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Vascular complications are common pathologies associated with type 1 diabetes. In recent years, histone deacetylation enzyme (HDAC) inhibitors have been shown to be successful in preventing atherosclerosis. To investigate the mechanism for HDAC3 inhibition in preventing diabetic aortic pathologies, male OVE26 type 1 diabetic mice and age-matched wild-type (FVB) mice were given the HDAC3-specific inhibitor RGFP-966 or vehicle for 3 mo. These mice were then euthanized immediately or maintained for an additional 3 mo without treatment. Levels of aortic inflammation and fibrosis and plasma and fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) levels were determined. Because the liver is the major organ for FGF21 synthesis in diabetic animals, the effects of HDAC3 inhibition on hepatic FGF21 synthesis were examined. Additionally, hepatic miR- 200a and kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) expression and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) nuclear translocation were measured. HDAC3 inhibition significantly reduced aortic fibrosis and inflammation in OVE26 mice at both 3 and 6 mo. Plasma FGF21 levels were significantly higher in RGFP-966-treated OVE26 mice compared with vehicle-treated mice at both time points. It also significantly reduced hepatic pathologies associated with diabetes, accompanied by increased FGF21 mRNA and protein expression. HDAC3 inhibition also increased miR-200a expression, reduced Keap1 protein levels, and increased Nrf2 nuclear translocation with an upregulation of antioxidant gene and FGF21 transcription. Our results support a model where HDAC3 inhibition may promote Nrf2 activity by increasing miR-200a expression with a concomitant decrease in Keap1 to preserve hepatic FGF21 synthesis. The preservation of hepatic FGF21 synthesis ultimately leads to a reduction in diabetesinduced aorta pathologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical weathering is regarded as a "geological thermostat", affecting the global carbon cycle and long-term climate stability, and hydrochemistry of river is the important way to study weathering. The Heilong River (Amur River), as one of the largest rivers in the temperate/cool temperate zone, has received few studies on the chemical weathering rate and its contribution to the global carbon cycle in the entire Chinese section. This paper presents the hydrochemistry of river water, lake water, and groundwater from the arid upper reaches, the Greater Hinggan Mountains in the middle reaches, and the fluvial plain in the lower reaches of the Heilong River. TDS values range from 26.8 mg/l to 1141 mg/l with an average of 189 mg/l. The arid upper reaches are affected by strong evaporation and/or evaporite minerals dissolution, and the ion contents of some surface water and underground water exceed the quality standard for drinking water. Although the downstream flood plain area is highly industrial and agricultural, water chemistry shows that anthropogenic activities have not significantly deteriorated water quality. The chemical weathering rate of the small granitic and basaltic watersheds in the Heilong River Basin is within the lowest range in the world, which further demonstrates the control of climate factors on chemical weathering. The calculated CO 2 consumption flux from silicate weathering in the Heilong River Basin is from 82.3 × 109 to 196 × 109 mol/y, accounting for 0.95%–2.25% of the global consumption values with a proportion of area of ∼1.2%. Compared with other temperate/cool temperate rivers worldwide, it is comparable to the Yenisei River in Siberia, but much higher than the Ob River and Lena River in Siberia, Mackenzie River and Yukon River in North America. [Display omitted] • The hydrochemistry in the arid upper reaches is strongly influenced by evaporation. • The weathering rate of small silicate watersheds is in the global low range. • The CO2 consumption in the Amur River is very prominent in cold temperate rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a rotating wave carrying orbital angular momentum undergoes an extreme Doppler shift, the observed frequency will become negative. The negative frequency is the prerequisite condition for rotational superradiance, which is principally in connection with the black hole radiance. This condition has been observed in a published experiment using two rotating microphones, which mainly obtained the spectral results. However, the experiment showed a few graphical details of the wave shape. We propose a numerical method not only to demonstrate the Doppler shift of the observed frequency but also to show the formation of the acoustic rotating waves in the time domain. The numerical model adopts a circular array of momentum sources to generate the rotating waves and an array of static monitoring points to simulate the rotating microphones. The time domain observation shows that a negative frequency can be explained with either the handedness reversal of orbital angular momentum or the time reversal of the signal. This point of view has never been reported. The proposed method is not only instructive for designing an experiment with static microphones which are more easily assembled than rotating microphones but also useful in exploring the physical insight of the supperadiance phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to prevent the gas purified by wet desulfurization from being discharged into the atmosphere with droplets, the efficient demisters are required to separate droplets. This study proposes to regulate the baffle angle to improve the separation efficiency of the demister, and further improve the separation efficiency of small droplets. The influence of baffle angle on the total separation efficiency, grade separation efficiency, and pressure drop of the demister is analyzed. The instantaneous distribution characteristics of droplets and the action mechanism of the baffle are studied. The results indicate that the separation efficiency increases with the decrease of the baffle angle. Within the scope of this study, an optimal separation efficiency is achieved with a 40° baffle angle. Complete separation occurs for droplets larger than 30 µm, while the separation efficiency for droplets smaller than 20 µm is enhanced by 52%−80% in comparison to the wave-plate demister. The separation efficiency of the baffle demister for 10 µm droplets is 2.7–5.8 times that of the wave-plate demisters. The relationship between the baffle angle and the Euler number (Eu) is established. These relationships provide a reference for optimizing demister performance. [Display omitted] • The separation efficiency of 10 µm droplets is increased to 5.8 times. • The separation efficiency increases obviously with the decrease of baffle angle. • The separation efficiency of droplets (>30 µm) can reach 100%. • The mathematical relationship between pressure drop and baffle angle is established. • Vortices can increase the separation efficiency of small droplet sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to present a linear complementarity problem (LCP) method for a planar passive dynamic walker with round feet based on an event-driven scheme. The passive dynamic walker is treated as a planar multi-rigid-body system. The dynamic equations of the passive dynamic walker are obtained by using Lagrange’s equations of the second kind. The normal forces and frictional forces acting on the feet of the passive walker are described based on a modified Hertz contact model and Coulomb’s law of dry friction. The state transition problem of stick-slip between feet and floor is formulated as an LCP, which is solved with an event-driven scheme. Finally, to validate the methodology, four gaits of the walker are simulated: the stance leg neither slips nor bounces; the stance leg slips without bouncing; the stance leg bounces without slipping; the walker stands after walking several steps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study assessed the effects of the tankyrase (TNKS) small molecule inhibitor XAV939 on the proliferation and migration of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells and the possible underlying mechanism. To do this, the association between TNKS and the WNT/β‑catenin signaling pathway in lung acinar adenocarcinoma was investigated. Immunohistochemistry was performed, which demonstrated that TNKS, β‑catenin and Myc proto‑oncogene protein (c‑Myc) proteins are positively expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissue; this expression was significantly higher than that in normal adjacent non‑carcinoma tissues. A549 cell proliferation was inhibited in all