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Background: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is a rare subtype of SCA in the Chinese population. To the best of our knowledge, no Chinese infantile-onset cases confirmed by molecular analysis have been reported. Methods: Clinical and molecular analyses were performed in a Chinese family with several members clinically diagnosed with SCA7. Results: After molecular analysis of ATXN7, the father and his daughter were shown by the agarose gel electrophoresis analysis to have one expanded allele and one normal allele. DNA sequencing showed the diplotype CAG repeats in the father and daughter to be 50/11 and 189/10, respectively. Based on this result and observed clinical features, the daughter was diagnosed with an infantile-onset SCA7. Conclusion: This is the first report of infantile-onset SCA7 in the Chinese population confirmed by molecular analysis. Our data also indicate that life expectancy is longer for infantile-onset cases without multi-organ damage, compared to cases with multi-organ damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article proposes an adjusted empirical likelihood estimation (AMELE) method to model and analyze accelerated life testing data. This approach flexibly and rigorously incorporates distribution assumptions and regression structures by estimating equations within a semiparametric estimation framework. An efficient method is provided to compute the empirical likelihood estimates, and asymptotic properties are studied. Real-life examples and numerical studies demonstrate the advantage of the proposed methodology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A new PbII-compound, [Pb(H2pimdc)2(H2O)2]n (1)(H3pimdc = 2-propyl-4,5-imidazole dicarboxy- late), has been hydrothermally synthesized and characterized. Single crystal X-ray diffraction reveals that in 1, μ3-H2pimdc- anion act as linker to connect PbII into 2D (4,4) coordination network, which are further extended to a 3D supramolecular network with (3,6,6)-connected (32·42·52·64·74·10) (32·42·52·66·73)2(4·62)2 topology through R12(8) H-bonding rings. In additional, photoluminescence and thermal stability of 1 have been investigated as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel measurement scheme for a three dimensional (3D) object''s surface boundary perimeter is proposed. This scheme consists of three steps. First, a binocular stereo vision measurement system with two CCD cameras is devised to obtain the two images of a detected object''s 3D surface boundary. Second, two B-spline active contours are applied to converge to the object''s contour edges accurately in the two CCD images to perform the stereo matching. Finally, for the reconstructed 3D active contour, its true contour length is computed as the detected object''s true boundary perimeter. An experiment on a bent surface''s perimeter measurement indicates that this scheme''s measurement repetition error decreases to 0.6%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • Summarizing the ORR features of bioinspired N 4 -metallomacrocycles. • Discussing the structural effects of N 4 -metallomacrocycles on ORR. • Summarizing immobilization methods for loading N 4 -metallomacrocycles on various supports. • Summarizing electrocatalytic ORR materials derived from N 4 -metallomacrocycles. • Discussing potential applications of N 4 -metallomacrocycles in new energy conversion techniques. Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important process involved in natural and artificial energy conversion schemes. As inspired by cytochrome c oxidases (C c Os), which are metalloenzymes catalyzing selective reduction of O 2 to water at heme Fe porphyrin sites, metal macrocyclic complexes containing square-planar M−N 4 coordination sites, such as metal porphyrins, corroles and phthalocyanines, have been extensively studied as catalysts and pre-catalysts for electrocatalytic ORR. This review addresses structural effects of these molecular metal macrocycles on the selectivity and activity of electrocatalytic ORR, including the effects of meso - and β -substituents, axial ligands, and second coordination spheres. In order to realize the practical use of molecular electrocatalysis, catalysts are required to be immobilized on appropriate supporting materials. Therefore, this review also addresses the effects of immobilization methods and interactions between molecular catalysts and supports on ORR. Moreover, the use of N 4 -metallomacrocycles and their derived materials in metal-air batteries is discussed, underlining the potential and promising applications of molecular electrocatalysis in new energy conversion techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In real-world applications, features can be generated continuously one by one or by groups, such as image analysis and physical examination. Online streaming feature selection deals with streaming features on the fly. Existing streaming feature selection methods focus on removing irrelevant and redundant features and selecting the most relevant features, but they ignore the interaction between features. Interacting features appear to be irrelevant or weakly relevant to the class individually. However, if they are combined, they may highly correlate with the class. Features within the same group are more likely to interact with each other. Therefore, in this paper, we focus on feature interaction within and between the streaming groups and propose an Online Group Streaming Feature Selection method that can select Features to Interact with each other, named OGSFS-FI. OGSFS-FI consists of two stages: online intra-group selection and online inter-group selection. For intra-group selection, we design a new pair selection strategy that can select features interacting with each other. For inter-group selection, we use the regularization and variable selection method elastic net, which encourages a grouping effect. Extensive experiments conducted on synthetic and real-world datasets demonstrate our new method's efficiency and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yaw-based wake steering control is a potential way to improve wind plant overall performance. For its engineering application, it is crucial to accurately predict the turbine wakes under various yawed conditions within a short time. In this work, a two-dimensional analytical model is proposed for far wake modeling under yawed conditions by taking the self-similarity assumption for the streamwise velocity deficit and skewness angle at hub height. The proposed model can be applied to predict the wake center trajectory, streamwise velocity, and transverse velocity in the far-wake region downstream of a yawed turbine. For validation purposes, predictions by the newly proposed model are compared to wind tunnel measurements and large-eddy simulation data. The results show that the proposed model has significantly high accuracy and outperforms other common wake models. More importantly, the equations of the new proposed model are simple, the wake growth rate is the only parameter to be specified, which makes the model easy to be used in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel scheme for an object''s surface area measurement is proposed, which is suitable for area computation of an object with smooth and irregular edges. A multi-resolution dynamic contour is applied and this scheme consists of four steps. Firstly, a photoelectric image collimation system is applied to obtain a target image of a detected object. An image pyramid for the target image is constructed by wavelet decomposition and reconstruction. Secondly, in the image pyramid, a multi-resolution dynamic contour converges to the target''s contour edge from coarse to fine scale, via feature search and an iteration algorithm. Thirdly, for the convergent dynamic contour, two formulas for the area and centroid computation of a closed B-spline curve are applied to compute the image target''s area and centroid exactly. Finally, a novel centroid self-calibration technology is applied, which measures the pixel''s size equivalence with the computed centroid and a dual-frequency laser to measure the true object''s surface area exactly. Experiments indicate that this scheme''s single-measurement error decreases to ±0.2%, when the number of control points is 20. Compared to conventional measurement approaches, this scheme is robust for a target image with noises or complicated edges. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

