which is an ecologically fragile agro-pastoral zone in Hebei Province in China, plays an important role in protecting the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from wind and sand erosion. Over the last four decades, it has been the target of extensive afforestation campaigns to promote improved ecosystem services. Though the benefits and costs of afforestation and its effectiveness within forestry have been widely investigated, few studies have focused on local households' willingness to accept (WTA) compensation relating to afforestation policies. Moreover, despite their importance in ensuring effective afforestation policies, the factors influencing WTA values have seldom been examined. We administered a direct questionnaire survey of households on the Bashang Plateau and applied a contingent valuation analysis to estimate their WTA values for compensation associated with ecological protection policies. We obtained 249 valid questionnaires, evidencing a high response rate (92.22%). New indicators of factors influencing respondents' WTA has been conducted including social, economic and ecological aspects, especially the improvement of ecological factors which consists of respondents' perceptions regarding the importance of ES and their satisfaction levels, and other environmental awareness factors. Additionally, in the case where many studies performed only one single regression analysis, this study performed a two-stage regression analysis and compared the results with those obtained using the Tobit model. A reasonable compensation standard facilitates a positive relationship between economic development and protection of natural environments. The findings showed that a certain amount of compensation (approximately 477.91 CNY/mu/year) was likely to prompt households' participation in afforestation projects. Compared with compensation standards for other ecological projects, the reported standard for afforestation projects on the Bashang Plateau is low, indicating that there is room for improvement. High annual household incomes are a key factor influencing households' WTA regarding their participation in afforestation activities. The results also revealed households' environmental awareness. Among respondents who participated in afforestation, those who valued forests for protecting environments and improving ecosystem services opted for lower compensation amounts. Our findings contribute valuable inputs for formulating ecological compensation standards and can serve as a reference for analyses of WTA and factors that drive it in other similar economically backward and ecologically fragile regions. • Households' WTA for afforestation projects was calculated by contingent valuation method. • Tobit model and a double-hurdle regression model were used to analyze influencing factors of WTA. • High annual household incomes are a key factor influencing households' WTA. • Respondents who valued forests for improving ecosystem services opted for lower WTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coating is one of the biggest problems in the recycling of coated multicomponent hardmetal scraps. The isothermal oxidation behavior of WC-Co multicomponent cemented carbide inserts with a TiCN/Al2O3/TiN hard coating in the recycling process was investigated. The oxidation rate slowed down as the protective coating blocked element diffusion. A rapid oxidation rate was obtained when they were milled into powders and isothermally oxidized at 900 °C. A rapid path for element diffusion was provided by the defects, which were promoted by stress, expansion, and gas volatilization. Both the TiN and TiCN layers were oxidized to a porous TiO2 scale, while the Al2O3 phase remained and the dense Al2O3 layer acted as a barrier for its good oxidation resistance. Pieces of the Al2O3 layer were obviously seen in the final oxides. This provides critical information to reduce the negative effect of coatings and improve the performance of recycled WC powders and hard alloys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]