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The quantification of three alkaloids is important because quantitative study is a means of assessing the reliability of the experimental method, and three alkaloids of peimine, peiminine, and peimisine are main active ingredients in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015. An effective method based on the matrix solid‐phase dispersion microextraction was developed for the extraction of alkaloid compounds in Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus. Target analytes were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis coupled with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. The optimized experimental condition was that 50 mg Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus was blended homogeneously with 10 mg citric acid for 5 min. Two hundred microliters of water acidized by 1 mol/L hydrochloric acid (pH = 4.5) was selected to elute tested alkaloids. The results demonstrated that the investigated method had low limits of detection (1.32–1.59 ng/mL), good recoveries (86.63–98.12%), and reproducibility (relative standard deviations of peak areas < 0.87%). The proposed matrix solid‐phase dispersion microextraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis combined with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry was successfully applied for the extraction of alkaloids in plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Dogel ebs" was known as Sophora flavescens Ait., a classical traditional Chinese Mongolian herbal medicine, which had the effects on damp‐heat dysentery, scrofula, and syndrome of accumulated dampness toxicity. Although the chemical constituents have been clarified by our previous studies, the metabolic transformation of "Dogel ebs" in vivo was still unclear. To explore the mechanism of "Dogel ebs," the metabolites in plasma, bile, and urine samples were investigated. A fast positive and negative ion switching technology was used for the simultaneous determination of flavonoids and alkaloids in "Dogel ebs" in a single run. And a target‐group‐change coupled with mass defect filtering strategy was utilized to analyze the collected data. 89 parent compounds and 82 metabolites were characterized by high‐performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole exactive Orbitrap mass spectrometry. Both phase I and phase II metabolites were observed and the metabolic pathways involved in oxidation, demethylation, acetylation, and glucuronidation. 69 metabolites of "Dogel ebs," including three hydroxyls bonding xanthohumol, formononetin‐7‐O‐glucuronide, 2′‐hydroxyl‐isoxanthohumol decarboxylation metabolite, oxysophocarpine dehydrogen, 9α‐hydroxysophoramine‐O‐glucuronide, etc. were reported for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let μ M , D {\mu_{M,D}} be a self-affine measure generated by an expanding diagonal matrix M ∈ M 3 ⁢ (ℝ) {M\in M_{3}(\mathbb{R})} with entries ρ 1 , ρ 2 , ρ 3 {\rho_{1},\rho_{2},\rho_{3}} and the digit set D = { (0 , 0 , 0) t , (1 , 0 , 0) t , (0 , 1 , 0) t , (0 , 0 , 1) t } {D=\{(0,0,0)^{t},(1,0,0)^{t},(0,1,0)^{t},(0,0,1)^{t}\}}. In this paper, we prove that for any ρ 1 , ρ 2 , ρ 3 ∈ (1 , ∞) {\rho_{1},\rho_{2},\rho_{3}\in(1,\infty)} , if ρ 1 , ρ 2 , ρ 3 ∈ { ± x 1 r : x ∈ ℚ + , r ∈ ℤ + } {\rho_{1},\rho_{2},\rho_{3}\in\{\pm x^{\frac{1}{r}}:x\in\mathbb{Q}^{+},r\in% \mathbb{Z}^{+}\}} , then L 2 ⁢ (μ M , D) {L^{2}(\mu_{M,D})} contains an infinite orthogonal set of exponential functions if and only if there exist two numbers of ρ 1 , ρ 2 , ρ 3 {\rho_{1},\rho_{2},\rho_{3}} that are in the set { ± (p q) 1 r : p ∈ 2 ⁢ ℤ + , q ∈ 2 ⁢ ℤ + - 1 ⁢ and ⁢ r ∈ ℤ + } {\{\pm(\frac{p}{q})^{\frac{1}{r}}:p\in 2\mathbb{Z}^{+},q\in 2\mathbb{Z}^{+}-1% \text{ and }r\in\mathbb{Z}^{+}\}}. In particular, if ρ 1 , ρ 2 , ρ 3 ∈ { p q : p , q ∈ 2 ⁢ ℤ + 1 } {\rho_{1},\rho_{2},\rho_{3}\in\{\frac{p}{q}:p,q\in 2\mathbb{Z}+1\}} , then there exist at most 4 mutually orthogonal exponential functions in L 2 ⁢ (μ M , D) {L^{2}(\mu_{M,D})} , and the number 4 is the best possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Low temperatures improve compressive resistances and elastic stiffness of CFST stub columns. • Low temperature reduces the confinement effect of steel tube and thus the ductility of CFST column. • Increasing the D/B generally improves the compressive behaviour of S-CFST columns. • The compressive stress of C-CFST is higher than S-CFST at low temperature. • Developed equations predict well compressive resistances of CFST at low temperature. This paper studied the axial compressive behaviours of both circular concrete-filled-steel-tube (CFST) stub columns and square CFST stub columns at low temperatures through a 23-test program. In the testing program, the low temperatures of 20 °C, −30 °C, −60 °C, and −80 °C, D/t ratios of 41, 29, and 23, different grades of normal weight concrete of C30, C40, and C50, D/B ratios of 1.0 and 1.5, and different circular and square shape of cross section were studied in this test program. The test results reported different failure modes of square and circular CFST columns at low temperatures. The effects of these studied parameters on ultimate compressive behaviours of CFST columns at low temperatures were discussed and analysed that include load-shortening behaviours, ultimate compressive resistance, initial stiffness, and ductility ratio. The studies revealed that the low temperatures generally improves the compressive behaviour of stub CFST columns. Including the experimental studies, prediction equations in different code provisions, e.g., ACI318, AISC360, AIJ, Eurocode 4, and GB50936 were modified to estimate the ultimate compressive resistance of CFST columns at low temperatures. Predictions by these code provisions were validated by 23 reported tests to check their accuracy and reliability. Finally, modified Eurocode 4 prediction equations were recommended for evaluation on the ultimate compressive resistance of CFST columns at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ultrarelativistic heavy-ion programs at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider have entered an era of quantitative analysis of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) at high temperatures. The remarkable discovery of the strongly coupled quark–gluon plasma (sQGP), as deduced from its hydrodynamic behavior at long wavelengths, calls for probes that can reveal its inner workings. Charm- and bottom-hadron spectra offer unique insights into the transport properties and the microscopic structure of the QCD medium created in these collisions. At low momentum the Brownian motion of heavy quarks in the sQGP gives access to their diffusion constant, at intermediate momentum these quarks give insight into hadronization mechanisms, and at high momentum they are expected to merge into a radiative-energy loss regime. We review recent experimental and theoretical achievements on measuring a variety of heavy-flavor observables, characterizing the different regimes in momentum and extracting pertinent transport coefficients to unravel the structure of the sQGP and its hadronization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The great majority of terrestrial plants produce epicuticular wax that is used to protect plants from a variety of biotic and abiotic stresses. Cabbage epicuticular wax is a white crystalline compound of various lipids. Wax-less cabbage has the characteristics of lustrous green leaves and beautiful exterior, which facilitates the brilliant green cabbage breeding. CGL-3 is a spontaneous wax-less mutant identified from cabbage. Genetic analysis indicated that the waxy deficiency of the mutant was controlled by a single dominant gene. To clarify the mechanism of the waxy deficiency, fine-mapping and transcriptome analysis of the wax-less gene, BoGL-3, were carried out in this study. The result of fine mapping showed that the wax-less gene, BoGL-3, was delimited in a 33.5-kb interval which is between the flanking marker C08-98 and the end of chromosome 8. Two cDNA libraries, constructed with wax-less cabbage CGL-3 and the wild-type cabbage WT, were sequenced for screening of the target gene BoGL-3. A total of 8340 genes were identified with significant differential expression between CGL-3 and WT. Among these genes, 3187 were up-regulated and 5153 were down-regulated in CGL-3. With homologous analysis, four differential expressed genes related to wax metabolism were obtained. Among these four genes, only Bol018504 is located within the region of fine-mapping. Bol08504 is homologous to CER1, which encodes fatty acid hydroxylase and plays an important role in wax synthesis in Arabidopsis. However, there was no difference of Bol08504 sequence between CGL-3 and WT. We suggested that Bol018504 was regulated by BoGL-3. The suppression of Bol018504 leads to the reduction of wax. These findings will be helpful to reveal the mechanism of the wax metabolism in cabbage and develop lustrous green cabbage germplasm material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let n,b≥2 be two positive integers. For D={0,1,⋯,b−1}, let the self‐similar measure μbn,D be defined by μbn,D=1b∑d∈Dμbn,D(bnx−d). It is known [18] that μbn,D is a spectral measure with a spectrum Λ(bn,C)=∑j=0finiteajbnj:aj∈C,where C=bn−1{0,1,⋯,b−1}. In this paper, we give some conditions on τ∈Z under which the scaling set τΛ(bn,C) is also a spectrum of μbn,D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• MSPD coupled with UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS was used to determine organic acids in fruit. • Calix[8]arene was used as an efficient sorbent in MSPD procedure. • The ionic liquids were applied as extraction solvents. • The proposed method was rapid, simple, low cost and high sensitivity. A rapid and effective method was successfully established for the extraction and determination of chlorogenic acid, protocatechuic acid, malic acid, caffeic acid and gallic acid in fruit (chaenomeles speciosa) via matrix solid-phase dispersion (MSPD) microextraction combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS). Several major extraction parameters were investigated and optimized, such as the type of sorbent, the amount of sorbent, the grinding time, the type and concentration of the eluting solvent. The optimal extraction conditions were obtained by using 20 mg of calix[8]arene as dispersing adsorbent, selecting 60 s as the appropriate grinding time and applying 250 mM of 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide as eluent solvent. Moreover, the calibration curves of the analytes were in the range of 0.01–500 μg/mL with the determination coefficients (r2) higher than 0.9995. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were in the range of 0.202–1.056 ng/mL and 0.674–3.521 ng/mL, respectively. The recoveries of the target compounds at two spiked levels were between 82.19 and 113.36%. Furthermore, this method had acceptable reproducibility (RSD ≤ 3.84%). The proposed approach combined the advantages of MSPD microextraction with UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS, and could be applicable for the analysis organic acids in fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The [4+2] annulation represents an elegant and versatile synthetic protocol for the construction of benzene rings. Herein, a strategy for visible‐light induced [4+2] annulation of thiophenes and alkynes, to afford benzene rings, is presented. Under simple and mild reaction conditions, the ready availability and structural diversity of thiophenes and alkynes permit the facile synthesis of several substituted aromatic rings. Valuable drugs and amino acids are also well tolerated. Moreover, DFT calculations explain the high regioselectivity of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The [4+2] annulation represents an elegant and versatile synthetic protocol for the construction of benzene rings. Herein, a strategy for visible‐light induced [4+2] annulation of thiophenes and alkynes, to afford benzene rings, is presented. Under simple and mild reaction conditions, the ready availability and structural diversity of thiophenes and alkynes permit the facile synthesis of several substituted aromatic rings. Valuable drugs and amino acids are also well tolerated. Moreover, DFT calculations explain the high regioselectivity of the reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For an integral self-affine spectral measure, if the zeros of its Fourier transform are all integral vectors, it is proven that any its spectrum has a tree structure. For any subset with such tree structure, a sufficient condition and a necessary condition for the subset to be a spectrum are given, respectively. Applications are given to some known results as special cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enzyme assistant oxygen tolerance NMP minemulsion polymerization can be performed with alkoxyamine 3-(((2-cyanopropan-2-yl)oxy) (cyclohexyl)amino)-2,2-dimethyl-3-phenylpropanenitrile (Dispolreg 007) as the initiator. The polymerization exhibited similar living and control behavior to the degassing system, and the chain extension could also be performed without degassing. [Display omitted] • Oxygen tolerance nitroxide-mediated miniemulsion polymerization. • Combination of glucose oxidase (GOx) and ascorbic acid (AsAc) for the consuming of oxygen. ⋅ Similar living and control behavior to the degassing system. Nitroxide-mediated polymerization (NMP) is known to be a simple reversible deactivation radical polymerization (RDRP) method for preparing well defined polymers. In compared with other RDRP methods, NMP was highlighted by the clean and low toxic product which is favorable for some sensitive biological and electronic applications. Here we reported the first case of oxygen tolerance nitroxide-mediated miniemulsion polymerization, by introducing glucose oxidase (GOx) and ascorbic acid (AsAc) to the system. Without degassing treatment, the miniemulsion polymerization can be carried on using alkoxyamine 3-(((2-cyanopropan-2-yl)oxy) (cyclohexyl)amino)-2,2-dimethyl-3-phenylpropanenitrile (Dispolreg 007) as the initiator. The oxygen tolerance NMP miniemulsion exhibited similar living and control behavior to the degassing system, and the chain extension could also be performed without degassing. The characteristics of this enzyme assisted oxygen tolerant heterogeneous NMP may provide exciting new opportunities for increased versatility of NMP polymerization in preparation of polymeric nano-objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6-methyl-adenosine (m6a) is involved in the occurrence and development of various diseases such as autogenic immune disease and tumors. Methyltransferases regulate primary (pri)-microRNA (miRNA/miR) processing by mediating m6a modifications, consequently affecting pathological processes including immune-related diseases by regulating both innate and adaptive immune cells. However, the roles of m6a on the biological functions of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) remain to be elucidated. The relative expression levels of methyltransferase-like 14 (METTL14) and other methyltransferases, demethylases, and miR-873 in bone samples from patients with osteoporosis and from normal individuals were measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was used to examine the proliferation of BMSCs. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) was used to investigate the binding of METTL14 to DiGeorge syndrome critical region 8 (DGCR8). RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) was used to examine the binding of METTL14 to pri-miR-873. METTL14 and m6a modifications were highly detected in patients with osteoporosis compared with the controls. Co-IP results indicated that silencing of METTL14 reduced METTL14 and m6a modification levels in BMSCs. Downregulation of METTL14 significantly promoted the proliferation of BMSCs. RIP results suggested that METTL14/m6a methylation modification promoted the processing of pri-miR-873 by binding to DGCR8 in BMSCs. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-873 inhibited the proliferation of BMSCs. The results also showed that miR-873 mimics significantly inhibited the proliferation in small interfering (si)-METTL14 transfected BMSCs; however, miR-873 inhibitors markedly promoted the proliferation of si-METTL14 transfected BMSCs. METTL14 and m6a modifications were upregulated in osteoporosis samples. METTL14 promoted the processing of pri-miR-873 into mature miR-873 by regulating m6a modification. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-873 significantly inhibited the proliferation of BMSCs. Therefore, the METTL14/m6a/miR-873 axis may be a potential target for the treatment of osteoporosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decarbonization is essential for decelerating climate change and alleviating its associated impacts. Green roofs (GR) are expected to be a solution to the limited urban spaces for ground decarbonization strategies. To support this vision, this study develops a GR carbon assessment framework (GRCAF) in alignment with whole life cycle assessment, carbon capture and storage, renewable energy production, and local climate regulation. The GRCAF introduces four GR decarbonization (GRD) assessment pathways including embodied carbon, carbon sequestration, bioenergy supply, and operational carbon. The GRCAF also showcases standardized assessment scenarios for each pathway while devising a dual-indicator-based method (NV, C -PT) given diverse influencing factors and co-benefits analysis. Based on this framework, a systematic review was conducted to comprehend the research progress of each component in the GRCAF framework and to identify challenges toward GRCAF implementation. The results indicate that existing cognition of GR decarbonization benefits is comprehensive, but most studies only involve single-path assessment. Heterogeneity of assessment scenarios and boundaries under the assessment pathway results in large differences in normalized value indicators (NV), leading to cognitive deficiencies. Although comprehensive decarbonization assessment emerges, pathway completeness and spatiotemporal integrity of assessment scenarios are still defective. Toward the GRCAF implementation, the challenges in modelling and technical drawbacks, database and benchmarks, long-term maintenance pattern with dual-indicator (NV, C -PT) calculations, and synergies, trade-offs and future vision should be addressed. Overall, this study provides a consistent protocol for future GRD research and promote regulations and actions toward net-zero carbon cities. • The current piecemeal actions cannot support systematic GRD assessment. • Established GRCAF considering the built environment decarbonization criteria. • Existing assessment scenarios are incomplete, resulting in incomparable results. • GRCAF challenges include scenarios, databases, indicators and co-benefits. • Provided two a preliminary synergies and trade-offs analysis matrixes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of disinfection materials and instruments is an important part of surgical operation. Hospital environment and surgical equipment need comprehensive sterilization treatment. This process is the key to the success of the operation, and it is