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Candidatus Accumulibacter has been identified as dominant polyphosphate-accumulating organisms (PAOs) in enhanced biological phosphorus (P) removal (EBPR) from wastewater. This study revealed the relevance of community structure, abundance and seasonal population dynamics of Candidatus Accumulibacter to process operation of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in China using ppk 1 gene as phylogenetic marker. All sludge samples had properties of denitrifying P removal using nitrate as an electron acceptor. Accumulibacter abundance in the anaerobic-anoxic-oxic (A 2 O) process was the highest (26% of total bacteria), and higher in winter than in summer with a better EBPR performance. Type-II was the dominant Accumulibacter in all processes, and type-I accounted for a small proportion of total Accumulibacter. The abundance of Clade-IIC as the most dominant clade reached 2.59 × 10 9 cells/g MLSS and accounted for 87.3% of total Accumulibacter. Clade IIC mainly contributed to denitrifying P removal. Clades IIA, IIC and IID were found in all processes, while clade-IIF was only found in oxidation ditch process through phylogenetic analysis. High proportion of clade IID to total Accumulibacter led to poor performance of aerobic P-uptake in inverted A 2 O process. Therefore, Accumulibacter clades in WWTPs were diverse, and EBPR performance was closely related to the clade-level community structures and abundances of Accumulibacter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inductively coupled plasma reactive-ion etching (ICP-RIE) is first applied to decrease the thickness of a Si substrate for light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) characterization. A simple and reliable process flow with the self-aligned Al layer as a hard mask layer in ICP-RIE is used to fabricate a thin semiconductor substrate with Al back-side contact. A single-side polished P-type Si wafer with a thickness of 350 μm is decreased to 100 μm by ICP-RIE from the polished side. The thickness of the thin Si substrate and the dimensions of the designed patterns determined by ICP-RIE are verified using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and an optical microscope (OM). A selective high-dielectric constant insulator, niobium oxide (NbOx), is directly deposited on the unpolished side of the thin Si substrate as the sensing membrane of a LAPS by reactive ratio frequency (rf) sputtering. A high photocurrent was found in the ICP-RIE LAPS sample under back-side illumination, particularly in high-frequency operation. Compared to an Si substrate without ICP-RIE, 3-fold and 6.5-fold higher photocurrents were achieved by the proposed LAPS with ICP-RIE measured at 1 and 50 kHz of light modulated frequency, respectively. The highest modulated frequency of illumination was 50 kHz for an acceptable photocurrent in the LAPS with ICP-RIE, which is sufficient for two-dimensional (2D) images acquired with high-speed scanning. The NbOx layer deposited on the unpolished Si surface could automatically generate higher pH sensitivity than conventional polished Si surfaces because of the higher surface roughness. The calculated pH sensitivity and linearity were 55.8 mV/pH and 99.6%, respectively, in a pH range from 2 to 12. No clear degradation of hysteresis was found for the LAPS with ICP-RIE. For the designed patterns of the Al hard mask layer, the spatial resolution of the 2D image of the LAPS with ICP-RIE could be obtained by the difference between dimensions observed by OM and the dimensions calculated from the photocurrent versus scanning length controlled by the X-Y stage. A pattern with a length of 250 μm generated by ICP-RIE was measured as 255 μm in the LAPS with scanning step of 5 μm. ICP-RIE is demonstrated to achieve a spatial resolution of 5 μm in the Si-based LAPS. Further reduction of the thickness of an Si substrate by ICP-RIE controlling and its ability to create a dynamic 2D image are suggested for future investigation in spatial resolution optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

l -theanine, the most abundant free amino acid in tea, has been documented to possess many different bioactive properties through oral or intragastrical delivery. However, little is known about the effect of topical delivery of l -theanine on acute inflammation. In the present study, by using 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 2.5 μg/ear)-induced ear edema model in mice, we first found that single-dose local pretreatment of l -theanine 30 min before TPA time- and dose-dependently suppressed the increases in both skin thickness and weight. Subsequently l -theanine ameliorated TPA-induced erythema, vascular permeability increase, epidermal and dermal hyperplasia, neutrophil infiltration and activation via downregulating the expression of PECAM-1 (a platelet endothelial adhesion molecule-1) in blood vessels and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-1β, TNF-α, and mediator cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), which is mainly expressed in neutrophils. It highlighted the potential of l -theanine as a locally administrable therapeutic agent for acute cutaneous inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The nucleocapsid (N) protein is a major structural component of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV), which is predicted to be a multifunctional protein in viral replication. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A1 (hnRNP A1) is a cellular protein participating in the splicing of pre-mRNA in the nucleus and translation regulation in the cytoplasm. According to our previous proteomic study about PEDV infection in vivo, hnRNP A1 was thought to be a cellular factor influencing PEDV replication. In this report, PEDV N protein was discovered to colocalize with cellular hnRNP A1 in perinuclear region of PEDV infected cells. Co-immunoprecipitation (CO-IP) results clearly demonstrated that PEDV N protein could bind to human hnRNP A1. Replication of PEDV was inhibited by silencing the expression of hnRNP A1 in CCL-81 cells, suggesting the positive effect of hnRNP A1 on PEDV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A combination of high tensile strength of 900 MPa and a good electrical conductivity of 50% International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS) was achieved in a nanocrystalline Cu-0.1 wt%Al (grain size: 96 nm) matrix composite reinforced with 6.4 vol% NbC nanoparticles (6.5 nm). The composite was produced by combining high energy mechanical milling (HEMM), sintering and powder compact extrusion. The composite was highly thermally stable that a higher electrical conductivity of 57% IACS was achieved, while maintaining a high tensile strength of 722 MPa and good ductility after annealing at 1000 °C for 5 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of electron acceptors on denitrifying phosphorus (P) removal and its community structures in A 2 O process treating domestic wastewater was investigated using DNA based stable-isotope probing (DNA-SIP). Stable denitrifying P removal in anoxic zone of A 2 O process was achieved with an average denitrifying P removal efficiency of 72%. Results of quantitative polymerase chain reaction indicated that clade IIF was the dominant clade for denitrifying P removal. NirS , NirK and NarG were the major functional genes for denitrification. Batch tests were conducted with unlabelled and 13 C-labelled sodium acetate as carbon sources, which confirmed that oxygen, nitrate and nitrite can be used as electron acceptor. High throughput sequencing for 13 C-DNA samples indicated that polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) were mainly affiliated with phylum Proteobacteria . Candidatus_ Accumulibacter was the major genus