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Iodination has unlocked new potentials in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). A newly designed and synthesized iodinated non‐fullerene acceptor, BO‐4I, showcases exceptional excitation delocalization property with the exciton diffusion length increased to 80 nm. The enhanced electron delocalization property is attributed to the larger atomic radius and electron orbit of the iodine atom, which facilitates the formation of intra‐moiety excitations in the acceptor phase. This effectively circumvents the charge transfer state‐related recombination mechanisms, leading to a substantial reduction in non‐radiative energy loss (ΔEnr). As a result, OPV cell based on PBDB‐TF : BO‐4I achieves an impressive efficiency of 18.9 % with a notable ΔEnr of 0.189 eV, markedly surpassing their fluorinated counterparts. This contribution highlights the pivotal role of iodination in reducing energy loss, thereby affirming its potential as a key strategy in the development of advanced next‐generation OPV cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iodination has unlocked new potentials in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). A newly designed and synthesized iodinated non‐fullerene acceptor, BO‐4I, showcases exceptional excitation delocalization property with the exciton diffusion length increased to 80 nm. The enhanced electron delocalization property is attributed to the larger atomic radius and electron orbit of the iodine atom, which facilitates the formation of intra‐moiety excitations in the acceptor phase. This effectively circumvents the charge transfer state‐related recombination mechanisms, leading to a substantial reduction in non‐radiative energy loss (ΔEnr). As a result, OPV cell based on PBDB‐TF : BO‐4I achieves an impressive efficiency of 18.9 % with a notable ΔEnr of 0.189 eV, markedly surpassing their fluorinated counterparts. This contribution highlights the pivotal role of iodination in reducing energy loss, thereby affirming its potential as a key strategy in the development of advanced next‐generation OPV cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Androgen receptor-negative prostate cancer is one of the important mechanisms of castration resistant prostate cancer. The application of next generation androgen receptor signaling pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) has led to a gradual increase of AR-negative prostate cancer in the clinic. In this paper, we demonstrated the potential promotional role of ID2 in androgen receptor-negative prostate cancer through extensive bioinformatics analysis and experimental studies. Through transcriptome sequencing and downstream functional enrichment analysis, we found that ID2 can activate neuroendocrine or stemness-related pathways and inhibit androgen receptor signaling pathways. ID2 can activate JAK/STAT signaling pathway as well as FGFR signaling pathway to promote the acquisition of prostate cancer lineage plasticity, which in turn leads to androgen receptor-negative prostate cancer. Through cell function experiments and mouse experiments, we reveal that ID2 can promote prostate cancer evolution. Using transcriptome sequencing and publicly available clinical data, we generated ID2-related gene signatures to help determine clinical prognosis. The use of androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) has led to an increase in the proportion of AR-null prostate cancer, including neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) and double-negative prostate cancer (DNPC), but the mechanism underlying this lineage transition has not been elucidated. We found that ID2 expression was increased in AR-null prostate cancer. In vitro and in vivo studies confirmed that ID2 promotes PCa malignancy and can confer resistance to enzalutamide in PCa cells. We generated an ID2 UP50 signature, which is capable of determining resistance to enzalutamide and is valuable for predicting patient prognosis. Functional experiments showed that ID2 could activate stemness-associated JAK/STAT and FGFR signaling while inhibiting the AR signaling pathway. Our study indicates a potentially strong association between ID2 and the acquisition of a stem-like phenotype in adenocarcinoma cells, leading to resistance to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and next-generation ARPIs in prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High temperature and humidity affect the tribological performance of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) seals, which affects the precise positioning of cylinder systems. Therefore, it is crucial to study the effect of hydrothermal aging on the tribological performance of the NBR seals. In this study, the changes in the tribological performance of the NBR seals under hydrothermal aging conditions were investigated. The results show that the volatilization of additives and the increase in crosslink density of the NBR seals occurs in the hydrothermal aging environment, leading to the deterioration of their surface quality, elastic deformability, and tribological performance. The formation of surface micropores due to additive volatilization is the main factor in the degradation of tribological performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degradation of typical dye wastewater has always been a continuous concern in wastewater treatment. Microelectrolysis is a technology that offers the advantages of being green and highly efficient in treating wastewater. However, traditional binary microelectrolysis has problems, such as low applicability and high dependence on acidic environments. This study prepared ternary microelectrolytic materials, optimized the key conditions of material preparation and wastewater treatment, explored the removal mechanism of ternary microelectrolytic materials for dye wastewater, and quantitatively analyzed the contribution of different removal paths in the removal process of dye. For chemical oxygen demand (COD), the removal contributions of adsorption, flocculation, ·O2− , ·OH , and reduction were 22.23%, 20.35%, 15.43%, 6.62%, and 0.71%, respectively. For the chorma removal of vital red, the removal contributions of adsorption, flocculation, ·O2− , ·OH , and reduction were 21.07%, 55.97%, 14.57%, 4.62%, and 0.91%, respectively. For the chorma removal of disperse blue, the removal contributions of adsorption, flocculation, ·O2− , ·OH , and reduction were 7.81%, 72.36%, 11.52%, 6.10%, and 0.70%, respectively. Ternary microelectrolysis can achieve an ideal removal effect in a neutral treatment environment. The material structure, ·O2− produced in the system, and pH regulation of effluent are crucial in the removal process of dye wastewater. Ternary microelectrolysis materials are superior to traditional binary microelectrolysis materials due to their double cathode characteristics, strong applicability, and ability to operate in a neutral treatment environment. This study can serve as guide for ternary microelectrolysis technology in the treatment of typical dye wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) have been widely used around the world due to their high-efficiency and broad-spectrum insecticidal effects. However, they pose a severe threat to ecosystems and human health due to their easy bioaccumulation and high toxicity. Periphyton is ubiquitous in the submerged substrates surface. It plays a crucial role in carbon, nutrients elements cycling and contaminants transformation in environment. Periphyton can remove OCPs through bioadsorption, bioaccumulation and biodegradation, which alters the fate of OCPs in environment. This review presents a comprehensive summary of OCPs occurrence, global cycle, potential harm in environment, and their removal by periphyton. The OCPs residual have been detected frequently in different environmental medias such as water, soil, atmosphere, sediment, and organisms. Their harm is depending on their physicochemical properties and the exposure route. The main compositions and functions of periphyton have been summarized. Moreover, the artificial cultivation methods of periphyton in laboratory and in-situ field are compared. In addition, the mechanisms of periphyton-mediated OCPs removal and the main factors impacting OCPs removal are also discussed. Periphyton could self-regulate its biological communities to adapt to the OCPs and environment, and then regenerate new species to degrade OCPs. Finally, the prospect of OCPs removal by periphyton and future studies are also proposed. This review provides a systematic introduction on current knowledge of OCPs occurrence, cycle, potential harm in environment, and their removal by periphyton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State‐of‐the‐art object detection models rely on large‐scale datasets for training to achieve good precision. Without sufficient samples, the model can suffer from severe overfitting. Current explorations in few‐shot object detection are mainly divided into meta‐learning‐based methods and fine‐tuning‐based methods. However, existing models do not focus on how feature maps should be processed to present more accurate regions of interest (RoIs), leading to many non‐supporting RoIs. These non‐supporting RoIs can increase the burden of subsequent classification and even lead to misclassification. Additionally, catastrophic forgetting is inevitable in both few‐shot object detection models. Many models classify directly in low‐dimensional spaces due to insufficient resources, but this transformation of the data space can confuse some categories and lead to misclassification. To address these problems, the Feature Reconstruction Detector (FRDet) is proposed, a simple yet effective fine‐tune‐based approach for few‐shot object detection. FRDet includes a region proposal network (RPN) based on channel attention and space attention called Multi‐Attention RPN (MARPN) and a head based on feature reconstruction called Feature Reconstruction Head (FRHead). MARPN utilizes channel attention to suppress non‐supporting classes and spatial attention to enhance support classes based on Attention RPN, resulting in fewer but more accurate RoIs. Meanwhile, FRHead utilizes support features to reconstruct query RoI features through a closed‐form solution, allowing for a comprehensive and fine‐grained comparison. The model was validated on the PASCAL VOC, MS COCO, FSOD, and CUB200 datasets and achieved better results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A single unmanned surface combatant (USV) has poor mission execution capability, so the cooperation of multiple unmanned surface ships is widely used. Cooperative hunting is an important aspect of multi USV collaborative research. Therefore, this paper proposed a cooperative hunting method for multi-USV based on the A* algorithm in an environment with obstacles. First, based on the traditional A* algorithm, a path smoothing method based on USV minimum turning radius is proposed. At the same time, the post order traversal recursive algorithm in the binary tree method is used to replace the enumeration algorithm to obtain the optimal path, which improves the efficiency of the A* algorithm. Second, a biomimetic multi USV swarm collaborative hunting method is proposed. Multiple USV clusters simulate the hunting strategy of lions to pre-form on the target's path, so multiple USV clusters do not require manual formation. During the hunting process, the formation of multiple USV groups is adjusted to limit the movement and turning of the target, thereby reducing the range of activity of the target and improving the effectiveness of the algorithm. To verify the effectiveness of the algorithm, two sets of simulation experiments were conducted. The results show that the algorithm has good performance in path planning and target search. