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Gold nanoparticles coated with a poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) shell undergo reversible dis/assembly below and above the critical temperature of 32 °C. Loading these particles into microdroplets at high density creates light‐driven artificial chromatophores. Triggering the nanoparticle assembly gives dramatic color changes from nanoparticle localization at the base of the droplets, resembling zebrafish melanophores. These reversible chromatophore states can be switched by both bulk and optical heating, explored here in individual microdroplets and in large cm2 areas of close‐packed droplets. Illuminating chromatophores off‐center with a tightly focused beam results in droplet locomotion via two separate mechanisms, Marangoni interfacial shear and gas bubble propulsion, depending on optical power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demand response (DR) has been recognized as a powerful tool to relieve energy imbalance in the smart grid. Most previous works have ignored the irrational behavior of energy consumers in DR project implementation. Accordingly, in this paper, we focus on solving two questions during the execution of DR. Firstly, considering the bounded rationality of residential users, a population dynamic model is proposed to describe the decision behavior on whether to participate in the DR project, and then the evolutionary process of consumers participating in DR is analyzed. Secondly, for the DR participants, they have to compete dispatching amounts for maximal profit in a day-ahead bidding market, hence, a non-cooperative game model is proposed to describe the competition behavior, and the uniqueness of the Nash equilibrium is analyzed with mathematical proof. Then, the distributed algorithm is designed to search the evolutionary result and the Nash equilibrium. Finally, a case study is performed to show the effectiveness of the formulated models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human follicular fluid (HFF), which is composed by essential proteins required for the follicle development, provides an important microenvironment for oocyte maturation. Recently, overweight status has been considered as a detrimental impact factor on oocyte maturation, but whether HFF proteome could provide protein markers for assessing overweight-based oocyte maturation deficiency is still unknown. Methods: To reveal the HFF-based molecular characteristics associated with abnormal oocyte maturation, an iTRAQ-based comparative proteomic analysis was performed to investigate different HFF protein expression profiles from normal weight women and overweight status women. Results: Two hundred HFF proteins were quantified in our data, of which 43% have not been overlapped by two previous publications. Compared with the HFF proteins of normal weight women, 22 up-regulated HFF proteins and 21 down-regulated HFF proteins were found in the overweight status women. PANTHER database showed these altered HFF proteins participated in development, metabolism, immunity, and coagulation, and STRING database demonstrated their complicated interaction networks. The confidence of proteomic outcome was verified by Western blot analysis of WAP four-disulfide core domain protein 2 (WFDC2), lactotransferrin (LTF), prostate-specific antigen (KLK3), fibronectin (FN1), and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Further, ELISA assay indicated WFDC2 might be a potentially useful candidate HFF marker for the diagnosis of oocyte maturation arrest caused by overweight status. Conclusions: Our work provided a new complementary high-confidence HFF dataset involved in oocyte maturation, and these altered HFF proteins might have clinical relevance and diagnostic and prognostic value for abnormal oocyte maturation in overweight status women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the Milky Way (MW) halo properties using satellite kinematic data including the latest measurements from Gaia DR2. With a simulation-based 6D phase-space distribution function (DF) of satellite kinematics, we can infer halo properties efficiently and without bias, and handle the selection function and measurement errors rigorously in the Bayesian framework. Applying our DF from the EAGLE simulation to 28 satellites, we obtain an MW halo mass of and a concentration of with the prior based on the M–c relation. The inferred mass profile is consistent with previous measurements but with better precision and reliability due to the improved methodology and data. Potential improvement is illustrated by combining satellite data and stellar rotation curves. Using our EAGLE DF and best-fit MW potential, we provide much more precise estimates of the kinematics for those satellites with uncertain measurements. Compared to the EAGLE DF, which matches the observed satellite kinematics very well, the DF from the semi-analytical model based on the dark-matter-only simulation Millennium II (SAM-MII) over-represents satellites with small radii and velocities. We attribute this difference to less disruption of satellites with small pericenter distances in the SAM-MII simulation. By varying the disruption rate of such satellites in this simulation, we estimate a ∼5% scatter in the inferred MW halo mass among hydrodynamics-based simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern navigation systems integrate the global positioning system (GPS) with an inertial navigation system (INS), which complement each other for correct attitude and velocity determination. The core of the INS integrates accelerometers and gyroscopes used to measure forces and angular rate in the vehicular inertial reference frame. With the help of gyroscopes and by integrating the acceleration to compute velocity and distance, precision and compact accelerometers with sufficient accuracy can provide small‐error location determination. Solid‐state implementations, through coherent readout, can provide a platform for high performance acceleration detection. In contrast to prior accelerometers using piezoelectric or capacitive readout techniques, optical readout provides narrow‐linewidth high‐sensitivity laser detection along with low‐noise resonant optomechanical transduction near the thermodynamical limits. Here an optomechanical inertial sensor with an 8.2 µg Hz−1/2 velocity random walk (VRW) at an acquisition rate of 100 Hz and 50.9 µg bias instability is demonstrated, suitable for applications, such as, inertial navigation, inclination sensing, platform stabilization, and/or wearable device motion detection. Driven into optomechanical sustained‐oscillation, the slot photonic crystal cavity provides radio‐frequency readout of the optically‐driven transduction with an enhanced 625 µg Hz−1 sensitivity. Measuring the optomechanically‐stiffened oscillation shift, instead of the optical transmission shift, provides a 220× VRW enhancement over pre‐oscillation mode detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a versatile and accurate method to estimate the halo mass and concentration from the kinematics of satellite galaxies. We construct the 6D phase-space distribution function of satellites from a cosmological simulation based on the similarity of internal dynamics for different halos. Within the Bayesian statistical framework, not only can we efficiently infer the halo mass and concentration, we can also treat various observational effects, including the selection function, incomplete data, and measurement errors, in a rigorous and straightforward manner. Through tests with mock samples, we show that our method is valid and accurate, as well as more precise than pure steady-state methods. It can constrain the halo mass to within ∼20% using only 20 tracers and has a small intrinsic uncertainty of ∼10%. In addition to the clear application to the Milky Way and similar galaxies, our method can be extended to galaxy groups or clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cr 2 AlC transition layer between the NiCrAlY coating and K417G superalloy was prepared to improve oxidation resistance of conventional NiCrAlY coating. Long-term cyclic oxidation was conducted at 1000 °C. Cr 2 AlC transition layer decomposed to Cr 7 C 3 after annealing and further transformed to thermodynamically more stable continuous Cr 23 C 6 during subsequent oxidation. Continuous Cr 23 C 6 effectively blocked diffusion between NiCrAlY coating and substrate. Cr 2 AlC transition layer also supplied additional Al for NiCrAlY coating, greatly extended service life of the NiCrAlY coating. Furthermore, Cr 2 AlC, Cr 23 C 6 and Cr 7 C 3 were thermally matched to substrate and coating, avoiding coating spallation during cyclic oxidation. • The application of Cr 2 AlC transition layer effectively