GLO:8DU/01jun20:cge13747-toc-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): . gl Acephalic spermatozoa is a rare form of teratozoospermia, and the vast majority of cases are idiopathic. Mutations in PMFBP1 cause Acephalic spermatozoa syndrome. [Extracted from the article]

The ability of Na[sup +] ions to modulate coupling of α[sub 2B] - and α[sub 2D] -adrenergic receptors to G proteins was investigated in isolated membranes from transfected PC12 and NIH 3T3 fibroblast cells. The initial rate of epinephrine-stimulated [[sup 35] S]GTPγS binding was higher for α[sub 2D] -receptors (the rat homolog of the α[sub 2A] -receptor) in both cell types, whereas both α[sub 2B] - and α[sub 2D] -receptor responses were higher in PC12 cell membranes. Pertussis toxin completely blocked agonist-stimulated binding. Graded increases in Na[sup +] caused a progressive loss of basal GTP binding, indicative of its ability to reduce the level of the active R* state of the receptor. This inhibitory effect of Na[sup +] was more pronounced in PC12/α[sub 2B] than PC12/α[sub 2D] membranes. Epinephrine-stimulated GTP binding in PC12/α[sub 2B] membranes was also more sensitive to Na[sup +] inhibition than in PC12/α[sub 2D] membranes. In saturation [[sup 35] S]GTPγS binding studies, the presence of Na[sup +] reduced apparent GTP affinity, and its effect was greater in PC12/ α[sub 2B] membranes, consistent with a greater reduction in the active R* conformation of the receptor. The higher efficacy of epinephrine at α[sub 2D] receptors and their lesser sensitivity to Na[sup +] are both indicative of a more stable R* state. Together these results suggest that differences in the modulatory influence of Na[sup +] within a family of G[sub i] -coupled receptors may reflect differences in the stability of the active R* state.Copyright © 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global public health burden. Chronic HCV infection leads to the development of fibrosis, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and liver failure over time. A total of 250 patients with chronic HCV infection and 299 healthy blood donors were recruited. Sixteen candidate single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), CCL5, CCL8, C-C chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), and CCR5 were genotyped in all participants. The rs1024610 AA genotype was significantly associated with decreased susceptibility to chronic HCV infection. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, AST/platelet ratio index, and the fibrosis 4 score were significantly lower in the CCL2 rs1024610 T allele and haplotype ATGC carriers. Moreover, expression levels of collagen IV (C–IV) and laminin (LN) were significantly higher in patients with the CCL5 rs2280788 C allele compared to the non-carriers. Similarly, the expression levels of C–IV, LN, and hyaluronic acid were significantly higher in patients with the CCL5 haplotype, TGCT. No significant differences were identified between the SNPs/haplotypes and plasma levels of CCL2, CCL5, CCL8, CCR2, and CCR5 in the healthy controls, and the rs1024610 allele alteration had no effect on CCL2 promoter activity. This is the first study to report an association between CCL2 rs1024610 and the risk of chronic HCV infection in the Chinese Han population. rs1024610 and ATGC haplotype in CCL2 were reasonable candidate markers of liver abnormalities. rs2280788 and TGCT haplotype in CCL5 are likely to play a significant role in liver fibrosis during chronic HCV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DEL is the weakest known D-positive phenotype and is detectable only by adsorption and elution tests. RHD c.1227G>A is an important marker for DEL phenotype in East Asians. The aim of this study was to develop a method for RHD c.1227G>A genotyping by single-tube PCR with melting curve analysis. Two GC-rich tails of different lengths were attached to the 5′-end of allele-specific primers for RHD 1227G and 1227A alleles, such that RHD c.1227G>A could be distinguished by the melting temperature. A total of 145 D-negative Chinese Han blood donors were genotyped for RHD c.1227G>A by melting curve analysis, conventional polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP), and sequencing. In 143 subjects (143/145, 98.6%), PCR-SSP and melting curve analysis produced consistent results with RHD exon 9 sequencings. Two samples were genotyped as RHD 1227G/A by PCR-SSP, but as RHD 1227A/A or A/- by melting curve analysis. These two samples were confirmed to be RHD 1227A/A or A/-. Based on RHD exon 9 sequencing, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the melting curve analysis for detecting both RHD 1227A and 1227G were all 100%. In contrast, the accuracy, specificity and positive predictive value of PCR-SSP for RHD 1227G detection were 98.62%, 98.21% and 94.29%, respectively, which were lower than those observed with the melting curve analysis. Melting curve analysis for RHD c.1227G>A genotyping is a simple, rapid, and reliable method, superior to conventional PCR-SSP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Melatonin restores circadian disruption through regulation of clock genes. • Melatonin reduces AD pathology through autophagy mechanisms of BECN1 and mTOR pathway. • Melatonin enhances autophagosome formation and inhibition of autophagic degradation. Melatonin (MLT) is a neurohormone that is regulated by the circadian clock and plays multifunctional roles in numerous neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is the most common form of dementia and is associated with the degradation of axons and synapses resulting in memory loss and cognitive impairment. Despite extensive research, there is still no effective cure or specific treatment to prevent the progression of AD. The pathogenesis of AD involves atrophic alterations in the brain that also result in circadian alterations, sleep disruption, and autophagic dysfunction. In this scenario, MLT and autophagy play a central role in removing the misfolded protein aggregations. MLT also promotes autophagy through inhibiting methamphetamine toxicity to protect against neuronal cell death in AD brain. Besides, MLT plays critical roles as either a pro-autophagic indicator or anti-autophagic regulator depending on the phase of autophagy. MLT also has antioxidant properties that can counteract mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress, and apoptosis. Aging, a major risk factor for AD, can change sleep patterns and sleep quality, and MLT can improve sleep quality through regulating sleep cycles. The primary purpose of this review is to explore the putative mechanisms of the beneficial effects of MLT in AD patients. Furthermore, we also summarize the findings from preclinical and clinical studies on the multifunctional roles of MLT on autophagic regulation, the control of the circadian clock-associated genes, and sleep regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the role of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity in cell death. Potentiation of hydrogen peroxide-induced cell death in established cells by G6PDH; Increases in reactive oxygen species with serum deprivation; Correlation of serum deprivation with decreased G6PDH activity.

Tests the hypothesis that glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) plays a critical role in cell death. Potentiation of H2O2-induced cell death through G6PDH inhibitors; Effect of G6PDH on the redox potential; Increase of resistance to H2O2-induced cell death through overexpression of G6PDH; Linking of serum deprivation with decreased G6PDH activity.