XAV939‑intervention groups examined. In the wound‑healing assay, cells treated with different concentrations of XAV939 exhibited a significantly increased scratch width compared with the control group. Reverse transcription‑semi‑quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that β‑catenin mRNA expression was significantly decreased in A549 cells in response to different XAV939 concentrations compared with the control group. Immunofluorescence revealed that β‑catenin protein, initially localized in the nucleus/cytoplasm, gradually translocated to the cytoplasm/membrane, an effect that was associated with increased drug concentration. TNKS, β‑catenin and c‑Myc protein expression in A549 cells treated with XAV939 was reduced compared with that in untreated cells. Therefore, abnormally high TNKS expression may promote the occurrence of lung cancer. The TNKS inhibitor XAV939 inhibited lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell proliferation and migration in vitro. The underlying mechanism by which XAV939 exerted its inhibitory effects may be associated with attenuation of the WNT signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scanning technologies based on X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) have been widely used in many scientific fields including medicine, nanosciences and materials research. Considerable progress in recent years has been made in agronomic and plant science research thanks to X-ray CT technology. X-ray CT image-based phenotyping methods enable high-throughput and non-destructive measuring and inference of root systems, which makes downstream studies of complex mechanisms of plants during growth feasible. An impressive amount of plant CT scanning data has been collected, but how to analyze these data efficiently and accurately remains a challenge. We review statistical and computational approaches that have been or may be effective for the analysis of 3D CT images of plant roots. We describe and comment on different approaches to aspects of the analysis of plant roots based on images, namely, (1) root segmentation, i.e., the isolation of root from non-root matter; (2) root-system reconstruction; and (3) extraction of higher-level phenotypes. As many of these approaches are novel and have yet to be applied to this context, we limit ourselves to brief descriptions of the methodologies. With the rapid development and growing use of X-ray CT scanning technologies to generate large volumes of data relevant to root structure, it is timely to review existing and potential quantitative and computational approaches to the analysis of such data. Summaries of several computational tools are included in the Appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional (3D) microstructures are fabricated with accumulated voxels layer-by-layer in two-photon polymerization (TPP). The overlap ratio and layer spacing between two neighboring layers both affects the surface accuracy and the processing efficiency. Presented in this paper is an adaptive direct slicing method that applies tilted voxels of TPP to satisfy contour change of 3D microstructure model with given overlap ratio. It extracted the contour line from a projected image of the original 3D microstructure model. The relative position of every two adjacent points on the contour line was used to reflect the interlayer spacing and calculate the tilted angle and overlap ratio of two neighboring voxels. The optimal interlayer spacing could be determined when the overlap ratio of tilted voxels of two neighboring layers exceeded a specified overlap ratio. Both axis-symmetry revolve and complex non-symmetrical microstructures were successfully sliced with higher efficiency and accuracy. The layer number reduces more than 30% compared with the adaptive direct slicing method based on vertical voxels by appropriate selection of overlap ratio and size of voxel. Quantitative analysis shows that the staircase errors decreased significantly with this adaptive direct slicing method. Unlike traditional slicing method, smaller overlap ratio and larger voxel benefits reducing layer number but has little effect on precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disembodiment of cognitive science has resulted in curricula with disembodied concepts and practice. The emergence of the embodied cognitive science provoked public reflections on the nature of the curriculum. This has elevated the body from the ‘peripheral’ position to the ‘central’ position, acting as the subject in action and becoming the bridge to experience transformations. Meanwhile, the nurturing role of the environment for the mind is attracting increasingly more attention, and the environment, the body, and the mind jointly constitute a dynamic system that prompts the transformation and restructuring of learners’ experience. The reshaping of the relationship between the body and education and the integration of physical experience and mind-building have led us to examine curriculum from a completely new perspective, and curriculum construction is thus transformed to the dynamic generation of interaction among the body, the mind, and the environment based on group experiences. To be precise, there are three basic dimensions in the construction of an embodied curriculum: (1) returning to the life-world and promoting the integration of the curriculum narrative framework and the student’s learning trajectory; (2) introducing the embodied experience and realizing the continuous interactions among the learner’s body, mind, and environment; and (3) integrating the functions of technologies to provide a powerful mediating tool for the construction of embodied curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The blockade of immune checkpoints by anti-receptor and/or anti-ligand mAb is one of the most promising approaches to cancer immunotherapy. The interaction between Ig-like transcript 3 (ILT3), a marker of tolerogenic dendritic cells, also known as LILRB4/LIR5/CD85k, and its still unidentified ligand on the surface of activated human T cells is potentially important for immune checkpoint blockade. To identify the ILT3 ligand, we generated mAb by immunizing mice with Jurkat acute T cell leukemia, which binds ILT3.Fc to its membrane. Flow cytometry, mass spectrometry, and Biacore studies demonstrated that the ILT3 ligand is a CD166/activated leukocyte cell adhesion molecule. Knockdown of CD166 in primary human T cells by nucleofection abolished the capacity of ILT3.Fc to inhibit CD4+ Th cell proliferation and to induce the generation of CD8+CD28- T suppressor cells. CD166 displays strong heterophilic interaction with CD6 and weaker homophilic CD166-CD166 cell adhesion interaction. ILT3.Fc inhibited the growth of CD166+ tumor cell lines (TCL) derived from lymphoid malignancies in vitro and in vivo. CRISPR-Cas9-based knockout of CD166 from TCL abrogated ILT3.Fc binding and its tumor-inhibitory effect. The mechanism underlying the effect of ILT3.Fc on tumor cell growth involves inhibition of the p70S6K signaling pathway. Blockade of CD166 by ILT3.Fc inhibited progression of human TCL in NOD.Cg-Prkdc Il-2rg/SzJ mice, suggesting its potential immunotherapeutic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Limited clinical and angiographic data exists for patients with traumatic cervico-cerebral pseudoaneurysms. In this paper, we present our limited experience with various management strategies for traumatic cervico-cranial pseudoaneurysms.