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The freezing characteristics of supercooled water in a gas diffusion layer (GDL), which are the bases for the cold start-up of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), were investigated. An experimental apparatus for noncontact temperature measurement and observation systems was developed. GDL and GDL with a microporous layer (MPL) were prepared, and freezing experiments using a water-containing GDL under various cooling rates were performed with variations in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) content and water saturation. Furthermore, based on the experimental results, the freezing initiation probability was theoretically investigated to elucidate the freezing characteristics. Results showed that, with increasing supercooling of water in GDL, the freezing probability of water increased abruptly. The effect of saturation showed a different trend depending on PTFE addition. For the GDL without PTFE, the freezing initiations occurred at approximately 6 °C of supercooling degree, and the probability approached 1.0 at approximately 9.5–11.5 °C, with saturation dependency. In contrast, for both GDL and GDL + MPL containing PTFE, the initiation temperature characteristics were relatively similar, which were approximately 8–12 °C, regardless of the saturation and PTFE content. In these cases, the ice-nucleating activity of water in the GDL was possibly stronger than that in the MPL. • Non-contact measurement/observation are developed for supercooled water freezing. • Effect of saturation in GDL shows different trend depending on PTFE content. • Freezing occurs at supercooling of 6–9.5–11.5 K with saturation for without PTFE. • 8–12 K of supercooling regardless of saturation & PTFE for GDL & GDL + MPL with PTFE. • Freezing probability is analyzed for freezing characteristics of GDL & GDL + MPL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The material properties of high-strength steels deteriorate under fire conditions and depends on the temperature and fire duration. As a time-dependent inelastic strain behavior, the thermal creep effect becomes significant at elevated temperatures and influences the fire resistance of connections. This paper presents numerical studies on the fire response of unprotected extended end-plate connections made of high-strength steels (Q460, Q690 and Q960), explicitly considering the creep effect. Transient state finite element models including or excluding creep were developed using ABAQUS and validated against the experimental results under the restrained sub-framework. The numerical analysis results exhibit a better agreement with the experimental results regarding the deformation ability and failure mode if the creep effect is considered. Thus, creep is a non-negligible effect in investigating the fire performance of end-plate joints. Parametric studies were carried out to quantitatively assess the influence of moment ratio of connection, axial pressure ratio of column, end-plate thickness and heating rates on rotation–time–temperature characteristics and stress distribution. The numerical results show that the magnitudes of bending moment applied on the connection and axial load on the column play crucial roles in evaluating the fire endurance and critical temperatures. However, the effect of end-plate thickness on the fire-structural behavior of extended end-plate connections is negligible. The heating rate has little effect on the critical temperatures of connections. The rotation capacity of high-strength steel extended end-plate connections depends on the failure mode to a large extent. Finally, fire resistance design suggestions for high-strength steel end-plate connections were put forward according to the observations on the parametric studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the adaptive control problem of a class of uncertain time-delay nonlinear cyber-physical systems (CPSs) with both unknown time-varying deception attacks and full-state constraints. Since the sensors are disturbed by external deception attacks making the system state variables unknown, this paper first establishes a new backstepping control strategy based on compromised variables and uses dynamic surface techniques to solve the disadvantages of the huge computational effort of the backstepping technique, and then establishes attack compensators to mitigate the impact of unknown attack signals on the control performance. Second, the barrier Lyapunov function (BLF) is introduced to restrict the state variables. In addition, the unknown nonlinear terms of the system are approximated using radial basis function (RBF) neural networks, and the Lyapunov–Krasovskii function (LKF) is introduced to eliminate the influence of the unknown time-delay terms. Finally, an adaptive resilient controller is designed to ensure that the system state variables converge and satisfy the predefined state constraints, all signals of the closed-loop system are semi-globally uniformly ultimately bounded under the premise that the error variables converge to an adjustable neighborhood of origin. The numerical simulation experiments verify the validity of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In acute cardiovascular disease management, the delay between the admission in a hospital emergency department and the assessment of the disease from a Delayed Enhancement cardiac MRI (DE-MRI) scan is one of the barriers for an immediate management of patients with suspected myocardial infarction or myocarditis. Objectives: This work targets patients who arrive at the hospital with chest pain and are suspected of having a myocardial infarction or a myocarditis. The main objective is to classify these patients based solely on clinical data in order to provide an early accurate diagnosis. Methods: Machine learning (ML) and ensemble approaches have been used to construct a framework to automatically classify the patients according to their clinical conditions. 