Bacillus licheniformis is a major source of microbial contamination to dairy industry, and biofilm formation by this spoilage bacterium aggravates the safety issues. Especially for milk powder manufactures, the evaporation process at temperatures between 50 °C and 70 °C before spray drying, is a critical control point against thermophilic bacteria multiplication. In our study, metabolomics analysis was performed to investigate dynamic changes of the metabolites and their roles during process of biofilm development of B. licheniformis at 55 °C for 24 h. Amino acid metabolism was quite active, with cooperation from lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism and nucleotide metabolism. Amino acid biosynthesis provided significant contributions especially during early biofilm development from 8 to 12 h. Metabolites involved in specific pathways of arginine biosynthetic, galactose metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism played a crucial role in building biofilm. This work provided new insights into dynamic metabolic alternations and a comprehensive network during B. licheniformis biofilm development, which will extend the knowledge on the metabolic process of biofilm formation by B. licheniformis. The results are helpful in creating better environmental hygiene in dairy processing and new strategies for ensuring quality of dairy products. • Dynamic metabolic process was established during biofilm formation by Bacillus licheniformis. • The most notable metabolic alternations were detected in early biofilm development. • Arginine biosynthesis played a key role on B. licheniformis biofilm development. • Galactose metabolism and sphingolipid metabolism were crucial for B. licheniformis biofilm. • Amino acid, carbohydrate, lipid metabolism interacted and cooperated in B. licheniformis biofilm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qiang, A.; Wang, N.; Xie, J., and Wei, J., 2020. Analysis of water vapor change and precipitation conversion efficiency based on HYSPLIT backward trajectory model over the three-river headwaters region. In: Hu, C. and Cai, M. (eds.), Geo-informatics and Oceanography. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 105, pp. 6–11. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. The paper traced the moisture transport path for –240 h of the Three-River Headwaters Region (TRHR) and calculated atmospheric water vapor content and Precipitation Conversion Efficiency (PCE) by introducing Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory backward trajectory model based on Lagrangian integral propagation diffusion model using the Global Data Assimilation System assimilation data provided by National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the ERA-Interim data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, they were compared and analyzed PCE with precipitation contribution rate. The results were as follows: first, the PWV and P had been increasing trend from 1979 to 2017 in the TRHR, but the seasonal difference was obvious. They gradually decreased in space from southeast to northwest. Second, a height of 1000 m becomes the water vapor source boundary layer in TRHR, the southern flow (45.5%), and the northern flow (54.5%) appear below 1000 m; however, the western water vapor (75%) and eastern water vapor (25%) above 1000 m. Third, the water vapor mainly come from the west-oriented airflow brought by the westerly belt in the TRHR, but the backward trajectory variation is different at different altitudes and moments. Fourth, The precipitation contribution rate isn't consistent with the results reflected by PCE in the TRHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand response, as an effective means of carbon reduction in the demand side, generally uses carbon emission factor (CEF) to evaluate the carbon emissions. However, in the existing research, the output of demand-side renewable energy units is neglected in CEF, which will lead to an inaccurate assessment of carbon emissions and is not helpful for the carbon reduction by the demand response. In this paper, a bi-level incentive-based integrated demand response (IBIDR) approach is proposed to reduce the carbon emission cost with multi-energy time-varying CEFs. In particular, the multi-energy time-varying CEFs model is proposed considering the demand-side proportion of solar output in the total energy consumption. To explore the role of CEF in IBIDR, the coupling effect of the multi-energy time-varying CEFs on the response willingness model is constructed to promote the interaction among different energy resources to reduce the carbon emission. Finally, the proposed bi-level IBIDR optimization model is transformed into a single-level nonlinear problem based on the backward induction method, which can obtain the optimal incentive strategy of IBIDR. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach in reducing the incentive cost and carbon emission cost of multi-energy aggregators. • A low carbon bi-level IBIDR model is proposed to reduce the carbon emission. • Multi-energy time-varying CEF model is established to calculate the carbon emission. • Coupling impact of the multi-energy CEFs on the response willingness model is constructed to promote the interaction among different energy resources. • The proposed bi-level IBIDR model is transformed into a single-level model through the backward induction method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies have shown that psilocybin has antidepressant effects. In the current study, we aim to explore the dose effects of psilocybin on primary (major depression patients) and secondary depression (depressed cancer patients).Methods: Published studies concerning psilocybin for depression were retrieved. In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, 6 databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Clinicaltrials.gov 2.3 and WanFang database) were searched for research studies published or still in progress from inception to 30 November, 2020, with language restricted to English and Chinese. Hedges' g of Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score changes was calculated as the primary outcome.Results: 7 articles were finally included, with a total of 136 participants. In terms of efficacy, Hedges' g was 1.289 (95%CI=[1.020, 1.558], heterogeneity I2=50.995%, p<0.001). As psilocybin dose increases within a certain range, the antidepressive effect declines and then increases, with 30-35 mg/70 kg achieving the optimal therapeutic effect. Subgroup analysis suggested that the antidepressive effect of psilocybin was extremely significant at a relatively high dose (30-35mg/70kg: Hedges' g=3.059, 95%CI=[2.269, 3.849], p<0.001), long-term (>1month: Hedges' g=1.123, 95%CI=[0.861, 1.385], p<0.001) and when used in primary depression patients (Hedges' g=2.190, 95%CI=[1.423, 2.957], p<0.001).Limitations: Only a small number of studies can be identified of variable quality, thus our conclusions remain preliminary.Conclusions: Our preliminary results have shown that psilocybin exerts a rapid effect in reducing depressive symptom on primary and secondary depression. The optimal dose of psilocybin may be 30-35mg/70kg or higher; future clinical trials are warranted for further evaluation on its effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern food processing environment provides an ideal condition for biofilms formation by foodborne and spoilage microorganisms on different food contact surfaces. It is widely acknowledged that biofilm has become a serious problem in the food industry, as the biofilm growth mode induces microbial resistance to chemical disinfection. The persistence of biofilms after cleaning and disinfection procedures may result in foodborne illness and food spoilage, emphasizing the importance of preventing biofilms in food production facilities. The use of conventional disinfection technologies alone may not help to achieve the goal of producing safe food products with high quality. Hurdle technology provides a great option for the effective control of biofilms formed on food contact surfaces. Thus, a better understanding of biofilm behavior in response to different disinfectants, as well as seeking potential hurdle technologies to control biofilms are essential. In this review, we discuss the factors that influence the efficiency of disinfectants, and elaborate possible mechanisms which are behind the apparent high antimicrobial resistance of biofilms, and as well as mechanisms which are involved in effective hurdle technologies to control biofilms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Four synthetic pathways of CH 4 were identified in plants. • CH 4 is involved in plant growth and development. • CH 4 plays an important role in plant abiotic stress response. • CH 4 may interact with other signaling molecules. • CH 4 regulates the expression of some genes. Methane (CH 4), a tetrahedral molecule, has been shown to be a signaling molecule in animals and plants. Here, the