using oxygen and nitrate as electron acceptors. Acinetobacter was the most dominant genus using nitrate and nitrite as electron acceptors. Unclassified_f_Rhodocyclaceae appeared in three P removal systems. In the EBPR process, not only anaerobic P-release and aerobic P-uptake, but also denitrifying P removal should be considered. Different types of PAOs corresponding to different electron acceptors interacted to ensure the stable performance of nitrogen and phosphorus removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, hemin was firstly used as electrochemically regenerable co-reaction accelerator for signal amplification to develop an ultrasensitive aptasensor for Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) detection. Initially, the perylenetetracarboxylic acid (PTCA) was directly employed as luminophore to construct the ECL sensing nano-platform by combining Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) for immobilizing thiol-terminated hairpin probe (H1). Then with the help of hairpin H2, H3, the AFM1-catalyzed hairpin assembly (CHA) was executed to produce the H1-H3 duplex, which could further initiate the hybridization chain reaction (HCR) to generate dendritic DNA polymers consisting of G-rich sequence for capturing large quantities of hemin on the electrode surface. Herein, hemin as electrochemically regenerable co-reaction accelerator could interact with the co-reactant (S 2 O 8 2− ) to obviously improve the luminous efficiency of the PTCA. Therefore, a strong and stable ECL signal was achieved by the employment of hemin as electrochemically regenerable co-reaction accelerator. The proposed aptasensor determined AFM1 down to 0.09 pg mL −1 within a linear range of 0.4 pg mL −1 to 400 ng mL −1 . With excellent sensitivity and stability, the strategy provided an efficient and simple method for the trace detection of biomolecules in clinical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic anion-transporting polypeptide 1A2 (OATP1A2) is involved in the cellular uptake of methotrexate (MTX). Genetic variation in solute carrier organic anion transporter family member 1A2 ( SLCO1A2 , the coding gene of OATP1A2) has important implications for the elimination of MTX. We investigated the association between a microRNA (miRNA) binding site polymorphism (rs4149009 G > A) in the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) of SLCO1A2 with the serum MTX concentrations in Chinese children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Genotyping for SLCO1A2 rs4149009 G > A in 141 children with ALL was performed using the Sequenom MassARRAY system. Serum MTX concentrations were determined by fluorescence polarization immunoassay. The percentages of MTX level ≥1 μmol/L at 42 h were compared among the AA, GA, and GG genotypes. The minor allele frequency observed in this study (33.0%) was significantly lower than that in the African samples reported in the 1000 Genomes Project (57.4%, P  = 0.00). The incidence rate of delayed MTX elimination was significantly higher in patients with the GG genotype (23.1%) compared with the AA genotype (0.0%, P  = 0.03). Bioinformatics tools predicted that the rs4149009 A allele would disrupt the putative binding sites of hsa-mi R -324-3p and hsa-miR-1913. These results indicate that the rs4149009 G > A polymorphism might affect MTX pharmacokinetics by interfering with the function of miRNAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports a study done on the impact of a shrinkage-reducing agent (SRA) and polypropylene fiber (PPF), individually and jointly, on ceramsite concrete (CC). The results indicate the following: (1) CC mixed with SRA alone, results in early micro-expansion increases as SRA content increases while self-shrinkage and drying shrinkage decreases. (2) CC mixed only PPF, results in early micro-expansion, self-shrinkage and drying shrinkage decreases as PPF content increases; amplitude decrease is large for early micro-expansion, but insignificant for self-shrinkage and drying-shrinkage, and shrinkage reduction is smaller compared to SRA. (3) If an SRA-PPF mix is added to CC, both contributed significantly to self-shrinkage, drying shrinkage, and reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bulk ultrafine grained Cu-0.8 wt%C alloy samples were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) of a nanocrystalline Cu-0.8 wt%C alloy powder prepared by high energy mechanical milling. The SPS temperature was 800 °C. The SPSed samples exhibited a bimodal microstructure consisting of ultrafine and coarse Cu grains (average grain sizes: ~95 nm and ~1 µm respectively) and a yield strength of 483 MPa, but underwent a premature fracture at a stress of 511 MPa with a low elongation to fracture of only 0.3%. It is established that the premature fracture and low tensile ductility are caused by the high flow stress associated with grain boundary strengthening and reaching the strength of IPBs before reaching its maximum. Hot extrusion of the SPSed sample at 800 °C caused substantial growth of the ultrafine Cu grains and enhancement of the strength of IPBs, leading to a clearly lower tensile yield strength of 353 MPa, but mature fracture with an ultimate tensile strength of 428 MPa and a significantly improved elongation to fracture of 6.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With unique templates of sulphur-based gas bubbles in ethanol flame, the hollow carbon nanospheres, embedded with Mn 3 O 4 quantum dots in the margin regions, are quickly synthesized on co-generated nanocarbon supporter on an elastic titanium foil substrate. The fabrication is just carried out by combustion in flame and anneal in air. When used as supercapacitor electrode, the electrode reveals large activity, high cyclic and elastic stability owing to its special structure. The mass specific capacitance of this nanosphere-based electrode is 316 F g −1 at a scan rate of 2 mV s −1 , which is 94.7% larger than that of the electrode without nanosphere decoration. Furthermore, the capacitance retention of nanosphere-based electrode reaches 82.4% after 2000 charge-discharge cycles, and it is 78.3% even if the electrode is continuously vibrated 36000 cycles. These indicate the flame combustion method is effective, which has potential to be applied in synthesizing extensive materials in hollow nanosphere structure for electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on an investigation of the in-situ formation of NbC nanoparticles in a Cu nanocrystalline matrix, paying particular attention to the role played by NbC on stabilizing and strengthening the matrix. The material was prepared by milling a Cu-5wt%Nb powder mixture with 1 wt% stearic acid for 36 h, followed by annealing of the milled powder at temperatures ranging from 400 to 1000 °C. Our results show that the NbC nucleates at an approximate temperature of 700 °C and that the associated enthalpy of formation and activation energy of NbC are approximately −0.8 kJ/mol and +312 kJ/mol, respectively. Moreover, the initial size of NbC particles formed at 700 °C was 8 nm, and showed limited coarsening (to 21 nm) even when annealed at 1000 °C for 1 h. With the presence of NbC, dislocation annihilation was impaired and grain boundary mobility was hindered, resulting in a dislocation density as high as 10 14 m −2 following annealing at 1000 °C, and a grain size of 96 nm after annealing at 900 °C. The high thermal stability of NbC nanoparticles and the Cu matrix lead to appreciable strengthening of the composite powders as evidenced by a microhardness increase from 2128 MPa for the as-milled powder to 2665 MPa for the powder annealed at 700 °C for 1 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a promising microbial polymer with wide applications in industry, agriculture and medicine. In this study, a novel