also one of the first ways to control the hospital to avoid infection during the operation. The selection of scientific and reasonable sterilization methods for infection will directly affect the safety of medical treatment. In order to improve the antibacterial properties of medical non-woven fabrics, this paper combines two antibacterial methods of sterilization and antibacterial adhesion, and uses the principle of nanotechnology to design that the non-woven fabrics have good blood compatibility in the sterilization process. Then, a new composite antibacterial nanoparticle antibacterial solution is prepared from the synthesized nano‑silver solution, and the antibacterial solution is attached to the non-woven fabric, so that the nano‑silver particles with antibacterial effect are fixed on the surface of the fabric, and its antibacterial effect is measured through the antibacterial test, and excellent hospital infection sterilization technology is prepared and applied to the non-woven fabric products. The fusion experiment of platelets and red blood cells shows that the prepared surface technology combined with antibacterial adhesion and sterilization can effectively fuse with platelets and red blood cells, and can also effectively prevent the adhesion of platelets and red blood cells, and shows good blood compatibility, which is applicable to the sterilization process of hospital infection. • The use of disinfection materials and instruments is an important part of surgical operation. • uses the principle of nanotechnology to design that the non-woven fabrics. • the prepared surface technology can effectively fuse with platelets and red blood cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To systematically review the clinical efficacy and safety of Qingfei Paidu Decoction in the treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) . Methods: Databases such as CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched by computer until April 20, 2022, and the clinical efficacy studies of Qingfei Paidu Decoction combined with western medicine in the treatment of COVID-19 were screened out. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to assess the risk and quality of the included studies, and relevant data were extracted. Meta analysis was performed using State17.0 software, and Begg's test analyzed publication bias. Results: A total of 602 patients were included in 6 clinical efficacy studies, of which 295 patients in the experimental group were treated with Qingfei Paidu Decoction combined with western medicine, and 307 patients in the control group were treated with western medicine alone. Meta-analysis results showed that the experimental group improved the clinical efficacy [RR=1.17, 95%CI (1.09, 1.26), P<0.000 1], and the CT improvement [RR=1.20, 95% CI (1.10, 1.30), P<0.000 1], reduced adverse reactions [RR=0.73, 95%CI (0.60, 0.90), P=0.002], shortened the time to negative nucleic acid [WMD=-6.56, 95%CI (-10.37, -2.75), P=0.000 7], length of hospital stay [WMD=-4.75, 95%CI (-6.26, -3.25), P<0.000 01] were better than the control group. Conclusion: Qingfei Paidu Decoction combined with conventional western medicine therapy can effectively improve the clinical symptoms of COVID-19, with certain efficacy and safety, while a large number of high-quality studies are still needed to confirm the efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the problem of residual noise and spurious modes in the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN), a rolling element bearing malfunction diagnostic method based on improved CEEMDAN (ICEEMDAN) is proposed. First, different from the CEEMDAN, which directly adds Gaussian white noise with a mean of zero, the proposed method adds the k th component obtained from white noise decomposed by empirical mode decomposition (EMD) to the vibration signal, and then the ICEEMDAN is employed to decompose the signal into several intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Second, aiming at the uncertainty problem of entropy estimation in multi-scale fuzzy entropy (MFE), a refined composite multi-scale fuzzy entropy (RCMFE) is proposed to obtain the characteristic from the selected IMFs. Finally, smoothing factor of PNN is determined by fruit fly optimization algorithm (FOA), and the extracted features are input into the FOA-PNN model to achieve condition identification. Experimental results illustrate that the identification accuracy is more than 99%, which indicates its high effectiveness and superiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrooxidation conversion of benzyl alcohol to value-added benzoic acid is a sustainable and environmentally method to acquire valuable chemicals and accelerate hydrogen production. However, this promising approach is limited by the expensive and less stable anode electrocatalysts and low current density at moderate cell potential. To address these challenge, herein, we develop hierarchical ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 heterostructure nanoarrays on nickel foam (ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 /NF) for electrooxidation of benzoic alcohol coupled with hydrogen production. The as-prepared ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 /NF anode shows it excellent electrooxidation activity for benzyl alcohol to benzoate in 1.0 M KOH electrolyte with 0.1 M benzyl alcohol. At a constant potential of 1.62 V vs. RHE, the corresponding production rate of benzoate and H 2 is 1.99 mmol cm−2 h−1 and 44.66 mL cm−2 h−1, respectively. In addition, the current density can reach 100 mA cm−2 only applying a potential of 1.48 V (vs. RHE). Above all, it exhibits high conversion of 99% and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 96% for value-added benzoate. Moreover, it could be recycled at least eight times with stable electrocatalytic activity. • Hierarchical ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 /NF was developed by a facile hydrothermal method. • ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 exhibits excellent activity and durability toward BOR. • This ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 /NF promotes the high-rate H 2 production with 44.66 mL cm−2 h−1. • ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 /NF∥Pt/C two-electrode save electrical energy of 11.8% at 10 mA/cm2. • The ZnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 interface lead to its superior electrocatalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gas-liquid flow regimes transition mechanism and bubble behavior in gas-liquid two-phase impinging jet reactor are studied by numerical method. The liquid phase velocity, gas-liquid flow regimes, bubble behavior in the impinging reactor under different gas and liquid velocities are analyzed to explore. The vortex in flow field changes periodically, and the period is 7.5 s. According to the dispersion mode of bubbles in the reactor, the gas-liquid flow regimes can be divided into three regimes: cluster upflow, gradual dispersion and complete dispersion. The critical condition equations of flow regimes transition are established combination of Flow number (Fl) and Froude number (Fr). The distribution range of bubble diameter in the reactor increases with the increase of gas velocity and decreases with the increase of liquid velocity. The turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent dissipation rate and the velocity in the flow field are gradually weakens from the impact center to the radial direction. Based on dimensionless analysis, the mathematical model of bubble Sauter diameter is established to predict bubble Sauter diameter accurately. This research provides a theoretical basis for the amplification and optimization of reactors. [Display omitted] • The gas-liquid two-phase impinging jet reactor was designed by combining bubbly jet and impinging stream. • Flow regimes in gas-liquid two-phase impinging jet reactor were divided by the bubbly jet motion behavior. • The critical condition equations of flow regimes transition were established combination of Flow number and Froude number. • The dimensionless model was provided to predict bubble Sauter diameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutral hexnuclear and octanuclear polymolybdate-based porous complexes [Mo6O6(μ2-O)9(Hbtz)6]·21H2O (1, Hbtz = 1H-benzotriazole) and [Mo8O8(μ2-O)12(Hdatrz)8]·28H2O (2, Hdatrz = 1H-1,2,4-triazole-3,5-diamine), dodecanuclear and hexadecnuclear complexes Na4[Mo12O12(μ2-O)4(μ3-O)12(3-trz)8]·14H2O (3, 3-trz = 1,2,4-triazol-3-amine) and Na8[Mo16O16(μ2-O)16(μ2-OH)16(3-trz)8]·29H2O (4) have been successfully obtained and well characterized respectively. As the pH values of the solutions increase, the central metallic nuclei of 1–4 decrease gradually. Under basic conditions, isolated intrinsic microporous materials 1 and 2 can be constructed as six- and eight-membered rings with pore diameters of 3.2 and 4.8 Å, respectively, while dodecanuclear molybdenum(V) cluster 3 aggregates as an isopolyacidic anion. Interestingly, two {Mo8} units in 4 are linked by strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds [2.692(5) and 2.691(5) Å] into a dimer between bridged hydroxy groups and bridged oxygen atoms. There are diversiform pores presented in 1–4, and the gas adsorption experiments show that 1–4 are obviously favorable for the adsorption of gases O2 and CO2 under different pressures, while little or no adsorption for gases N2, CH4 and H2 respectively. The CO2 adsorption capacities of 1–4 are attributed to the pore sizes and the functions of the amines and uncoordinated triazolate N-donor groups. The influences of neutral and anion complexes have