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 37 consecutive cases of traumatic pseudoaneurysms involving the cervico-cranial or the cerebral arteries diagnosed at our center from September 2009 to December 2014. The demographic data, etiology, clinical presentation, lesion location, treatment modality, and follow-up outcomes of these patients were reviewed. Among these 37 patients, 5 patients were treated by surgery, while 29 patients were treated by the endovascular approach and 3 received conservative treatment.Results: During the study period, 42 pseudoaneurysms were identified in 37 patients with a history of head or neck injury. Five patients underwent surgical exploration of the lesion with an uneventful postoperative course. Twenty-nine patients were treated by endovascular interventions with various embolization materials including coils, stents, detachable balloons, liquid embolic agents, and a combination of these agents. The angiographic follow-up imaging demonstrated complete exclusion of the aneurysm from the circulation with the patient being free from any additional neurological deficits.Conclusion: Proper selection of an appropriate approach is essential to address the management of traumatic cervico-cerebral pseudoaneurysms. The treatment of traumatic cervico-cerebral pseudoaneurysms should be selected according to the location and the clinical features of the pseudoaneurysms. The endovascular treatment is a safe and effective modality and should be the first-line choice for treatment of traumatic pseudoaneurysms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inertial navigation system is aligned and leveled before the launch of a long-range vehicle. However, the non-uniformity of the Earth can lead to initial state errors including initial positioning errors and initial orientation errors, causing navigation errors in flight dynamics and eventually impact-point deviations up to approximately 1 km. In order to analyze the propagation mechanisms of initial state errors and rapidly estimate their influence magnitudes, navigation perturbation equation subject to apparent acceleration coupling is established based on state space perturbation theory in the launch inertial coordinate system. Afterwards, a series of analytical form of deviations are derived including gravitational acceleration deviation, apparent acceleration projection deviation, apparent acceleration coupling deviation, initial velocity errors and initial position errors. Then, the analytical propagation model of engine-cutoff state deviations and impact-point deviations are acquired by solving the navigation perturbation equation. In the simulations, computer codes are programmed to calculate the propagation matrices of engine-cutoff state deviations and impact-point deviations in the case of fixed launch azimuth, followed by the propagation mechanism analyses of initial state errors. Next, two more scenarios of different launch azimuths and different launch points are simulated to further verify the reliability of the proposed analytical propagation model. The results show that analytical solutions of the propagation model proposed in this paper can well coincide with numerical solutions, with relative errors being all less than 1%, which is also suitable for multiple distinct simulation scenarios compared with previous methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhibition of total histone deacetylases (HDACs) was phenomenally associated with the prevention of diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM). However, which specific HDAC plays the key role in DCM remains unclear. The present study was designed to determine whether DCM can be prevented by specific inhibition of HDAC3 and to elucidate the mechanisms by which inhibition of HDAC3 prevents DCM. Type 1 diabetes OVE26 and age-matched wild-type (WT) mice were given the selective HDAC3 inhibitor RGFP966 or vehicle for 3 months. These mice were then killed immediately or 3 months later for cardiac function and pathological examination. HDAC3 activity was significantly increased in the heart of diabetic mice. Administration of RGFP966 significantly prevented DCM, as evidenced by improved diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction, hypertrophy, and fibrosis, along with diminished cardiac oxidative stress, inflammation, and insulin resistance, not only in the mice killed immediately or 3 months later following the 3-month treatment. Furthermore, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1/2, a well-known initiator of cardiac hypertrophy, was significantly increased, while dual specificity phosphatase 5 (DUSP5), an ERK1/2 nuclear phosphatase, was substantially decreased in diabetic hearts. Both of these changes were prevented by RGFP966. Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay showed that HDAC3 inhibition elevated histone H3 acetylation on the DUSP5 gene promoter at both two time points. These findings suggest that diabetes-activated HDAC3 inhibits DUSP5 expression through deacetylating histone H3 on the primer region of DUSP5 gene, leading to the derepression of ERK1/2 and the initiation of DCM. The present study indicates the potential application of HDAC3 inhibitor for the prevention of DCM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A multichannel simplified hybrid ANC system combined the Remote Microphone Technique (RMT) method was proposed. • The proposed system can provide a solution for a better arrangement of error microphones in the practical situation. • The system can further compress the peak noise components that cannot be controlled by the traditional feedforward ANC. This paper proposed a hybrid active noise control (HANC) system combined with virtual sensing technique. The Remote Microphone Technique (RMT) method was established in the time domain, and the optimal array of observation sensors of RMT method was determined by Genetic Algorithm (GA). Then with the pre-defined observation filter, a multichannel simplified HANC system combined RMT (msHANC-RMT) method was proposed. The off-line simulations were executed with the data collected from the tests in a semi-anechoic chamber. The results showed that the msHANC-RMT system had the similar control capability compared to the msHANC system in all noise conditions, which can further compress the peak frequency components in the noise spectrum that cannot be detected and controlled by the traditional feedforward ANC (FFANC) system. However, the msHANC-RMT system was more sensitive to delays compared to the FFANC system, once the additional delays exceeded several milliseconds, the feedback structure in msHANC-RMT system lost most of the control capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symptomatic “non-acutely” occluded internal carotid artery (NAOICA) results in stroke, cognitive impairment, and hemicerebral atrophy through cerebral hypoperfusion and artery-to-artery embolism. Atherosclerosis is the main cause of NAOICA. Conventional one-stage endovascular recanalization showed effectiveness but was plagued by many challenges. This retrospective analysis reports the technical feasibility and outcomes of the staged endovascular recanalization in patients with NAOICA.Eight consecutive patients with atherosclerotic NAOICA and ipsilateral ischemic stroke within 3 months between January 2019 and March 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients (all males, with a mean age of 64.6 years) underwent staged endovascular recanalization 13 to 56 days after documented occlusion by imaging techniques (mean 28.8 days); the mean follow-up period was 20 months (range: 6–28). The approach of the staged intervention was as follows. In the first stage, the occluded ICA was successfully recanalized using the simple small balloon dilation technique. In the second stage, angioplasty with a stent implant was performed with >50% residual stenosis in the initial segment or ≥70% residual stenosis in the C2-C5 segment. The technical success rate, the incidence of clinical adverse events (any stroke, death, cerebral hyperperfusion), and long-term in-stent stenosis (ISR) and reocclusion rates were evaluated.Technical success was achieved in seven patients, with early reocclusion occurring in one patient after the first-stage intervention. There were no adverse events observed within 30 days (0%), and long-term reocclusion and long-term ISR rates were both 14% (1/7). However, all patients developed iatrogenic arterial dissections during the first stage, indicating the challenge of reaching the true lumen through the occlusion site without damaging the intima. Based on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) classification, there were two type A, four type B, three type C, and two type D dissections. The mean time interval between the two stages was 46.1 days (21–152 days). All type A and B dissections resolved spontaneously after ≥3 weeks of dual antiplatelet therapy, whereas most type C and all type D dissections did not heal spontaneously before the second stage. Also, one type C dissection led to reocclusion. This observation suggested that occlusions without flow limit and persistent vessel staining or extravasation could be clinically observed, while severe dissections (characterized as type C or greater) required prompt stenting rather than conservative treatment. Performing high-resolution MRI preoperatively to exclude fresh thrombus in the occluded vessel segment is indispensable in selecting appropriate candidates for endovascular recanalization. This could avoid downstream embolism during the interventional procedure.This retrospective study found that staged endovascular recanalization for symptomatic atherosclerotic NAOICA may be feasible with an acceptable technical success rate and a low complication rate in the selected candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MnN systems have been widely used