synthesis of CH 4 was introduced, and 4 pathways of CH 4 production in plants were summarized. Many studies show that CH 4 might be involved in plant growth and development, including seed germination, seedling growth, lateral rooting, adventitious rooting and postharvest freshness. CH 4 also plays an important role in plant response to abiotic stresses, such as salt stress, osmotic stress and heavy metal stress. For example, CH 4 could generally enhance the abiotic stress resistance of plants by enhancing the antioxidant defense system. In addition, CH 4 displays crosstalk with other signal molecules, including nitric oxide (NO), Hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), Carbon monoxide (CO), calcium (Ca2+), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2) and auxin. CH 4 also regulates the expression of response genes under abiotic stress and in lateral and adventitious root formation. In the future studies, more attention should be paid to the synthesis molecular mechanism of CH 4 in plants and its crosstalk with phytohormone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polydopamine/hydroxyapatite/nisin (PDA/HAP/Nisin) composites with good bioactivities and enhanced antibacterial activities are achieved and can serve as ideal antimicrobial biomaterials for biomedical application. Microbial contamination caused by bacterial adhesion and colonization onto the materials surfaces has long been a serious threat to human health. Thus, it is imperative to develop advanced antimicrobial materials for bio-applications. Here, a unique polydopamine/ hydroxyapatite/nisin (PDA/HAP/Nisin) composite with good bioactivities and enhanced antibacterial activities have been developed. The uniform PDA particles are first prepared via the dopamine self-polymerization in an alkaline water-ethanol mixed solvent. Due to the abundance surface catecholamine moieties, PDA particles can serve as the powerful templates for the in-situ mineralization of hydroxyapatite (HAP) in a simulated body fluid (SBF) solution, forming PDA/HAP composites. Transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transform infrared spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction are used to investigate the morphology, surface composition, and crystalline structure of the PDA/HAP composites. These PDA/HAP composites are utilized as the reservoir for loading the antimicrobial peptide–nisin. Ultraviolet visible spectrophotometry analysis shows that PDA/HAP composites have exhibited a high loading capacity and a superior loading efficiency for nisin. The resulting PDA/HAP/Nisin composites are ideal antimicrobial biomaterials for bio-application because they exhibit not only a significant in vitro cytocompatibility to human embryonic kidney HEK293 T cells, but also the enhanced antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria). These advantageous properties of the PDA/HAP/Nisin composites allow them as the promising candidates for a broad range of bio-applications, e.g., drug delivery, implant engineering, and bio-scaffold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spleen-Qi deficiency is a syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine. Panax ginseng (ginseng) is well known as the key herb for replenishing Qi and tonifying Spleen. However, the pathogenesis of Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome and therapeutic mechanism of ginseng on Spleen-Qi deficiency constitution have not yet been entirely elucidated. The aim of this work was to investigate the pathogenesis of Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome and therapeutic mechanism of ginseng on Spleen-Qi deficiency constitution. The urinary metabonomics was investigated before and after ginseng treatment in Spleen-Qi deficiency subjects by rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-QTOF-MS). The spectra of metabolites were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) and the score showed significant difference among the three different groups. The serum biochemical parameters creatine kinases (CK), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), interferon-γ (INF-γ), Interleukin-4 (IL-4), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by assay kits. In addition, ultraweak photon emission (UPE) intensity was measured at dazhui point in each subject. According to the orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) results and biochemistry databases searching, 15 potential biomarkers were identified to be involved in Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome and ginseng influenced Spleen-Qi deficiency. The metabonomics and biological experiment data indicated that metabolism pathways were corresponding to energy metabolism, amino acid, carbohydrate, lipid and pyrimidine metabolisms, oxidative stress urea cycle, and intestinal flora metabolism. And the UPE intensity decreased significantly after the treatment. Ginseng could promote the related metabolisms in Spleen-Qi deficiency constitution and the metabolites and UPE intensity may be useful as potential biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring for Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome. Image 1 • 15 potential biomarkers were identified to be involved in Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome and with ginseng treatment. • Metabolism pathways of Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome and with ginseng treatment were summarized. • The UPE intensity changes at dazhui point indicated ginseng could reduce the oxidative stress of Spleen-Qi deficiency. • The metabolites and UPE intensity may be useful as potential markers for monitoring for Spleen-Qi deficiency syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, deep clustering, which is able to perform feature learning that favors clustering tasks via deep neural networks, has achieved remarkable performance in image clustering applications. However, the existing deep clustering algorithms generally need the number of clusters in advance, which is usually unknown in real-world tasks. In addition, the initial cluster centers in the learned feature space are generated by k -means. This only works well on spherical clusters and probably leads to unstable clustering results. In this paper, we propose a two-stage deep density-based image clustering (DDC) framework to address these issues. The first stage is to train a deep convolutional autoencoder (CAE) to extract low-dimensional feature representations from high-dimensional image data, and then apply t-SNE to further reduce the data to a 2-dimensional space favoring density-based clustering algorithms. In the second stage, we propose a novel density-based clustering technique for the 2-dimensional embedded data to automatically recognize an appropriate number of clusters with arbitrary shapes. Concretely, a number of local clusters are generated to capture the local structures of clusters, and then are merged via their density relationship to form the final clustering result. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed DDC achieves comparable or even better clustering performance than state-of-the-art deep clustering methods, even though the number of clusters is not given. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dairy spoilage caused by psychrotrophic bacteria has been reported to be regulated by acyl-homoserine-lactones (AHLs)-based quorum sensing (QS) system. However, the precise role of AHLs produced by psychrotrophic bacteria in dairy spoilage remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of AHLs on dairy spoilage caused by Pseudomonas azotoformans and Serrita liquefaciens at the transcriptional level. The particle size and volatile compounds of milk were selected as spoilage indicators for investigating the involvement of AHLs in dairy spoilage. Furthermore, the in situ gene expressions of psychrotrophic bacteria in AHLs-treated milk during cold storage were explored by RNA sequencing for the first time. The results revealed that the milk particle size and content of acids in milk were increased by exogenous AHLs, which confirm the enhancing effect of AHLs on the quality deterioration of milk. Transcriptome analysis revealed that a number of core genes of strains were significantly differentially expressed when treated with exogenous AHLs, and QS coordinate the metabolic processes within tested strains. Most of genes involving in the bacterial growth and metabolism, enzymes production, and stress response were up-regulated by exogenous AHLs. The results elucidate the potential involvement of AHLs in dairy spoilage caused by psychrotrophic bacteria. This would give clue for novel strategy of controlling microbial spoilage in dairy products. • Exogenous AHLs caused a higher proteolysis and increased the milk particle size. • Exogenous AHLs caused a higher lipolysis and increased the content of acids in milk. • QS regulates bacterial growth and metabolism, enzymes production and stress response. • QS regulation is a strain- and