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In the present study, a kind of structured lipids, namely 1,3‐di‐oleic‐2‐medium chain (OMO) triacylglycerols, were synthesized through lipase‐catalyzed reactions using coconut oil and rapeseed acid as materials in a trace water‐in‐oil system. Experimental analysis and computational simulations were undertaken to compare the stability of four lipases including Lipozyme RMIM, Lipozyme TLIM, Novozym 435, and Aspergillus oryzae immobilized lipase (AOIM), and illustrate catalytic mechanism of Novozym 435 during the synthesis of OMO. Fourier transform infrared and molecular dynamics simulation results demonstrated that a decrease in ordered structure (α‐helix and β‐sheet) led to a reduction in enzyme activity. Compared with Lipozyme RMIM and Novozym 435, Lipozyme TLIM and AOIM exhibited better stability due to a short‐chain lid in TLIM, which covers activity sites, and hydrogen bonds formed between activity center of AOIM and water. Among four lipases, AOIM exhibited best catalytic performance: a OMO yield of 30.7% at 3 hr and a good stability of long term (48 hr). Density functional theory results demonstrated that specifically, during the synthesis of OMO triacylglycerol, the addition of Novozym 435 (derived from Candida antarctica lipase B, CALB) substantially lowered reaction barriers (64.4 KJ/mol with CALB vs. 332.7 KJ/mol with no lipase), aiding in the generation of OMO because of the formations of transitional tetrahedral intermediates. A trace water‐in‐oil system was a green and efficient alternative for lipase‐catalyzed production of OMO, and this study provided crucial insights into the stability/instability and catalytic mechanisms of lipase in the synthesis of structured lipids. Practical applications: We compared the stability of Lipozyme RMIM, Lipozyme 435, Lipozyme TLIM, and AOIM during the synthesis of the OMO triacylglycerols in a trace water‐in‐oil system, where exhibited a high catalytic activity of lipase in water–oil interface. AOIM had the highest stability and showed the best catalytic performance due to the formation of hydrogen bonds. Besides, for the first time, the transition tetrahedral structure was revealed in the enzymatic synthesis of medium‐ and long‐chain triacylglycerols. This study provides a rational approach to compare lipase stability and a possible hint to choose appropriate enzyme in a specific catalytic condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous disease with diverse genetic subsets, one hallmark of AML blasts is myeloid differentiation blockade. Extensive evidence has indicated that differentiation induction therapy represents a promising treatment strategy. Here, we identified that the pharmacological inhibition of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) complex III by antimycin A inhibits proliferation and promotes cellular differentiation of AML cells. Mechanistically, we showed that the inhibition of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH), a rate-limiting enzyme in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis, is involved in antimycin A-induced differentiation. The activity of antimycin A could be reversed by supplement of excessive amounts of exogenous uridine as well as orotic acid, the product of DHODH. Furthermore, we also found that complex III inhibition exerts a synergistic effect in differentiation induction combined with DHODH inhibitor brequinar as well as with the pyrimidine salvage pathway inhibitor dipyridamole. Collectively, our study uncovered the link between mitochondrial complex III and AML differentiation and may provide further insight into the potential application of mitochondrial complex III inhibitor as a mono or combination treatment in differentiation therapy of AML. • Our study uncovered the inhibition of mitochondrial complex III-induced AML cell differentiation as well as the underlying mechanisms. • The concomitant blockade of the complex III and pyrimidine biosynthesis pathways, including the de novo and salvage pathway, exerts a synergistic effect in inducing AML cell differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Immune aberrations in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are characterized by systemic inflammation and immune deficiency. The mechanistic understanding of this phenomenon remains limited. Methods We generated 12 981 and 9578 single-cell transcriptomes of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) that were pooled from 10 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with ESRD by single-cell RNA sequencing. Unsupervised clustering and annotation analyses were performed to cluster and identify cell types. The analysis of hallmark pathway and regulon activity was performed in the main cell types. Results We identified 14 leukocytic clusters that corresponded to six known PBMC types. The comparison of cells from ESRD patients and healthy individuals revealed multiple changes in biological processes. We noticed an ESRD-related increase in inflammation response, complement cascade and cellular metabolism, as well as a strong decrease in activity related to cell cycle progression in relevant cell types in ESRD. Furthermore, a list of cell type-specific candidate transcription factors (TFs) driving the ESRD-associated transcriptome changes was identified. Conclusions We generated a distinctive, high-resolution map of ESRD-derived PBMCs. These results revealed cell type-specific ESRD-associated pathways and TFs. Notably, the pooled sample analysis limits the generalization of our results. The generation of larger single-cell datasets will complement the current map and drive advances in therapies that manipulate immune cell function in ESRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicon-based materials with designed morphology and composite structure have received increasing interest in recent years due to the potential wide application for energy storage devices. However, these Si-based nanocomposites were usually synthesized and functionalized with other materials at a high temperature. Herein, one flocculent carbon network-twined C/Si/SiC nanocomposites were synthesized by a novel in-situ laser irradiation method using SiC targets as both a template and the source of C and Si. The fragmentation, decomposition and reshaping processes of bulk SiC to flocculent C/Si/SiC are simultaneously accomplished in one step, which can provide a more stable structure between epitaxial Si layer and C layer. What is more, due to the distinct laser-induced loose microstructure and flocculated carbon nanosheets, such nanocomposites exhibit a high specific surface area and hierarchically porous structure. Image 1 • Flocculent carbon network-twined C/Si/SiC composite structure was synthesized. • Bulk SiC were changed to flocculent carbon network-twined C/Si/SiC. • The composites were fabricated by simple in-situ laser irradiation in nature. • Such unique flocculent network structures exhibit a high specific surface area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical diagnosis and monitoring are crucial to reduce the mortality from oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs). It has been demonstrated that synuclein‐γ (SNCG) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCAg) are highly expressed in patients with OSCC and perhaps participate in OSCC progression. This study analyzed the levels of serum SNCG and SCCAg in OSCC, OPMD, and control patients, and evaluated the diagnostic and clinical value of single and combined detection of serum SNCG and SCCAg in OSCC and OPMDs. Patients and methods: Serum samples were collected from 197 patients including 87 patients with OSCC, 30 patients with OPMDs, and 80 healthy volunteers as controls. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and statistical analysis were utilized to determine SNCG and SCCAg levels in serum. Results: The levels of SNCG and SCCAg in serum were significantly higher in OSCC compared with OPMDs and controls. There was a correlation between SNCG level and ethnicity, and SCCAg was correlated with differentiation. Furthermore, the area under the curves, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of combined detection of SNCG and SCCAg were better than any single detection. Conclusion: The combined detection of SNCG and SCCAg in serum could become a new standard method to distinguish between OSCC and OPMDs and improve diagnostic performance for OSCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose was to compare the diagnostic performances of strain elastography (SE) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) in differentiating breast lesions by combining with conventional ultrasound (US). A total of 198 patients with 203 breast lesions underwent conventional US, SE and SWE examination using MyLab 90 and Aixplorer US systems. The SE parameters were SEscore, fat-to-lesion ratio, gland-to-lesion ratio, muscle-to-lesion ratio and SEmean, and the SWE parameters were Emax, Emean, Emin and Esd. Conventional US had the best diagnostic performance, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.896. Among all SE parameters, the AUCs of SEscore, fat-to-lesion ratio and SEmean were 0.802, 0.810 and 0.833. For SWE parameters, they were 0.845, 0.746 and 0.845, respectively, for Emax, Emean and Esd. When combined with US, the sensitivity and AUC of SWE seemed to be better than those of SE (96.55% vs. 93.10%, 0.958 vs. 0.947), but no statistically significant difference existed between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information in working memory (WM) can guide visual attention towards matched features. While recent work has suggested that cognitive control can act upon WM guidance of visual attention, little is known about how the state of memorized items retaining in WM contribute to its influence over attention. Here, we disentangle the role of inhibition and maintenance on WM-guided attention with a novel delayed match-to-sample dual-task. The results showed that active inhibition facilitated searching by diminishing sensory processing and deterring attentional guidance, indexed by an attenuated P1 amplitude and unaffected N2pc amplitude, respectively. By contrast, active maintenance impaired searching by attentional guidance while sensory processing remained unimpaired, indexed by an enhanced N2pc amplitude and unchanged P1 amplitude, respectively. Furthermore, multivariate pattern analyses could sucessfully decode maintenance and inhibition, suggesting that two states differed in modulating visual attention. We propose that remembered contents may play an anchoring role for attentional guidance, and the state of those contents retaining in WM may directly influence the shifting of attention. The maintenance could guide attention by accessing input information, while the inhibition could deter the shifting of attention by suppressing sensory processing. These findings provide a possible reinterpretation of the influence of WM on attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the use of radiomics in the in‐depth identification of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation status in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Methods: Computed tomography images of 438 patients with lung adenocarcinoma were collected in two different institutions, and 496 radiomic features were extracted. In the training set, lasso logistic regression was used to establish radiomic signatures. Combining radiomic index and clinical features, five machine learning methods, and a tenfold cross‐validation strategy were used to establish combined models for EGFR+ vs EGFR−, and 19Del vs L858R, groups. The predictive power of the models was then evaluated using an independent external validation cohort. Results: In the EGFR+ vs EGFR− and 19Del vs L858R groups, radiomic signatures consisting of 12 and 7 radiomic features were established, respectively; the area under the curves (AUCs) of the lasso logistic regression model on the validation set was 0.76 and 0.71, respectively. After inclusion of the clinical features, the maximum AUC of combined models on the validation set was 0.79 and 0.74, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed good performance in the two groups, with AUCs of 0.79 and 0.71 on the validation set. Additionally, the AUC of combined models in the EGFR+ vs EGFR− group was higher than that of the 19Del vs L858R group. Conclusions: Our study shows the potential of radiomics to predict EGFR mutation status. There are imaging phenotypic differences between EGFR+ and EGFR−, and between 19Del and L858R; these can be used to allow patients with lung adenocarcinoma to choose more appropriate and personalized treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Studying the relationship between different traits of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) and MM is critical for the management and treatment of MM patients with COVID-19. But all the studies on the relationship so far were observational and the results were also contradictory. Using the latest publicly available COVID-19 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data, we performed a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of the causality between MM and different traits of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, and severe COVID-19) and use multi-trait analysis of GWAS(MTAG) to identify new associated SNPs in MM. We performed co-localization analysis to reveal potential causal pathways between diseases and over-representation enrichment analysis to find involved biological pathways. IVW results showed SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalization increased risk of MM. In the reverse analysis, the causal relationship was not found between MM for each of the different symptoms of COVID-19. Co-localization analysis identified LZTFL1, MUC4, OAS1, HLA-C, SLC22A31, FDX2, and MAPT as genes involved in COVID-19-mediated causation of MM. These genes were mainly related to immune function, glycosylation modifications and virus defense. Three novel MM-related SNPs were found through MTAG, which may regulate the expression of B3GNT6. This is the first study to use MR to explore the causality between different traits of COVID-19 and MM. The results of our two-way MR analysis found that SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 hospitalization increased the susceptibility of MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Drp1 is widely expressed in the mouse central nervous system and plays a role in inducing the mitochondrial fission process. Many diseases are associated with Drp1 and mitochondria. However, since the exact distribution of Drp1 has not been specifically observed, it is difficult to determine the impact of anti-Drp1 molecules on the human body. Clarifying the specific Drp1 distribution could be a good approach to targeted treatment or prognosis. Methods: We visualized the distribution of Drp1 in different brain regions and explicated the relationship between Drp1 and mitochondria. GAD67-GFP knock-in mice were utilized to detect the expression patterns of Drp1 in GABAergic neurons. We also further analyzed Drp1 expression in human malignant glioma tissue. Results: Drp1 was widely but heterogeneously distributed in the central nervous system. Further observation indicated that Drp1 was highly and heterogeneously expressed in inhibitory neurons. Under transmission electron microscopy, the distribution of Drp1 was higher in dendrites than other areas in neurons, and