10-fold cross-validation is used during the model's training to avoid overfitting. Approaches such as Stratified, Over-sampling, Under-sampling, NearMiss, and SMOTE were tested in order to address the imbalance of the data (i.e. proportion of cases per pathology). The ground truth is provided by a DE-MRI exam (normal exam, myocarditis or myocardial infarction). Results: The stacked generalization technique with Over-sampling seems to be the best one providing more than 97% of accuracy corresponding to 11 wrong classifications among 537 cases. Generally speaking, ensemble classifiers such as Stacking provided the best prediction. The five most important features are troponin, age, tobacco, sex and FEVG calculated from echocardiography. Conclusion: Our study provides a reliable approach to classify the patients in emergency department between myocarditis, myocardial infarction or other patient condition from only clinical information, considering DE-MRI as ground-truth. Among the different machine learning and ensemble techniques tested, the stacked generalization technique is the best one providing an accuracy of 97.4%. This automatic classification could provide a quick answer before imaging exam such as cardiovascular MRI depending on the patient's condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epigenetic regulators are involved in osteoclast differentiation. This study proposes that the inhibitors of epigenetic regulators could be effective in the treatment of osteoporosis. This study identified GSK2879552, a lysine-specific histone demethylase 1 (LSD1) inhibitor, as a candidate for the treatment of osteoporosis from epigenetic modulator inhibitors. We investigate the function of LSD1 during RANKL-induced osteoclast formation. LSD1 small-molecule inhibitors effectively inhibit the RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation in a dose-dependent manner. LSD1 gene knockout in macrophage cell line Raw 264.7 also inhibits RANKL-mediated osteoclastogenesis. LSD1-inhibitor-treated primary macrophage cells and LSD1 gene knockout Raw 264.7 cells failed to show actin ring formation. LSD1 inhibitors prevent the expression of RANKL-induced osteoclast-specific genes. They also downregulated the protein expression of osteoclast-related markers in osteoclastogeneses, such as Cathepsin K, c-Src, and NFATc1. Although LSD1 inhibitors were shown to reduce the in vitro demethylation activity of LSD1, they did not modulate the methylation of Histone 3 K4 and K9 during osteoclastogenesis. The ovariectomy (OVX)-induced osteoporosis model revealed that GSK2879552 slightly restores OVX-induced cortical bone loss. LSD1 can be employed as a positive regulator to promote osteoclast formation. Hence, inhibition of LSD1 activities is a potential target for preventing bone diseases characterized by excessive osteoclast activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The manipulating of photonic spin Hall effect (SHE) plays a crucial role for development of spin‐dependent nanodevices and systems. Since the photonic SHE is generally enhanced near the Brewster angle, the choice of incident angle usually has low flexibility with natural materials due to their dielectric constants. Herein, an efficient method to flexibly enhance the photonic SHE by utilizing selective Brewster angle in an anisotropic metamaterial is proposed. Through adjusting the thickness ratio of two media in metamaterial, the Brewster angle can be flexibly adjusted in a broad range (nearly 0–90°). With the selective Brewster angle, the spin‐dependent transverse shift can be enhanced at nearly arbitrary incident angles. Furthermore, based on this structure, a binary encoding system is demonstrated, realizing information conversion around incident angles. This research work provides more possibilities for applications in manipulating photonic SHE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • LPS30 caused simultaneous treatment for phosphate and algae. • LPS30 was in-situ synthesized via a facile coprecipitation approach. • LPS30 showed a high phosphate uptake of 52.68 mg-P/g and fast sorption kinetics. • Cyanobacteria inhibition could last over 3 months. • Coagulation flocs and oxidative species play key roles in cyanobacteria inhibition. The ecological and environmental problem caused by harmful algal blooms (HABs) is challenging to humans. The simultaneous elimination of cyanobacteria and phosphate from eutrophic waters is of great importance. Herein, a new lanthanum peroxide-loaded sepiolite nanocomposite was fabricated via a facile in-situ co-precipitation method and demonstrated the excellent properties on removal of phosphate and inhibition of cyanobacteria growth. The optimized nanocomposite (termed as LPS30) prepared with a La-to-Sepiolite mass ratio of 0.3:1 demonstrated the best cyanobacteria removal with an effective duration of at least 3 months, due to the even dispersion of high-content LP nanoparticles in the sepiolite. LPS30 exhibited a high phosphate uptake (52.68 mg-P/g), fast uptake kinetics (∼45 min to reach 80% of ultimate uptake), and relatively higher selectivity in the presence of competing matters. The pH-dependent phosphate sorption resulted from the ligand exchange between phosphate and surface functional groups (e.g., peroxo and hydroxyls), and the electrostatic attraction. The efficient and long-lasting inhibition for cyanobacteria regrowth was attributed to the combined effect of the oxidative species (i.e., La O O-) and the efficient removal of phosphate through the coagulation flocs. Our study demonstrated that LPS30 is a promising material to simultaneously treat phosphate and algae for HABs management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) compartmentalizes and concentrates biomacromolecules into liquid-like condensates, which underlies membraneless organelles (MLOs) formation in eukaryotic cells. With increasing evidence of the LLPS concept and methods, this phenomenon as a novel principle accounts for explaining the precise spatial and temporal regulation of cellular functions. Moreover, the phenomenon that LLPS tends to concentrate proteins is often accompanied by several abnormal signals for human diseases. It is reported that multiple metabolic diseases are strongly associated with the deposition of insoluble proteinaceous aggregating termed amyloids. At present, recent studies have observed the roles of LLPS in several metabolic diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and