glutamate-independent γ-PGA producing strain with thermotolerant characteristics was isolated and identified as Bacillus subtilis GXG-5, then its product was also characterized. The fermentation process was optimized by single-factor tests, and results showed that high temperature (50 °C) was especially suitable for the γ-PGA production by GXG-5. The γ-PGA yield reached 19.50 ± 0.75 g/L with substrate conversion efficiency of 78% at 50 °C in 10 L fermentor. Comparison of GXG-5 and GXA-28 (glutamate-dependent strain) under respective optimal fermentation conditions, the γ-PGA yield of GXG-5 was 19.0% higher than that of GXA-28, and GXG-5 was also superior to GXA-28 in the availability of carbon sources and substrates. Furthermore, the glutamate dependent difference between GXA-28 and GXG-5 was analyzed by genomic sequencing, results indicated that genes related to the glutamate dependent difference mainly involved in carbohydrate transport and metabolism and amino acid metabolism, and 13 genes related to γ-PGA synthesis were mutated in GXG-5. This study provided a potential glutamate-independent strain to replace glutamate-dependent strain for γ-PGA production, and shared novel information for understanding the glutamate dependent difference at the genomic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Autophagy modulation has been considered a potential therapeutic strategy for human chondrosarcoma, and a previous study indicated that salidroside exhibits significant anti-carcinogenic activity. However, the ability of salidroside to induce autophagy and its role in human chondrosarcoma cell death remains unclear. Methods: We exposed SW1353 cells to different concentrations of salidroside (0.5, 1 and 2 mM) for 24 h. RT-PCR, Western-blotting, Immunocytofluorescence, and Luciferase Reporter Assays were used to evaluate whether salidroside activated the TFEB-dependent autophagy. Results: We show that salidroside induced significant apoptosis in the human chondrosarcoma cell line SW1353. In addition, we demonstrate that salidroside-induced an autophagic response in SW1353 cells, as evidenced by the upregulation of LC3-II and downregulation of P62. Moreover, pharmacological or genetic blocking of autophagy enhanced salidroside -induced apoptosis, indicating the cytoprotective role of autophagy in salidroside-treated SW1353 cells. Salidroside also induced TFEB (Ser142) dephosphorylation, subsequently to activated TFEB nuclear translocation and increase of TFEB reporter activity, which contributed to lysosomal biogenesis and the expression of autophagy-related genes. Importantly, we found that salidroside triggered the generation of ROS in SW1353 cells. Furthermore, NAC, a ROS scavenger, abrogated the effects of salidroside on TFEB-dependent autophagy. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that salidroside increased TFEB-dependent autophagy by activating ROS signaling pathways in human chondrosarcoma cells. These data also suggest that blocking ROS-TFEB-dependent autophagy to enhance the activity of salidroside warrants further attention in treatment of human chondrosarcoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of utmost importance to construct industrial xylose-fermenting Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. In this study, two xylose isomerase-based industrial S. cerevisiae strains, O7 and P5, were constructed by δ-integration of the xylose isomerase (XI) gene xylA from the fungus Orpinomyces sp. and from the bacterium Prevotella ruminicola, respectively. The xylose consumption of the strains O7 and P5 at 48-h fermentation was 17.71 and 26.10 g/L, respectively, in synthetic medium with xylose as the sole sugar source. Adaptive evolution further improved the xylose fermentation capacity of the two strains to 51.0 and 28.9% in average, respectively. The transcriptomes of these two strains before and after evolution were analyzed using RNA-Seq. The expression levels of the genes involved in cell integrity, non-optimal sugar utilization, and stress response to environment were significantly up-regulated after evolution and did not depend on the origin of xylA; the expression levels of the genes involved in transmembrane transport, rRNA processing, cytoplasmic translation, and other processes were down-regulated. The expression of genes involved in central carbon metabolism was fine-tuned after the evolution. The analysis of transcription factors (TFs) indicated that most of the genes with significant differential expression were regulated by the TFs related to cell division, DNA damage response, or non-optimal carbon source utilization. The results of this study could provide valuable references for the construction of efficient xylose-fermenting XI strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scandium-catalyzed asymmetric Claisen rearrangement reactions of 2-allyloxyindoles and 2-propargyloxyindoles provide a novel approach to diverse 3-allyloxindoles and 3-allenyloxindoles in excellent yields (up to 99%) and enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) under mild reaction conditions. The scandium catalyst was derived from Sc( OTf)3 and Pybox ligand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve energy-efficient denitrifying phosphorus removal via nitrite pathway from sewage, interaction of “ Candidatus Accumulibacter” and nitrifying bacteria was investigated in a continuous-flow process. When nitrite in returned sludge of secondary settler was above 13 mg/L, nitrite inhibition on anaerobic P-release of poly-phosphate organisms (PAOs) occurred. Clades IIC and IID were dominant, reaching 3.1%-11.9% of total bacteria. Clade IIC was sensitive to nitrite. Under low concentration of nitrite ( < 8 mg/L), clade IIC primarily contributed to anoxic P-uptake. Clade IID had a strong tolerance to nitrite exposure. At high nitrite level (above 16 mg/L), anoxic P-uptake was mainly performed by clade IID due to its strong tolerance to nitrite exposure. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB), nitrite oxidizing bacteria (NOB) and Accumulibacter interacted through variations of nitrite accumulation. High AOB abundance coupled with inhibition of NOB favored denitrifying phosphorus removal by clade IID. All Accumulibacter lineages were sorted into four clades of Type II. The most dominant ppk 1 gene homologs were affiliated with clade IID, accounting for 69% of ppk 1 clone library, and thus played an important role in denitrifying phosphorus removal via nitrite pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the enhanced biological phosphorus removal in a continuous-flow domestic wastewater treatment system, population dynamics of “ Candidatus Accumulibacter phosphatis” using polyphosphate kinase ( ppk 1) gene as genetic marker was investigated under the modes of complete nitrification and partial nitrification (nitritation). Nitritation was achieved at hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 6.49 h and dissolved oxygen (DO) of 0.5 mg O 2 /L. Denitrifying phosphate removal via nitrite pathway caused low PHAs consumption. Regardless of change of nitrifying modes, phosphorus removal always maintained at a high level of about 100%. Abundance of total Accumulibacter increased along with rising of carbon to nitrogen ratios (C/N). Under good performance of complete nitrification and nitritation, IIC and IID clade affiliated with type II (including clades II A-I) of Accumulibacter lineage was dominant (70%–80%), respectively. Clade IID exhibited high tolerance to starving, oxygen-limiting and high nitrite accumulation, and thus became dominant clade under insufficient carbon sources, low DO and nitritation mode. Clade IIC had a positive correlation with C/N ratios, and IIF had a positive correlation with temperature (p < 0.05). Shannon index under nitrification and nitritation mode was 3.54 and 2.38, respectively. That indicated the change of Accumulibacter diversities under different operational conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inside Cover: Chemoselective 1,2-Reduction and Regiodivergent Deuteration of Chromium-Bound Arenes (Angew. Keywords: 1,3-Cyclohexadiene; Arene Reduction; Chromium; Deuterium; Reductive Deuteration EN 1,3-Cyclohexadiene Arene Reduction Chromium Deuterium Reductive Deuteration 1 1 1 04/19/23 20230424 NES 230424 B Arene 1,2-reduction b and regiodivergent deuteration via SP 6 sp -coordination have been developed by Wei Li and co-workers in their Research Article (e202218961). 1,3-Cyclohexadiene, Arene Reduction, Chromium, Deuterium, Reductive Deuteration. [Extracted from the article]