prevented interdiffusion between NiCrAlY coating and Ni-based superalloy. • The application of the Cr 2 AlC transition layer enhanced the stability of surface Al 2 O 3 scale and extended service life. • The Cr 2 AlC transition layer transformed into a continuous thermodynamically stable Cr 23 C 6 layer at high temperatures, which acted as a diffusion barrier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current solar forecast verification processes place much attention on performance comparison of a group of competing methods. However, forecast verification ought to further answer how the best method within the group performs relative to the best-possible performance which one can attain under that forecasting situation, which makes the quantification of predictability and forecast skill immediately relevant. Unfortunately, the literature on the quantification of relative performance of solar irradiance has hitherto been lacking, and very few studies have focused on the spatial distributions of predictability and forecast skill of solar irradiance. The predictability and forecast skill of an atmospheric process depend on two concepts: (1) the growth of initial error in unresolved scale of motion, and (2) the forecast performance of the standard of reference. Based upon this formalism, predictability and forecast skill of solar irradiance in the United States are quantified and mapped. Through this study, a couple of common misconceptions in regard to irradiance predictability are refuted, and the original formulation of skill score revived. • A formal discussion on predictability of solar irradiance is presented. • A rigorous way of computing the forecast skill score is emphasized. • Predictability of solar irradiance in the United States is estimated. • Bounds of mean square error of ECMWF irradiance forecasts in the United States are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Furrow diking is a type of conservation tillage practice that is widely used throughout the world and has been proved to be effective for preventing runoff and soil loss. However, it is not easy to maintain a stable conservation effect of furrow diking in various environments. Few studies have focused on the effects of rainfall and slope on the integrity and conservation efficiency of furrow diking. Therefore, simulated rainfall experiments were conducted with four rainfall intensities (30 mm/h, 60 mm/h, 90 mm/h and 120 mm/h) and three slopes (2, 4 and 8°) to study the effects of rainfall intensity and slope on soil and runoff production of furrow diking as well as its conservation efficiency. The conservation efficiencies were obtained by comparing furrow diking with up-down slope ridges. The result indicated that as rainfall intensity and slope increased, furrow diking dams may suffer from runoff overtopping resulting in damage and ultimate collapse. During this process, runoff and soil loss increased rapidly, severe rill erosion developed on dams resulting in the loss of the ability of furrow diking to store rainwater and sediment and obvious declines of water and soil conservation efficiencies. This paper established empirical equations to estimate the conservation efficiency of furrow diking under undamaged and damaged conditions. An empirical equation was also presented to estimate the critical rainfall and slope conditions that may cause overtopping, damage or collapse of dams in order to guide the implementation of furrow diking and predict its conservation efficiency. Highlights • Geometry changes of furrow dikes and their effects on runoff and soil loss • Critical rainfall amounts and slope that damage furrow diking dams • Equations that estimate furrow dikes' water and soil conservation efficiencies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase the color stability of hemoglobin (Hb) powder, the technological conditions for arginine–hemoglobin (Arg‐Hb) powder preparation were optimized by response surface methodology and the influence of arginine (Arg) on the color stability of Hb powder was evaluated. Results showed that: (a) Arg‐Hb powder had better colors (less MetHb% and higher a* value) than Hb powder (p < 0.05); (b) using MetHb% as an indicator, the optimal conditions to prepare Arg stabilized Hb were Arg concentration of 10.5 mg/ml Hb extract, reaction pH of 10.75, and reaction temperature of 18°C; (c) pH and NaCl had a significant influence on the color stability of Hb (p < 0.05). At various NaCl concentrations and pH conditions, Arg‐Hb solution showed better color than Hb (p < 0.05); (d) Arg‐Hb powder had higher a* values and higher percentages of deoxyhemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin but lower MetHb% than Hb powder during storage (p < 0.05). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present and apply a method to infer the mass of the Milky Way (MW) by comparing the dynamics of MW satellites to those of model satellites in the eagle cosmological hydrodynamics simulations. A distribution function (DF) for galactic satellites is constructed from eagle using specific angular momentum and specific energy, which are scaled so as to be independent of host halo mass. In this two-dimensional space, the orbital properties of satellite galaxies vary according to the host halo mass. The halo mass can be inferred by calculating the likelihood that the observed satellite population is drawn from this DF. Our method is robustly calibrated on mock eagle systems. We validate it by applying it to the completely independent suite of 30 auriga high-resolution simulations of MW-like galaxies: the method accurately recovers their true mass and associated uncertainties. We then apply it to 10 classical satellites of the MW with six-dimensional phase-space measurements, including updated proper motions from the Gaia satellite. The mass of the MW is estimated to be |$M_{200}^{\rm {MW}}=1.17_{-0.15}^{+0.21}\times 10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$| (68 per cent confidence limits). We combine our total mass estimate with recent mass estimates in the inner regions of the Galaxy to infer an inner dark matter (DM) mass fraction |$M^\rm {DM}(\lt 20~\rm {kpc})/M^\rm {DM}_{200}=0.12$|⁠, which is typical of |${\sim }10^{12}\, \mathrm{M}_{\odot }$| lambda cold dark matter haloes in hydrodynamical galaxy formation simulations. Assuming a Navarro, Frenk and White (NFW) profile, this is equivalent to a halo concentration of |$c_{200}^{\rm {MW}}=10.9^{+2.6}_{-2.0}$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Short texts, such as Twitter social media posts, have become increasingly popular on the Internet. Inferring topics from massive numbers of short texts is important to many real-world applications. A single short text often contains a few words, making traditional topic models less effective. A recently developed biterm topic model (BTM) effectively models short texts by capturing the rich global word co-occurrence information. However, in the sparse short-text context, many highly related words may never co-occur. BTM may lose many potential coherent and prominent word co-occurrence patterns that cannot be observed in the corpus. To address this problem, we propose a novel relational BTM (R-BTM) model, which links short texts using a similarity list of words computed employing word embeddings. To evaluate the effectiveness of R-BTM, we compare it against the existing short-text topic models on a variety of traditional tasks, including topic quality, clustering and text similarity. Experimental results on real-world datasets indicate that R-BTM outperforms baseline topic models for short texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plasmacytoid DCs (pDC) produce large amounts of type I IFN (IFN-I), cytokines convincingly linked to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenesis. BIIB059 is a humanized mAb that binds blood DC antigen 2 (BDCA2), a pDC-specific receptor that inhibits the production of IFN-I and other inflammatory mediators when ligated. A first-in-human study was conducted to assess safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic (PD) effects of single BIIB059 doses in healthy volunteers (HV) and patients with SLE with active cutaneous disease as well as proof of biological activity and preliminary clinical response in the SLE cohort.Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted in HV (n = 54) and patients with SLE (n = 12). All subjects were monitored for adverse events. Serum BIIB059 concentrations, BDCA2 levels on pDCs, and IFN-responsive biomarkers in whole blood and skin biopsies were measured. Skin disease activity was determined using the Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus Disease Area and Severity Index Activity (CLASI-A).Results: Single doses of BIIB059 were associated with favorable safety and PK profiles. BIIB059 administration led to BDCA2 internalization on pDCs, which correlated with circulating BIIB059 levels. BIIB059 administration in patients with SLE decreased expression of IFN response genes in blood, normalized MxA expression, reduced immune infiltrates in skin lesions, and decreased CLASI-A score.Conclusions: Single doses of BIIB059 were associated with favorable safety and PK/PD profiles and robust target engagement and biological activity, supporting further development of BIIB059 in SLE. The data suggest that targeting pDCs may be beneficial for patients with SLE, especially those with cutaneous manifestations.Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02106897.Funding: Biogen Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Cracking resistance of HSC reinforced with 3D steel fiber was studied by TSTM. • Autogenous shrinkage of HSC decreased with increase of amount of 3D steel fiber. • The temperature drop at cracking time increased with addition of 3D steel fiber. • The stress reserve of HSC increased with increase of amount of 3D steel fiber. • Cracking resistance of HSC increased with increase of amount of 3D steel fiber. Abstract High-strength concrete (HSC) is widely used in practice, which is due to its potential benefits, such as good workability, long durability, low permeability. However, higher autogenous shrinkage occurs owing to the low water-to-cement (w/c) ratio of HSC, which would reduce the cracking resistance. Therefore, Dramix 3D steel fibers are applied to strengthen the early-age properties of HSC to increase the cracking resistance. Although investigations on the effect of steel fiber on the properties of HSC have been conducted, investigations on the effect of Dramix 3D steel fiber on the autogenous shrinkage, temperature history, restrained stress, mechanical properties, and cracking resistance of HSC remain lacking. In present study, Temperature Stress Test Machine (TSTM) was utilized to investigate the properties of HSC reinforced with Dramix 3D steel fiber at early age. The test results and corresponding analysis indicated that: (1) the absolute value of autogenous shrinkage of HSC decreased with the increase of the amount of Dramix 3D steel fiber, and a model for autogenous shrinkage was proposed; (2) the temperature or temperature drop at cracking time of HSC decreased or increased with the increase of the amount of Dramix 3D steel fiber; (3) the stress at room temperature, cracking stress, ratio of cracking stress to tensile strength, and stress reserve of HSC increased with the increase of the amount of Dramix 3D steel fiber; (4) the addition of Dramix 3D steel fiber improved the cracking resistance of HSC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a novel approach in exploring the joint dependence of halo bias on multiple halo properties using Gaussian process regression. Using a lambda cold dark matter N -body simulation, we carry out a comprehensive study of the joint bias dependence on halo structure, formation history, and environment. We show that the bias is a multivariate function of halo properties that falls into three regimes. For massive haloes, halo mass explains the majority of bias variation. For early-forming haloes, bias depends sensitively on the recent mass accretion history. For low-mass and late-forming haloes, bias depends more on the structure of a halo such as its shape and spin. Our framework enables us to convincingly prove that V max/ V viris a lossy proxy of formation time for bias modelling, whereas the mass, spin, shape, and formation time variables are non-redundant with respect to each other. Combining mass and formation time largely accounts for the mass accretion history dependence of bias. Combining all the internal halo properties fully accounts for the density profile dependence inside haloes, and predicts the clustering variation of individual haloes to a |$20{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$| level at |${\sim } 10\,{\rm Mpc}\, h^{-1}$|⁠. When an environmental density is measured outside |$1\,{\rm Mpc}\, h^{-1}$| from the halo centre, it outperforms and largely accounts for the bias dependence on the internal halo structure, explaining the bias variation above a level of |$30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$|⁠. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Tracheostomy usually accompanied by the impairment of cough reflex, which may affect the clearance of secretions and result in the occurrence and development of pulmonary inflammation. Previous research has demonstrated that citric acid could effectively evoke cough. However, there are limited data available on this topic specific to the cough stimulation method, and the roles of citric acid in tracheostomy still remain obscure. The aims of present study were to identify the potential roles of citric acid in conjunction with saline nebulization in tracheostomy in guinea pigs. Materials and Methods: Experimental tracheostomy model was induced in guinea pigs, and different nebulization interventions were implemented. The expression of P-selectin and platelet count were analyzed by flow cytometer and automatic globulimeter, the histological changes in trachea and lung tissue were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining, and the inflammatory cytokines and substance P (SP) levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Tracheostomy resulted in the disorder of trachea mucosa and cilia, the inflammatory cell infiltration in lung tissue, the increase of IL-6, TNF-α levels and the decrease of SP level. Citric acid alone increase the SP level, and the joint action of citric acid and saline nebulization further showed significantly beneficial effects on pathological, inflammatory changes and SP level. Conclusions: Citric acid combined with saline nebulization contributes to the alleviation of tracheotomy-induced tracheal damage and pulmonary inflammation in an experimental tracheostomy model in guinea pigs. This may provide novel insights into the inflammation management and cough recovery after tracheostomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We present a timing synchronization system that can synchronize optical and microwave signals with attosecond-level precision across kilometer distances. With this technique, the next-generation photon science facilities like X-ray free-electron lasers and intense laser beamlines can be enabled to observe ultra-fast dynamics in atoms, molecules and condensed matter taking place on an attosecond time scale. We discuss some key technologies including master-laser jitter characterization, local one-color laser synchronization, remote two-color laser synchronization, and analyze technical noise contributions in the system. A 4.7-km laser–microwave network with 950-attosecond timing jitter is realized over tens of hours of continuous operation. Finally, an integrated balanced optical cross correlator is introduced. With the same input power level, the required operational power for each timing link is significantly reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigating the cavitation of jet hydrofoils with different chord length positions. • The mechanism of the influence of the jet on the reflux jet was studied. • Bionic jet can improve the lift-to-drag ratio of hydrofoil. • Hydrodynamic performance and cavitation inhibition are best at the jet position 0.6 c. • The return jet on the jet hydrofoil is mainly driven by the clockwise rotation of the bubble. To suppress the cavitation phenomenon of the fluid machinery under high-velocity flow conditions, we designed the shark gill slit jet structure based on the principle of bionics. The selected hydrofoil is an expanding symmetric structure with chord length of 100 mm and span length of 80 mm. a bionic jet with a velocity of 4.836 m/s is placed on the suction surface of the hydrofoil. The jet direction is consistent with the mainstream direction, and numerical simulations are performed for the jet hydrofoil with different chordwise jet positions. The results show that when the chordal jet position is 0.6 c , the time-averaged vacuole volume fraction is the smallest, which is reduced by 46% percent compared with the prototype hydrofoil. The lift-to-drag ratio of the jet hydrofoil is improved compared to the prototype hydrofoil. The pressure fluctuations on the suction surface continue to decrease as the longitudinal position of the jet is shifted back, and the shock waves generated by the cavitation collapse of the cloud are continuously suppressed. The return jet on the jet hydrofoil is driven mainly by the clockwise rotational motion of the cavity. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspect-based sentiment analysis (ABSA) refers to a fine-grained task of detecting the sentiment polarities of sentences at the aspect level. To resolve this task, ABSA training samples must be annotated with aspect words and the corresponding sentiment polarities. However, collecting such fine-grained training samples is expensive and time-consuming. Therefore the available ABSA training samples are often scarce. To break the data scarcity challenge of ABSA, we investigate semi-supervised aspect-based sentiment analysis (SemiABSA), which trains ABSA models using a limited amount of expensive labeled sentences and more unlabeled-yet-cheaper sentences. We propose a novel SemiABSA framework, namely semi-supervised aspect-based sentiment analysis with masked aspect prediction (S 3 map), built on the self-training paradigm. We form pseudo-aspect words and pseudo-sentiment polarities for unlabeled sentences and improve model training. Specifically, a BERT-encoder-based masked aspect prediction (MAP) task achieves the pseudo-aspect words generation. Based on S 3 map , we thoroughly investigate the potential of SemiABSA from various perspectives. The empirical results show that S 3 map can consistently improve performance by leveraging unlabeled sentences, even those from different domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A generalized eco-epidemiological system with prey refuge is proposed in this paper. The saturation incidence kinetics and a generalized functional response are used to describe the contact process and the predation process, respectively. Based on mathematical issue, the local and global stability properties, Hopf bifurcation, and permanence of the dynamical system are investigated. Based on the ecological aspects, the impact of prey refuge on the dynamical consequences of the eco-epidemiological system and the mechanism of prey refuge are discussed. The results reveal that the stabilizing and destabilizing effects occur under some certain conditions. Based on epidemiological issue, the controlling strategies of the infectious disease are proposed. The results show that the prey refuge can control the spread of disease by the relative level of prey refuge. This study has resolved some basic and interesting issues for an eco-epidemiological system with a generalized response function and the effect of prey refuge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds, which are commonly detectable in cooked meat products. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of sheep breeds on the formation of HAAs in smoking cooked lamb. The results showed that HAAs in smoked lamb meat products were generally low (2.74-5.42 ng g−1), with most being Harman and Norharman. IQ, MeIQx, 4,8-DiMeIQx, Trp-p-2, PhIP and MeAaC were not detected in smoked lamb meat products in the present study. The total content of HAAs differed between meat products of different sheep breeds, but no difference in the order of magnitude was determined. Smoking altered the content of protein, fat, moisture and free amino acids in lamb meat products, which was probably mostly contributed by the reduction in meat moisture. Free tryptophan decreased in all breeds after smoking, which was probably used to synthesise HAAs. In summary, HAAs were low in smoked lamb meat products of all sheep breeds; thus, consumption of smoked lamb meat products should contribute very limited intake of HAAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

P62, also called sequestosome1 (SQSTM1), is the selective cargo receptor for autophagy to degenerate misfolded proteins. It has also been found to assist and connect parkin in pink1/parkin mitophagy pathway. Previous studies showed that p62 was in association with neurodegenerative diseases, and one of the diseases pathogenesis is P62 induced autophagy and mitophagy dysfunction. Autophagy is an important process to eliminate misfolded proteins. Intracellular aggregation including α-synuclein, Huntingtin, tau protein and ß-amyloid (Aß) protein are the misfolded proteins found in PD, HD and AD, respectively. P62 induced autophagy failure significantly accelerates misfolded protein aggregation. Mitophagy is the special autophagy, functions as the selective scavenger towards the impaired mitochondria. Mitochondrial dysfunction was confirmed greatly contribute to the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases. Through assistance and connection with parkin, P62 is vital for regulating mitophagy, thus, aberrant P62 could influence the balance of mitophagy, and further disturb mitochondrial quality control. Therefore, accumulation of misfolded proteins leads to the aberrant P62 expression, aberrant P62 influence the balance of mitophagy, forming a vicious circle afterwards. In this review, we summarize the observations on the function of P62 relevant to autophagy and mitophagy in neurodegenerative diseases, hoping to give some clear and objective opinions to further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shrinkage of high-performance concrete (HPC) mixtures may ultimately lead to early-age cracking and a reduction of service life of concrete structures. Autogenous and drying shrinkage are direct consequences of the decrease of internal relative humidity (IRH) due to self-desiccation and external drying. Therefore prediction of shrinkage of HPC requires the knowledge of IRH variations. Internal curing (IC) with super absorbent polymers (SAPs) is utilized to mitigate the shrinkage of HPC. Although investigations on IRH in concrete have been conducted, the prediction model for IRH in early-age concrete internally cured with SAPs in consideration of both water-to-cement ( w / c ) ratio and critical time is still lacking. Therefore investigations on predicting the IRH in early-age concrete internally cured with SAPs were conducted in present study and results showed that: (1) a prediction model for the working w / c ratio in early-age concrete internally cured with SAPs was proposed in consideration of age, effective and IC w / c ratios of concrete; (2) a prediction model for the critical time of IRH was proposed in consideration of both effective and IC w / c ratios; (3) a prediction model for the IRH in early-age concrete internally cured with SAPs was proposed in consideration of working w / c ratio, critical time, and age. These models showed the good accuracy of the test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has investigated the thermoelectric property of a layered metal dichalcogenide SnSe, which is also non-toxic and earth abundant, especially with a similar composition of SnSe whose single crystals are recently revealed to possess high thermoelectricity. By investigating the electrical and thermal transport properties of SnAgSe ( x = 0.00, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05) in this work, it is revealed that the Ag-doped SnSe has the potential as a good thermoelectric material used at mid-temperature, benefiting from its relatively low thermal conductivity below 1.0 Wm K and moderate power factor over 350 μWm K at 773 K. A ZT value of ~0.4 can be finally achieved for the composition of SnAgSe at 773 K, which is an order of magnitude higher than the undoped ones and also larger than the reported metal dichalcogenides compounds of TiS and WS. The present work also reveals that Ag-doped sample shows much better thermal stability over 700 K compared with the undoped one whose measured temperature is only limited to 573 K, even with a few mole doping content of 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benefitting from the synergistic effect of N-doped hollow carbon nanofibers and unique heterostructure MnO/TiO 2 , the MnO/TiO 2 @N-C can afford more reactive sites and faster ion transport to achieve high capacity and ultralong cycle lifespan. [Display omitted] • The heterostructure MnO/TiO 2 @N-C nanofibers are obtained by coaxial electrospinning. • An internal electric field is induced on the MnO/TiO 2 hetero-interfaces. • MnO/TiO 2 @N-C delivers a capacity retention of 99.3 % after 10,000 cycles at 3 A/g. • The storage mechanisms of MnO/TiO 2 @N-C are well investigated. TiO 2 -based materials are viewed as promising anodes for sodium-ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacity and superior structural stability, but they suffer from low electron conductivity and sluggish Na+ diffusion kinetics, which leads to inferior rate performance and cyclability. Herein, a novel MnO/TiO 2 embedded into N-doped hollow carbon nanofibers (MnO/TiO 2 @N-C) is proposed to address this challenge via combining the heterostructure engineering and nanostructure designing. The integrated design greatly enhances the Na+ transfer and adsorption, provides more active interfacial sites and promotes the electric conductivity. The first-principle density functional theory calculations