metabolic bone diseases (MBDs). This review aims to expound on the current concept and methods of LLPS and summarize its vital roles in T2DM, AD, and MBDs, uncover novel mechanisms of these metabolic diseases, and thus provide powerful potential therapeutic strategies and targets for ameliorating these metabolic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early gastric cancer (EGC) in the remnant stomach or gastric tube is not yet widespread and few studies have compared the short-term and long-term outcomes with radical surgery. (2) Methods: A total of 73 consecutive patients with EGC in the remnant stomach or gastric tube who underwent ESD or radical surgery between October 2009 and October 2020 were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Baseline characteristics, post-operative complications, quality of life (QOL), recurrence rate, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were compared between the ESD and surgery groups. (3) Results: Among the 73 patients with EGC in the remnant stomach or gastric tube, 48 (65.8%) underwent ESD and 25 (34.2%) underwent surgery. The operation time (p = 0.000) and post-operative hospital stay (p = 0.002) of the ESD group were significantly shorter than those in the surgery group. The incidence of post-operative complications in the ESD group was significantly lower than that in surgery group (p = 0.001). The ESD group had significantly better functional scale scores and lower rates of fatigue, pain, appetite loss, financial difficulties, dysphagia, eating restrictions, hair loss, and poor body image than the surgery group. There was no significant difference in OS or DFS between the ESD and surgery groups (p = 0.124 and 0.344, respectively). (4) Conclusion: ESD can significantly shorten the operation time and hospital stay, reduce surgical complications, and provide better QOL for patients with EGC in the remnant stomach or gastric tube, and its long-term prognosis is no shorter than that of radical surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residual stress has a three-dimensional scale effect (length, depth, and width) in the process of repair welding, which has a detrimental impact on the service of the aluminum alloy welded structures in high-speed trains. This paper aims to systematically analyze the effects of the repair welding dimension on the residual stress redistribution and obtain the optimal repair welding principles. A combination of blind-hole drilling method and stress linearization in BS7910 was adopted to investigate residual stress redistribution under various repair welding dimensions. The results indicate that repair welding dimension was in accordance with the principle of "SNL (shallow, narrow and long)" and the optimal repair length, depth, and width of butt joints in this study were 15t, 0.25t, and t, respectively (t is the plate thickness of butt joints). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the bending performance of post-fire lightweight polyethylene metal sandwich panels with different aspect ratios and span conditions using actual fires and post-fire three-point bending tests. The damage patterns and buckling behavior of sandwich panels after an actual fire are discussed. The effects of lamination with dimensional ratios (vertically and horizontally laminated) and span (single and double-span) on parameters, such as fire spread behavior, buckling behavior, load–deflection, bending modulus degradation efficiency, and residual bending stiffness were investigated. The results showed that the double-span fixation mode formed a double-peaked flame, becoming more evident as the aspect ratio decreased. The double-span helped suppress the upward propagation of the flame and reduced the degradation of the bending modulus. The bending stiffness was 10–20% higher than that of the single-span sandwich panels. In addition, the maximum service limit deflection of post-fire sandwich panels with different spans was also derived based on the normal limit of use standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coupling CO 2 reduction with selective organic hydrocarbon oxidation using semiconductor photocatalysts holds significant importance in achieving carbon neutrality and obtaining valuable chemical raw materials. Nevertheless, finding a potential single photocatalyst with sufficient redox potentials capable of simultaneously driving redox reactions poses a formidable challenge. Herein, a distinct heterostructure of W 18 O 49 /CsPbBr 3 was meticulously fabricated through the in-situ growing of CsPbBr 3 nanocrystal on bundle-like W 18 O 49 ultrathin nanowires via the hot-injection method. Experimental and theoretical characterizations reveal the establishment of a solid internal electric field at the heterojunction interface, enabling spatial charge separation via a valid interfacial S-scheme with strong redox ability. The W 18 O 49 /CsPbBr 3 heterostructure demonstrated decent performance, yielding high production of CO (143 μmol g−1 h−1) and selective oxidizing toluene to benzaldehyde (1546 μmol g−1 h−1) with an 80% selectivity. This work may pave a rational way for fully exploiting the potentials of photogenerated carriers in the heterojunction photocatalysts in synergetic photocatalytic systems. [Display omitted] • An S-scheme heterostructure of W 18 O 49 /CsPbBr 3 is designed via an in-situ growth method with spatial charge separation. • Remarkable bifunctional photocatalytic productions of CO and selective oxidizing toluene to benzaldehyde with high selectivity are achieved. • Comprehensive characterizations confirm that an effective S-scheme charge transfer mode is built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an isolated microgrid, the wind energy conversion system based on direct-drive permanent magnet synchronous generator may experience fluctuations in the DC bus voltage due to wind variations and grid voltage drop, thereby compromising system reliability. To address this issue, the scheme of the supercapacitor energy storage system is proposed. The existing double closed-loop PID control, which