1,3-Cyclohexadiene, Arene Reduction, Chromium, Deuterium, Reductive Deuteration Keywords: 1,3-Cyclohexadiene; Arene Reduction; Chromium; Deuterium; Reductive Deuteration EN 1,3-Cyclohexadiene Arene Reduction Chromium Deuterium Reductive Deuteration 1 1 1 04/18/23 20230424 NES 230424 B Arene 1,2-reduction b and regiodivergent deuteration via SP 6 sp -coordination have been developed by Wei Li and co-workers in their Research Article (e202218961). A diverse set of 1,3-cyclohexadiene isotopologues were readily synthesized by precisely controlling the deuterated positions as well as the degrees of deuterium incorporation. [Extracted from the article]

The large-scale applications of lithium metal batteries (LMBs) are still impeded by the unsatisfactory electrochemical performance of Li metal anode associated with the infinite volumetric change and the uncontrollable Li dendrite growth. Herein, free-standing and robust nitrogen-doped 3D porous carbon nanofibers networks embedded with Zn-carbon hybrid nanocages are obtained as stable hosts for guiding uniform Li nucleation and accommodating volume expansion. Benefiting from the reduced local current density and abundant lithiophilic sites with low nucleation barriers, the as-prepared NCNFs-Zn-CCs electrode can achieve a low overpotential of 20 mV at 3 mA cm−2 and a stable Li plating/stripping process for 3200 h were achieved in symmetric cells. This work opens a new avenue to explore and broaden the applications of lithiophilic carbon materials in next-generation lithium metal batteries with excellent cycling stability and rate performance. • The well-distributed Zn nanoparticles and nitrogen-doped carbon effectively reduce the nucleation overpotential. • The 3D carbon nanofibers host spatially reduces the local current density to eliminate charge accumulation. • The 3D carbon nanofibers host provides a sufficient internal surface area and room to accommodate Li deposition. • The encapsulation of Li by inner Zn-carbon nanocages offers improved stability of Li metal electrochemical cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Aeration sponge iron biofilter (SIBF) achieved autotrophic nitrogen removal of 77.2%. • The optimal operation condition of SIBF was HRT of 9 and gas–water ratio (R) of 9:1. • Autotrophic nitrogen removal paths included nitrification, Feammox, NDFO and Anammox. • Nitrisomonas and Thiobacillus as autotrophic nitrifier/denitrifier played major roles. Partial nitrification and anammox process is considered to be a good choice for nitrogen removal. Nevertheless, it is difficult to achieve in low ammonia wastewater because of the need to control further oxidation of nitrite. Nitrification combined with Feammox (anaerobic ammonia oxidation coupled to Fe (III) reduction) and NDFO (nitrate/nitrite-dependent Fe (II) oxidation) can achieve autotrophic removal of low ammonia. And sponge iron can avoid the disadvantage of continuously adding iron sources in this process. Therefore, a sponge iron biofilter (SIBF) treating low ammonia wastewater under aeration was explored in this study. The optimal operating conditions for SIBF were hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 9 h and gas–water ratio (R) of 9:1, at which the total inorganic nitrogen removal efficiency was up to 77.2 %, and effluent ammonia and total inorganic nitrogen concentrations were less than 5 mg/L and 15 mg/L, respectively. This met the 1A discharge standard of municipal wastewater in China. Stable ratio isotope results indicated that Feammox, NDFO and Anammox resulted in high nitrogen loss in SIBF. And different nitrogen transformation contribution tests indicated NDFO had the dominant contribution, which accounted for 55.7 %. Besides, the production of N 2 O was minimum under HRT of 9 h and R of 9:1, in which the N 2 O emission factor was 0.7 %. Stable isotope tracing analysis showed that 92.8 % of N 2 O was derived from ammonia and the dominant production pathway was nitrifier denitrification. The results of microbial community showed that the nitrification bacteria- Nitrosomonas , Nitrotoga , Nitrospira , Feammox bacteria- Dechloromonas , NDFO bacteria- Thiobacillus and anammox bacteria- Brocadia played major roles in SIBF. Therefore, SIBF shows superior performance and application potential in autotrophic nitrogen removal from low-ammonia nitrogen wastewater under aeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of pressure on structures, enthalpies, elastic properties, mechanical stability and electronic properties of BaN 2 , Ba 2 N, BaN 6 and BaN 5 have been investigated using first-principles calculations. Based on the experimental and theoretical parameters, the crystal structures of four Ba–N compounds at zero pressure and high pressure have been built and studied. The enthalpies of BaN 2 , Ba 2 N, BaN 6 and BaN 5 decrease gradually within the range of 0 GPa–100 GPa. The mechanical stability of compounds in the pressure range from 0 GPa to 100 GPa has been estimated by the modified Born stability conditions under pressure. Through the study of elastic modulus, it is found that the increasing pressure can enhance the ability of resisting elastic deformation. The B/G and Poisson's ratio shows that BaN 2 , BaN 6 as well as BaN 5 are ductile, and the brittle-tough transition was observed for Ba 2 N. The band structures and density of states are studied in order to explore the characteristics of the motion of electrons in barium nitrides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Algorithm can be sensitive to algorithm setting, affecting optimality and robustness. • The discrepancy between the digitized and initial objectives cannot be ignored. • The system dynamics that can affect potential performance improvement is revealed. • Algorithms can obtain energy savings and violation reductions in some scenarios. • Actor-critic, off-policy, and model-based algorithms exhibit better performance. Deep Reinforcement Learning has been increasingly researched for Dynamic Thermal Management in Data Centers. However, existing works typically evaluate the performance of algorithms on a specific task, utilizing models or data trajectories without discussing in detail their implementation feasibility and their ability to deal with diverse work scenarios. The lack of these works limits the real-world deployment of Deep Reinforcement Learning. To this end, this paper comprehensively evaluates the strengths and limitations of state-of-the-art algorithms by conducting analytical and numerical studies. The analysis is conducted in four dimensions: algorithms, tasks, system dynamics, and knowledge transfer. As an inherent property, the sensitivity to algorithms settings is first evaluated in a simulated data center model. The ability to deal with various tasks and the sensitivity to reward functions are subsequently studied. The trade-off between constraints and power savings is identified by conducting ablation experiments. Next, the performance under different work scenarios is investigated, including various equipment, workload