been discussed on the skeletons and porous sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless trace data play an important role in wireless network researches. However, publishing the raw WLAN traces poses potential privacy risks of network users. Therefore, it is necessary to sanitize users' sensitive information before these traces are published, and provide high data utility for wireless network researches as well. Although some existing works based on various anonymization methods have started to address the problem of sanitizing WLAN traces, we find the anonymization techniques cannot provide strong and provable privacy guarantee by analyzing a real WLAN trace dataset. Differential Privacy is the only framework that can provide strong and provable privacy guarantee. However, our analysis shows that existing studies on differential privacy fail to provide effective data utility for query operations on multi-dimensional and large-scale datasets. Aiming at WLAN trace datasets that have unique characteristics of multi-dimensional and large-scale, this paper proposes a privacy-preserving data publishing algorithm which not only satisfies differential privacy but also realizes high data utility for query operations. We prove that the proposed sanitization algorithm satisfies ϵ -differential privacy. Furthermore, the theoretical analysis shows the noise variance in our sanitization algorithm is O (log o (1) n / ϵ 2) which indicates the algorithm can achieve high data utility on large-scale datasets. Moreover, from the results of extensive experiments on an enterprise-scale WLAN trace dataset, we also show that our sanitization algorithm can provide high data utility for query operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fixed-geometry microvalves such as Tesla microvalves rely on the inertial forces of the fluid to allow flow in the desired direction while inhibiting flow in undesired direction. In the traditional topology optimization design methods of fixed-geometry microvalves, single objective function is used to minimize the energy dissipation of forward flow. And several previous studies have widely used diodicity to indicate the performance of fixed-geometry microvalves, which is defined as the ratio of the pressure drop of reverse flow to that of the forward flow. However, higher diodicity does not reflect the degree of forward energy dissipation, leading to a significant pumping power is required to drive flow. Therefore, treating the forward flow pressure drop and its performance independently by a bi-objective formulation is preferable to design fixed-geometry microvalve. This paper proposes a bi-objective topology optimization design method and uses the regularization constraint to design asymmetrical fixed-geometry microvalve for non-Newtonian flow. Several numerical examples with different bifurcation angles, Darcy number and weight coefficients of the bi-objective functions are studied and the validity of the topology optimization method presented in this paper is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Himalayan leucogranites provide insights into the partial melting behavior of relatively deeper crustal rocks and tectono-magmatic history of the Himalayan Orogen. The Paiku leucogranites of northern Himalaya can be subdivided into two-mica leucogranite (TML), garnet-bearing leucogranite (GL), cordierite-bearing leucogranite (CL), and tourmaline-bearing leucogranite (TL). All of them are high-K, peraluminous, calc-alkalic to alkali-calcic rocks. They are enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) and large ion lithophile elements (LILE), and show pronounced negative anomalies of Sr, Ba, K and Ti, but positive anomalies of Nb and Rb. LA-ICP-MS U-Pb zircon dating of one TML, one GL and two CL samples yielded variable 206Pb/238U ages ranging from 23.6 to 16.1 Ma, indicating the Paiku leucogranites underwent a low degree of partial melting process. Combining with previous studies, we suggest the Paiku leucogranites were derived from partial melting of metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence (HHS). The GL and TL mainly resulted from the muscovite-dehydration melting, whereas the TML and CL were mainly derived from the biotite-dehydration melting. Finally, it is concluded that the Paiku leucogranites were probably formed during the subduction of the Indian crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Let 𝒟 n = { 0 , a n , b n } = { 0 , 1 , 2 } (mod 3) , p n ∈ 3 ℤ + , n ≥ 1 , satisfy sup n ≥ 1 max { | a n | , | b n | } p n < ∞. Let μ { p n } , { 𝒟 n } = δ p 1 − 1 𝒟 1 ∗ δ (p 1 p 2) − 1 𝒟 2 ∗ ⋯ be the infinite convolution of probability measures with finite support and equal distribution. In this paper, we show that if lim n → ∞ p n = ∞ , then there exists a discrete set Λ such that { e 2 π i 〈 λ , x 〉 } λ ∈ Λ is an orthonormal basis for L 2 (μ { p n } , { 𝒟 n }). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The swelling pressure of compacted bentonite under complex thermo-chemical conditions is a critical safety parameter of the engineering barrier system for a deep geological repository. To investigate the cyclic thermal and saline effects on the swelling pressure of densely compacted Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite, a series of constant-volume swelling pressure tests were performed using deionized water and NaCl solutions. At 20 °C and 60 °C, the multi-step salinization-desalinization process generated a hysteresis of the swelling pressure, and multiple saline cycles led to its diminishing attenuation. In the framework of the double structure theory, the observed hysteresis of the swelling pressure was ascribed to the irreversible collapse of inter-aggregate pores under osmotic pressure, while the gradual attenuation was attributed to the further homogenization of the clay structure. Soaking tests were also conducted at various thermal and saline conditions to provide evidence for the cyclic saline effects. No salt precipitation was identified due to the negligible changes in the total suctions of the specimens after saline cycles conducted at 20 °C and 60 °C. The membrane effect (resistance of compacted clay to salt migration) was considered, and its degree reflected the changes in the osmotic suctions of the specimens occurred after the soaking tests. The resistance of compacted GMZ bentonite to salt migration was relatively strong during wetting with low saline solutions (0–0.5 mol/L) at 20 °C, and became weak during wetting with high saline solutions (1.0–2.0 mol/L) or at 60 °C. The variation of the swelling pressure during thermal cycling depended on the maximum temperature and concentration of the presaturation solution. By assuming the validity of the membrane effect at the maximum temperatures (valid at 40 °C and invalid at 60 °C), the inconsistent changes in the swelling pressure during thermal cycling were explained by considering the incomplete initial saturation and role of thermal osmosis. However, further verification of the proposed hypothesis by X-ray diffraction and membrane testing at elevated temperatures is required. • Collapse of inter-aggregate pores attenuates swelling pressure during saline cycling. • No salt storage is observed after a saline cycle. • Maximum temperature and salt content affect swelling pressure during thermal cycling. • Degradation of membrane resistance produces inconsistent swelling pressure trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment receptors (SNAREs) play a crucial role in the development and virulence through mediation of membrane fusion and vesicle trafficking in pathogens. Our previous studies reported that the SNARE protein FgVam7 and its binding proteins FgVps39/41 are involved in vesicle trafficking and are important for vegetative growth, asexual/sexual development, deoxynivalenol production and virulence in the Fusarium head blight fungus Fusarium graminearum. Here, we identified and characterized another FgVam7 binding protein in F. graminearum, FgPep12, an ortholog of yeast t-SNARE Pep12 with both the SNARE and TM domains being essential for its localization and function. Deletion of FgPep12 caused defects in vegetative growth, conidiogenesis, perithecia formation and virulence. Cytological observation revealed that FgPep12 localizes to the Golgi apparatus, late endosomes and vacuoles, and is necessary for transport from the vacuole to prevacuolar compartment. Further investigation revealed that both FgPep12 and FgVam7 are essential for ascospore discharge through interaction with and trafficking of the Ca2+ ATPase FgNeo1 between the Golgi and endosomal/vacuolar system. FgNeo1 has similar biological roles to FgPep12 and is required for ascospore discharge in F. graminearum. Together, these results provide solid evidence to help unravel the mechanisms underlying the manipulation of ascospore discharge and plant infection by SNARE proteins in F. graminearum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The secondary structure content of proteins and their complexes may change significantly on passing from aqueous solution to the gas phase (as in mass spectrometry experiments). In this work, we investigate the impact of hydrophobic residues on the formation of the secondary structure of a real protein complex in the gas phase. We focus on a well-studied protein complex, the amyloid-β (1-40) dimer (2Aβ). Molecular dynamics simulations reproduce the results of ion mobility-mass spectrometry experiments. In addition, a helix (not present in the solution) is identified involving 19FFAED23, consistent with infrared spectroscopy data on an Aβ segment. Our simulations further point to the role of