cannot provide inertia support, has shortcomings such as difficult parameter setting and slow dynamic response. To solve this problem, the dynamic-matrix-control based predictive control for a virtual DC machine method is proposed. Firstly, the concept of virtual DC machine control is firstly introduced in supercapacitor energy storage system. Secondly, according to the unit step response of virtual DC machine, the prediction model of virtual DC machine is established. Finally, the desired torque increment reference of virtual DC machine is calculated by the dynamic-matrix-control controller to change the input torque reference. Hardware-in-the-loop experiment verifies the effectiveness of the proposed method: Compared with traditional double closed-loop PID control, the maximum voltage fluctuation is reduced by 67.9 % under random wind fluctuation and the inhibition effect on DC voltage surge and plunge when fault occurs in the power grid is increased by 61.4 % and 57.9 %. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Different-mode-interacting boiling is applied for US and NUSs in narrow gaps flow. • CHF and HTC of NUSs are enhanced by DMIB compared to US markedly. • Effect of channel widths on heat transfer/CHF is quantitatively investigated. • Relation between boiling characteristics and two-phase flow aspect is examined. The concept of different-mode-interacting boiling (DMIB) utilizes the areas of two different thermal conductance materials by expanding the wetted area over the regions of their dry areas. This enhances the critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC) in a wide channel (e.g., W c h = 80 mm) to provide adequate cooling in previous study. In this study, the effectiveness of DMIB in enhancing the CHF and HTC was investigated when using a channel width (W c h = 10 mm) equal to that of the heating surface, aiming to provide better efficiency for both uniform surface (US) and nonuniform surfaces (NUSs) with material widths (W = 0.5 and 1.0 mm) in narrow gaps. Experiments were performed with a heating surface of 10 mm2 using subcooled deionized water at different temperatures Δ T s u b = 2.0, 10, 20, and 30 K, inlet velocities v = 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4 m/s (corresponding to mass fluxes: 100, 200, and 400 kg/m2s), and gap sizes h = 1.0, 2.0, and 5.0 mm. The results revealed that the heat transfer performance of the NUSs was significantly enhanced compared to the US for both W c h. However, both the CHF and HTC values were higher with W c h = 80 mm than with W c h = 10 mm owing to the expansion of coalesced bubbles in the flow direction, sustained nucleate boiling regime, and effective liquid rewetting during the intermittent nucleate boiling-partial dryout near the CHF owing to the DMIB. The maximum CHF and CHF enhancement ratios for W c h = 10 mm were 3.59 MW/m2 and 52.2 %, respectively, whereas for W c h = 80 mm, they were 3.66 MW/m2 and 89 %, respectively. In addition, the HTC and HTC enhancement ratio for W c h = 10 mm were 1261 kW/m2K and a factor of 7, respectively, whereas those for W c h = 80 mm were 2026.9 kW/m2K and a factor of 12, respectively. In contrast, only a minimal difference existed in the heat transfer performance of W c h = 10 mm compared to that at W c h = 80 mm; therefore, W c h = 10 mm can be considered as having a better cooling efficiency per channel width due to the minimal pumping power and significant CHF and HTC enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) is intensely prevalent in global pig farms. The PCV2 vaccine is an important means of preventing and controlling PCV2. The quality control of PCV2 vaccines is predominantly based on detection techniques such as animal testing and neutralizing antibody titration. Measuring the content of effective proteins in vaccines to measure vaccine efficacy is an excellent alternative to traditional methods, which can greatly accelerate the development speed and testing time of vaccines. In this study, we screened a monoclonal antibody (mAb) that can effectively recognize not only the exogenous expression of PCV2 Cap protein but also PCV2 virus. The double antibody sandwich ELISA (DAS-ELISA) was developed using this mAb that specifically recognize PCV2 Cap. The minimum protein content detected by this method is 3.5 ng/mL. This method can be used for the quality control of PCV2 inactivated vaccine and subunit vaccine, and the detection results are consistent with the results of mice animal experiments. This method has the advantages of simple operation, good sensitivity, high specificity and wide application. It can detect the effective antigen Cap protein content of various types of PCV2 vaccines, which not only shorten the vaccine inspection time but also save costs. • Preparation of a novel mab against PCV2 Cap protein. • Established a more sensitive double antibody sandwich ELISA for detecting PCV2 cap. • The DAS-ELISA can be used to determine content of various PCV2 vaccines. • The DAS-ELISA has the potential to replace animal immunity protective test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] The deposition of the CaCO 3 scale in circulating cooling water is a common and serious concern in the industry, which hinders the heat transfer, reduces water flow and blocks membrane filters. This paper aims at studying the effect of the γ-Fe 2 O 3 , Fe 2 (MoO 4) 3 ·γ-Fe 2 O 3 and FePO 4 ·γ-Fe 2 O 3 passive films on CaCO 3 scale deposition on Q235 steel by electrochemical methods, including linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), chronoamperometry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests. The scale and corrosion inhibition performance of the passive films was evaluated by the residual current density (i r) and charge transfer resistance (R ct) values. Electrochemical results suggested that the passive films could inhibit corrosion and reduce the CaCO 3 scale deposition on Q235 steel and the FePO 4 ·γ-Fe 2 O 3 complex passive film showed the best anti-scaling effect. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) tests showed that the passive films could lead to a decrease in the proportion of aragonite to calcite under cathodic water reduction conditions and the composition of the FePO 4 ·γ-Fe 2 O 3 complex passive film could deform the CaCO 3 crystal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic water splitting to produce hydrogen, especially seawater, shows great economic value and development prospects to deal with the energy crisis. In this paper, urea and melamine were employed as base precursor materials to obtain four different morphologies of tubular g-C 3 N 4 : stacked rectangular thin plates with flocculent structure, ragged porous hollow tubes, porous hollow tubes and tetragonal hollow prismatic tubes by simply regulating the heating rate. Among them, the ragged porous hollow tubular g-C 3 N 4 (TCN-1.5) exhibit an amazing hydrogen evolution rate of 8683 μmol h−1 g−1 from water, which is 19.3 times that of the massive g-C 3 N 4 (449 μmol h−1 g−1), and still maintain a high hydrogen evolution rate (6782 μmol h−1g−1) from sea water. The analysis results show that by controlling the change of the heating rate, the ammonia overflow rate can be effectively controlled to produce abundant voids and pits to form volume defects, which can exhibit higher specific surface area and serve as a highly active center for the catalytic reaction and effectively improve the photocatalytic performance. This study provides a simple design idea to construct a novel type of ragged porous hollow tubular g-C 3 N 4 for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production from water and seawater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen production is an important strategy to achieve clean energy development. In this report, a novel three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical hollow tubular g-C 3 N 4 /ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets (HTCN/ZIS) type-Ⅱ heterojunction photocatalyst was successfully prepared and applied for photocatalytic hydrogen production under visible light irradiation. The experimental results reveal that the optimal proportion of HTCN/ZIS with the remarkable photocatalytic H 2 evolution rate of 20738 μmol h−1 g−1 was obtained. The main reasons for the improvement of hydrogen production activity are as follows: (i) this unique tubular hollow structure can effectively enhances the light capturing ability by the multiple light scattering/reflection of incident light in the inner cavity; (ii) the shorten the phase plane transmission distance could reduce the path of charge transfer; (iii) the surface coated a large number of scaly ZnIn 2 S 4 nanosheets can provide abundant reactive sites. Combining the various characterization tests, the enhanced spatial segregation of charge carriers could owning to the intimately interfacial contact and well-matched band gaps structure between g-C 3 N 4 and ZnIn 2 S 4 through the type-II heterojunction. This work provides a new prospect for the construction of a novel 3D hierarchical type-II heterojunction photocatalyst for highly efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of circular RNAs (circRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) in osteosarcoma (OS) development has not been fully elucidated. Further, the contribution of the immune response to OS progression is not well defined. However, it is known that circRNAs and miRNAs can serve as biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of many cancers. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify novel key serum biomarkers for the diagnosis and metastatic prediction of OS by analysis of immune cell infiltration and associated RNA molecules. Methods: Human OS differentially expressed circRNAs (DEcircRNAs), differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs), and differentially expressed mRNAs (DEmRNAs) were identified by analysis of microarray data downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. Further, characteristic patterns of OS-infiltrating immune cells were analyzed. On this basis, we identified statistically significant transcription factors. Moreover we performed pathway enrichment analysis, constructed protein–protein interaction networks, and devised competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) networks. Biological targets of the ceRNA networks were evaluated and potential OS biomarkers confirmed by RT-qPCR analysis of the patients' serum. Results: Seven differentially expressed circRNAs, 166 differentially expressed miRNAs, and 175 differentially expressed mRNAs were identified. An evaluation of cellular OS infiltration identified the highest level of infiltration by M0 macrophages, M2 macrophages, and CD8+ T cells, with M0 macrophages and CD8+ T cells as the most prominent. Significant patterns of tumor-infiltrating immune cells were identified by principal component analysis. Moreover, 185 statistically significant transcription factors were associated with OS. Further, in association with immune cell infiltration, hsa-circ-0010220, hsa-miR-326, hsa-miR-338-3p, and FAM98A were identified as potential novel biomarkers for OS diagnosis. Of these, FAM98A had the most promise as a diagnostic marker for OS and OS metastasis. Most importantly, a novel diagnostic model consisting of these four biomarkers (hsa-circ-0010220, hsa-miR-326, hsa-miR-338-3p, and FAM98A) was established with a 0.928 AUC value. Conclusions: In summary, potential serum biomarkers for OS diagnosis and metastatic prediction were identified based on an analysis of immune cell infiltration. A novel diagnostic model consisting of these four promising serum biomarkers was established. Taken together, the results of this study provide a new perspective by which to understand immunotherapy of OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several flavonoids have been shown to exert anti-osteoporosis activity. However, the structure-activity relationship and the mechanism of anti-osteoporosis activity of flavonoids remain unknown. In this study, we prepared a series of novel homoisoflavonoid (HIF) derivatives to evaluate their inhibitory