signal molecule type-dependent process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regulatory mechanisms of Bacillus licheniformis biofilm formation and biofilm control are desired to be explored as it is a major contaminant with strong spoilage capacity in the dairy industry. In this study, tandem mass tag-based quantitative proteomics was employed to compare the expression profiles between biofilm cells and planktonic cells of B. licheniformis. Matrix production and sporulation, bacterial chemotaxis, flagellar assembly and two-component system played important roles on biofilm formation by B. licheniformis. Significant up-regulation proteins Spo0F and KapB, as well as down-regulation proteins MotB, FliG and FliK are the key regulators for biofilm prevention by Lactobacillus plantarum. The proteomics profiles provide novel insights into the biofilm formation and control of B. licheniformis. • TMT proteomics compared the expression profiles of biofilm and planktonic cells. • Matrix production and sporulation are both regulated in Spo0A pathway. • Bacterial chemotaxis, flagellar assembly, two-component system play a role in biofilm. • Spo0F, KapB, MotB, FliG and FliK are key regulators to interevent biofilm formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A spatially explicit planning approach for high-RES power systems is proposed. • We connect land cover assessment, VRES potential and energy system planning models. • We reveal the role of the land-use of VRES in power system optimization models. • Constraints on land-use were modelled in a data-driven way for the Netherlands. • No constraints on land-use lead to infeasible capacities in regions. Variable Renewable Energy Sources (VRES) are characterized by intensive land-use and variable production. In existing optimization models that minimize the total cost of the energy system, location-specific VRES production profiles are often used to estimate VRES potential, but land-use and land cover aspects have been largely ignored. In this study, we therefore connect the literature in land cover assessment, VRES potential estimation and energy system optimization modelling by proposing a spatially explicit planning approach. This approach was applied to a case of the Netherlands to showcase its applicability and strength and to give results towards various RES targets. A baseline land-use scenario, a scenario with stricter constraints on land-use that reflects social resistance and spatial policy on wind energy and, thirdly, a scenario assuming unlimited land availability were analyzed. The baseline scenario results show the optimal geographical distribution of the generation capacities over the Netherlands. Wind energy dominates the generation mix and storage is only present at the 100% RES target. Under the strict constraints on land-use, 92% of the suitable land in the country will be deployed to place wind turbines in order to reach 100% RES share compared to 37% in the baseline case. However, the cost of electricity only increases by no more than 5 €/MWh. The unlimited land scenario highlights that the regional optimized capacities are infeasible. Apart from the useful results from the case study, the proposed approach is a first-of-a-kind contribution to the literature and provides a data-driven way to operationalize the location-specific land-use of VRES such that the role of the constraints on the land-use of VRES can be revealed and that policy-relevant results can be obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hierarchical PPy@MnO 2 core-shell nanowires was synthesized via a novel route. • PPy@MnO 2 @CF electrode exhibits a large areal capacitance of 1.24 F cm−2. • An assembled flexible solid-state AS delivers a high volume capacitance of 3.62 F cm−3. • A 200-bending-cycle test shows the exceptional flexibility and mechanical stability. Herein, a hydrothermal electrodeposition method was developed to synthesize MnO 2 interlinked nanowires on carbon fabric (CF). Facile chemical vapour deposition (CVD)-polymerization was subsequently employed to deposit polypyrrole (PPy) films on MnO 2 nanowires to construct a hierarchical PPy@MnO 2 structure on CF (PPy@MnO 2 @CF). This unique 1D structure is beneficial due to its high electrical conductivity, structure stabilization and fast electrochemical kinetics. The PPy@MnO 2 @CF showed a maximum areal capacitance of 1.24 F cm−2 at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. A flexible solid-state asymmetric supercapacitor (FSASC) was assembled using PPy@MnO 2 @CF and Fe 2 O 3 @CF as positive and negative electrodes, respectively. The FSASC delivered a maximal energy density of 1.93 mWh cm−3 at a power density of 9.8 mW cm−3 and a long term life with 92.6% of initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles. In addition, the device exhibited exceptional flexibility and excellent mechanical stability after a 200-bending-cycle test, suggesting that it is close to practical application in flexible electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Process biofilms of Bacillus licheniformis present worldwide problem to the dairy industry because of their relevance to food spoilage and quality issues. In this study, metabolites of Lactobacillus plantarum were found to effectively inhibit biofilms formed by B. licheniformis. The biofilm formation was delayed by 10 h by the addition of L. plantarum cell free supernatant and controlling pH of the medium. Confocal laser scanning microscope images showed that L. plantarum metabolites decreased the number of B. licheniformis cells adhered to stainless steel and glass surfaces. Gel filtration chromatography results showed that B. licheniformis utilized the peptides in the growth medium (tryptic soy broth) with the molecular weights ranging from 613 to 1486 Da, and produced plentiful small peptides with the molecular weights ranging from 181 to 613 Da. Moreover, 3–10 kDa components of L. plantarum ultra-filtrates were proved to significantly inhibit biofilm formation by B. licheniformis. Thus, the metabolites produced by L. plantarum provide a novel approach for the prevention of B. licheniformis biofilms in the dairy industry. • Lactobacillus plantarum supernatant effectively inhibited the biofilm formation by Bacillus licheniformis. • L. plantarum inhibited planktonic cell growth of B. licheniformis in co-cultivation. • B. licheniformis preferred an alkaline environment for planktonic growth, and a neutral environment for biofilm formation. • B. licheniformis utilized and decomposed the peptides into smaller ones in tryptic soy broth. • 3–10 kDa components of L. plantarum metabolites obviously weakened biofilm formation of B. licheniformis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In settings such as China, where universal implementation of directly observed therapy (DOT) is not feasible, innovative approaches are needed to support patient adherence to TB treatment. The electronic medication monitor (EMM) is one of the digital technologies recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), but evidence from implementation studies remains sparse. In this study, we evaluated acceptance of the EMM among health care workers and patients while implementing the device for differential TB patient management at the community level.Methods: Zhenjiang City in Jiangsu Province was purposively selected for the study. All participating patients were allowed to select their preferred management approach. If patients declined to use the EMM, DOT was offered. The EMM was designed to hold 1 month of anti-TB drugs for once-daily dosing of fixed-dose combination (FDC) tablets. Patient EMM records were monitored monthly by a physician; if 20 to 50% of doses were missed twice, or more than 50% of doses were missed once, the patient was switched to DOT. The four physicians and five nurses involved in the study at four designated hospitals were surveyed using a structured questionnaire to assess their acceptance of the EMM.Results: From October 2017 through January 2018, 316 pulmonary TB patients were notified in the TB information management system, and 231 (73.1%) met the study enrollment criteria. Although 186 patients (80.5%) initially consented to use the EMM, 17 later refused to use it. Among the 169 patients who used the EMM, 15 (8.9%) were switched to DOT due to poor adherence, and the other 154 completed the treatment course. The median adherence rate was 99.3%. Surveyed health care workers from designated hospitals found the EMM acceptable, although eight of nine felt use of the device moderately increased their workload. However, the EMM program significantly reduced the workload of community physicians by reducing patient visits by 87.9%.Conclusions: This study demonstrated the acceptability of using an indigenously developed EMM for differential management of TB patients at the community level. However, more operational research should be conducted before introducing and scaling the technology throughout