only a small amount of Drp1 was localized in mitochondria. In human malignant glioma, the fluorescence intensity of Drp1 increased from grade I-III, while grade IV showed a declining trend. Conclusion: In this study, we observed a wide heterogeneous distribution of Drp1 in the central nervous system, which might be related to the occurrence and development of neurologic disease. We hope that the relationship between Drp1 and mitochondria may will to therapeutic guidance in the clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine the association between Intraoperative cell salvage (ICS), allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) and coagulation function in obstetrics.Methods: A total of 486 pregnant women undergoing cesarean delivery, of whom 157 were enrolled in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into ICS group (n = 101, ICS used during operation) and control group (n = 56, ICS not used during operation). Clinical data, including plasma prothrombin time (PT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), fibrinogen (Fib) and thrombin time (TT) levels, were collected from all patients preoperatively (within 12-24 h) and postoperatively (within 6-12 h) and analyzed by t test, two-way repeated-measures ANOVA and Spearman's correlation.Results: The use of ICS is associated with lower requirement rate for ABT (P < .001), while the blood loss was similar between the two groups (P = .990). Mean volume of ICS transfusion was 432.65 mL. Compared to preoperative values, the postoperative PT and APTT levels were significantly increased, while Fib was decreased in the two groups (all P < .01). No significant difference in coagulation function was observed between groups in preoperative and postoperative phase (P > .05). Furthermore, PT, APTT and TT after surgery were not correlated with the transfused volume of salvaged blood (P > .05) while the levels of Fib were negatively correlated with the volume (P < .01). In addition, there were no transfusion reactions in both two groups.Conclusions: Intraoperative cell salvage is correlated with reduced allogeneic blood requirements but did not impair blood coagulation significantly in patients undergoing cesarean delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The scientific interest regarding raspberry leaf composition and potential benefits grow. Still, little is known about raspberry leaves. OBJECTIVE: Extracts from nine raspberry leaf species and Autumn Bliss raspberry leaf tea (LT) were evaluated for their phenolic characteristics along with potential biological activities. METHODS: Phenolic constituents in leaf extracts from LT and nine raspberry species, including European red raspberry (ERR), Australian red raspberry (ARR), U.S. Raspberry (USR), Autumn Bliss (AB), Heritage (H), Tulameen (T), Longyuan Qiufeng (LQ), Qiuping (Q), and Fengman Hong (FH) were evaluated by UPLC-MS. Regarding to the bioactive activities, antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS assays), antidiabetic properties (α-amylase inhibition and α-glucosidase inhibition assays), antibacterial activities (growth inhibition zone measurement and a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)), and anti-inflammatory properties (inhibition of hyaluronidase activity and inhibition of albumin denaturation), were investigated. RESULTS: The results showed that ERR extract exhibited the highest levels of total phenolic (5.56±0.058 mg/g), the highest chlorogenic acid (597.03±10.90 mg/kg) and rutin level (2771.9±41.52 mg/kg). Autumn Bliss LT possessed the lowest total phenolics, and lowest DPPH scavenging activity. A high correlation between phenolic content and antioxidant activity was found in these extracts. CONCLUSIONS: High phytochemical contents and biological activities of these raspberry leaves, including antioxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory effect were shown, which indicated their consumption would be beneficial to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discussion is often celebrated as a critical element of public opinion and political participation. Recently, scholars have suggested that the design and features of specific online platforms shape what is politically expressed online and how. Building on these findings and drawing on 112 semi-structured qualitative interviews with information technology experts and internet users, we explain how major Chinese social media platforms differ in structure and motivation. Drawing upon a nationwide representative survey and an online experiment, we find that platforms aiming to make users a source of information through public, information-centred communication, such as the Twitter-like Weibo, are more conducive to political expression; while platforms built to optimize building social connections through private, user-centred communication, such as WhatsApp and Facebook-like WeChat, tend to inhibit political expression. These technological design effects are stronger when users believe the authoritarian state tolerates discussion, but less important when political talk is sensitive. The findings contribute to the debate on the political consequences of the internet by specifying technological and political conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ba2Ti9O20 single‐phase ceramics were prepared by reaction sintering method using TiO2 and BaCO3 as raw materials after heat treating at 1150°C for 10 hours. Furthermore, the formation mechanism and microstructure evolution of Ba2Ti9O20 ceramics prepared by reaction sintering method were investigated. The formation behavior of Ba2Ti9O20 phase was analyzed from the perspective of diffusion, where the reaction activation energy required for the process was calculated to be about 386.17 kJ/mol. Combined with the scanning electron microscopy and the energy dispersive spectrometer, it was revealed that the pores on Ba2Ti9O20 grains in the process of reaction sintering might be caused by the absence of oxygen element. Meanwhile, the reason for the roughness of ceramic surface was that the local inhomogeneous distribution of barium on the surface of Ba2Ti9O20 grain leaded to the enrichment of titanium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is devoted to the study of the nonlinear stability of the composite wave consisting of two rarefaction waves and a viscous contact wave for the Cauchy problem to a one-dimensional compressible non-isentropic Navier–Stokes/Allen–Cahn system which is a combination of the classical Navier–Stokes system with an Allen–Cahn phase field description. We first construct the composite wave through Euler equations under the assumption of χ (x , t) ≡ 1 for the large time behavior, and then prove that the composite wave is time asymptotically stable under small perturbations for the corresponding Cauchy problem of the non-isentropic Navier–Stokes/Allen–Cahn system. The proof is mainly based on a basic energy method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, suction stress is introduced into the isotropic normal compression equation of unsaturated soils, which can describe the compression behaviors of unsaturated soils from low to high stress levels. A new loading-collapse yield equation is derived, and a model for over-consolidated unsaturated soils is established via introducing UH parameter. With only nine parameters, the proposed model can describe the stress–strain behavior of unsaturated soils under normally consolidated and over-consolidated conditions, including isotropic compression characteristics, shear contraction and dilatation, strain hardening and softening, wetting–collapse, influence of stress path and critical state. The comparisons between model predictions and tests results are employed to validate the capability of the proposed