to investigate Mn incorporated into Ш–V compounds, which combines the spin and electron charge as promising diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS). However, few experiments have demonstrated the magnetic transformation of MnN with lattice constant changes, although it has been mentioned many times in previous theoretical calculations. In this study, we synthesize MnN single crystal under high pressure and temperature. Furthermore, we perform high-pressure resistance, magnetic resistance and synchrotron radiation on MnN single crystal/polycrystalline and observe the first-order phase transition accompanied with antiferromagnetic (AFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) magnetic structure transition under 34 GPa. The experimental result and first-principles calculations reveal the same magnetic and structural transition of MnN in the compression process from equilibrium volume 18.2 to16 Å3. An analysis of electronic structure and magnetic interactions in terms of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian indicates a strong FM coupling in the [001] plane due to the double exchange mechanism of Mn e g orbitals. With the reduced Mn-N bond length under high pressure, the enhanced FM double exchange interactions could induce the magnetic transition from AFM to FM and subsequently lead to a structural transition from a face-centered tetragonal structure to a cubic structure. These findings provide the foundations for GaMnN or MnN layer DMS. • MnN systems have been widely used to investigate Mn incorporated into Ш–V compounds, which combines the spin and electron charge as promising diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS). In this study, we synthesize MnN single crystal under high pressure and temperature. Furthermore, we perform high-pressure resistance, magnetic resistance and synchrotron radiation on MnN single crystal/polycrystalline and observe the first-order phase transition accompanied with antiferromagnetic (AFM) to ferromagnetic (FM) magnetic structure transition under 34 GPa. Based on the analysis of electronic structure and magnetic interactions, the transition is theoretically described as a magnetic induced structural transition, which origins from the enhanced FM double exchange interactions with the reduced Mn-N bond length under high pressure. These findings provide the foundations for GaMnN or MnN layer DMS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a numerical method of reconstructing three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound fields from their two-dimensional back-projections to understand the intensity distribution of nonplanar waves. The horizontal planes for line-focused ultrasound fields were roughly elliptical, whereas those for point-focused ultrasound fields were nearly circular. Experimental and simulated results indicated that the ultrasound intensity at the central axis can be calibrated from the light intensity by 3D reconstruction of the ultrasound field. The difference between the measured ultrasound intensity for nonplanar waves in schlieren imaging and the simulation results were discussed. From this work, the 3D ultrasound field becomes possible to be reconstructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orthogonal fluidic connections are essential for developing multilayered microfluidic devices. At present, most orthogonal connectors are realized by a horizontal channel and a vertical channel in different plates. Therefore, some extra alignment and adhesion processes for precise plate assembly are required. In this paper, the method of injection molding is proposed to make a one-body-type orthogonal connector in a single plastic plate. The connector was composed of a cantilevered tube and the other in the substrate. An injection mold was developed in which a side core-pulling mechanism and an ejection mechanism of push-pipes were combined to form the mold for an orthogonal connector. Both the type and the location of gate were optimized for the mold. The results showed that the fan gate in the middle position of the plate was the most suitable in term of both defect control and practicability. The effect of melt temperature was numerically investigated and then verified experimentally. With the optimized parameters, the relative length and the relative wall thickness of a cantilevered tube in the plastic part can reach 98.89% and 99.80%, respectively. Furthermore, using the plastic part as a cover plate, a three-layer plastic microfluidic device was conveniently fabricated for electrochemical detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general and efficient protocol for the synthesis of 9,10-phenanthraquinone derivatives has been successfully developed involving a copper(0)/Selectfluor system-promoted oxidative carbon-carbon bond cleavage/annulation of o-aryl chalcones. A variety of substituted 9,10-phenanthraquinones were synthesized in moderate to good yields under mild reaction conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bisphenol A diglycidyl ether (BADGE), a PPAR2 antagonist, has been shown to inhibit marrow adipogenesis and promote bone formation in intact animals. We investigated the impact of BADGE on a new and more clinically relevant physiological model, the ovariectomized (OVX) rat model. Forty female Wistar rats were divided into four treatment groups for 12 wk (n γ10/group): sham-vehicle, sham-BADGE, OVXγvehicle, and OVX-BADGE. Postmortem analyses included MRI, micro-CT, serological test, histomorphometry, biomechanical tests, RT-PCR, and Western blot. Overall, OVX induced a sequential marrow fat expansion accompanied by bone deterioration. Compared with OVX controls, BADGE reduced fat fraction of the distal femur by 36.3%, adipocyte density by 33.0%, adipocyte size by 28.6%, adipocyte volume percentage by 57.8%, and adipogenic markers PPAR-2 and C/EBP by -50% in OVX rats. Similar results were observed in sham rats vs. vehicle. BADGE could promote bone quality in sham rats; however, BADGE did not significantly improve trabecular microarchitecture, biomechanical strength, and dynamic histomorphometric parameters except for trabecular separation in OVX rats. We concluded that early BADGE treatment at a dose of 30 mg/kg attenuates marrow adiposity in ovary-intact and OVX rats and stimulates bone formation in ovary-intact rats but does not significantly rescue bone quality in OVX rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic condition that affects carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism and may impair numerous organs and functions of the organism. Cardiac dysfunction afflicts many patients who experience the oxidative stress of the heart. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is one of the major complications that accounts for more than half of diabetes-related morbidity and mortality cases. Chronic hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia from diabetes mellitus cause cardiac oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, impaired cellular calcium handling, mitochondrial dysfunction, metabolic disturbances, and remodeling of the extracellular matrix, which ultimately lead to DCM. Although many studies have explored the mechanisms leading to DCM, the pathophysiology of DCM has not yet been fully clarified. In fact, as a potential mechanism, the associations between DCM development and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation have been the subjects of tremendous interest. Nonetheless, much remains to be investigated, such as tissue- and cell-specific processes of selection of MAPK activation between pro-apoptotic vs. pro-survival fate, as well as their relation with the pathogenesis of diabetes and associated complications. In general, it turns out that MAPK signaling pathways, such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK) and p38 MAP kinase, are demonstrated to be actively involved in myocardial dysfunction, hypertrophy, fibrosis and heart failure. As one of MAPK family members, the activation of ERK1/2 has also been known to be involved in cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction. However, many recent studies have demonstrated that ERK1/2 signaling activation also plays a crucial role in FGF21 signaling and exerts a protective environment of glucose and lipid metabolism, therefore preventing abnormal healing and cardiac dysfunction. The duration, extent, and subcellular compartment of ERK1/2 activation are vital to differential biological effects of ERK1/2. Moreover, many intracellular events, including mitochondrial signaling and protein kinases, manipulate signaling upstream and downstream of MAPK, to influence myocardial survival or death. In this review, we will summarize the roles of ERK1/2 pathways in DCM development by the evidence from current studies and will present novel opinions on "differential influence of ERK1/2 action in cardiac dysfunction, and protection against myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The muon spin relaxation (μSR), which uses spin-polarized muons to probe tiny local field in matters, is a useful tool for studying spin-related phenomena in magnets, superconductors and semiconductors, etc. Here we report a first successful application to ferroelectrics. We utilized μSR to detect a ferroelectric transition in a newly-identified ferroelectric material Co2(OD)3Cl. The deuteriums in Co2(OD)3Cl were found to be rapidly fluctuating in the paraelectric phase at high temperatures, then they drastically slowed down toward the ferroelectric transition at= 229 K, and eventually became quasi-static at around 160 K. Our study reveals that Co2(OD)3Cl is a deuterium-order ferroelectric material, and detailed analysis suggests that it can be viewed as new type of multiferroic material. The present study demonstrates that the conventional μSR can be an effective and powerful tool for ferroelectrics study. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents start-up and a shut-down control strategies for modular multilevel converter (MMC) based multiterminal high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) systems (MMC-MTDC). An AC system charging method with voltage slop control and a DC line charging method with sequentially unblock control are firstly discussed. Based on the above two charging methods and considering the strength of the connected AC systems, a start-up control scheme suitable for MMC-MTDC systems is described. The scheduled shut-down control strategy is divided into three stages: in energy feedback stage, four methods including increasing modulation index, adjusting transformer tap, introducing third harmonic voltage injection and inserting redundant submodules (SMs) are presented; and the second stage is energy dissipation stage, in which the SM capacitor voltage is discharged to its lower limit; The SM capacitors are fully discharged by SM internal resistor in the third stage. Finally, a simulation model of five-terminal MMC-HVDC is realized in PSCAD/EMTDC. The results show that the system can be start-up smoothly as well as be shut-down rapidly and reliably, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed control strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: How chromatin folds in three-dimensional (3D) space is closely related to transcription regulation. As powerful tools to study such 3D chromatin conformation, the recently developed Hi-C technologies enable a genome-wide measurement of pair-wise chromatin interaction. However, methods for the detection of biologically meaningful chromatin interactions, i.e. peak calling, from Hi-C data, are still under development. In our previous work, we have developed a novel hidden Markov random field (HMRF) based Bayesian method, which through explicitly modeling the non-negligible spatial dependency among adjacent pairs of loci manifesting in high resolution Hi-C data, achieves substantially improved robustness and enhanced statistical power in peak calling. Superior to peak callers that ignore spatial dependency both methodologically and in performance, our previous Bayesian framework suffers from heavy computational costs due to intensive computation incurred by modeling the correlated peak status of neighboring loci pairs and the inference of hidden dependency structure. Results: In this work, we have developed FastHiC, a novel approach based on simulated field approximation, which approximates the joint distribution of the hidden peak status by a set of independent random variables, leading to more tractable computation. Performance comparisons in real data analysis showed that FastHiC not only speeds up our original Bayesian method by more than five times, bus also achieves higher peak calling accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a cytoplasmic nonreceptor tyrosine kinase that senses a variety of extracellular signals, such as growth factors and integrins, to control the process of cell proliferation and metabolism. We cloned three goat FAK transcript variants (KM655805, KM658268, and KM658269) that encode 1052, 1006, and 962 amino-acid residue proteins. Bioinformatics analysis indicated that the putative FAK protein contains an FERM domain, a PTK domain, two Proline-rich regions, and a focal adhesion-targeting (FAT) domain. All the three transcript variants of FAK were detected in seven different goat tissues, and variant 1 had the most accumulation whereas variant 2 and variant 3 had lower accumulation. Treatment of goat fetal fibroblasts (GFbs) with a specific FAK inhibitor, TAE226, inhibited cell proliferation ( p < 0.05) and induced damage to the cell morphology in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Further research demonstrated that FAK directly interacted with TSC2 (Tuberous sclerosis 2) tuberin domain through its C-terminus, which contains the complete FAT domain. In conclusion, our results indicated that FAK may be widely expressed in Cashmere goat tissues and its products participate in the mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway and cell proliferation through a direct interaction with TSC2 in GFBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of isopropylsulfonyl-substituted 2,4-diarylaminopyrimidine derivatives were designed and synthesized as FAK inhibitors to evaluate their biological activity against pancreatic cancer. One of the most promising compound, 9h, effectively interfered with FAK-mediated phosphorylation and suppressed the proliferation of human pancreatic cancer AsPC-1 cells with half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50) values of 0.1165 nM and 0.1596 μM, respectively. In addition, 9h also exhibited relatively low toxicity against immortalized normal human liver L-02 cells, indicating its low hepatotoxicity at an equivalent dosage. Furthermore, the elucidation of the mechanism of action revealed that compound 9h effectively inhibited cell migration and inhibited the proliferation of AsPC-1 by blocking the cell cycle at the G2/M phase. Moreover, 9h also demonstrated efficacy in inhibiting tumor growth in a murine AsPC-1 cell xenograft model at the dosage of 10 mg/kg without losing noticeable body weight. All these findings provide important clues for the identification of potent FAK inhibitors. [Display omitted] • Isopropylsulfonyl-2,4-diarylaminopyrimidines were synthesized as FAK inhibitors. • 9h interfered FAK binding with ATP with an IC 50 value of 0.1165 nM. • 9h suppressed the proliferation of AsPC-1 cells with an IC 50 value of 0.1596 μM. • 9h significantly suppressed tumor growth in xenograft mouse model. • 9h displayed the strongest inhibitory activity against FAK in 76 TKs assay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imidazole-based compounds are a series of heterocyclic compounds that exhibit a wide range of biological and pharmaceutical activities. However, those extant syntheses using conventional protocols can be time-costly, require harsh conditions, and result in low yields. As a novel and green technique, sonochemistry has emerged as a promising method for organic synthesis with several advantages over conventional methods, including enhancing reaction rates, improving yields, and reducing the use of hazardous solvents. Contemporarily, a growing body of ultrasound-assisted reactions have been applied in the preparation of imidazole derivatives, which demonstrated greater benefits and provided a new strategy. Herein, we introduce the brief history of sonochemistry and focus on the discussion of the multifarious approaches for the synthesis of imidazole-based compounds under ultrasonic irradiation and its advantages in comparison with conventional protocols, including typical name-reactions and various sorts of catalysts in those reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A systematic study was carried out based on the magnetic and specific heat measurements for La 0.7 Ca 0.3 Mn 0.9 Cu 0.1 O 3 synthesized by the solid-state reaction method. • As the temperature decreases from room temperature, the sample undergoes multiple magnetic phase transitions. The corresponding Arrott plots represent the first-order nature of FM transition. • The LCMCO sample exhibits apparent MCE around T C and T SR. Although the Δ S M values are not very big, the wide double peaks distribute and make a large RC. • The -Δ S M values of T SR is larger than that of T C under a relatively