schedules, locations, and power densities. Finally, the transferability of algorithms across tasks and scenarios is also evaluated. The results show that actor-critic, off-policy, and model-based algorithms outperform others in optimality, robustness, and transferability. They can reduce violations and achieve around 8.84% power savings in some scenarios compared to the default controller. However, deploying these algorithms in real-world systems is challenging since they are sensitive to specific hyperparameters, reward functions, and work scenarios. Constraint violations and sample efficiency are some aspects that are still unsatisfactory. This paper presents our well-structured investigations, new findings, and challenges when deploying deep reinforcement learning in Data Centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Novel EPDA/PSR process without aeration was established for wastewater treatment. • Effluent TIN and phosphate reached 0.1 mg/L and 0 without external carbon dosage. • Fermentation by Candidatus Phosphoribacter led to sludge reduction in EPDA/PSR. • Amino acids as intracellular carbon storage were associated with P metabolism. • Transcriptional community composition reflected the actual operation state. This study presented a novel process for simultaneous biological nutrient removal and waste activated sludge reduction in one-stage municipal wastewater treating system without aeration on the basis of endogenous partial denitrification, anammox and Candidatus Phosphoribacter dominated biological phosphate removal with sludge reduction (EPDA/PSR). The effluent total inorganic nitrogen and phosphate concentrations were 0.1 mg/L and lower than detection limit (0.1 mg/L), respectively, without dosing external carbon sources. Compared with partial denitrification-anammox process, the daily sludge production in EPDA/PSR process reduced by 50.8 %. The percentage of intact cells measured by flow cytometry reduced from 92.4 % to 77.3 % with the increase of aromatic protein, DNA content of supernatant, soluble microbial byproduct-like substance and decline of particle size. The sludge stabilization structure was destructed, and intracellular organics were released, which resulted in the reduction of sludge production. Microbial community structure at transcriptional level indicated that really working Candidatus Phosphoribacter (phosphorus accumulating organisms with fermentation capacity), Candidatus Competibacter (endogenous partial denitrification bacteria) and Candidatus Brocadia (anammox bacteria) reached 68.4 %, 9.84 % and 8.02 %, respectively, and Candidatus Kuenenia (anammox bacteria) did not play a role in EPDA/PSR system. The novel one-stage EPDA/PSR process realized high efficient biological nutrient removal, achieved waste activated sludge reduction and saved 100 % of aeration energy consumption cost and external carbon source dosage cost, which effectively developed internal carbon source and provided a new idea for wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A laser ultrasonic detection method based on PSO-SVM model is proposed to identify and detect human skin tumors. • The proposed PSO-SVM model has a good classification effect on skin tumor prediction samples, which provides a new detection method for laser ultrasound to detect skin tumors. • The proposed PSO-SVM method is a feasible tool detecting and characterizing tumor in human skin. As a common disease endangering human health, skin tumor causes millions of deaths every year. In order to effectively detect skin tumors, a laser ultrasonic detection method based on the PSO-SVM algorithm is proposed to identify and detect human skin tumors. The physical model of laser ultrasound in human skin tumors is established by FEM (finite element method), and the ultrasonic wave generated by laser in different tumor locations (the skin epidemis, the dermis and between the two layers) are analyzed in detail. The minimum value, the sample entropy, the permutation entropy and the shannon entropy of laser ultrasound are extracted as the sensitive features, and the three types of tumors are classified and identified by the SVM (support vector machine). The penalty factor C and kernel function parameters γ in SVM are optimized by the PSO(particle swarm optimization) algorithm. The simulation results show that the proposed PSO-SVM algorithm has a good classification effect on skin tumor prediction, which provides a new detection method for laser ultrasound to detect skin tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we synthesize a new type of Ni-Co selenides (Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 nanorod) on carbon fiber paper (CFP) as flexible electrode for supercapacitor. Comparing with NiCo 2 O 4 and NiCo 2 S 4 , the Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 exhibits superior capacitive performance including high areal capacitance (2.61 F cm −2 at 4 mA cm −2 ), good rate capability (75% of retention from 4 to 20 mA cm −2 ) and excellent long-term cycling stability (only 7.4% of loss after 6000 cycles). When assembled into a symmetric supercapacitor, the as-obtained, Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 based device possesses a volumetric capacitance of 14.55 F cm −3 at 1 mA cm −2 , and a volumetric energy density of 0.47 mWh cm −3 at 10 mA cm −2 , which are superior to most of the symmetric supercapacitors reported previously. Then we explore the energy storage mechanism of Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 by monitoring the changes in component, morphology, electroactive surface area (ESA) and electron transport characteristics. It is found that the Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 species suffer from serious Se loss and transform into Ni x Co 1-x O gradully during charge/discharge cycles, but the ESA increases significantly in this process. In addition, the Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 electrode possesses lower internal resistance, indicating its good electron transfer properties. Both these factors will compensate the performance degradation from Se loss, resulted in better rate capability and cycling stability for Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 electrode. Therefore, it is believed that the proposed 3D Ni 0.34 Co 0.66 Se 2 nanorod array modified CFP with optimizational component and structual design opens a new horizen in the development of high-performance flexible supercapacitor electrode with new charge storage mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pulse template establishment method considering the directional error of the pulsar is proposed in this paper. This method folds the series of photon time of arrival (TOA) of symmetric time intervals to reduce the impact of directional error on pulse template. Firstly, the characteristic of this error is analyzed. And then, its analytical formula of the average value for a whole year is derived as well as that for arbitrary time interval. Finally, the simulated and real data are employed to investigate the performance of the proposed method. Results have shown that this method can establish a relative high-accuracy pulse template. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the important role of pumped storage stations in the peak regulation and frequency control of a power grid, pump turbines must rapidly switch between different operating modes, such as fast startup and load rejection. However, pump turbines go through the unstable S region in these transition processes, threatening the security and stability of the pumped storage station. This issue has mainly been investigated through numerical simulations, while field experiments generally involve high risks and are difficult to perform. Therefore, in this work, the model test method was employed to study S-induced security and stability issues for a pumped storage station in transition processes. First, a pumped storage system model was set up, including the piping system, model units, electrical control systems and measurement system. In this model, two pump turbines with different S-shaped characteristics were installed to determine the influence of S-shaped characteristics on transition processes. The model platform can be applied to simulate any hydraulic transition process that occurs in real power stations, such as load rejection, startup, and grid connection. On the experimental platform, the S-shaped characteristic curves were measured to be the basis of other experiments. Runaway experiments were performed to verify the impact of the S-shaped characteristics on the pump turbine runaway stability. Full load rejection tests were performed to validate the effect of the S-shaped characteristics on the water-hammer pressure. The condition of one pump turbine rejecting its load after another defined as one-after-another (OAA) load rejection was performed to validate the possibility of S-induced extreme draft tube pressure. Load rejection experiments with different guide vane closing schemes were performed to determine a suitable scheme to adapt the S-shaped characteristics. Through these experiments, the threats existing in the station were verified, the appropriate measures were summarized, and an important experimental basis for the safe and stable operation of a pumped storage station was provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parametric yield estimation is a critical task for design and validation of analog and mixed-signal (AMS) circuits. However, the computational cost for yield estimation based on Monte Carlo (MC) analysis is often prohibitively high, especially when multiple circuit performances and/or environmental corners (e.g., voltage and temperature corners) are considered. In this paper, a novel statistical method named correlation-aided yield estimation (C-YES) is proposed to reduce the computational cost for parametric yield estimation. Our proposed approach exploits the fact that multiple circuit performances over different environmental corners are often correlated. Hence, we can accurately predict the performance value at one corner from the simulation results for other performances and/or corners. Based upon this observation, instead of running a large number of MC simulations to cover all performances and corners, an efficient algorithm is developed to select a small set of the most “informative” simulations that should be performed for yield estimation. Our numerical experiments show that for parametric yield estimation with multiple circuit performances and environmental corners, C-YES achieves 6.5– 9.3 \boldsymbol \times runtime speedups over other conventional methods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most existing distributed estimation and control algorithms for mobile sensor networks rely on the information of both position and velocity of neighbour sensors. The authors' investigate the distributed estimation and control of mobile sensor network with only position measurements. Based on the Kalman‐consensus filter and the flocking algorithm, all mobile sensors move to a target, and achieve consensus on the estimations of the target. Under the assumption that the initial interactive network is connected, the stability of the cascading system is proved via Lyapunov stability theory and matrix principle. Moreover, a sufficient stability condition in the form of the boundary conditions of the feedback gain is proposed for the mobile sensor network. Some numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antioxidant activity in vivo and biological safety of a novel antioxidant peptide from bovine hair hydrolysates (BHP) were investigated. In various testing systems, BHP showed a strong capability to enhance the activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Moreover, BHP led to a significant decrease of malondialdehyde (MDA) level in animal serums. All the results indicated that BHP (with a major sequence of Cys-Glu-Arg-Pro-Thr-Cys-Cys-Glu-His-Ser) had a remarkable antioxidant activity in vivo . Meanwhile, no mortalities or evidence of adverse effects was observed in Sprague-Dawley rats following acute oral gavage with BHP at a dose of 10 g/kg body weight during the acute toxicity test. Furthermore, the negative results obtained in Ames test, bone marrow micronucleus test and sperm malformation test demonstrated that BHP had no obvious genetic toxicity to cause mutagenicity of microorganism gene, chromosome and genital cells. All the results suggested that BHP possessed the remarkable antioxidant activity in vivo and biological safety, and therefore had the potential value to be safely utilized as a natural antioxidant agent applied in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and medicinal industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic computation of surface correspondence via harmonic map is an active research field in computer vision, computer graphics and computational geometry. It may help document and understand physical and biological phenomena and also has broad applications in biometrics, medical imaging and motion capture industries. Although numerous studies have been devoted to harmonic map research, limited progress has been made to compute a diffeomorphic harmonic map on general topology surfaces with landmark constraints. This work conquers this problem by changing the Riemannian metric on the target surface to a hyperbolic metric so that the harmonic mapping is guaranteed to be a diffeomorphism under landmark constraints. The computational algorithms are based on Ricci flow and nonlinear heat diffusion methods. The approach is general and robust. We employ our algorithm to study the constrained surface registration problem which applies to both computer vision and medical imaging applications. Experimental results demonstrate that, by changing the Riemannian metric, the registrations are always diffeomorphic and achieve relatively high performance when evaluated with some popular surface registration evaluation standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the possible application of collagen hydrolysate (CH) in the fermentation process using Bacillus pumilus as probe bacterial strain. When CH acted as an only source of carbon and nitrogen in the culture medium, B. pumilus was observed to show normal characterizations during its growing process. Meanwhile, the utilization degree of CH by B. pumilus could be enhanced when wheat bran was added (used as carbon source) in the fermentation process. It was found that the highest alkaline protease activity was 325 U/mL when only CH was used, while it was increased to 620 U/mL with the addition of wheat bran. Besides, with different combination of soybean meal and CH, it was found that the ability using CH to produce alkaline protease is comparable to that of soybean meal in the presence of wheat bran. Moreover, the growth behaviors of the strain were not affected by inoculation concentrations, but the time of producing alkaline protease was greatly saved as reducing loading volume. Present investigation suggested that CH can be used as carbon and nitrogen sources in the fermentation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production of ethanol from xylose by recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae is suboptimal with slow fermentation rate, compared with that from glucose. In this study, a strain-expressing Scheffersomyces stipitis xylose reductase-xylitol dehydrogenase (XR-XDH) pathway was subjected to adaptive evolution on xylose; this approach generated populations with the significantly improved cell growth and ethanol production