hydrophobic residues in the formation of helical motifs – hydrophobic sidechains “shield” helices from being approached by residues that carry hydrogen bond sites. In particular, two hydrophobic phenylalanine residues, F19 and F20, play an important role for the helix, which is induced in the gas phase in spite of the presence of two carboxyl-containing residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image, graphical abstract • We propose a real-time portrait segmentation model for mobile device. • We design boundary loss and consistency constraint loss for improving accuracy. • Boundary loss could make the network generate sharper boundaries. • The other loss could improve the performance under severe illumination conditions. • Our method achieves remarkable performance in terms of both accuracy and efficiency. Real-time portrait segmentation plays a significant role in many applications on mobile device, such as background replacement in video chat or teleconference. In this paper, we propose a real-time portrait segmentation model, called PortraitNet, that can run effectively and efficiently on mobile device. PortraitNet is based on a lightweight U-shape architecture with two auxiliary losses at the training stage, while no additional cost is required at the testing stage for portrait inference. The two auxiliary losses are boundary loss and consistency constraint loss. The former improves the accuracy of boundary pixels, and the latter enhances the robustness in complex lighting environment. We evaluate PortraitNet on portrait segmentation dataset EG1800 and Supervise-Portrait. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, our approach achieves remarkable performance in terms of both accuracy and efficiency, especially for generating results with sharper boundaries and under severe illumination conditions. Meanwhile, PortraitNet is capable of processing 224 × 224 RGB images at 30 FPS on iPhone 7. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the influence of dosage of nanoscale zero-valent iron (nZVI) on an immobilized biological autotrophic denitrification reactor. Effects of hydraulic retention time (HRT; 11, 13, and 15 h), initial Fe(II) concentration (10, 20, and 30 mg/L), and dosage of nZVI (2, 4, and 6 mg/L) were analyzed by response surface methodology to determine the effect on denitrification. The highest nitrate removal efficiency of 95% occurred under the following conditions: HRT of 13 h, 21 mg/L Fe(II), and 4 mg/L nZVI. High-throughput sequencing was used to analyze the compositions and structures of the microbial community in the bioreactor at different stages. Addition of nZVI had a significant impact on microbial richness and diversity. In addition, strain CC76 and relevant bacteria were the dominant bacteria for the removal of nitrate in the biological reactor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a positive integer N ≥ 2 , let D N = { 0 , 1 , ... , N − 1 }. Let the self-affine measure μ ℳ (n) , 𝒟 N (n) be generated by an expanding real matrix ℳ (n) = diag (ρ 1 − 1 , ρ 2 − 1 , ... , ρ n − 1) and a finite digit set 𝒟 N (n) = { ∑ i = 1 n α i e i : α i ∈ D N , 1 ≤ i ≤ n } , where ρ i ∈ ℝ with 0 < | ρ i | < 1 and e i is the i th column of the n × n identical matrix I n , i = 1 , 2 , ... , n. In this paper, we prove that L 2 (μ ℳ (n) , 𝒟 N (n) ) contains an infinite orthogonal set of exponential functions if and only if there exists ρ i (1 ≤ i ≤ n) such that | ρ i | = (p i / q i) 1 / r i for some p i , q i , r i ∈ ℕ + with gcd (p i , q i) = 1 and gcd (q i , N) > 1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contactin-associated protein 1 (CASPR1 or CNTNAP1) was recently reported to be expressed in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), the major component of the blood-brain barrier. To investigate CASPR1's physiological role in BMECs, here we used CASPR1 as a bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify CASPR1-interacting proteins and identified the β3 subunit of Na+/K+-ATPase (ATP1B3) as a CASPR1-binding protein. Using recombinant and purified CASPR1, RNAi, GST-pulldown, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, and Na+/K+-ATPase activity assays, we found that ATP1B3's core proteins, but not its glycosylated forms, interact with CASPR1, which was primarily located in the endoplasmic reticulum of BMECs. CASPR1 knockdown reduced ATP1B3 glycosylation and prevented its plasma membrane localization, phenotypes that were reversed by expression of full-length CASPR1. We also found that the CASPR1 knockdown reduces the plasma membrane distribution of the1 subunit ofNa+/K+-ATPase, which is the major component assembled with ATP1B3 in the complete Na+/K+-ATPase complex. The binding of CASPR1 with ATP1B3, but not the α1 subunit, indicated that CASPR1 binds with ATP1B3 to facilitate the assembly of Na+/K+-ATPase. Furthermore, the activity of Na+/K+-ATPase was reduced in CASPR1-silenced BMECs. Interestingly, shRNA-mediated CASPR1 silencing reduced glutamate efflux through the BMECs. These results demonstrate that CASPR1 binds with ATP1B3 and thereby contributes to the regulation ofNa+/K+-ATPasematurationandtrafficking to theplasma membrane in BMECs. We conclude that CASPR1-mediated regulation of Na+/K+-ATPase activity is important for glutamate transport across the blood-brain barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated peanut protein (PPI) dispersions were pretreated by high pressure at 100, 300, and 500 MPa prior to enzymatic hydrolysis with alkaline protease (Alcalase). The degree of hydrolysis (DH) was determined by the pH‐stat method, the hydrolysates profiles were analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the molecular weight distribution (MWD) was analyzed by gel filtration chromatogram (GFC), and content of SH/S‐S and antioxidant activity of hydrolysates were evaluated. Results showed that HP pretreatment improved effectively the enzymatic hydrolysis of PPI, with an effective sequence of 300 > 100 > 500 MPa. However, no significant differences were observed in the peak pattern of HPLC profiles, but the peak times were earlier in HPLC profiles of the HP‐treated protein. GFC analysis showed that more peptide fractions with low molecular weight appeared in the hydrolysates of the HP‐treated PPI with increasing pressure. Moreover, the level of free SH of hydrolysates of the HP‐treated PPI was relatively higher than non‐HP‐treated PPI. The hydrolysates of the HP‐treated PPI exerted higher antioxidant activity (reducing power and DPPH radical scavenging) than the hydrolysates of non‐HP‐treated PPI. The results indicated that high pressure treatment affected the enzymatic hydrolysis of peanut protein and some protein structure properties and improved antioxidant activity of PPI hydrolysates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Morinda officinalis (MO) mitigates the bone loss induced by glucocorticoid in rats. • MO enhances the bone formation of glucocorticoid-injured osteoblasts. • MO reverses the bone loss in GIOP rats by intervening arachidonic acid pathway. Abstract Morinda officinalis (MO) has long been used as a traditional herbal medicine for the treatment of bone fractures and joint diseases in China. Monotropein (Mon) and rubiadin-1-methyl ether (Rub) are major bioactive components in MO. Ample evidence shows that MO and its chemical constituents can prevent osteoporosis induced by estrogen-deficiency and ageing. However, there is no study reporting glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP). The aim of the present study was to explore the protective effect of MO on GIOP modeled rats and osteoblasts, and elucidate the underlying mechanisms via UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS based metabolomics profiling. Eight weeks after dexamethasone (DEX) injection and MO treatment in female SD rats aged 12 weeks, bone mineral density (BMD), the micro-architecture of the trabecular bone, serum level of bone metabolism markers, and urine metabolomics were assayed in vivo. Cultured osteoblasts were injured with DEX, and the effects of MO, Mon and Rub on osteoblastic proliferation, differentiation and mineralization were examined in vitro. The results showed that MO was able to increase BMD, improve the micro-architecture and intervene bone metabolism via regulating alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) and c-terminal telopeptides of type I collagen (CTX-I) levels in DEX-treated rats. The in vitro experiment showed that MO, Mon and Rub all increased the cell proliferation and ALP activity, and enhanced extracellular matrix mineralization in DEX-injured osteoblasts. Metabolomics profiling identified a total of 37 differential metabolites in DEX group vs. the control group, of which 20 were reversed significantly after MO treatment. Further metabolic pathway enrichment and Western blotting analysis showed that MO prevented bone loss mainly by interfering with arachidonic acid metabolism. These results suggested MO had a notable anti-GIOP effect, and the underlying mechanisms might be related to arachidonic acid metabolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Mixed ligand oxidovanadium(IV) complexes VO(ox)(im) 3 ·H 2 O (1), VO(ox)(4-mim) 3 (2), K 2 [VO(ox) 2 (2-mim)]·2H 2 O (3) and [V 2 O 2 (edta)(phen) 2 ]·11H 2 O (4) are isolated and the catalytic performances of 1 , 2 and 4 are tested for the degradations of methyl orange, showing the influence of dissociation ability of ligands and labile coordinated sites. Highlights • Mixed ligand oxidovanadium(IV) complexes are isolated. • EPR and theoretical calculations are consistent with the vanadium(IV) oxidation state. • Catalytic degradations for MO show the influence of dissociation ability of ligands. Abstract Mixed ligand oxidovanadium(IV) complexes VO(ox)(im) 3 ·H 2 O (1), VO(ox)(4-mim) 3 (2), K 2 [VO(ox) 2 (2-mim)]·2H 2 O (3) and [V 2 O 2 (edta)(phen) 2 ]·11H 2 O (4) (H 2 ox = oxalic acid, H 4 edta = ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, im = imidazole, 2-mim = 2-methylimidazole, 4-mim = 4-methylimidazole, and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) have been obtained at room temperature and under hydrothermal condition respectively. 