model regarding reproducing the mechanical behaviors of over-consolidated unsaturated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lubrication is widely recognized as one primary strategy to address the issue of enormous energy losses and device failure caused by nearly ubiquitous friction and wear in mechanical operation. Herein, we report a simple and valid laser assisted growth strategy for reshaping the morphology of metal particles. Regular copper (Cu) submicrospheres are grown by irradiating common Cu nanoparticles in ethanol solution with a nanosecond pulsed laser under ambient conditions, which includes a surface melting and subsequent morphological reshaping process. More importantly, compared with the raw irregular Cu nanoparticles and pure paraffin liquid, the Cu submicrospheres as lubricating additives exhibited excellent friction reduction and wear-resistant properties, which benefit from their spherical morphology and good solubility in different commercial lubricants. The spherical shape makes sliding friction transform into rolling friction easily under low load. Besides, a self-repairing effect is also found on worn friction pairs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low cytotoxic Zr‐based MOF PCN‐221, which exhibited the ability to entrap β‐estradiol model drug, was studied as a drug delivery system. As a comparison, another drug carrier, halloysite nanotubes, was also investigated. Both PCN‐221 and halloysite nanotubes were characterized by IR spectroscopy, powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). β‐estradiol was loaded mainly on skeleton and partially on the external surface of PCN‐221. We show that controlled release of β‐estradiol from PCN‐221 was observed over more than 31 days, compared with the 20 days release period from halloysite nanotubes, indicating PCN‐221 are a superior carriers of β‐estradiol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study an asymptotic model for wave propagation in shallow water with the effect of the Coriolis force is derived from the governing equation in two dimensional flows. The transport equation theory is then applied to investigate the local well-posedness and wave breaking phenomena for this model. The nonexistence of the Camassa-Holm-type peaked solution and classification of various traveling-wave solutions to the new system are also established. Moreover it is shown that all the symmetric waves to this model are traveling waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epilepsy is a common chronic brain disease. Despite the availability of various anti-seizure drugs, approximately 30 % of patients do not respond to treatment. Recent research suggests that Kalirin plays a role in regulating neurological function. However, the pathogenesis of Kalirin in epileptic seizures remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the role and mechanism of Kalirin in epileptogenesis. An epileptic model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). Endogenous Kalirin was inhibited using shRNA. The expression of Kalirin, Rac1, and Cdc42 in the hippocampal CA1 region was measured using Western blotting. Spine and synaptic structures were examined using Golgi staining and electron microscopy. Moreover, the necrotic neurons in CA1 were examined using HE staining. The results indicated that the epileptic score increased in epileptic animals, while inhibition of Kalirin decreased the epileptic scores and increased the latent period of the first seizure attack. Inhibition of Kalirin attenuated the increases in Rac1 expression, dendritic spine density, and synaptic vesicle number in the CA1 region induced by PTZ. However, the increase in Cdc42 expression was not affected by the inhibition of Kalirin. This study suggests that Kalirin is involved in the development of seizures by modulating the activity of Rac1, providing a novel anti-epileptic target. • Epilepsy as a common and serious brain disorder affecting the patient's quality of life and public health. • Some studies found that Kalirin is widely expressed in the CNS and is involved in the regulation of neurological function. • We verified that Kalirin is involved in epileptogenesis by modulating the activity of Rac1. • This study suggests that Kalirin providing a novel anti-epileptic target by modulating the activity of Rac1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ceramics with the formula of Sr1−xSm2x/3TiO3 (x = 0‐0.5) were prepared by conventional ceramic process. A single phase of SrTiO3‐type with cubic perovskite structure was found companied with a decrease in crystal volume when x < 0.5, which was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction results and Rietveld refine. At the level of x = 0.5, the sample consisted of two phases of SrTiO3‐type and Sm2Ti2O7. Raman spectra were used to confirm the change of vibration to explain the variation in microwave dielectric properties. The dielectric constant decreased, the quality factor increased, and the temperature coefficient shifted negatively, when the x value increased from 0 to 0.4. When the x value located between 0.3 and 0.4, the ceramics exhibited high dielectric constant of 140‐152, high quality factor (>6000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Scientometric method is used to review the low carbon building research. • The knowledge base, knowledge domain and knowledge structure of low carbon building research are identified. • The predominant research areas and gaps in low carbon building research are confirmed. • The knowledge roadmap of low carbon building research is formulated. Due to global climate change, carbon reduction has become a critical issue for the construction industry. Low carbon building has been adopted as a strategic objective, and its implementation demonstrates the enormous potential of reducing carbon emissions. Despite much research, some important research areas or gaps have not been identified, while simultaneously, few studies describe the knowledge roadmap for low carbon building research necessary to guide scholars and practitioners. The purpose in this paper is to provide a comprehensive and objective analysis of research areas regarding low carbon building using the scientometrics method. A total of 378 low carbon building-related publications were reviewed. Based on the keyword co-word analysis, document co-citation analysis and clustering analysis, the results show that 100 research keywords, 3 research hotspots and 5 research domains are extremely important for the advancement of low carbon building. Based on the in-depth analysis of the findings, the knowledge structure with different prominences was developed, which grouped LCB research into five themes and various sub-topics. Significantly, this paper provides the knowledge roadmap needed to facilitate further research and applications for both academia and industry stakeholders to improve low carbon building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Microplastics (MPs) has gradually become a global environmental pollution problem and may harm human and animal health. In recent years, a large number of studies had shown that MPs had various toxicological effects on different organisms. At the same time, a number of studies had also shown that gut microbiota was closely related to host health and as a toxicity target for certain environmental pollutants including MPs. The fact is that more and more studies proved that MPs not only could interact with microorganism directly but also serve as a carrier for other pollutants and interacted with microorganism indirectly. In this review, we summarized the interactions between MPs and microorganisms as well as gut microbiota, and considered the possible impacts of MPs on environmental animal and human health, suggesting that the environmental microorganisms and the gut microbiota of animals were also the very important target for MPs. We hope that more studies pay more attention to focus on the relationship between MPs, gut microbiota, and environmental animals and human health in the future. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Microplastics could interact with microorganisms as well as gut microbiota. • Microplastics may affect host health through effects on gut microbiota. • Effects of microplastics on gut microbiota need more attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel SIRDH method obtains the high-EC and low-stereo image distortion. • The difference view between left and right views is used for recovery by using CNN. • Experimental results show the proposed method is superior to the existing methods. For copyright and integrity protection of stereo images, a stereo image reversible data hiding (SIRDH) method based on the convolutional neural network (CNN) is presented. To increase the pixel prediction, a CNN-based predictor is designed. Firstly, pixels are divided into two types. For predicting one type of pixels in one view, the other type of pixels in the same view is considered as the low-resolution (LR) image. Secondly, a LR difference view between the LR image and the other view is computed, since the difference view consists of the texture and depth information. Then, CNN is trained to recover the high-precision difference view from the LR difference view, and the high-resolution image is computed to predict pixels accurately. Moreover, the prediction error expansion (PEE) is employed to embed data. Experimental results show that the proposed method is superior to existing SIRDH methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract New cathode LiVPO 4 F/C with high-performance was synthesized by using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as carbon source although there is no benzene ring in it. Compared with other carbon sources, the plateau, rate and cyclic performance of LiVPO 4 F/C are greatly enhanced when PVDF is used. The specific capacity of LiVPO 4 F/C containing 8 wt% carbon at 0.1 C, 1 C and 5 C are 148.1 mAh·g−1, 144.9 mAh·g−1 and 135.8 mAh·g−1, which is nearly the best reported results. Moreover, the TG-MS analysis is used to detect the gases released by different carbon sources in the sintering process. It shows that the Li 3 V 2 (PO 4) 3 /C impurity is greatly inhibited. This is because that HF gas released by PVDF can prevent the volatilization of fluorine and compensate the losses of fluorine. By contrast, the hydrogen free radicals released by other carbon sources can combine with fluorine and accelerate the volatilization of fluorine, resulting in the increasing of Li 3 V 2 (PO 4) 3 /C impurity. Then, the performance of LiVPO 4 F/C cathode containing more Li 3 V 2 (PO 4) 3 /C is greatly deteriorated. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • High-performance LiVPO 4 F/C with few impurity Li 3 V 2 (PO 4) 3 /C is constructed by PVDF. • The capacity of LVPF-PV8 at 5C (135.8 mAh g−1) is nearly the best reported results. • HF released in the pyrolytic process of PVDF is proved by our designed experiment. • HF can prevent the volatilization of fluorine and compensate the loss of fluorine. • Li 3 V 2 (PO 4) 3 /C is formed and the capacity is deteriorated by other carbon sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A novel robust HDR color image watermarking method is presented. • The Tucker decomposition is used to divide the HDR color image along the three color channels so that feature maps are extracted for watermark embedding to balance the distortion of each channel. • The first feature map consists of RGB correlations, which is transformed by using Schur to build the stable size relation between pair-wise coefficients to obtain robustness. • The experimental results show the proposed method can resist most of TMOs effectively. Abstract In order to protect the copyright of high dynamic range (HDR) images, a novel watermarking method based on feature map extraction is proposed. Since the HDR image provides wide dynamic ranges of visible luminance, the correlations of the three RGB channels are much stronger than those of neighbor pixels. In order to preserve strong relationships of the three color channels, the Tucker decomposition is used to divide the HDR color image along the three color channels so that three feature maps are extracted. The first feature map of the three feature maps is employed to embed watermark for robustness, because it contains most of the energies in the HDR image. The first feature map is divided into non-overlapping blocks, and the Schur decomposition is operated on each block to generate a unitary matrix. Since the texture or edge remains after the tone mapping operation (TMO) of the HDR image, the stable size relation between the pair-wise coefficients in the unitary matrix is established to embed watermark. The experimental results show that the proposed method can efficiently resist different TMOs and common image attacks, outperforming other existing HDR image watermarking methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BaTi4O9 microwave dielectric ceramics were prepared by reaction sintering method using BaCO3 and TiO2 as raw materials. The phase evolution and the chemical reactions were proposed based on the X‐ray diffraction results with sintering temperature. The microstructure characteristics were observed using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer. The compact ceramics with a single phase of BaTi4O9 could be prepared successfully by reaction sintering method, exhibiting optimum microwave dielectric properties: a dielectric constant of 36.9, a high quality factor of 52 735 (at 7.5GHz), and a near zero temperature coefficient of resonant frequency of 5.8 ppm/°C, after sintering at 1200°C for 6 hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The product sustainability assessment is a progress to evaluate sustainability with indicators for product sustainability in the whole product life cycle. However, the current approaches could not deal with the relationships of those closed-loop indicators. This paper is devoted to a graph theory-based product sustainability assessment approach to avoid those closed loops of the evaluation indicators. The hierarchical evaluation system for mechanical product sustainability assessment with energy, environmental, resource, technical, and economic indicators is proposed. The product sustainability assessment approach is proposed with five steps: rationalization of the directed graph of the evaluation system, construction of the hierarchical structure, transformation from reachability matrix to judgment matrix, consistency check and adjustment of judgment matrix, and indicator weight determination and comprehensive assessment of evaluation system. The product sustainability assessment of an underactuated exoskeleton robot is given as an example to demonstrate the proposed methodology. Highlights • Product sustainability assessment with closed-loop indicators is proposed. • Product sustainability assessment method based on graph theory is proposed. • Product sustainability indicator for product sustainability assessment is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consideration herein is the stability issue of a variety of superpositions of the Camassa-Holm peakons and antipeakons in the dynamics of the two-component Camassa-Holm system, which is derived in the shallow water theory. These wave configurations accommodate the ordered trains of the Camassa-Holm peakons, the ordered trains of Camassa-Holm antipeakons and peakons as well as the Camassa-Holm multi-peakons. Using the features