rate. Mutants were isolated, and the best one was used for sporulation to generate eight stable mutant strains with improved xylose fermentation ability. They were used in a microarray assay to study the molecular basis of the enhanced phenotype. The enriched transcriptional differences among the eight mutant strains and the native strain revealed novel responses to xylose, which likely contributes to the improved xylose utilization. The upregulated vitamin B1 and B6 biosynthesis indicated that thiamine served as an important cofactor in xylose metabolism and may alleviate the redox stress. The increased expression of genes involved in sulfur amino acid biosynthesis and the decreased expression of genes related to Fe(II) transport may alleviate redox stress as well. Meanwhile, it was remarkable that several glucose-repressible genes, including genes of the galactose metabolism, gluconeogenesis, and ethanol catabolism, had a lower expression level after adaptive evolution. Concomitantly, the expression levels of two regulators of the glucose signaling pathway, Rgs2 and Sip4, decreased, indicating a reshaped signaling pathway to xylose after adaptive evolution. Our findings provide new targets for construction of a superior bioethanol producing strain through inverse metabolic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • DPAOs converted to glycogen accumulation metabolism (GAM) at low Poly-P level. • Synergy of Accumulibacter type I and II and increase of PHA promoted denitrification. • DPAOs under GAM had strong tolerance to free nitrous acid (FNA) at low Poly-P levels. • DPAOs at low FNA levels produced ATP more for detoxification rather than growth. Polyphosphate (Poly-P) is a key compound in the known metabolism of denitrifying polyphosphate organisms (DPAOs). This study investigated the efficiency of endogenous denitrification, metabolic changes, and tolerance to free nitrous acid (FNA) of DPAOs at different levels of Poly-P. A high C/P ratio (100:1) made DPAOs transform from polyphosphate accumulating metabolism (PAM) to glycogen accumulating metabolism (GAM), and the nitrate (NO 3 - -N) reduction rate of DPAOs increased significantly in GAM mode. Accumulibacter IA, IIC, and IID were the main dominant DPAOs, and their synergy and the increase of PHA may be responsible for the high NO 3 - -N reduction efficiency. The DPAOs under GAM mode had better tolerance to FNA, and N 2 O reductase was destroyed due to the FNA influence, leading to a large accumulation of N 2 O. Flow cytometry results showed that FNA caused DPAOs to over-consume ATP and depolarize, thereby inhibiting their growth. And FNA disrupted the membrane integrity and esterase activity of DPAOs, which may result in early apoptosis. The metabolic transformation and FNA tolerance of DPAOs under GAM mode ensure the stable operation and performance recovery of denitrifying phosphorus removal systems, which demonstrates the DPAOs-dominated biological phosphorus removal has wide application prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new acoustic signal processing method has been proposed to localize multiple leaks in water pipes. • It optimally identifies linear phase segments with different slopes indicating leak locations in the phase curve. • Two leaks close to each other in a field pipe have been successfully detected using the new method. Acoustic signals measured at either side of a leak have been widely used for locating leaks in buried water distribution pipes. Conventional acoustic leak localization techniques (e.g, cross-correlation) may only pick up the strongest leak when multiple leaks exist in the same pipe. In this paper, a new method based on a linear phase detector has been proposed to address this issue for leak detection in water pipes. The linear phase detector utilizes the phase curve between the leak signals measured at two sides of the leaks. It involves an inverse optimization process that optimally identifies linear phase segments in the phase curve. Multiple leaks can be identified by these linear phase segments with different slopes which are correlated with the leak locations. Field investigations have been carried out on a water pipe which is a part of the water distribution system in a busy city area. The field experimental results validated the proposed method with two leaks close to each other being successfully detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• NiCo 2 S 4 /nickel foam electrode is fabricated by cyclic voltammetric deposition. • It achieves a specific capacitance of 2244.8 F/g at current density of 1 A/g. • It has a Coulombic efficiency of 99% after 1000 cycles of charge/discharge. The NiCo 2 S 4 /nickel foam composite electrodes have been fabricated by cyclic voltammetric deposition of NiCo 2 S 4 arrays on nickel foam, and the supercapacitor performance of the composite electrodes has been investigated. The results show that the electrode with 5 deposition cycles has the highest supercapacitor performance. It achieves a specific capacitance of 2244.8 F/g at current density of 1 A/g; it still has a capacitance retention rate of 66 % and a Coulombic efficiency of 99 % after 1000 cycles of charge/discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intermittent and unpredictable wind and solar power leads to the frequent transient processing of pumped-storage stations, increasing the probability of load shedding. When one turbine sheds its load, the other turbines in the same hydraulic unit become overloaded and may shed their loads, which is referred to as a “one-after-another (OAA)” load-shedding process. An extremely high water-hammer pressure (WHP), namely, high spiral case pressure (SCP) or low draft tube pressure (DTP), may arise in this case, directly threatening the safety of the PSS. The objective of this study was to theoretically determine the hydraulic connections between the turbines and reveal the mechanism of the rapid rise in the WHP under the OAA load-shedding conditions. Theoretical derivations inferred that the drastic pressure changes in a trail shedding turbine (TST) are caused by the hydraulic connection with the lead shedding turbine (LST) in the S region. Furthermore, numerical simulations and model experiments were performed for the OAA load-shedding process, which confirmed the validity of the theoretical analysis. Finally, an analysis was conducted on the distribution of the water inertia in the upstream and downstream branch pipes, and engineering measures were proposed to guarantee the safe operation of PSS systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a city is the carrier of human society and housing is an important part of a citizen's life and survival, the citizens' choice of their housing mode will influence the material and spiritual life of the individuals, families, and society. In view of the diversification of values and investments, people are eager for a harmonious relationship between the community and the city. As a kind of compact and efficient housing mode, the housing block highlights the organic link of the community within the city in an open and shared living environment. This paper reviews the development of housing blocks in various countries and summarizes the characteristics of housing blocks through a comparison with traditional gated residential quarters and urban blocks. It then analyzes the current difficulties of housing block development in China from aspects such as the planning concept, planning system, management mode, and development mode and accordingly proposes planning principles and strategies in hope of providing theoretical supports for the development and construction of housing blocks in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conformality of freeform surfaces highly affects their rendering and tessellation