1 – 3 feature bidentate oxalate with two carboxy oxygen atoms, and the dimeric complex 4 contains hexadentate edta as bridging ligand. 1 – 4 have been fully characterized by elemental, thermogravimetric and single crystal X-ray structural analyses, as well as IR, UV–vis and EPR spectroscopies. Moreover, 1 , 2 and 4 were tested for the catalytic degradations of methyl orange (MO) with H 2 O 2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • The rheology of non-Newtonian fluid has a great effect on mass transfer performance. • The gas–liquid interface mobility was distinct between tap water and CMC solutions. • The dimensionless correlations of mass transfer coefficient were proposed. • Effect of gas–liquid interface mobility was considered in dimensionless correlation. • Results can be applied in the design of bubble column with non-Newtonian fluids. Abstract Gas–liquid mass transfer in non-Newtonian fluid systems is important in many chemical and biochemical processes. Having a good understanding of gas–liquid mass transfer contributes to achieving the optimization of design and the energy-efficient operation. The mass transfer performance in tap water and carboxyl methyl cellulose (CMC) aqueous solutions with different weight percentages (0.3 wt%, 0.4 wt%, 0.5 wt% and 0.6 wt%) were investigated experimentally. The CMC aqueous solution was shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid. In this study the apparent viscosity of the solutions ranged from 0.01 to 0.1 Pa s. As expected, the liquid phase rheology had a great effect on the gas–liquid mass transfer performance. The volumetric mass transfer coefficients in CMC aqueous solutions were much smaller than those in tap water, and the value decreased from 3.04 × 10−3 s−1 to 2.8 × 10−4 s−1 with the increase of the weight percentage of CMC aqueous solutions. The mobility of the gas–liquid interface in tap water and CMC aqueous solutions was identified by the dimensionless diameter number. It was found that the mobile gas–liquid interface prevailed in tap water, while bubbles behaved as rigid particles in relatively high weight percentage of CMC aqueous solutions (0.5 wt% and 0.6 wt%). The liquid film mass transfer coefficient could be approximated by theories for mobile and immobile gas–liquid interfaces in tap water and CMC aqueous solutions, respectively. Based on the liquid phase rheology and the mobility of the gas–liquid interface, the dimensionless correlations were proposed to describe the mass transfer process in Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Heavy quarks (HQ) are believed to have unique roles for studying QCD at finite temperature and baryon density. By comparing precision measurements of HQ hadron production in heavy-ion collisions with realistic phenomenological model calculations, the goal is to understand interactions and dynamics of HQ propagating through the Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP) medium and furthermore to characterize the QGP with emergent QCD transport parameters and their temperature dependence. In this article, we will review recent experimental and theoretical achievements on HQ production in high energy p + p , p ∕ d + A and A + A collisions at RHIC and the LHC. We will discuss what we have learned about the HQ production and how HQs interact with the QGP medium along with their QGP medium properties. Finally, we would like to discuss a few open questions and propose future experimental and theoretical directions towards the physics goals utilizing HQ probes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seaport resource sharing is critical for regional integration of port clusters. Port resources include the resources of a single port and the strategic resources of port cluster. The decision of a port will have a long-term impact on its competitive port decisions, and understanding the long-term value of an action relative to another is the essence of the opportunity cost trade-off of many reinforcement learning algorithms. The authors construct the evaluation function and the game-theoretic machine learning algorithm of a single port for resources sharing in seaports regional integration. The optimal solution with different parameters and the mechanism of sharing decision have been studied. On the basis of mechanism analysis, the variation law of optimal strategy is further expounded. The following conclusions are given: (1) the resource-sharing decision is beneficial for the overall competitiveness of the port cluster; (2) a "boxed pigs" game exists between ports with different resource output levels; (3) besides the decision of sharing resources or not, the optimal sharing level is also important; (4) opponent's sharing decision will influence the decision critical point; (5) in the process of game, there is a prisoner's dilemma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sufficient swelling pressure of compacted bentonite upon wetting is necessary to provide long-term stability to an engineered barrier system under conditions of thermal gradient and variable water chemistry in a high-level radioactive waste repository. To investigate the combined thermal and saline effects on the swelling pressure of Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite, constant-volume swelling pressure tests were performed on densely compacted specimens inundated with deionized water, NaCl, and CaCl 2 solutions at 20 °C and 60 °C. The results indicate that high temperature and saline solutions decrease the swelling pressure. Crystalline swelling dominates the constant-volume swelling of densely compacted bentonite. For a given cation type, a higher temperature or higher solution concentration resulted in a lower swelling pressure. The decreasing surface potential and increasing osmotic suction with solution concentration both weaken the clay swelling. The effects of temperature on the swelling pressure are explained by the role of the lattice contraction. The degeneration of the interlamellar adsorbed water at high temperature weakens the crystalline swelling. The effects of cation types are interpreted by their difference in chemical activity. Ca2+ ions possess higher exchange capacity and larger hydrated radius than those of the Na+ ions. When densely compacted Na-bentonite is wetted with CaCl 2 solution, the possible change of the interlamellar cations from Na+ to Ca2+ ions would promote the crystalline swelling. The osmotic suction imposed by CaCl 2 solution may offset the role of the cation exchange to a small extent. The effect of temperature on the swelling pressure exceeds that of the cation types. For a given solution concentration, the specimen wetted with NaCl solution developed lower swelling pressure than that with CaCl 2 solution at 20 °C, whereas the opposite tendency appeared at 60 °C. In addition, specimens saturated with deionized water and NaCl solution at 20 °C obtained insignificant difference in pore size distribution, whereas identifiable differences in pore size distribution occured at 60 °C. The combined thermal and saline effects on the swelling pressure may be explained by the role of the lattice contraction at varied clay structure. When CaCl 2 solution is used, the quasicrystals contain more montmorillonite layers than the case of the NaCl solution. The role of the lattice contraction at high temperature is expected to decrease the swelling pressure to a greater degree in the case of the CaCl 2 solution. The remarkable increase in the osmotic suction at high temperature and high solution concentration could also enlarge the decrease in the swelling pressure. These conjectures, however, still require quantitative interpretations via microscopic tests such as X-ray powder diffraction tests on bulk samples. Highlights • High temperature preferentially dominates crystalline swelling. • High temperature has greater effects on PSD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tetranuclear iron molybdate Na6[(MoO2)2O2Fe2(nta)4]·16H2O (1) and decanuclear heterometallic polymer [(MoO4)2FeII4FeIII4(ida)8]n (2) were synthesized in modular manners (H3nta = nitrilotriacetic acid, H2ida = iminodiacetic acid). Isomorphous complexes of 1 were also obtained as Na6[(MoO2)2O2M2(nta)4]·16H2O (M = Al, 3; Cr, 4). Nta ligands in 1, 3 and 4 chelate to Mo atoms with two β-carboxy groups and one N atom, and the other β-carboxy group coordinates to adjacent heterometallic atoms(iii) as a tetradentate ligand. The tetranuclear molybdenum(vi) nitrilotriacetates 1, 3 and 4 contain 2D water layers in their structures; the solution NMR spectra of 3 show no decomposition in solution. The decanuclear heterometallic polymer [(MoO4)2FeII4FeIII4(ida)8]n (2) forms an interesting cubic 3D microporous structure with alternating [MoO4] layers and [Fe(ida)] layers. There is a 3.3 Å diameter hole in the octanuclear structure of 2, which is formed by eight [Fe(ida)] units centered on MoO4. 