manifest that the constructed hetero-interfaces between MnO and TiO 2 induce strong electric fields and accelerate Na+ transfer. Due to these merits, the MnO/TiO 2 @N-C exhibits a high reversible discharge capacity of 406.5 mA h g−1 at 0.3 A/g, superior rate capability (213.3 mA h g−1 at 3 A/g), and exceptional cycling performance (99.3 % capacity retention after 10,000 cycles at 3 A/g). In addition, the Na full cell based on MnO/TiO 2 @N-C anode exhibits a promising energy density of 332.8 Wh kg−1 at 677.1 W Kg−1. This work offers a novel and an interesting strategy to improve electrochemical sodium storage of TiO 2 -based materials, which is significant for the practical applications of sodium-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The postsynaptic scaffolding protein SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains 3 (SHANK3) is critical for the development and function of glutamatergic synapses. Disruption of the SHANK3-encoding gene has been strongly implicated as a monogenic cause of autism, and Shank3 mutant mice show repetitive grooming and social interaction deficits. Although basal ganglia dysfunction has been proposed to underlie repetitive behaviors, few studies have provided direct evidence to support this notion and the exact cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we utilized the Shank3B mutant mouse model of autism to investigate how Shank3 mutation may differentially affect striatonigral (direct pathway) and striatopallidal (indirect pathway) medium spiny neurons (MSNs) and its relevance to repetitive grooming behavior in Shank3B mutant mice. We found that Shank3 deletion preferentially affects synapses onto striatopallidal MSNs. Striatopallidal MSNs showed profound defects, including alterations in synaptic transmission, synaptic plasticity, and spine density. Importantly, the repetitive grooming behavior was rescued by selectively enhancing the striatopallidal MSN activity via a Gq-coupled human M3 muscarinic receptor (hM3Dq), a type of designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs (DREADD). Our findings directly demonstrate the existence of distinct changes between 2 striatal pathways in a mouse model of autism and indicate that the indirect striatal pathway disruption might play a causative role in repetitive behavior of Shank3B mutant mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study to investigate the hysteretic performance of a new type of isolator consisting of shape memory alloy springs and friction bearing called an SMA spring-friction bearing (SFB). The SFB is a sliding-type isolator with SMA devices used for the seismic protection of engineering structures. The principle of operation of the isolation bearing is introduced. In order to explore the possibility of applying SMA elements in passive seismic control devices, large diameter superelastic tension/compression NiTi SMA helical springs used in the SFB isolator were developed. Mechanical experiments of the SMA helical spring were carried out to understand its superelastic characteristics. After that, a series of quasi-static tests on a single SFB isolator prototype were conducted to measure its force-displacement relationships for different loading conditions and study the corresponding variation law of its mechanical performance. The experimental results demonstrate that the SFB exhibits full hysteretic curves, excellent energy dissipation capacity, and moderate recentering ability. Finally, a theoretical model capable of emulating the hysteretic behavior of the SMA-based isolator was then established and implemented in MATLAB software. The comparison of the numerical results with the experimental results shows the efficacy of the proposed model for simulating the response of the SFB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although conduction failure has been observed in nociceptive C-fibers, little is known regarding its significance or therapeutic potential. In a previous study, we demonstrated that C-fiber conduction failure, which is regarded as an intrinsic self-inhibition mechanism, was reduced in circumstances of painful diabetic neuropathy. In this study, we extend this finding in the complete Freund's adjuvant model of inflammatory pain and validate that the degree of conduction failure decreased and led to a greater amount of pain signals conveyed to the central nervous system. In complete Freund's adjuvant-injected animals, conduction failure occurred in a C-fiber-selective, activity-dependent manner and was associated with an increase in the rising slope of the C-fiber after-hyperpolarization potential. To target conduction failure in a therapeutic modality, we used ZD7288, an antagonist of hyperpolarization-activated, cyclic nucleotide-modulated channels which are activated by hyperpolarization and play a pivotal role in both inflammatory and neuropathic pain. ZD7288 promoted conduction failure by suppressing Ih as a mechanism to reduce the rising slope of the after-hyperpolarization potential. Moreover, perineuronal injection of ZD7288 inhibited abnormal mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia without affecting motor function or heart rate. Our data highlight the analgesic potential of local ZD7288 application and identify conduction failure as a novel target for analgesic therapeutic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To analyze the effectiveness of resistance exercise in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis on pain, stiffness, and physical function. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Data sources: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Web of Science, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database were searched from the date of inception to August 2015. Methods: Trials comparing effects of resistance exercise intervention with either non-intervention or psycho-educational intervention were selected by two reviewers independently. The risk of bias was assessed and studies with similar outcomes were pooled using a fixed or random effects model. Results: Data from 17 randomized clinical trials including 1705 patients were integrated. The main source of methodological bias in the selected studies was lack of double blinding. The meta-analysis results suggested that resistance exercise training relieved pain (standard mean difference [SMD]: -0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.57 to -0.29; P < 0.001), alleviated stiffness (SMD: -0.31; 95%: CI -0.56 to -0.05; P = 0.02), and improved physical function (SMD -0.53; 95% CI: -0.70 to -0.37; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Resistance exercise is beneficial in terms of reducing pain, alleviating stiffness, and improving physical function in patients with knee osteoarthritis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated wideband optical frequency comb (OFC) based on a semiconductor quantum dot laser is realized with high stability. The OFC module is packaged in our lab. A circuit which is designed to provide a low-ripple current and control the temperature regards as a servo system to enhance the stability of the OFC. The frequency stability of the OFC is 2.7×10 −9 (Allan Variance). The free spectral range (FSR) of the OFC is 40 GHz and the number of comb lines is up to 55. The flatness of the OFC over span of 4 nm can be limited to 0.5 dB. Negative coefficients microwave photonic filters with multiple taps are generated based on the proposed OFC. For the 10 taps microwave photonic filter, the pass-band at 8.74 GHz has a 3 dB bandwidth of 630 MHz with 16.58 dB side-lobe suppression. Compared with the published microwave photonic filters, the proposed system is more stable, of more compact structures, and of less power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dorsal striatum plays a key role in motor control and cognitive processes. Proper functioning of the striatum relies on the fine dynamic balance between the direct pathway projection medium spiny neurons (MSNs) that express D1 dopamine receptor (D1 MSNs) and indirect pathway projection MSNs that express D2 dopamine receptor (D2 MSNs). The inwardly rectifying K + channels (Kir), which express on both D1 and D2 MSNs, participate in the subthreshold dynamics including the membrane resonance and dendritic integration. However, it remains unclear whether dopamine differentially regulates Kir mediated subthreshold dynamics in two subtypes MSNs. Using transgenic mice that express either tdTomato in D1 MSNs or eGFP in D2 MSNs, we explored the Kir mediated subthreshold dynamics in D1 or D2 MSNs with whole cell patch clamp recording in acute brain slices. We found that D1 receptor agonist increased the Kir current while D2 receptor activation decreased the Kir conductance. The dopamine regulation of the Kir enhanced the resonant frequency and reduced the resonant impedance of D1 MSNs. The converse is ture for D2 MSNs. It also caused an opposing effect on dendritic integration between D1 and D2 MSNs, which can promote stability of the two pathways. The D1 receptor activation modulated Kir through cAMP-PKA signaling, whereas the D2 receptor modulated Kir through PLC-PKC signaling. Our findings demonstrated the differential dopaminergic regulation role of Kir, which mediates distinct subthreshold dynamics, and thus, contributes to the role of dopamine in fine tuning the balance of the striatal direct and indirect pathway activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover image is based on the Advanced Review Progress in magnetic resonance imaging of autism model mice brain by Dingding Yang et al., https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1616. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distributed key-value stores power the backend of high-performance web services and cloud computing applications. Key-value stores such as Cassandra rely heavily on counters to track occurrences of various kinds of events. However, modern implementations of counters do not provide exactly-once semantics. E.g., a client may request a counter increment, time out waiting for a response, and create a duplicate request resulting in a double increment at the server. In this paper, we address this problem by presenting, analyzing, and evaluating a novel server-side data structure called the forgetful bloom filter (FBF). Like a traditional Bloom filter, an FBF is a compact representation of a set of elements (e.g., client requests). However, an FBF: (i) can forget older elements (e.g., requests that are too old to apply), and (ii) adapts itself to meet a desired false positive rate under a varying workload. We present experimental results from a prototype implementation of FBFs and an implementation of FBFs in the Cassandra key-value store. Our results show that the FBF is highly accurate in maintaining correct counter values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-voltage spindles (HVSs), one of the characteristic oscillations that include theta frequencies in the basal ganglia (BG)-cortical system, are involved in immobile behavior and show increasing power in Parkinson's disease (PD). Our previous results suggested that the D2 dopamine receptor might be involved in HVSs modulations in a rat model of PD. Membrane resonance is one of the cellular mechanisms of network oscillation; therefore, we investigated how dopamine modulates the theta frequency membrane resonance of neurons in the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a central pacemaker of BG, and whether such changes in STN neurons subsequently alter HVSs in the BG-cortical system. In particular, we tested whether dopamine modulates HVSs through hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels-dependent membrane resonance in STN neurons. We found that an antagonist of D2 receptors, but not of D1 receptors, inhibited membrane resonance and HCN currents of STN neurons through a G-protein activity in acute brain slices. Our further in vivo experiments using local injection of a D2 receptor antagonist or an HCN blocker in STNs of free-moving rats showed an increase in HVSs power and correlation in the BG-cortical system. Local injection of lamotrigine, an HCN agonist, counteracted the effect induced by the D2 antagonist. Taken together, our results revealed a potential cellular mechanism underlying HVSs activity modulation in the BG-cortical system, i.e. tuning HCN activities in STN neurons through dopamine D2 receptors. Our findings might lead to a new direction in PD treatment by providing promising new drug targets for HVSs activity modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paying attention to and improving the mental health of the informal caregivers of disabled elders has become a global public health priority. This study focused on low-income female Uyghur and Kazakh informal caregivers of disabled elders residing in China’s far west. It investigated the prevalence of and the major related factors of depressive emotion. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed from September 2013 to January 2014 in Shawan Prefectures, Tuokexun Prefectures, Bole Prefecture and Urumchi city. Shawan Prefecture has the highest proportion of Kazakhs, whereas Tuokexun Prefectures, Bole Prefecture and Urumchi city have the highest proportion of Uyghurs in Muslim ethnic Uygur and Kazakh communities. Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is located in remote western China; this area is approximately 3,105 km (1,929 miles) away from Beijing. A total of 444 female Uyghur and Kazakh informal caregivers of disabled elders participated in this study. The self-rating depression scale, the Zarit burden interview, and the SF-36 questionnaire were used to evaluate the state of caregiver depression, caregiver burden, and quality of life (QOL), respectively. Statistical analyses were performed using multivariate logistic regression analyses, correlation with Spearman’s rho and independent-sample t-tests; a P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Up to 38.5% (n = 217) of informal caregivers reported having depression, whereas 61.5% (n = 273) of them reported a lack of depression. Age of disabled elders more than 60 years old, total hours spent on caring daily≥8h, duration of caring≥5 years, negative self-evaluation of health condition, having caregiver burden, elders’ medium degree of disability and elders’ heavy degree of disability had a higher risk of caregiver depression. By contrast, daughter/daughter-in-law of disabled elders; unemployed carers, family’s per capita income >US$235.48(1500 yuan), high social support, and high QOL of disabled elders were each associated with a lower risk of depressive emotion. Moreover, informal caregivers with depression obtained high care burden scores; at the same time, disabled elders who were looked after by caregivers with depression obtained low QOL scores. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the demographics characteristics of informal caregivers, and caregiver burden, and the disabled elders’ degree of disability and QOL had the most significant correlation with depressive emotion among women informal caregivers. The results had a enlighten that these variables should be considered while planning interventions to improve depression of informal caregivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the resistance of rice stem to lodging, and physical and chemical properties of rice culm of different rice varieties under high-yielding cultivation condition in mechanical transplanting with small seedling. Four representative rice varieties were used including indica-japonica hybrid riceA, japonica hybrid rice B, conventional japonica rice C, and indica hybrid rice D as materials. The stem morphological and mechanical traits were analyzed. The results showed that: 1) Compared with B, C, and D, A had higher value of breaking resistance and bending moment, and the lodging index of A was lower than that of D, but higher than that of B and C; 2) In terms of stem structure characteristics, the loading force, springiness, cohesiveness, flexural rigidity, fracturability, hardness, puncture strength, and firmness of basal internode were higher for A than B, C, and D; 3) Plant height, panicle height, gravity center height, internode diameter, stem cross-sectional area, culm wall cross-sectional area, total area of vascular bundles, area of big and small vascular bundles, the number of big and small vascular bundles of A were the highest among the 4 rice types, but the stem type index, the relative area of culm wall cross-sectional, big vascular bundles, small vascular bundles of A were lower than those of B and C, and higher than those of D; 4)The content of soluble sugar, starch, cellulose, lignin, K, Si, Ca, Cu, zinc and other chemical composition in stem and sheath of A were lower than those of B and C, but higher than those of D; Chemical components such as N, Mg, Fe, Mn content of A were higher than those of B and C, but less than those of D; 5) Correlation analysis showed that the lodging index was significantly (P<0.05) positively correlated with gravity center height, culm diameter, cross-sectional area, and highly significantly positively (P<0.01) correlated with relative weight height, culm length, N, Mg, Fe and Mn content, but significanty (P<0.05) negatively correlated with starch and Cu content, and highly significantly (P<0.01) negatively correlated with stem type index, relative stem wall area, the relative area of vascular bundle, and the content of soluble sugar, cellulose, lignin, K, Si, Ca and