results. To improve the conformality of freeform surfaces, a novel freeform surface representation named hierarchical freeform surfaces is presented in this paper. The conformality energy of hierarchical freeform surfaces is first formulated and its numerical approximation is then constructed using the composite Simpson’s rule. By constructing the parameterization of the initial freeform transformation using the Ricci flow method, the optimal freeform transformation is obtained by the Levenberg–Marquardt method, which is further interleaved with the freeform refinement procedure to generate a hierarchical freeform surface with bounded conformality deviations. Examples are given to show the performance of our algorithm for rendering and tessellation applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ- PGA) is a promising microbial polymer with potential applications in industry, agriculture and medicine. The use of high γ- PGA-producing strains is an effective approach to improve productivity of γ- PGA. In this study, we developed a mutant, F3-178, from Bacillus subtilis GXA-28 using genome shuffling. The morphological characteristics of F3-178 and GXA-28 were not identical. Compared with GXA-28 (18.4 ± 0.8 g l−1), the yield of γ- PGA was 1.9-fold higher in F3-178 (34.3 ± 1.2 g l−1). Results from batch fermentation in 3.7 l fermenter showed that F3-178 was satisfactory for industrial production of γ- PGA. Metabolic studies suggested that the higher γ- PGA yield in F3-178 could be attributed to increased intracellular flux and uptake of extracellular glutamate. Real-time PCR indicated that mRNA level of pgsB in F3-178 was 18.8-fold higher than in GXA-28, suggesting the higher yield might be related to the overexpression of genes involved in γ- PGA production. This study demonstrated that genome shuffling can be used for rapid improvement of γ- PGA strains, and the possible mechanism for the improved phenotype was also explored at the metabolic and transcriptional levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gait analysis plays an important role in maintaining the well-being of human mobility and health care, and is a valuable tool for obtaining quantitative information on motor deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). In this paper, we propose a method to classify (diagnose) patients with PD and healthy control subjects using gait analysis via deterministic learning theory. The classification approach consists of two phases: a training phase and a classification phase. In the training phase, gait characteristics represented by the gait dynamics are derived from the vertical ground reaction forces under the usual and self-selected paces of the subjects. The gait dynamics underlying gait patterns of healthy controls and PD patients are locally accurately approximated by radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. The obtained knowledge of approximated gait dynamics is stored in constant RBF networks. The gait patterns of healthy controls and PD patients constitute a training set. In the classification phase, a bank of dynamical estimators is constructed for all the training gait patterns. Prior knowledge of gait dynamics represented by the constant RBF networks is embedded in the estimators. By comparing the set of estimators with a test gait pattern of a certain PD patient to be classified (diagnosed), a set of classification errors are generated. The average L 1 norms of the errors are taken as the classification measure between the dynamics of the training gait patterns and the dynamics of the test PD gait pattern according to the smallest error principle. When the gait patterns of 93 PD patients and 73 healthy controls are classified with five-fold cross-validation method, the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the results are 96.39%, 96.77% and 95.89%, respectively. Based on the results, it may be claimed that the features and the classifiers used in the present study could effectively separate the gait patterns between the groups of PD patients and healthy controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effect of neuron-endothelial coupling on the survival of neurons after ischemia and the possible mechanism underlying that effect. Whole-cell patch-clamp experiments were performed on cortical neurons cultured alone or directly cocultured with brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMEC). Propidium iodide (PI) and NeuN staining were performed to examine neuronal death following oxygen and glucose deprivation (OGD). We found that the neuronal transient outward potassium currents ( I A ) decreased in the coculture system, whereas the outward delayed-rectifier potassium currents ( I K ) did not. Sodium nitroprusside, a NO donor, enhanced BMEC-induced I A inhibition and nitro- l -arginine methylester, a NOS inhibitor, partially prevented this inhibition. Moreover, the neurons directly cocultured with BMEC showed more resistance to OGD-induced injury compared with the neurons cultured alone, and that neuroprotective effect was abolished by treatment with NS5806, an activator of the I A . These results indicate that vascular endothelial cells assist neurons to prevent hypoxic injury via inhibiting neuronal I A by production of NO in the direct neuron-BMEC coculture system. These results further provide direct evidence of functional coupling between neurons and vascular endothelial cells. This study clearly demonstrates that vascular endothelial cells play beneficial roles in the pathophysiological processes of neurons after hypoxic injury, suggesting that the improvement of neurovascular coupling or functional remodeling may become an important therapeutic target for preventing brain injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ultrafine grained Cu-5vol.%Al 2 O 3 composite with a microstructure consisting of bimodal Al 2 O 3 particles distributing at the boundaries of ultrafine Cu grains was fabricated by a combination of high energy mechanical milling and powder compact extrusion. The material showed a high tensile yield strength of 486 MPa and high electrical conductivity of 80% of the international annealed copper standard (IACS). Analysis of the findings shows that such microstructure can be further tailored to achieve high strength and high electrical conductivity with ultrafine grained or nanocrystalline Cu matrix composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvesting mechanical energy from human activities by triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is an effective approach for sustainable, maintenance-free, and green power source for wireless, portable, and wearable electronics. A theoretical model for contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators based on the principles of charge conservation and zero loop-voltage is illustrated. Explicit expressions for the output current, voltage, and power are presented for the TENGs with an external load of resistance. Experimental verification is conducted by using a laboratory-fabricated contact-mode TENG made from conducting fabric electrodes and polydimethylsiloxane/graphene oxide composite as the dielectric layer. Excellent agreements of the output voltage, current, and power are demonstrated between the theoretical and experimental results, without any adjustable parameters. The effects of the moving speed on output voltage, current, and power are illustrated in three cases, that is, the motion with constant speed, the sinusoidal motion cycles, and the real walking cycles by human subject. The fully verified theoretical model is a very powerful tool to guide the design of the device structure and selection of materials, and optimization of performance with respect to the application conditions of TENGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]