2 is stable up to 250 °C and can adsorb a small amount of CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zero-valent iron (ZVI) has been reported as an effective material for the reduction of nitrate in autotrophic denitrification systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the iron-reducing bacteria CC76 combined with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)-ZVI on nitrate reduction reaction in simulated groundwater under anaerobic conditions. Optimization conditions of biological denitrification as well as the process of iron cycle using the bacterial strains CC76 and CMC-ZVI were determined. Temperature (20.00°C, 30.00°C, and 40.00°C), initial pH (6.00, 7.00 and 8.00), and CMC-ZVI concentration (1.00, 3.00 and 5.00 g/L) were selected for response surface methodology experiments. Statistical analysis revealed that the highest nitrate removal efficiency was obtained under the conditions of a temperature of 32.20°C, initial pH of 6.87, and CMC-ZVI concentration of 3.40 g/L. Images from scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction showed that the CMC-ZVI had better physical characteristics to promote denitrification in the autotrophic denitrification system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To characterize the distinctive chest high-resolution computerized tomography (HRCT) features and clinical manifestations of primary Sjögren syndrome (pSS)-related interstitial lung disease (ILD). The demographic data, clinical manifestations, and laboratory and radiological findings of 527 pSS patients were retrospectively analyzed. ILD was defined based on the presences of pulmonary signs in HRCT. Two hundred six of 527 patients were diagnosed as pSS-ILD, and the prevalence was 39.1%. The three most frequent abnormalities in HRCT were reticular pattern (92.7%), ground-glass attenuation (87.4%), and bronchovascular bundle thickening (82%). One hundred twenty-four cases (60.2%) of the pSS-ILD patients had only a single HRCT pattern, which involved 86 non-specific interstitial pneumonitis (NSIP) cases (41.7%), 22 usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) cases (10.68%), 8 organizing pneumonia (OP) cases (3.9%), and 8 lymphocytic interstitial pneumonia (LIP) cases (3.9%), respectively. Besides, the more important observation was that 82 cases had no less than two HRCT patterns, and NSIP admixed with OP (43.9%), NSIP admixed with UIP (35.4%), and NSIP admixed with LIP (19.5%) were the most frequent. HRCT of pSS-ILD patients demonstrated bilateral infiltrates (99%), with abnormalities predominantly in the lower lobes (89.3%) and subpleural areas (81.1%), and a few lesions were characterized by hilum distributed (8.7%). Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) revealed impaired diffusion capacity for carbon monoxide and total lung capacity, and the rate of small airway lesions in the pSS-ILD patients was 3.5 times higher in patients of pSS. Logistic regression analysis showed that dry cough (OR 59.05), clubbing (OR 6.26), elevated lactate dehydrogenase (OR 21.38) and positive anti-Ro (OR 7.86) were relevant factors of pSS-ILD. ILD is the common pulmonary involvement of pSS and the prevalence of pSS-ILD is 39.1%. The single pattern of NSIP and UIP in HRCT are the commonest, and about 40% of the pSS-ILD patients possess multiple patterns in HRCT. The classification of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis cannot completely include the pulmonary imaging features of pSS-ILD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to find the factors that may be helpful for differentiating pancreatic cancer-associated diabetes mellitus (PC + DM) from common type 2 diabetes for the early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Methods: From January 2008 to August 2013, 171 patients with pancreatic cancer and new-onset diabetes were recruited for the study; 242 age- and gender-matched patients with common type 2 diabetes were also identified as control during the same period. The patient's characteristics and laboratory parameters were compared between the 2 groups. Results: By multivariate logistic regression analysis, we found that body mass index (BMI), the age of onset of diabetes, hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, total bilirubin (TBIL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), creatinine (Cr), apolipoprotein-A1 (APO-A1), and white blood cell (WBC) were independent predictive factors for differentiating PC + DM from common type 2 diabetes; the areas under receiver operating characteristic curves were up to 0.815 for the combination of these 8 markers. Conclusions: These results suggest that BMI, the age of onset of diabetes, HBV infection, TBIL, ALT, Cr, APO-A1, and WBC are factors that could differentiate PC + DM from common type 2 -diabetes and may be used for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, novel three dimensional hierarchical porous Sn-Ni (3D-HP Sn-Ni) alloys were investigated as a promising anode for high-performance Li ion batteries (LIBs), which was fabricated by pulse electrodeposition of mesoporous Sn-Ni alloy made of ultrafine nanoparticles on the 3D nanoporous copper substrate from chemical dealloying of as-cast Al 55 Cu 45 (at.%) alloy slices in the HCl solution. The results show that the as-obtained 3D-HP Sn-Ni alloys are typically characteristic of open, bicontinuous, interpenetrating bimodal pore size distribution comprising large-sized (hundreds of nm) ligament-channel network architecture with highly porous channel walls (several nm). Compared to the two dimensional nanoporous Sn-Ni (2D-NP Sn-Ni) thin films, the 3D-HP Sn-Ni alloys as anode for LIBs show superior cycling stability with reversible specific capacity of 0.25 mAh cm −2 and coulombic efficiency of more than 95% up to 200 cycles. Moreover, the reversible capacity as high as 0.22 mAh cm −2 can be achieved even after a series of high-rate charge–discharge cyclings. The satisfactory electrochemical properties can be mainly ascribed to the unique 3D hierarchical porous structure, large contact surface area between active material and electrolyte, as well as good buffer effect of inactive component, which is greatly beneficial to alleviate the huge volume variation, enhance the loading mass of active material, shorten the Li + migration distance and improve the electron conductivity. We believe that this present work can provide a promising anode candidate towards practical application of high-performance LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several studies have demonstrated that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may have a beneficial effect in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Nevertheless, the clinical benefit of rTMS for AD remains inconclusive. Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rTMS in AD. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of rTMS for AD. We calculated pooled estimates of mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The protocol was registered at International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (number CRD42018089990). Results: Five RCTs involving 148 participants were included in this review. Compared with sham stimulation, high-frequency rTMS led to a significant improvement in cognition as measured by ADAS-cog (MD = -3.65, 95% CI -5.82 to -1.48, p = 0.001), but not MMSE (MD = 0.49, 95% CI -1.45 to 2.42, p = 0.62). High-frequency rTMS also improved the global impression in comparison to the placebo (MD = -0.79, 95% CI -1.24 to -0.34, p = 0.0006). There was no significant difference in mood (MD = -1.36, 95% CI -3.93 to 1.21, p = 0.30) and functional performance (MD = 0.59, 95% CI -1.21 to 2.38, p = 0.52) between high-frequency rTMS and sham groups. Only one trial included low-frequency rTMS reported no significant improvement in cognition, mood and functional performance. Few mild adverse events were observed in both the rTMS and sham groups. Conclusions: RTMS is relatively well tolerated, with some promise for cognitive improvement and global impression in patients with AD. Our findings also indicate the variability between ADAS-cog and MMSE in evaluating global cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Mechanical bearings (i.e., sliding and rolling bearings) are widely used for motion guidance in precision positioning stages due to their low cost, large motion range and high off-axis stiffness. They are also finding increasing use in ultra-precision positioning, e.g., for low-cost and long-range nanopositioning in vacuum environments. However, mechanical-bearing-guided motion stages suffer from nonlinear pre-motion (i.e., pre-sliding/pre-rolling) friction which adversely affects their precision and motion speed in both tracking and point-to-point positioning applications. A compliant joint method has recently been proposed for simple, accurate and robust feedforward compensation of pre-motion friction in tracking motions, with excellent results. This paper experimentally investigates the influence of the compliant joint method on feedback compensation of pre-motion friction, which is critical to achieving fast settling in point-to-point positioning. It shows using a model-free (PID) controller that, for the same feedback gains, the mechanical-bearing-guided motion stage equipped with compliant joints exhibits much more linear closed loop dynamics and higher bandwidth compared to the traditional motion stage without compliant joints. The compliant-joint-equipped stage also has much faster settling time in point-to-point positioning experiments for most step motions tested, except for one particular step size where it settles slower than the traditional mechanical-bearing-guided motion stage due to the compliant joint dynamics. With the addition of an inverse-model-based disturbance observer to the PID controller, the settling time of the stage with compliant joints becomes