China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Conventional risk prediction techniques may not be the most suitable approach for personalized prediction for individual patients. Therefore, individualized predictive modeling based on similar patients has emerged. This study aimed to propose a comprehensive measurement of patient similarity using real-world electronic medical records data, and evaluate the effectiveness of the individualized prediction of a patient's diabetes status based on the patient similarity.Results: When using no more than 30% of the whole training sample, the personalized predictive models outperformed corresponding traditional models built on randomly selected training samples of the same size as the personalized models (P < 0.001 for all). With only the top 1000 (10%), 700 (7%) and 1400 (14%) similar samples, personalized random forest, k-nearest neighbor and logistic regression models reached the globally optimal performance with the area under the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.90, 0.82 and 0.89, respectively.Conclusions: The proposed patient similarity measurement was effective when developing personalized predictive models. The successful application of patient similarity in predicting a patient's diabetes status provided useful references for diagnostic decision-making support by investigating the evidence on similar patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many aphid species exhibit both cyclical parthenogenesis (CP) and the obligate parthenogenesis (OP) life history, which are genetically determined. In CP aphid lineages, the parthenogenetic individuals can switch from asexual to sexual reproduction quickly in response to environmental factors such as changes in photoperiod and temperature. However, the OP aphid lineages do not undergo sexual reproduction under any conditions. So far, mechanisms underlying the reproduction switch in CP aphids have not been fully elucidated. Rhopalosiphum padi, a serious worldwide insect pest of wheat, has both CP and OP lineages. Uridine diphosphate‐glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are enzymes that participate in the metabolic detoxification of xenobiotics. Here, we identified 43 RpUGT genes from R. padi genome and transcriptome sequences, and found that: (1) the UGT content of the CP lineage was significantly higher than that in the OP lineage at the key time points when CP lineage mainly produce virginoparae, gynoparae, and males under inducing condition, while there were no significant difference under normal conditions; (2) RpUGT344J7 gene was highly expressed during the time points when CP lineages produce gynopara and males; (3) the critical time points for CP lineages to produce virginoparaee, gynoparae, and males were affected when the CP lineages were injected with dsRpUGT344J7; (4) the knockdown of RpUGT344J7 caused a significant reduction in the total number of virginoparae, gynoparae, and males in the offspring under inducing condition. The findings contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the quick shift from asexual to sexual reproduction in aphid species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Karyotype, as a basic characteristic of species, provides valuable information for fundamental theoretical research and germplasm resource innovation. However, traditional karyotyping techniques, including fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), are challenging and low in efficiency, especially when karyotyping aneuploid and polyploid plants. The use of low coverage whole-genome resequencing (lcWGR) data for karyotyping was explored, but existing methods are complicated and require control samples. Results: In this study, a new protocol for molecular karyotype analysis was provided, which proved to be a simpler, faster, and more accurate method, requiring no control. Notably, our method not only provided the copy number of each chromosome of an individual but also an accurate evaluation of the genomic contribution from its parents. Moreover, we verified the method through FISH and published resequencing data. Conclusions: This method is of great significance for species evolution analysis, chromosome engineering, crop improvement, and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of electronic communications, coated fabrics with EMI shielding capability have attracted increasing attention due to their broad applications in military, civilian, and commercial fields. The coating structure plays a vital role in EMI shielding performance and the fundamental understanding of how the coating structure affects the EMI shielding performance of the coated fabric is urgently needed. In this work, the coating structure has been systematically modulated to study its effects on the shielding performance of the corresponding coated fabric for the rational design of the high-performance EMI shielding materials. Owing to the multiple reflections of the electromagnetic waves triggered by the graphene oxide (GO)/ polypyrrole (PPy) interfaces, the shielding effectiveness (SE) of the coated fabric reaches 39.1 dB by increasing the amount of interface in the coating. Furthermore, more GO/PPy interfaces in the coating results in stronger EMI shielding enhancement once the conductive network is built. This work provides a guideline for the judicious design of shields to achieve excellent EMI shielding performances and offers opportunities for new-generation portable and wearable EMI shielding products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal thermal management (PTM) textiles for outdoor activities have become increasingly important for addressing energy consumption and thermal comfortable. Cellulose nanofiber (CNF) aerogels have emerged as promising candidates for PTM due to the eco-friendliness, lightweight, and low thermal conductivity. However, the singular insulation capability may not be sufficient to accommodate the diverse and harsh outdoor conditions. Herein, we carbonized CNF-based aerogel to fabricate anisotropic carbon aerogels, and then incorporated silver nanowires (AgNWs) upon onside to fabricate the dual-function AgNWs/carbon aerogel. The resulting material inherits high porosity (99.3 %), high surface area (503.2 m2/g), low density (7.08 mg/cm3), and low thermal conductivity (18.2 mW·m−1·k−1 in the axial direction) to act as an ideal thermal insulator. The AgNWs coating side demonstrates low IR-emissivity (17.6 % at 7–14 μm) and the carbon aerogel side has high solar absorptivity (91.97 %). Moreover, the AgNWs/carbon aerogel shows Joule heating performance (∆ T = 44.5 °C within 3 min at 5 V). The multi-heating modes enabling self-adaptable thermal comfortable under various harsh environment. Additionally, the material's breathability, permeability, and electromagnetic shielding characteristics also make it suitable candidate for advanced wearable textiles for PTM. Personal thermal management (PTM) mechanism of the AgNWs/carbon aerogel. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incentive-based demand response (IBDR), as an important measure to encourage the users to participate in the demand-side management, is commonly modeled as the Stackelberg game with the complete information. However, it is difficult to acquire the users' complete information due to privacy protections. In this paper, a Markov decision process (MDP) game model is proposed to address IBDR under the incomplete information, which is based on a deep deterministic policy gradient algorithm (DDPG). Considering differences on the users' load, the K-means method is used to classify different users according to the daily load rate and the peak-to-valley difference, such that different types of user load will have different incentive prices to participate in demand responses. The proposed DDPG algorithm can improve the calculation efficiency of the Nash equilibrium solution of the IBDR under the incomplete information, as it can deal with the multi-dimensional continuous state and action spaces. Simulation results show that the proposed approach can achieve the Nash equilibrium under the incomplete information and has the higher calculation accuracy and the lower calculation time in comparison to the Q learning method. • An incentive-based demand response game strategy is proposed based on the deep reinforcement learning algorithm. • A Markov decision process model considering the benefit gambling is established. • A DDPG algorithm is proposed to achieve the Nash equilibrium under incomplete information. • The discount factor representing the load aggregator's foresight degree is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A more time saving, convenient, reproducible, and scalable method is needed to assess total HIV-1 DNA levels.Methods: Frozen whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples both 200 μl at the same point were used to detect total HIV-1 DNA. Automatic extraction of total HIV-1 DNA was used to ensure the consistency of sample extraction efficiency. The detection