of conservation laws and the monotonicity properties of the local energy, we prove the orbital stability of these wave profiles in the energy space by the modulation argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • We investigate equilibrium isotope effect on 2, 4-dihydroxybenzaldehyade by the program THERMISTP to predict the equilibrium constant. • Using the NMR to measure the equilibrium isotope effect for H-D exchange of 2, 4-dihydroxybenzaldehyade. • The agreement between the calculated values and the NMR results is quite good. Abstract The mono deuterium equilibrium isotope effect (EIE) for the exchange of hydroxyl deuterons and protons on 2-hydroxyl and 4-hydroxyl of 2, 4-dihydroxybenzaldehyade were calculated theoretically and also measured with NMR. The equilibrium constant (K eq = 1.108) was predicted using the geometry and vibrational force constants derived from electronic structure theory followed by the program THERMISTP, which is highly consistent with the NMR results (experimental K eq = 1.081 and K eq = 1.066), indicating the formation of the strong hydrogen bond between 2-hydroxyl and the aldehyde group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Surgery induces neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R) activation in the hippocampus. • NK-1R antagonist improves cognitive decline after surgery. • NK-1R antagonist reduces surgery-induced neuroinflammation. • NK-1R antagonist attenuates blood-brain barrier disruption after surgery. Abstract Postoperative neurocognitive disorder (PND) is a major complication in surgical patients, especially the elderly, leading to mild memory impairment after surgery. The underlying pathophysiology remains unknown, although neuroinflammation and blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption have been increasingly implicated in PND. Emerging evidence suggests that neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R), the principal target of proinflammatory neuropeptide substance P (SP), plays a pivotal role in modulating neuroinflammation and BBB integrity. In this study, we used an established mouse model for PND to investigate the effects of a selective NK-1R antagonist L-733,060 on PND-like features after peripheral surgery. Hippocampal SP started to increase at 6 h, peaked at 1 day, and returned to baseline at 3 days after surgery. At 1 day after surgery, NK-1R expression was increased in the hippocampus. At this time point, NK-1R antagonist pretreatment attenuated microgliosis and prevented neutrophil infiltration after surgery. Similarly, proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 beta and interleukin-6 were reduced in the hippocampus in NK-1R antagonist-treated mice at 6 h after surgery. Furthermore, surgery-induced BBB disruption, assessed by albumin deposition and expression of tight junction protein claudin-5, was attenuated by NK-1R antagonism at postoperative day 1. Finally, trace fear conditioning test revealed NK-1R antagonism reversed surgery-induced cognitive impairment at 3 days after surgery. Our findings suggest that inhibition of NK-1R signaling protects hippocampus-dependent memory from surgical insult, probably through modulations of neuroinflammation and BBB integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Propamocarb (PM) is a widely used fungicide that affects lipid biosynthesis in fungi. In this study, we explored the effects of PM on mouse metabolism and gut microbiota-related pathways by exposing C57BL/6J mice to 1, 3, and 10 mg/L PM through drinking water for a duration of 10 weeks. We found that hepatic bile acids (BAs) were considerably increased in the PM-treated group. The transcription of genes related to BA synthesis and transportation were also markedly altered in the liver and the ileum; accordingly, serous BA profiles were changed. BAs are tightly associated with energy metabolism and the gut microbiota; as expected, we observed that hepatic glycolysis; β-oxidation; fatty acid transportation, release and synthesis; and triacylglycerol synthesis and transportation were significantly altered at the transcriptional level. Gut microbial community structures were significantly changed both in cecal contents and feces. Using Linear discriminant analysis Effect Size (LEfSe), we found that Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria phyla; Prevotellaceae, Odoribacteraceae and Porphyromonadaceae families; and Butyricimonas, Oscillospira, Parabacteroides, Prevotella and Dorea genera enriched in PM-treated mice. Fecal metabolites involved in energy metabolism were likewise altered. In addition, the atherosclerosis-promoting molecule trimethylamine was significantly increased in feces, which induced a disturbance in the cardiac NO/NOS pathway and an increase in NF-κB transcriptional levels. Our findings indicated that chronic PM exposure induced disorders in enterohepatic metabolism and had potential to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbides with high strength and chemically inert have unique optical and electrical properties, but widely used and controllable wet chemical methods are unsuitable for the synthesis of their nanocomposites because of the ultrahigh melting point. In this paper, we demonstrate one novel, simple and ultrafast laser irradiation method to synthesize ultrafine SiC@graphene nanocomposites. Both the fragmentation and spheroidization of bulk SiC flakes and surface covered by 1–3 graphene layers are accomplished in the one-step laser irradiation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the burgeoning comparative literature on authoritarian elections, less is known about the dynamics of competition in authoritarian subnational elections where opposition is not allowed to organize into parties. Local elections without partisan competition in single-party authoritarian regimes provide considerable advantages to the incumbents and may well turn the incumbent advantage common in liberal democracies into incumbent dominance. What economic factors can break incumbent dominance in such competition without parties? With quantitative and qualitative evidence from grassroots elections in China, this article illustrates that economic growth and industrial economic structure offering more economic autonomy help to break incumbent dominance and increase the prospects of successful challenge to incumbency by non-party outsiders. The examination of the findings in a broad context in China and against the backdrop of local democratization in the developing world suggests that though we may observe successful challenge to incumbency, liberalization of the political system requires not only competition, but also a relatively autonomous economy to sustain liberalization prospects. The findings contribute to the literature on electoral authoritarianism, subnational democratization and China’s grassroots elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, it is successfully achieved to synthesize the three-dimensional flowerlike Ni (1-x) Mn x Fe 2 O 4 (x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.1) by an environmental hydrothermal method. The morphology and structure of as-prepared Ni (1-x) Mn x Fe 2 O 4 are characterized via X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscopy and nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, besides, the magnetic properties of the samples is revealed by vibrating sample magnetometer. The results show that the Ni (1-x) Mn x Fe 2 O 4 are cubic spinel phase with three-dimensional flowerlike microspheres structure assembled by nanosheets, which is exhibited the good performance to remove Congo red (CR). Besides, the samples with good magnetic properties facilitates magnetic separation for CR solution. The kinetics and isotherm of adsorption process