weak magnetic field (H ≤ 2 T), so does RC and Δ T ab. • The calculated Δ C P by using Δ S M (T , H) data is in agreement with other experimental magnetic and specific heat results. Perovskite La 0.7 Ca 0.3 Mn 0.9 Cu 0.1 O 3 manganite was prepared and examined by X-ray diffraction. Multiple magnetic phase transitions and magnetocaloric effect were represented based on magnetic and specific heat measurements. The sample undergoes a first-order ferromagnetic - paramagnetic transition with a large thermal hysteresis, where the Arrott plots show negative slopes. A charge ordered phase occurs at T CO = 162 K, which can be melted under a sufficiently large magnetic field (µ 0 H ≥ 1 T) and thus result in a spin reorientation. The step-like jump of magnetization at T b = 42 K in warming curves is caused by a blocked state, which is overcome by applying a magnetic field and leads to a metamagnetic transition. The successive multiple magnetic phase transitions broaden the operating temperature span and contribute to a large refrigerant capacity, in spite of mediocre magnetic entropy change and adiabatic temperature change. The adiabatic temperature change and phase transition mechanism were also discussed based on the recorded specific heat data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Highest fracture toughness and critical stress intensity factor in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy. • The excellent mechanical properties were attributed to the novel heat treatment. • Deformed structures without recrystallization retained after aging. • Pre-aging treatment introduced G.P. zones, leading to fine age hardening precipitates. • The size of the GBPs and the width of PFZs were significantly reduced. This work studied an Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy with excellent comprehensive properties using a novel heat treatment. The result shows that the fracture toughness (K IC) value of 65.2 ± 2.0 MPa∙m1/2 and critical stress intensity factor (K ISCC) of 37.9 ± 1.7 MPa∙m1/2 can be achieved. Each of which is the highest value reported. The fatigue strength with this heat treatment exceeded 180 MPa at the stress ratio of −1 (σ -1), which was much higher than the other Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys with similar tensile strength. This superior combination of mechanical properties and fracture toughness for the studied alloy is greatly attributed to a significant fraction of deformed grain structures and dense age hardening precipitates evolved from existing G.P. zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the electrokinetic ion breakdown in a nanochannel is investigated. The Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations are employed to simulate the influence of the voltage on the concentration. Both theoretical research and experiments show that increasing the voltage can promote the ion concentration, but high voltage will break up the repulsion effect of the electric double layer and bring the concentration down. For a given micro-nanochannel, the ion concentration has a peak value corresponding with a peak voltage. Narrowing the width of a nanochannel improves the peak voltage and the peak concentration. The results will be beneficial to research the internal discipline of electrokinetic concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-speed-railway-train interior noise at low, medium, and high frequencies could be simulated by finite element analysis (FEA) or boundary element analysis (BEA), hybrid finite element analysis–statistical energy analysis (FEA–SEA) and statistical energy analysis (SEA), respectively. First, a new method named statistical acoustic energy flow (SAEF) is proposed, which can be applied to the full-spectrum HST interior noise simulation (including low, medium, and high frequencies) with only one model. In an SAEF model, the corresponding multi-physical-field coupling excitations are firstly fully considered and coupled to excite the interior noise. The interior noise attenuated by sound insulation panels of carriage is simulated through modeling the inflow acoustic energy from the exterior excitations into the interior acoustic cavities. Rigid multi-body dynamics, fast multi-pole BEA, and large-eddy simulation with indirect boundary element analysis are first employed to extract the multi-physical-field excitations, which include the wheel–rail interaction forces/secondary suspension forces, the wheel–rail rolling noise, and aerodynamic noise, respectively. All the peak values and their frequency bands of the simulated acoustic excitations are validated with those from the noise source identification test. Besides, the measured equipment noise inside equipment compartment is used as one of the excitation sources which contribute to the interior noise. Second, a full-trimmed FE carriage model is firstly constructed, and the simulated modal shapes and frequencies agree well with the measured ones, which has validated the global FE carriage model as well as the local FE models of the aluminum alloy–trim composite panel. Thus, the sound transmission loss model of any composite panel has indirectly been validated. Finally, the SAEF model of the carriage is constructed based on the accurate FE model and stimulated by the multi-physical-field excitations. The results show that the trend of the simulated 1/3 octave band sound pressure spectrum agrees well with that of the on-site-measured one. The deviation between the simulated and measured overall sound pressure level (SPL) is 2.6 dB(A) and well controlled below the engineering tolerance limit, which has validated the SAEF model in the full-spectrum analysis of the high speed train interior noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UHVDC has been rapidly developed for its large conveying capacity, small net loss and easy power control, which can solve the problem of the uneven distribution of load and energy with great economy. However, with DC transmission access, the power system must have a strong ability of reactive power support to cope with the possibility of transient voltage problem. At the same time, regional power oscillation issue also can't be ignored. Considering that the STATCOM device, as a type of parallel FACTS, can only provide dynamic reactive power to support the system voltage and cannot undertake active regulation and control to damp system power oscillation problem, STATCOM with energy storage is presented in this paper to solve both problem of transient voltage and power oscillation in AC-DC hybrid system. In view of the central China province power grid planning, possible serious faults of the system were analyzed. The simulation results show that STATCOM with energy storage cannot only effectively support the system transient voltage and promote voltage of dc inverter station to avoid DC block caused by commutation failure, but also can significantly enhance the system damping and restrain regional power oscillation in case of system failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction of isolable dialkylstannylene 1 with an excess amount of CS2 produces an isomeric mixture of 3,3'-distanna-2,2',4,4'-tetrathiabicyclobutylidene 8 and 3,7-distanna-2,4,6,8-tetrathiabicyclo[3.3.0]oct-1(5)-ene 9 with a ratio depending on the reaction conditions. Compounds 8 and 9 are separated by column chromatography and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Detailed investigation of the reaction has revealed that the initial product is 8, which isomerizes to 9 irreversibly under the catalytic influence of 1 as a Lewis acid. The above view is supported by the theoretical DFT calculations. Treatment of 1 with ArN=C=O [Ar = 2,6-iPr2C6H3] affords the corresponding carbamoyl(hydroxyl)stannane 11 via the hydrolysis of the corresponding silaaziridinone formed by the [1 + 2] cycloaddition reaction of 1 with the N=C double bond of the isocyanate. Stannylene 1 reacts with ArN=C=S, giving a mixture of complex products, while 1 does not react with CO2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified thousands of genetic variants associated with complex traits and diseases. However, most of them are located in the non-protein coding regions, and therefore it is challenging to hypothesize the functions of these non-coding GWAS variants. Recent large efforts such as the ENCODE and Roadmap Epigenomics projects have predicted a large number of regulatory elements. However, the target genes of these regulatory elements remain largely unknown. Chromatin conformation capture based technologies such as Hi-C can directly measure the chromatin interactions and have generated an increasingly comprehensive catalog of the interactome between the distal regulatory elements and their potential target genes. Leveraging such information revealed by Hi-C holds the promise of elucidating the functions of genetic variants in human diseases. Results: In this work, we present HiView, the first integrative genome browser to leverage Hi-C results for the interpretation of GWAS variants. HiView is able to display Hi-C data and statistical evidence for chromatin interactions in genomic regions surrounding any given GWAS variant, enabling straightforward visualization and interpretation. Conclusions: We believe that as the first GWAS variants-centered Hi-C genome browser, HiView is a useful tool guiding post-GWAS functional genomics studies. HiView is freely accessible at: http://www.unc.edu/~yunmli/HiView. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Advances in chromosome conformation capture and next-generation sequencing technologies are enabling genome-wide investigation of dynamic chromatin interactions. For example, Hi-C experiments generate genome-wide contact frequencies between pairs of loci by sequencing DNA segments ligated from loci in close spatial proximity. One essential task in such studies is peak calling, that is, detecting non-random interactions between loci from the two-dimensional contact frequency matrix. Successful fulfillment of this task has many important implications including identifying long-range interactions that assist interpreting a sizable fraction of the results from genome-wide association studies. The task – distinguishing biologically meaningful chromatin interactions from massive numbers of random interactions – poses great challenges both statistically and computationally. Model-based methods to address this challenge are still lacking. In particular, no statistical model exists that takes the underlying dependency structure into consideration. Results: In this paper, we propose a hidden Markov random field (HMRF) based Bayesian method to rigorously model interaction probabilities in the two-dimensional space based on the contact frequency matrix. By borrowing information from neighboring loci pairs, our method demonstrates superior reproducibility and statistical power in both simulation studies and real data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is thought to be caused in part by the age-related accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain. Recent findings have revealed that nitric oxide (NO) modulates the processing of amyloid-β precursor protein (APP) and alters Aβ production; however, the previously presented data are contradictory and the underlying molecular mechanisms are still incomplete. Here, using human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells stably transfected with wild-type APPwt, we found that NO, derived from NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP), bi-directionally modulates APP processing in vitro. The data from ELISA and Western blot (WB) tests indicated that SNP at lower concentrations (0.01 and 0.1 μM) inhibits BACE1 expression, thus consequently suppresses APP β-cleavage and decreases Aβ production. In contrast, SNP at higher concentrations (10 and 20 μM) biases the APP processing toward the amyloidogenic pathway as evidenced by an increased BACE1 but a decreased ADAM10 expression, together with an elevated Aβ secretion. This bi-directional modulating activity of SNP on APP processing was completely blocked by specific NO scavenger c-PTIO, indicating NO-dependent mechanisms. Moreover, the anti-amyloidogenic activity of SNP is sGC/cGMP/PKG-dependent as evidenced by its reversal by sGC/PKG inhibitions, whereas the amyloidogenic activity of SNP is peroxynitrite-related and can be reversed by peroxynitrite scavenger uric acid. In summary, these present findings predict a double-edged role of NO in APP processing in vitro. Low (physiological) levels of NO inhibit the amyloidogenic processing of APP, whereas extra-high (pathological) concentrations of NO favor the amyloidogenic pathway of APP processing. This preliminary study may provide further evidence to clarify the molecular roles of NO and NO-related signaling in AD and supply potential molecular targets for AD treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new bis(pyridine-2-ylmethyl)amine derivative ( 1 ) was synthesized as a colorimetric and fluorescent chemosensor for metal ions. Experimental results indicate that 1 displays significant colorimetric and fluorescent changes upon binding of Cu 2+ . Since 1 has a high water solubility as well as good cell-permeability, it successfully applied to detect the presence of Cu 2+ ion in HepG2 cells in culture medium. Thus, 1 can be used as a potential Cu 2+ chemosensor in aqueous solution and mammalian cells. Further, the fluorescence behavior of 1 upon Cu 2+ binding was well explained by our quantum calculation based on electronic structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Arylsilanes are valuable organosilicon compounds and attract significant research interest due to their promising applications in organic synthesis. The development of aromatic C-Si cross-coupling reactions represents a major challenge in both organosilicon chemistry and organic synthesis. A number of investigations are focused on developing transition-metal-catalyzed Si-C coupling reactions due to the associated high atom economy and superior functional group compatibility. This review describes recent advances in transition-metal-catalyzed selective silylations of aryl C-H and C-X (X = halide) bonds with hydrosilanes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a novel low-temperature firing microwave dielectric ceramic LiKSm2(MoO4)4 was prepared via solid-state reaction method. Ceramic samples with relative densities about 94.6% were obtained at sintering temperature 640°C-680°C. The best microwave dielectric properties was obtained in ceramic sample sintered at 620°C with a permittivity about 11.5, a Q × f value about 39 000 GHz and a temperature coefficient of frequency about −15.9 ppm/°C. According to XRD patterns and backscattered electron micrograph, combined with Energy Dispersive Spectra analysis, of cofired samples with 30 wt% aluminum sintered at 620°C/4 h, the LiKSm2(MoO4)4 ceramic was found to be chemically compatible with Al but react seriously with Ag, forming AgSmMo2O8 phase, at its sintering temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyber physical systems collect plenty of information from physical world. This information must be transmitted to the base station immediately to support the making of controlling orders since the physical world keeps transforming rapidly. Such a fact needs the support of real-time transmitting in CPS. Real-time traffic often has some extra QoS requirements. For example, regulating the interservice time, which is the time between two consecutive transmissions of a link, is essential for the real-time traffic in wireless networks. A guarantee of the interservice time of a single user is a precondition to support the normal operating of a system. As far as we know, none of previous work can guarantee the performance on the interservice time. Motivated by this, we design a framework for interservice time guaranteed scheduling. We first define a new capacity region of networks with a strict interservice time guarantee. It is an extension of the well-accepted definition on basic capacity region. Then we propose a novel scheduling policy that is both throughput-optimal and interservice time guaranteed. Simulation results show the policy performs well in interservice time and throughput. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-propelled diffusiophoresis, induced by an asymmetric concentration gradient field, provides a new strategy to manipulate micro-objects (like some cells and colloids) in solutions. One example is the autonomous motion of the double-faced Janus microparticle (platinum coating on one half of a silica particle) due to a chemically catalyzed reaction (reduction of hydrogen peroxide) on the Pt surface. In this paper, a systematic method is developed to describe the details of self-propulsion and rotation of Janus microparticles, despite the difficulty induced by particle non-uniformity. From the measurement, we found that the particles presented a three-stage behavior of the dimensionless mean square displacement, and their displacement probability distribution formed a double-peaked structure. These results show the intrinsic characteristics and the non-Gaussian behavior of Janus particle's self-propulsion. Furthermore, the rotational motion is characterized by the rotational angle variation and the rotational diffusion coefficient. These results show that Brownian rotation still dominates the Janus microparticle's rotational motion, though the measured rotational diffusion coefficient presents an anomalous tendency. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Imputation of individual level genotypes at untyped markers using an external reference panel of genotyped or sequenced individuals has become standard practice in genetic association studies. Direct imputation of summary statistics can also be valuable, for example in meta-analyses where individual level genotype data are not available. Two methods (DIST and ImpG-Summary/LD), that assume a multivariate Gaussian distribution for the association summary statistics, have been proposed for imputing association summary statistics. However, both methods assume that the correlations between association summary statistics are the same as the correlations between the corresponding genotypes. This assumption can be violated in the presence of confounding covariates. Methods: We analytically show that in the absence of covariates, correlation among association summary statistics is indeed the same as that among the corresponding genotypes, thus serving as a theoretical justification for the recently proposed methods. We continue to prove that in the presence of covariates, correlation among association summary statistics becomes the partial correlation of the corresponding genotypes controlling for covariates. We therefore develop direct imputation of summary statistics allowing covariates (DISSCO). Results: We consider two real-life scenarios where the correlation and partial correlation likely make practical difference: (i) association studies in admixed populations; (ii) association studies in presence of other confounding covariate(s). Application of DISSCO to real datasets under both scenarios shows at least comparable, if not better, performance compared with existing correlation- based methods, particularly for lower frequency variants. For example, DISSCO can reduce the absolute deviation from the truth by 3.9--15.2% for variants with minor allele frequency <5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased soil salinization is among the main factors that limits safe rice production. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to alleviate the toxic effects of salt stress in plants. However, more studies on AMF combined with other functional microorganisms are needed to further improve salt tolerance in rice. Therefore, the compound inoculum Funneliformis mosseae (Fm) together with two functional microorganisms, Piriformospora indica (Pi) and Agrobacterium rhizogenes (Ar) was evaluated for their effect on the rice growth, photosynthetic gas exchange parameters, ion homeostasis, and the expression of salt tolerance-related genes under 0, 80, 120 and 160 mM salt stress conditions. The results showed that: (1) the rice seedling biomass of the AMF compound inoculant treatment group was significantly higher than that of the non-inoculation treatment group (P < 0.05); (2) under NaCl stress, inoculation with AMF compound inoculants can activate the rice antioxidant enzyme system and improve osmoregulation ability; (3) AMF compound inoculants can increase the concentration of K+ in the plant and inhibit the transfer of Na+ to rice leaves, maintaining a high K+/Na+; and (4) AMF compound inoculants could induce and regulate the overexpression of genes related to salt tolerance, photosynthesis and ion homeostasis in rice, and improve the tolerance of rice under salt stress. Our study showed that AMF compound inoculants could improve the adaptability of rice under NaCl stress and promote plant growth by regulating the photosynthetic gas exchange parameter, reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability, and ion homeostasis of plants. These results suggest that AMF compound inoculants may play an important role in improving rice productivity in salinized soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Challenge remains to develop a high activity of photocatalyst for large-scale industrial application in photocatalytic selective conversion of biomass alcohols into the value-added chemicals accompany with H 2 evolution in aqueous solution. Herein, ReS 2 as high efficiency co-catalyst is utilized to modify the flower-like ZnIn 2 S 4 (ZIS) microspheres to obtain heterojunction composite, result in dramatically enhancements in photocatalytic oxidation of furfural alcohols cooperative with H 2 evolution. Further studies show that the optimal catalyst containing 4.08 wt% ReS 2 (RZIS-3) realize remarkably generation rates of H 2 and furfural at 3092.9 and 2981.1 μmol g−1 h−1, respectively, nearly 12 times faster than that of blank ZnIn 2 S 4. Mechanism studies verify that the migration of the photogenerated carriers from ZnIn 2 S 4 to ReS 2 leading to the remarkably photoactivity of the composite. Moreover, the typical photocatalysis not rely on a single model substrate, and high performance of the composite has been identified for the oxidation of other alcohols biomass intermediate to value-added aldehydes/ketones, providing a new insight for design and fabrication of the novel photocatalytic hydrogen evolution systems. [Display omitted] • Flower like ReS 2 -ZnIn 2 S 4 microsphere act as photocatalyst for H 2 evolution coupled with valuable alcohols oxidation. • ReS 2 as an efficient non-noble co-catalyst enhance the activity of ZnIn 2 S 4. • Type I heterojunction ReS 2 -ZnIn 2 S 4 promote the separation of photogenerated carriers. • The optimum catalyst exhibits an extraordinary activity, stability and universality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: High throughput chromatin conformation capture (3C) technologies, such as Hi-C and ChIA-PET, have the potential to elucidate the functional roles of non-coding variants. However, most of published genome-wide unbiased chromatin organization studies have used cultured cell lines, limiting their generalizability. Results: We developed a web browser, HUGIn, to visualize Hi-C data generated from 21 human primary tissues and cell lines. HUGIn enables assessment of chromatin contacts both constitutive across and specific to tissue(s) and/or cell line(s) at any genomic loci, including GWAS SNPs, eQTLs and cis-regulatory elements, facilitating the understanding of both GWAS and eQTL results and functional genomics data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A facile and eco-friendly method for tuning sulfur vacancies (S V) in SnS 2 by solvents adjusting, resulting in improved performance for Cr (VI) photoreduction via S V optimization. [Display omitted] • A facile and eco-friendly method for tuning sulfur vacancies in SnS 2. • Reinforcing the new understanding of sulfur vacancies. • The SnS 2 nanosheets enhance performance of Cr(VI) photoreduction. A new feasible idea for customizable controlling the sulfur vacancy (S V) by adjusting the solvent system in a solvothermal process was adopted to synthesize SnS 2 with different concentrations of S V. SnS 2 nanosheets obtained in H 2 O have more sulfur vacancies than those obtained in H 2 O/ethanol or ethanol/CS 2. The introduction of S V can not only reduce the band gap of SnS 2 , but also promote the separation of photoinduced electrons-holes. As a result, SnS 2 with the richest S V shows the best activity in photoreduction of Cr (VI), with the kinetic rate constant reaching to 0.08983 min−1, which also could be recycled after acid washing. This work reinforces the new understanding of sulfur vacancies, and provides valuable guides in rationally designing new efficient degradation photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, reactive magnesia (MgO)- and carbide slag (CS)-activated ground granulated blastfurnace slag (GGBS) were used to stabilise a natural soil in comparison to Portland cement (PC). X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test were employed to investigate the microstructural and mechanical properties of stabilised soils. The results indicated that the main hydration products of CS-GGBS stabilised soil included calcium silicate hydrates (CSH), calcium aluminate hydrates (CAH), and ettringite. For MgO-GGBS stabilised soils, CSH was the only hydration product detected. These hydration products had different microstructure and binding ability, affecting the strength of stabilised soils. There was an optimum MgO or CS content, in a range of 10–20%, for yielding the highest UCS of MG-GGBS or CS-GGBS stabilised soil at the same age. The 90-day UCS of the optimum MgO-GGBS and CS-GGBS stabilised soils was 3.0–3.2 and 2.4–3.2 times that of the PC stabilised soil, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]