reagent was HIV-1 DNA quantitative detection kit and real-time quantitative PCR was utilized.Results: Of the 44 included patients, 42 were male and 2 were female, with a median age of 33 years. Thirty-three cases were collected after receiving antiviral treatment, with a median duration of treatment of 3 months, and the other 11 cases were collected before antiviral treatment. The median viral load was 1.83 log10 copies/mL, the median CD4 and CD8 count were 94 and 680 cells/μL, and the median CD4/CD8 ratio was 0.18. The results of the two samples were 3.02 ± 0.39 log10 copies/106 PBMCs in PBMC samples and 3.05 ± 0.40 log10 copies/106 PBMCs in whole blood samples. The detection results of the two methods were highly correlated and consistent by using paired t test (P = 0.370), pearson correlation (r = 0.887, P < 0.0001) and intra-group correlation coefficient (ICC = 0.887, P < 0.0001) and bland-altman [4.55% points were outside the 95% limits of agreement (- 0.340 ~ 0.390)].Conclusions: The results of the whole blood sample test for total HIV-1 DNA are consistent with those of PBMC samples. In a clinical setting it is recommended to use whole blood samples directly for the evaluation of the HIV reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is reported inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) could predict radiation-induced lung toxicity (RILT). RILT is believed to be a consequence of a cascade of cytokine production. It is considered that vascular endothelial cell and macrophages are the mainly source of cytokines. This study was investigated the production of IL-8 from cancer cells induced by X-rays may involve in the radiation-induced inflammation. We analyzed IL-8 in human lung cancer cell lines after expose to X-rays, and we also detect IL-8 in HUVEC cells and THP1 cells as endothelial cell and macrophage model to identify the change in normal cells after expose. Furthermore, we added the inhibitors to the culture with or without radiation to identify the role of MAPK and NF-κB pathways on the radiation-induced secretion of IL-8. Radiation could induce IL-8 production both in non-lung cancer cells (HUVECs and THP1 cells) and in lung cancer cells (A549 cells, H446 cells, PC-9 cells). Simultaneously, radiation activated p38/MAPK and NF-κB signal pathways in lung cancer cells. Moreover, p38/MAPK inhibitor SB203580 and NF-κB inhibitor BAY11-7082 could block the IL-8 up-regulated by X-rays but JNK inhibitor SP600125, ERK inhibitor U0126, ROS Scavenger NAC could not inhibit this phenomenon. X-rays could induce IL-8 production in lung cancer cells, which may be related to the activation of p38/MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathway, providing a new point for elucidating the mechanism of radiation pneumonitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A smart strategy for rational design of a carbon nanotubebased nanosystem Se@CNTs with surface charge flipping and targeted ability for precise chemo‐photothermal synergistic therapy of triple‐negative breast cancers is reported by Tianfeng Chen and co‐workers in article number 1805225. Upon NIR laser irradiation, Se@CNTs exhibits good photothermal conversion ability, and excellent chemo‐photothermal efficiency with high safety potency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to the highly malignant and invasive innate character of triple‐negative breast cancers (TNBCs), it is easy to relapse after chemotherapy; thus, there are still no effective and specific targeted therapies. In this study, a carbon nanotube (CNT)‐based nanosystem Se@CNTs with surface charge flipping and targeted ability is rationally designed and successfully synthesized for precise chemo‐photothermal synergistic therapy of TNBCs. The acid‐labile β‐carboxylic acid group is used to reversibly functionalize the amine groups, thus forming charge‐reversal nanoparticles to enhance the bioresponsive cellular uptake. The internalized Se@CNTs combined with laser irradiation induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) overproduction, which activates apoptosis‐related proteins to trigger cancer cell apoptosis synergistically. Meanwhile, Se@CNTs also suppresses the invasion and migration of TNBC cells by regulating the related signaling pathways. Importantly, in combination with laser irradiation, Se@CNTs effectively inhibits the tumor growth, as demonstrated by the high tumor ablation activity in vivo through chemo‐phototherapy, but shows no significant histological change in the main organs. Taken together, this study provides a strategy for rational design of next‐generation nanomedicines for precise chemo‐photothermal synergistic therapy of malignant TNBCs. A novel carbon nanotube (CNT)‐based nanosystem is rationally designed to achieve enhanced chemo‐photothermal treatments of triple‐negative breast cancer (TNBC) tumor, which triggers cancer cell apoptosis and suppresses cell invasion and migration by regulating related signaling pathways. This study provides an effective strategy for rational design of next‐generation nanomedicines for precise chemo‐photothermal synergistic therapy of malignant cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although global longitudinal strain (GLS) is proven to be reduced and associated with adverse outcomes in septic patients, it has not been elucidated whether or not layer-specific strains are reduced. We aimed to explore the layer-specific strains of left ventricular (LV) for assessing myocardial dysfunction in septic patients. Methods: A prospective observational study of patients with sepsis was conducted in a tertiary hospital in China. Routine two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography was performed within 24 h of enrollment. Demographic data, laboratory values, and clinical outcomes were collected. Results: We recruited 79 septic patients finally. The mean age of septic patients was 59.4 years old and 45 (57.0%) were male. The median Acute Physiology Age and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score, and mean sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score of all patients were 19.0 and 7.7, respectively. According to the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) value of 50%, the patients were categorized into two groups: SICM (sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy, LVEF < 50%, n = 22) and non-SICM group (LVEF ≥ 50%, n = 57). The median LVEF of SICM and non-SICM patients were 41.9% and 58.7%, and SICM patients had less negative layer-specific strain and global strain than that of non-SICM patients. The echocardiographic comparison of non-SICM and healthy controls was conducted to explore the myocardial injuries of non-SICM patients and the non-SICM had worse LS-epi than that of controls (-18.5% vs. -21.4%, p = 0.024). Conclusion: There were 72.2% (57) septic patients presented with non-SICM (LVEF ≥ 50%), and the strain value of epicardium of them was less negative than healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of mesoporous (Fe/Ni)(P/S) dendritic nanorods on commercial 304L stainless steel mesh (SSM) was accomplished by initial anodic oxidation and subsequent co-sulfuration/phosphorization process. The mesoporous (Fe/Ni)(P/S) dendritic nanorods were obtained as a freestanding and stable catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The mechanism of formation of mesoprous structure with nanorods is due to in-situ removal of Cr atoms (from the hard template of SSM) while the O 2 bubbles released during OER served as dynamic bubble template (soft template). The as-prepared sample exhibited overpotentials of 173 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and 270 mV at 100 mA cm−2, which exceeded those that were recently reported using surface modified stainless steel-based catalysts for OER in alkaline condition. Moreover, the (Fe/Ni)(P/S) nanorods showed a remarkable Tafel slope of 65.7 mV dec−1 with stable activity beyond two months with only 2.5% fluctuation. The above outstanding performance could be attributed to the unique morphology with highly exposed active sites and the control of electronic structure by co-treatment with P and S. This work presents an efficient way to modify SSM for use as an inexpensive and durable OER catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic drought is one of the most frequent natural disasters in the world and is closely related to human life. The main cause of socioeconomic drought is the contradiction between water supply and demand; hence, as local reservoirs play a major role in improving water supply and coping with extreme climate, it is reasonable to estimate socioeconomic drought based on reservoir operations. The multivariate standardized reliability and resilience index (MSRRI) is utilized to evaluate socioeconomic drought, considering the characteristics of reservoir management and storage water resources. Therefore, with the MSRRI, this study takes the Heihe River Basin in northwestern China, which is controlled by two reservoirs