Zn. Therefore, the resistance of stem to lodging for indica-japonica hybrid rice of Yongyou series under mechanical transplanting condition was better than that of indica hybrid rice, but inferior to that of hybrid japonica rice and conventional japonica rice. Differences in physical and chemical characteristics of culm were closely related with lodging resistance in rice. The study provided a theoretical and technical support for the mechanization and lodging resistance cultivation of indica japonica hybrid rice in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Higher level of diversity within the captive populations than the reintroduced population. [•] Genetic differentiation was detected among populations. [•] Inbreeding coefficients were generally higher in the reintroduced population. [•] Temporal estimates of both pedigree and microsatellite data showed a high, but decreasing level inbreeding. [•] More than 100 individuals to retain approximately 90% of its current, already depauperate, genetic diversity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Small molecular contaminants (such as mycotoxins, antibiotics, pesticide residues, etc.) in food and environment have given rise to many biological and ecological toxicities, which has attracted worldwide attention in recent years. Meanwhile, due to the advantages of aptamers such as high specificity and stability, easy synthesis and modification, as well as low cost and immunogenicity, various aptasensors for the detection of small molecular contaminants have been flourishing. An aptasensor as a whole is composed of an aptamer-based target recognizer and a signal transducer, which are fields of concentrated research. In the practical detection applications, in order to achieve the quantitative detection of small molecular contaminants at low abundance in real samples, a large number of signal enhancing strategies have been utilized in the development of aptasensors. Recent years is a vintage period for efficient signal enhancing strategies of aptasensors by the aid of nanomaterials and nucleic acid amplification that are applied in the elements for target recognition and signal conversion. Therefore, this paper meticulously reviews the signal enhancing strategies based on nanomaterials (including the (quasi-)zero-dimensional, one-dimensional, two-dimensional and three-dimensional nanomaterials) and nucleic acid amplification (including enzyme-assisted nucleic acid amplification and enzyme-free nucleic acid amplification). Furthermore, the challenges and future trends of the abovementioned signal enhancing strategies for application are also discussed in order to inspire the practitioners in the research and development of aptasensors for small molecular contaminants. [Display omitted] • Signal enhancing strategies assisted by nanomaterials and nucleic acid amplification are reviewed for the first time. • Both categories are innovatively further subdivided by well-founded criteria and introduced from principle to application. • The prospective directions for practical application are discussed to inspire the relevant practitioners. • This paper provides insights to demand-driven design of the signal enhancing strategies in aptasensors for small molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We develop a new code, the Hierarchical Bound-Tracing ( hbt for short) code, to find and trace dark matter subhaloes in simulations based on the merger hierarchy of dark matter haloes. Application of this code to a recent benchmark test of finding subhaloes demonstrates that hbt stands as one of the best codes to trace the evolutionary history of subhaloes. The success of the code lies in its careful treatment of the complex physical processes associated with the evolution of subhaloes and in its robust unbinding algorithm with an adaptive source-subhalo management. We keep a full record of the merger hierarchy of haloes and subhaloes, and allow the growth of satellite subhaloes through accretion from its 'satellite-of-satellites', hence allowing mergers among satellites. Local accretion of background mass is omitted, while rebinding of stripped mass is allowed. The justification of these treatments is provided by case studies of the lives of individual subhaloes and by the success in finding the complete subhalo catalogue. We compare our result to other popular subhalo finders and show that hbt is able to well resolve subhaloes in high-density environment and keeps strict physical track of subhaloes' merger history. This code is fully parallelized and freely available upon request to the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a range of disorders that share a core of neurobehavioural deficits characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions, deficits in communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. The neurological basis and circuitry mechanisms underlying these abnormal behaviours are poorly understood. SHANK3 is a postsynaptic protein, whose disruption at the genetic level is thought to be responsible for the development of 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan-McDermid syndrome) and other non-syndromic ASDs. Here we show that mice with Shank3 gene deletions exhibit self-injurious repetitive grooming and deficits in social interaction. Cellular, electrophysiological and biochemical analyses uncovered defects at striatal synapses and cortico-striatal circuits in Shank3 mutant mice. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for SHANK3 in the normal development of neuronal connectivity and establish causality between a disruption in the Shank3 gene and the genesis of autistic-like behaviours in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5-[4-(3-Mercaptopropyloxy)phenyl]-10,15,20-tris (2-chlorphenyl) porphyrin was utilized for fabricating a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on a gold electrode. Then cobalt(II) was inserted into the the monolayer by refluxing the cobalt(II) solution in which the pre-assembled porphyrin-modified electrode was immersed. The monolayers were characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV). Oxidation and catalytic mechanisms of dopamine on the modified electrode were also investigated and elucited respectively. Catalytic currents increased linearly with dopamine (DA) concentration in the range of 1.0 × 10-9 to 2.0 × 10-3 mol/L with the correlation coefficient of 0.9989. The modified electrode can be help develop a simple, quick, sensitive, and accurate method for the determination of the biomolecules such as dopamine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Novel bayberry-and-honeycomb-like magnetic imprinted polymers were designed. • Hyperbranched phenylboric acid was fabricated and covalently modified on the carrier. • Abundant recognition sites with high-affinity and regular-distribution were formed. • The imprinted nanomaterials show high adsorption capacity and good selectivity. • Rutin was successfully extracted from Sophora japonica by the developed method. Rutin (RT), a widely distributed natural flavonoid compound, has been generally utilized as an important active ingredient owing to its considerable biomedical and economic value. Inspired by the structure features of densely-packed bayberry and well-orientated honeycomb, a novel type of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (HB-TI-MMIPs) with abundant high-affinity and uniformly-distributed binding sites was rationally constructed for the selective enrichment of RT from Sophora japonica. The polymerization conditions, physicochemical properties, and adsorption performance of the imprinted nanomaterials were systematically investigated. The optimized HB-TI-MMIPs display a high adsorption capacity, fast adsorption rate, and satisfactory selectivity towards RT. Meanwhile, the proposed analytical methodology using HPLC, with HB-TI-MMIPs as adsorbents, successfully applied to enrich and detect RT from Sophora japonica with high recoveries (87.2–94.6%) and good RSDs (lower than 4.3%). Therefore, the fabricated HB-TI-MMIPs with a fast magnetic responsivity and desirable adsorption performance would be attractive in plant active ingredients extraction fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Degradation models are developed for dependent competing failure processes. • An analytical expression-based method is proposed for lifetime estimation. • Offline estimation and online update of parameters are jointly addressed. • Accelerated degradation tests are conducted for validating the proposed method. Remaining useful life (RUL) prediction is critical for ensuring the safe and efficient operation of machinery. Due to the existence of multiple influencing factors, the degradation of machinery is often described as dependent competing