are studied via a UV–visible spectrophotometer. The adsorption process is found to fit the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model better. Moreover, the adsorption capability of CR on Ni (1-x) Mn x Fe 2 O 4 has a great enhancement by the appropriate doping of Mn 2+ ions. In order to research the mechanism of the CR adsorption process, the effect of pH value and the surface group of the samples and CR are measured. Due to the doping of Mn 2+ ions, the surface activity of Ni (1-x) Mn x Fe 2 O 4 has been changed and the adsorption capability (231.74546 mg g −1 ) of CR on Ni 0.98 Mn 0.02 Fe 2 O 4 is maximum in the all samples at pH 5. This research suggests that appropriate doping of Mn 2+ ions could enhance the adsorption performance for CR, which provides a new idea for the development of adsorbent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are concerned with the large time behavior of solutions to the Cauchy problem for the one dimensional Navier‐Stokes/Allen‐Cahn system. Motivated by the relationship between the Navier‐Stokes/Allen‐Cahn system and the Navier‐Stokes system, we can prove that the solutions to the one‐dimensional compressible Navier‐Stokes/Allen‐Cahn system tend time‐asymptotically to the rarefaction wave, where the strength of the rarefaction wave is not required to be small. The proof is mainly based on a basic energy method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to identify new key genes as potential biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis or targeted therapy of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Three expression profiles (GSE36895, GSE46699 and GSE71963) were collected from Gene Expression Omnibus. GEO2R was used to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ccRCC tissues and normal samples. The Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery was utilized for functional and pathway enrichment analysis. STRING v10.5 and Molecular Complex Detection were used for protein-protein interaction (PPI) network construction and module analysis, respectively. Regulation network analyses were performed with the WebGestal tool. UALCAN web-portal was used for expression validation and survival analysis of hub genes in ccRCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). A total of 65 up- and 164 downregulated genes were identified as DEGs. DEGs were enriched with functional terms and pathways compactly related to ccRCC pathogenesis. Seventeen hub genes and one significant module were filtered out and selected from the PPI network. The differential expression of hub genes was verified in TCGA patients. Kaplan-Meier plot showed that high mRNA expression of enolase 2 (ENO2) was associated with short overall survival in ccRCC patients (P=0.023). High mRNA expression of cyclin D1 (CCND1) (P<0.001), fms related tyrosine kinase 1 (FLT1) (P=0.004), plasminogen (PLG) (P<0.001) and von Willebrand factor (VWF) (P=0.008) appeared to serve as favorable factors in survival. These findings indicate that the DEGs may be key genes in ccRCC pathogenesis and five genes, including ENO2, CCND1, PLT1, PLG and VWF, may serve as potential prognostic biomarkers in ccRCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In vivo pharmacokinetic simulations and virtual bioequivalence (BE) evaluation of cilostazol have not yet been described for humans. Here, we successfully developed a physiologically based absorption model to simulate plasma concentrations of cilostazol. In addition, virtual population simulations integrating dissolution of 0.3% sodium dodecyl sulfate water media were executed to evaluate the BE of test and reference formulations. Simulation results show that test and reference formulations were bioequivalent among 28 subjects, but not nine subjects, consistent with clinical studies. The model proved to be an important tool to show potential BE for cilostazol. This finding may facilitate understanding of the potential risks during the development of generic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These authors contributed equally: Qiang Zhang, Ting Luo and Dezheng Yuan. Reference 1 Zhang, Q, Luo, T, Yuan, D, Fu, Y, Yuan J. Mechanism study of Qilongtian on pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin model mice. [Extracted from the article]

[Display omitted] • The imbalance of S&D was aggravating in CCUA. • The ESs balance had significant dependence. • The cold spots were in the urban areas of Chengdu and Chongqing. • Optimal parametric geographical detector for detecting ESs balance driving mechanisms. • The forest land proportion significantly affected the pattern of ESs balance. Rapid urbanization in China's urban agglomerations has severely disrupted the relationship between supply and demand for ecosystem services (ESs). Exploring the spatial and temporal variation characteristics of ESs balance and its driving mechanisms is crucial for the high-quality development of urban agglomerations. However, few studies have explored the pattern of ESs balance and its driving mechanisms at multiple scales in urban agglomerations, which constrains the formulation of regional ecological protection and land use policies. In this study, we attempted to characterize the ESs balance pattern and its spatio-temporal variation from 2000 to 2020 at multiple scales in the Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomerations (CCUA), using ESs matrix and hotspot analysis tools. We then introduced the optimal parametric geographic detector to detect the formation mechanism of the spatial differentiation pattern of ESs balance. The results show that the overall ESs supply index for CCUA was greater than the demand index. The ESs were in short supply in Chengdu and Chongqing. The pattern of ESs balance had significant scale dependence. The hot spots of the ESs balance index were mainly in the western, southern, and eastern mountainous regions, while the cold spots were concentrated in urban areas of Chengdu and Chongqing, with significant differences in characteristics at different scales. The spatial distribution of the ESs balance was mainly affected by the forest land proportion, slope, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), elevation, cultivated land proportion, and temperature. The interaction of natural, land use, and socio-economic factors significantly enhanced the spatial differentiation of ESs balance. The interaction of different types of factors highlights the importance of topography, NDVI, cultivated land, forest land, and population. The results of this study can provide scientific references for the sustainable management of ESs and the construction of ecological civilization in CCUA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Defect-free high-strength Mg-RE alloy were obtained via force-controlled AFSD. • A coarse grain zone (average size of 12.8 μm) was discovered on advancing side. • Heterogeneity in properties along width direction of final deposits was revealed. Multi-layer single-pass deposits of high-performance Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy were successfully prepared using force-controlled additive friction stir deposition (AFSD) with a high deposition rate. The microstructure and mechanical properties heterogeneity along the build direction and transverse direction of the final deposits were investigated. The grain size of the coarse grain zone (CGZ) formed on advancing side (AS) is roughly 11–17 μm, two to three times larger than that of the other regions. Because of the evident grain refinement during deposition, the tensile properties in the center and retreating side (RS) regions of as-deposited final deposits are superior to those of the extruded Mg-8Gd-3Y-0.5Zr alloy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the