dominating the upstream and downstream regions, as a case study to reveal the evolution characteristics of socioeconomic drought in the basin and the external impacts of climate variability. The results showed that (1) the drought intensity in the up-midstream region is stronger than that in the downstream region; in view of the hysteresis in the downstream region, the occurrence of drought in the up-midstream region could be regarded as an early warning to implement preventive measures in the downstream region; (2) an increasing trend in socioeconomic drought throughout the basin exists on both monthly and annual scales, which indicates that the increasing possibility of drought should be effectively addressed; (3) cross wavelet analysis indicated that the large-scale climate indices contribute to the variations in the socioeconomic droughts throughout the basin, indicating that climate variability may provide a reference for managers to deal with socioeconomic drought in the HRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: A total of 241 patients with chronic HCV infection were recruited to investigate the association between liver fibrosis and PLT counts, as well as with MPV, PDW and P-LCR indices. Methods: The determination of PLT indices was carried out using a Sysmex XT-1800i automated hematology analyzer. Serological tests for HA, LN, C-IV and PIIINP were performed in 210 patients. The liver stiffness was measured in 69 patients by transient elastography (FibroScan). Results: The analysis showed that the four serum fibrosis markers were negatively correlated with PLT counts, but positively correlated with the MPV, PDW and P-LCR values. Moreover, a similar pattern was found after analyzing the FibroScan measurements, which were negatively correlated with PLT counts, but positively correlated with MPV, PDW and P-LCR values. We subdivided the HCV-infected patients into mild and advanced fibrosis groups. The PLT counts were significantly decreased and the MPV, PDW and P-LCR values were significantly increased in the advanced fibrosis group when compared with the mild fibrosis group. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that not only the PLT counts but also the MPV, PDW and P-LCR indices significantly correlate with liver fibrosis in HCV-infected patients. Therefore, these indices may be useful laboratory measures for evaluating liver fibrosis progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this work, N-doped anodized stainless-steel mesh (NASSM) with mesoporous structure is demonstrated as a highly efficient, stable and bifunctional electrocatalyst with tuned electronic structure and surface morphology. NASSM was fabricated by anodic oxidation with Cr as non-catalytic substance by in situ removal of the SSM surface to regulate the morphology with mesoporous structure, followed by nitrogenization. NASSM showed an overpotential of 225 mV at 10 mA cm−2, which exceeded that of commercial IrO 2 /C catalyst, with a low Tafel slope of 49.7 mV dec−1 and excellent stability for over 100 h. NASSM exhibited an overpotential of 146 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and a Tafel slope of 60.1 mV dec−1. NASSM, as a bifunctional electrocatalyst, showed potentials of 1.61 and 1.76 V at 10 and 50 mA cm−2, respectively, for overall water-splitting with only a 0.01 V increase after a long-term stability test. These values are superior to those reported for directly modified SS-based bifunctional electrocatalysts. The remarkable catalytic properties of NASSM could be attributed to the tuning of not only electronic structure but also surface morphology. This work reports an efficient approach to synthesize and tune an effective and low-cost bifunctional catalyst based on SSM for large-scale application. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Flexible NASSM were synthesized via anodic oxidation followed by nitrogenization. • NASSM shows a potential of 1.61 V at 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting. • NASSM's performance exceeds directly modified SS catalysts for water splitting. • Dual template effect improves catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract By combining colloidal lithography and various interfacial chemical reactions, we developed a straightforward strategy to fabricate hierarchical superhydrophobic MF/Ag nanocomposite array substrates as high-performance SERS platforms applicable for the detection of highly dilute analyte biomolecules. Highlights • Hierarchical superhydrophobic melamine-formaldehyde/Ag (MF/Ag) nanocomposite array substrates were fabricated. • The well controlled surface morphology and superhydrophobicity of MF/Ag nanocomposite arrays were varied and studied. • Hierarchical superhydrophobic MF/Ag nanocomposite array substrates were used as the SERS platforms for detection of biomolecules. • These substrates showed the superior SERS sensitivity, the long-term reproducibility in result and the durability in use. Abstract Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) allows for label-free detection of analyte molecules with high sensitivity, but it is still vastly challenged for the detection of ultra-highly diluted analyte solutions in practice, e.g., femtomolar concentrates, 10−15 M. Here, we report a facile approach for the fabrication of hierarchical superhydrophobic melamine-formaldehyde/Ag (MF/Ag) nanocomposite array substrates, applicable for ultra-highly sensitive SERS detection of biological analytes at very low concentrations up to femtomolar levels. Hierarchical superhydrophobic MF/Ag nanocomposite arrays are synthesized by integrating colloidal lithography at the air-liquid interface and in-situ interfacial reactions. These substrates can confine analyte molecules within the localized sensing regions, so as to effectively prevent the random spread of analyte molecules. In this way, these substrates are able to detect dopamine with a detection limit of 10-15 M, and with a SERS enhancement factor (EF) as high as 3.21 × 1010. The substrates are durable and the SERS results are reproducible. For practical demonstration, these superhydrophobic SERS-active substrates are also applied for detecting proteins, lysozyme and hemoglobin at low concentrates. This work presents a straightforward way to synthesize the hierarchical superhydrophobic SERS-active substrates with superior sensitivity and long-term reproducibility, with rational modification, which might merit the practical SERS applications in detection of drug and pollutants in extremely dilute environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The expected charging of electric vehicles is tracked in real time along with regulation. • The regulation is optimally distributed among electric vehicles in charging stations. • Area control error and area regulation requirement as signals are compared and analyzed. • Two optimal strategies are proposed based on area control error and area regulation requirement. In this paper, optimal strategies are proposed for electric vehicles in charging stations to participate in the secondary frequency regulation, while considering their charging demands. In order to fairly allocate the dispatch from the control center among electric vehicles according to their charging demands, two optimal real-time strategies are proposed, respectively based on area control error and area regulation requirement. With the proposed strategies, the expected charging of electric vehicles is optimally tracked in real time by using the regulation task from the control center. Simulations on a two-area interconnected power grid show that the proposed two strategies can respectively lead to a 12.66% and 16.78% frequency deviation reduction and a 13.76% and 9.86% generator regulation reduction. At the same time, the charging demands of EVs can also be ensured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and environmentally friendly approach was proposed to decorate Ag nanoparticles on melamine-formaldehyde (MF) colloidal particles (MF/Ag composite microspheres). In this approach, monodisperse MF colloidal particles were prepared via a two-step organic sol-gel process and served as the active templates for the decoration of Ag nanoparticles. Then, the [Ag(NH 3 ) 2 ] + ions as the Ag precursors can be adsorbed onto the surfaces of the MF colloidal particles and were in situ reduced into metallic Ag nanoparticles, forming MF/Ag composite microspheres. During this synthesis, neither presurface activation nor extra reductants were necessary. These MF/Ag composite microspheres can be used as the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates for the trace detection of organic compounds, e.g., 4-aminobenzenethiol (4-ABT) and penicillin G sodium. Furthermore, these MF/Ag composite microspheres also showed excellent antibacterial activities against both Escherichia coli ( E. coli , gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus ( S. aureus, gram-positive bacteria). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]