uniformly much faster than the traditional mechanical-bearing-guided motion stage; its robustness and stability margins are also shown to be superior to those of the traditional mechanical-bearing-guided motion stage. Highlights • Friction severely inhibits precision and speed of mechanical bearing motion stages. • A compliant joint (CJ) method is proposed to assist feedback friction compensation. • The CJ enables higher servo bandwidths and much more linear closed loop dynamics. • But for one case, it enables faster settling in P2P positioning using PID control. • With a disturbance observer added, the CJ enables uniformly much faster settling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is an aggressive hematologic malignancy affecting pediatric and adult populations. Although the outcomes of ALL in children have improved markedly in previous years, limited treatment strategies are available at present for adult patients with ALL. Wee1 is a crucial cell cycle checkpoint kinase of G2/M that regulates cell cycle progression and maintains chromatin integrity. MK‑1775, a selective inhibitor of Wee1 has recently been identified to be able to induce apoptosis of tumor cells by abrogating G2/M checkpoint. The present study investigated the anti‑leukemic activity of MK‑1775 alone and in combination with doxorubicin (Adriamycin®; ADM) in various human ALL cell lines. MK‑1775 treatment induced apoptosis of ALL cells, accompanied by unscheduled mitotic entry and downregulation of Notch pathway. The anti‑leukemic activity of MK‑1775 was in a concentration‑ and time‑dependent manner. The data also indicated that it decreased the half‑maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of ADM compared with the control group. The combination of MK‑1775 and ADM induced an increased apoptotic rate compared with each agent alone. In addition, the human bone marrow stromal cell HS‑5 cell line was detected to exhibit an increased IC50 value of MK‑1775 treatment in contrast to ALL cell lines. It indicates that the hematopoietic supportive capability may remain intact during the treatment of MK‑1775. Taken together, the Wee1 inhibitor MK‑1775 may be an attractive agent in the treatment of patients with ALL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is a rare neurological complication of cancer characterized by rapid development of cerebellar ataxia. We herein present a case of a 67-year-old female patient with PCD caused by breast cancer. The patient presented with progressively worsening cerebellar deficits that had been misdiagnosed for several months prior to the identification of the anti-Yo autoantibodies in the serum. A whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography scan revealed a lesion in the lower outer quadrant of the left breast with slightly increased metabolism. On mammography, a lobulated high-density mass was identified in the left breast. The patient underwent left breast lumpectomy and the histological examination confirmed the presence of an invasive ductal carcinoma. After breast surgery, the patient exhibited marked neurological improvement at the 12-month follow-up. Therefore, it is crucial that clinicians include paraneoplastic neurological syndromes in the differential diagnosis of neurological disorders. The detection of characterized onconeural antibodies in the serum or cerebrospinal fluid may provide guidance in the search for an underlying tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Achieved Pareto optimal design for the integrated urban wastewater system. • Provided the tool for discussing optimal degree of centralization. • Optimization able to decrease cost / energy by 7% / 26% for 100-square-km new city. • The optimal WWTP capacity decrease significantly as wastewater reuse is implemented. Decentralization is recognized as an emerging solution for a more sustainable urban wastewater system (UWS) for the future. However, the debate of centralization vs. decentralization at the system's planning stage remains unresolved, mainly due to the complexity of the system's spatial structure and the multiple design objectives, such as water reuse and energy conservation. This paper presents the Sustainable Urban Wastewater System Generator (SUWStor) as a tool to address this issue. Integrating a graph representation of the system structure and the ant colony algorithm, SUWStor can produce Pareto optimal solutions for system design under three objectives: minimizing the capital cost, minimizing the operational energy consumption, and maximizing the water reuse capacity. The model is used for system design in a 100-square-km new city, the Xiong'an New District in China. Compared to the solution based on human experience, the model can reduce the system's capital cost by 7% and the operational energy in the pipe network by 26%, while maintaining the water reuse capacity at 100%. With this model, the relation between the optimal system layout and the choice over different design objectives can be discussed for any given area. In our case study, the optimal capacity of WWTPs for the lowest-cost solution is 48,000 m3 per day, leading to a total number of WWTPs of 5. As the water reuse level increases to maximum, the optimal capacity reduces to 15,000 m3 per day, where the number of WWTPs is 16. The model is also able to perform significantly better than the locally optimized results, in which only the WWTP locations are fixed at their optimal values. This demonstrates the importance of a global optimization model in designing the integrated UWS. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyethylene (PE) is the most heavily used polymer worldwide. Theoretically, PE can be further enhanced by methods such as increasing the molecular weight or moderate cross-linking, however these changes lead to increased viscosity and difficulty for processing PE in the molten state, bringing problems such as decreased production efficiency and greater difficulty in recycling. An important research direction has focused on combining the easy processing and mechanical strength of PE. In this study, long-branched polyethylene containing reversible boronic esters bonds (B–O bonds) was prepared by graft copolymerization, and then PE vitrimers were prepared by a complex decomposition reaction with bis(dioxaborolane) crosslinker. This method can directly convert non-functional conventional plastics into dynamic covalent polymers through reactive processing imparting higher tensile strength, Young's modulus, and better heat resistance to PE. The PE vitrimers is demonstrated to have good melt processability based on dynamic B–O bond exchange, uniting strong mechanical and thermomechanical properties with excellent reproducible processability. This work introduces a new way of recycling and reusing traditional plastic and rubber products. • The introduction of dynamic covalent networks into polyolefins through rational design directly converting commercial plastics into dynamic covalent materials and improving their mechanical properties. •Despite the formation of a three-dimensional mesh cross-linked structure, the material is reprocessable and recyclable due to its dynamic properties. •The rheological and viscoelastic properties of dynamic cross-linked polyethylene materials are investigated to provide ideas for the design of dynamic covalent materials of polyolefins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aims/Introduction: Cell death‐inducing DFF45‐like effector C (CIDEC) was proven to be closely associated with the development of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. We aimed to investigate whether CIDEC gene silencing could alleviate pulmonary vascular remodeling in a type 2 diabetes rat model. Materials and Methods: We built a type 2 diabetes rat model. An adenovirus harboring CIDEC small interfering ribonucleic acid was then injected into the jugular vein to silence the CIDEC gene. After hematoxylin–eosin and Sirius red staining, we detected indexes of the pulmonary arterioles remodeling. Immunohistochemical staining of proliferating cell nuclear antigen was used to evaluate the pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cell proliferation. Apoptosis was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling reaction and western blotting. The levels of signaling pathway proteins expression were measured by western blotting analyses. Results: Histological analysis of the pulmonary artery showed that the thickness of the adventitia and medial layer increased notably in type 2 diabetes rats. Immunohistochemistry showed that more proliferating cell nuclear antigen‐positive pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells could be seen in type 2 diabetes rats; and after CIDEC gene silencing, proliferating cell nuclear antigen positive cells decreased accordingly. Cleaved caspase‐3 and cleaved poly (adenosine diphosphate‐ribose) polymerase measured by western blotting showed increased apoptosis with overexpressed CIDEC in diabetes. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling reaction showed that the apoptosis mainly occurred in endothelial cells. Western blotting analysis showed CIDEC overexpression in rats with diabetes, and phosphorylated adenosine 5′ monophosphate‐activated protein kinase‐α expression was significantly decreased. After CIDEC gene silencing, the expression of phosphorylated adenosine 5′ monophosphate‐activated protein kinase‐α was upregulated. Conclusions: The CIDEC/5′ monophosphate‐activated protein kinase signaling pathway could be a potential therapeutic candidate against pulmonary vascular diseases in type 2 diabetes patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]