failure processes (DCFPs). Extensive studies have been conducted on the degradation modeling and RUL prediction for DCFPs. However, they suffer from two limitations: 1) no analytical expression is available for RUL prediction under the first passage time (FPT) concept, and 2) the offline estimation and online update of parameters have not been jointly addressed. Faced with these limitations, this paper investigates the degradation modeling and RUL prediction for DCFPs. The considered DCFPs comprise of soft failure processes subject to gradual degradation and random shocks, and hard failure processes induced by random shocks. First, degradation models for both soft and hard failure processes are formulated, and the FPT-based analytical expression of RUL is correspondingly derived. Second, the offline estimation and online update of parameters are jointly addressed. A sequential estimation scheme is developed for offline estimation, then the estimated results are updated using a specifically designed total variation multiple model particle filter. Finally, a numerical example and an experimental study are provided for demonstration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report SPSS synthesis of a new peptide-based fluorescent probe (L) capable of detecting Zn2+ with little interference in 100% aqueous solutions at physiological pH. Furthermore, L showed excellent sensitivity, with a detection limit of 26.77 nM. The 2:1 binding ratio between L and Zn2+ was determined using fluorometric titration, Job's plot and ESI-MS analyses. The "off-on-off" type fluorescence change of L was demonstrated by alternately adding Zn2+ and EDTA based on a formation-separation process of the complex, indicating that L could serve as a reversible probe. Moreover, MTT studies demonstrated that L has low biotoxicity, and could be successfully used for detection of Zn2+ and EDTA in live cells. Unlabelled Image • A fluorescent peptidyl probe L was easily synthesized by SPPS. • Highly sensitive and selective response to Zn2+ among various relevant metal ions • The reversibility and circularly process of L were confirmed by EDTA. • L has been used for imaging of Zn2+ in living cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar-driven evaporation for desalination has recently attracted much attention because of its high solar-thermal efficiency, simple structure, low cost, and little environmental impacts. In this paper, we reported a thermal concentrated multistage distiller for solar desalination application. The distiller consists of a thermal concentrator connected to a multistage evaporator-condenser structure. The thermal concentrator with a high solar absorptance of 0.935 and a low emittance of 0.150 on the upper surface can efficiently convert solar radiation into heat for high temperature vapor generation and reduce radiation loss. The multistage distiller with concentric expansion evaporator-condenser structure can efficiently recover the latent heat of vapor, and reduce the heat losses and water diffusion resistance. As a result, a high water yield of 2.2 kg m−2 h−1 was achieved in a 6-stage distiller under solar intensity of 1 kW m−2 and 3 times (3×) thermal concentration. The outdoor tests in rooftop demonstrated that the water yield can reached 3.9 kg m−2 per day even at a low solar intensity of 415 W m−2. This novel design with enhanced water yield provides an effective approach to harvest sunlight for small-scale solar desalination in remote regions. • A thermal concentrated multistage distiller for solar desalination was developed. • A high water yield of 2.2 kg m−2 h−1 was achieved in a 6-stage distiller under one sun and thermal concentration of 3×. • Mechanism of enhanced water yield by thermal concentration was explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The PCW-MFC enhanced simultaneous nitrate and phosphorus removal. • The PCW-MFC generated much more bioelectricity than the CW-MFC. • A stable pH value and low sulfate concentration were observed in the PCW-MFC. • Geobacter and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were enriched in the PCW-MFC. This study investigates the performance of a pyrite-based constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (PCW-MFC) in chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate (NO 3 −-N), total inorganic nitrogen (TIN), and total phosphorus (TP) removal and bioelectricity generation, and explores the mechanisms involved. Four microcosms were used: a constructed wetland (CW), a pyrite-based constructed wetland (PCW), a constructed wetland-microbial fuel cell (CW-MFC), and a PCW-MFC. After 180 days' operation, the PCW-MFC exhibited enhanced simultaneous nitrate and phosphorus removal and bioelectricity output. The maximum COD, NO 3 −-N, TIN, and TP removal efficiencies in the PCW-MFC were 71.9%, 70.1%, 63.2%, and 91.2%, respectively, for a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6 h. The mean bioelectricity output of the PCW-MFC was 19.0–28.4% higher than that of the CW-MFC. The nitrate removal rate constant of the PCW-MFC was 1.04 d−1, which is significantly higher than those of the others. Geobacter and sulfate-reducing bacteria were enriched in the PCW-MFC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Several subsurface imaging methods based on mechanical sensing were compared. • Maximum detectable buried depth was evaluated quantitatively. • Depth limit from high to low is contact resonance, bimodal and harmonic AFM. • Sensitivity to local mechanical properties was analyzed numerically. Several subsurface imaging methods based on atomic force microscopy (AFM) linear nanomechanical mapping, namely contact resonance (CR), bimodal and harmonic AFMs, are investigated and compared. Their respective subsurface detection capability is estimated and evaluated on a model specimen, which is prepared by embedding SiO 2 microparticles in a PDMS elastomer. The measured CR frequency, bimodal and harmonic amplitudes are related to local mechanical properties by analyzing cantilever dynamics and further linked to subsurface depths of the particles by finite element analysis. The maximum detectable depths are obtained from the apparent particle diameters in subsurface image channels via employing a simple geometrical model. Under common experimental settings, results demonstrate that the depth limits reach up to about 812 nm, 212 nm and 127 nm for CR, bimodal and harmonic AFM modes, respectively. The depth sensitivity can be tuned and optimized by using either different cantilever eigenmodes in CR-AFM or spectroscopy analysis in bimodal and harmonic AFMs. The three imaging methods have their own suitable application situations. The comparisons can advance a further step into understanding the subsurface image contrast via AFM mechanical sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the assisted reproduction, the infertile molecules of spermatozoa from normozoospermic men who underwent the unexplained failure of in vitro fertilization (IVF) due to the lack of sperm binding to the normal zona pellucida, and then achieved pregnancy with the rescue intracytoplasmic sperm injection (R-ICSI) remain unclear. More works are still necessary to explore this male infertile mechanism. Methods: Normozoospermicmen with the IVF pregnancy and normozoospermic men with the R-ICSI pregnancy after the conventional IVF failure were collected. iTRAQ-based proteomic approach were performed to reveal the new infertile causes between the IVF pregnancy men and the R-ICSI pregnancy men. To validate the confidence of proteome data, the individual samples were analyzed by western blot and immunofluorescence. Further, the spontaneous acrosome reactions were measured to evaluate the sperm quality. Results: Compared with IVF pregnancy group, 56 sperm proteins were differentially expressed in the R-ICSI pregnancy group. Bioinformatic analyses (PANTHER, DAVID, PubMed and STRING) indicated these altered sperm proteins were involved in various molecular functions: reproduction, chromosome organization, and sperm-oocyte interaction. Moreover, the confidence of proteome data was confirmed by western blot and immunofluorescence using the individual samples, which were consistent with our proteomic data. Additionally, an increased rate of the spontaneous acrosome reaction rate was found in the R-ICSI pregnancy group. Conclusions: The sealtered sperm proteins and the increased spontaneous acrosome reaction rate might account for this unexplained male infertility in the R-ICSI pregnancy patients. The present proteomic results will throw light on the better understanding of the unexplained infertile mechanisms underlying these normozoospermic man who achieved R-ICSI pregnancy after IVF failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]