significantly installed capacity of solar energy during the past decades, the operation and maintenance of the large photovoltaic power station is a big challenge, as the manual inspection is labour-intensive and expensive. This Letter presents a solution for the intelligent inspection of the hotspot with the unmanned aerial vehicle in the large-scale photovoltaic plant. First, a traditional image processing method is presented to eliminate the noise and crop the infrared image, which can make the defected feature more obvious. Then, the module is extracted by the line segments detection. Finally, considering the great advance in the realm of the computer vision, a deep-learning-based method for automatic hotspot detection is proposed for locating the hotspot with the data augmentation. The deep-learning-based model can extract the hotspot feature by the training process in the data set. In the end, the performance of the method proposed is extensively evaluated and the numerical results prove the accuracy and precision of the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tremendous mechanical energy loss on friction and serious mechanical failures caused by wear are attracting more and more researchers studying on friction and lubrication to ease the situation of energy shortage. We demonstrate a novel and green laser-assisted solution growth strategy for ideal fullerene-like MoS 2 nanospheres, in which both the morphology reshaping and bond reconstructing processes of MoS 2 nanoflakes are involved in the one-step laser irradiation under ambient conditions. Due to the spherical shape, solid structure, and improved chemical stability, such MoS 2 nanospheres as additives in paraffin liquid can effectively reduce the friction coefficient (∼47% reduction) and enhance the extreme pressure property (>2.24 GPa). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a series of diblock glycopolymers, poly(6-O-methacryloyl-D-galactopyranose) -b-poly(6-cholesteryloxyhexyl methacrylate) (PMAgala-b-PMAChols), with cholesterol/galactose grafts were prepared through a sequential reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and deprotection process. The glycopolymers could self-assemble into aggregates with various morphologies depending on cholesterol/galactose-containing block weight ratios, as determined by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and dynamic laser light scattering (DLS). In addition, the lectin (Ricinus communis agglutinin II, RCA120) recognition and bovine serum albumin (BSA) adsorption of the PMAgala-b-PMAChol aggregates were evaluated. The SK-Hep-1 tumor cell inhibition properties of the PMAgala-b-PMAChol/doxorubicin (DOX) complex aggregates were further examined in vitro. Results indicate that the PMAgala-b-PMAChol aggregates with various morphologies showed different interaction/recognition features with RCA120 and BSA. Spherical aggregates (d ≈ 92 nm) possessed the highest RCA120 recognition ability and lowest BSA protein adsorption. In addition, the DOX-loaded spherical complex aggregates exhibited a better tumor cell inhibition property than those of nanofibrous complex aggregates. The morphology-variable aggregates derived from the amphiphilic glycopolymers may serve as multifunctional biomaterials with biomolecular recognition and drug delivery features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hypotheses, attentional prioritization and attentional spreading, have been proposed to account for object-based attention. The attentional-prioritization hypothesis posits that the positional uncertainty of targets is sufficient to resolve the controversy raised by the competing attentional-spreading hypothesis. Here we challenge the sufficiency of this explanation by showing that object-based attention is a function of sensory uncertainty in a task with consistent high positional uncertainty of the targets. In Experiment 1, object-based attention was modulated by sensory uncertainty induced by the noise from backward masking, showing an object-based effect under high as compared to low sensory uncertainty. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2 with increased task difficulty, to exclude that as a confounding factor, and in Experiment 3 with a psychophysical method, to obtain converging evidence using perceptual threshold measurement. Additionally, such a finding was not observed when sensory uncertainty was eliminated by replacing the backward-masking stimuli with perceptually dissimilar ones in Experiment 4. These results reveal that object-based attention is influenced by sensory uncertainty, even under high positional uncertainty of the targets. Our findings contradict the proposition of attentional spreading, proposing instead an automatic form of object-based attention due to enhancement of the perceptual representation. More importantly, the attentional-prioritization hypothesis based solely on positional uncertainty cannot sufficiently account for object-based attention, but needs to be developed by expanding the concept of uncertainty to include at least sensory uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the experimental feasibility of using VO 2 (B) nanomaterial as a high-capacity, high-voltage, and promising performance cathode material for magnesium-ion battery. Recent research on monoclinic VO 2 (B) material in the prevailing lithium-ion batteries has attracted more and more interest, primarily due to the layered structure and large charge/discharge capacity of the material. We synthesized VO 2 (B) in both forms of nanorods and nanosheets via a facile hydrothermal method to use as the cathode for an Mg ion battery, and investigated their properties, and electrochemical performance and mechanism with SEM, FT-IR, XRD, XPS, ICP and the electrochemical technique. . An encouraging performance is achieved with VO 2 (B) in the form of nanorods instead of nanosheets. The VO 2 (B) nanorods are capable of operation with a high discharge voltage at 2.17 V vs. Mg 2+ /Mg and a high initial discharge specific capacity of 391 mAh/g at a voltage ranging from −1.00 V to 0.30 V vs. Ag + /Ag, corresponding to 0.61 mol Mg per unit at a current density of 25 mA/g at 20 °C. Even at 12 °C, the first discharge specific capacity of 394 mAh/g is obtained with a capacity retention ratio up to 52.2% after 60 cycles at 50 mA/g, showing a better cyclability and capability. Significantly, the VO 2 (B) nanorods are confirmed to be a promising cathode material for use in Mg rechargeable batteries of a high capacity and a high voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the work, 3-dimensional (3D) flower-like NiFe 2 O 4 was prepared for the removal of water contaminants via a facile hydrothermal method and using Ni foam as substrate. The as-prepared NiFe 2 O 4 was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption, vibrating sample magnetometer and Fourier transformed infrared. The as-prepared NiFe 2 O 4 owns a high specific surface which is favorable for adsorption of water contaminants. And the magnetic property of the as-prepared material, which is also preferred in wastewater treatment, makes it easy to be separated from the water. To investigate adsorption behavior, UV–visible spectrophotometer, adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics were studied. It is demonstrated that the adsorption process fits well with the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order model. The maximum adsorbing capacity ( q m ) of the 3D flower-like NiFe 2 O 4 for Congo red adsorption was 229.89 mg g −1 , and the adsorption capacity reached 80% in 10 min. The enhanced results suggest that the as-prepared 3D flower-like NiFe 2 O 4 is a potential adsorbent for industrial wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]