effects on osteoclastogenesis using TRAP-activity in vitro assay. Then, the preliminary structure-activity relationship was studied. Among the evaluated novel flavonoids, derivative 5g exerted the most inhibitory bioactivity on primary osteoclast differentiation without interfering with osteogenesis. It was hence selected for further in vitro, in vivo and mechanism of action investigation. Results show that 5g likely directly binds to the fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 (FGFR1), decreasing the activation of ERK1/2 and IκBα/NF-κB signaling pathways, which in turn blocks osteoclastogenesis in vitro and osteoclastic bone loss in vivo. Our study shows that homoisoflavonoid (HIF) derivatives 5g can serve as a potential novel candidate for treating osteoporosis via inhibition of FGFR1. [Display omitted] • A series of novel homoisoflavonoid derivatives were prepared for anti-osteoclastic bone loss evaluation. • Discovering lead compound 5g for anti-osteoclastic bone loss in vitro and in vivo. • 5g binds to FGFR1, inactivation of its downstream ERK1/2 and IκBα/NF-κB signaling inhibited RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Methods for selectively determining peroxides in binary mixtures are developed. • Permanganate, Ti-oxalate, ABTS(POD) are selective for H 2 O 2 in mixtures. • The iodide and ABTS(I−) methods are selective for PMS in mixtures. • The DPD(CAT) method is selective for PMS in mixtures with H 2 O 2 but not PDS. • CAT can gradually decompose PMS but not PDS. Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2), peroxymonosulfate (PMS), and peroxydisulfate (PDS) are key bulk oxidants in many advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for treating chemically contaminated water. In some systems these peroxides may coexist in solution either through intentional co-addition or their inadvertent formation (especially H 2 O 2) due to reaction chemistry. While many analytical methods to determine these peroxides individually have been established, mutual interference among the peroxides in such methods has seldom been evaluated, and new methods or variants of established methods to selectively determine peroxides in binary mixtures are lacking. We re-examined five established colorimetric methods—the Permanganate, Titanium Oxalate (Ti-oxalate), Iodide, N.N‑diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD), and 2,20-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate (ABTS) methods—for mutual interference among peroxides and devised variants of these methods for selectively quantifying one peroxide in the presence of another. Hydrogen peroxide can be selectively determined by the Permanganate method at short reaction time; by the Ti-oxalate method; by the DPD method with added peroxidase (POD); or by the ABTS method with added POD. PMS can be selectively determined by the Iodide method; by the DPD or ABTS methods with added iodide ion as catalyst; or by the DPD method with added catalase (CAT) (with co-existing H 2 O 2 but not PDS). The DPD method can be used to determine PDS without interference by H 2 O 2 and—provided the sample is pretreated with l-histidine—without interference by PMS. The recommended methods were successfully applied to binary peroxide mixtures in complex waters, including a tap water and a synthetic water. Overall, the new selective methods will assist mechanistic investigation of AOPs based on these peroxides and support efforts to apply them commercially. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature has a significant impact on the tribological behavior of amorphous carbon films. However, the fundamental question of "the effect of temperature-structure-induced on metastable structural transformation mechanism of amorphous carbon films " is not well understood. This study is conducted to get an insight into the temperature-structure-induced structural transformation of amorphous carbon films. The relevant studies show that the effect of high temperature within a certain threshold on the "sp3-C to sp2-C" and the structural ordering degree changes from inhibition to promotion with amorphous carbon films' density increases, and the structural transformation of high-density amorphous carbon films responds more significantly to temperature changes. The structural ordering degree of amorphous carbon films is promoted when the temperature exceeds a certain threshold. • The effect of temperature on the structural transformation of amorphous carbon films is investigated. • The structural transformation of amorphous carbon films of different structures by temperature are explained. • The effect of temperature on the metastable structural transformation of amorphous carbon films is elucidated. • It clarified the temperature-structure-induced structural transformation of amorphous carbon films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanisms of trap effects are crucial to improving diamond-based transistor electrical performance. Here, the trap effects in hydrogen-terminated diamond metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (HD MOSFETs) are investigated by separating the effects of gate dielectric bulk alumina (BA) and diamond substrate (DS) for the first time. First, the location of traps and their impact on the dynamic drain current are characterized by pulsed ${I}$ – ${V}$ characterization. The dynamic drain current is degraded by traps in both BA and DS. Furthermore, the quiescent-bias-point-dependent trapping effects are studied by different quiescent bias points to reveal the response intensity of these two kinds of traps. Second, to further respectively characterize the effects of traps in the BA and the DS on HD MOSFETs, the threshold voltage (${V}_{\text {th}}$) instability was characterized under negative gate bias stress (NGBS) conditions. Strong gate biases ranging from −4 to −8 V are selected to activate traps in DS. An extraordinary nonmonotonic change in ${V}_{\text {th}}$ is found under the −8 V NGBS condition. Moreover, the corresponding variation in ${V}_{\text {th}}$ is, unexpectedly, smaller than −4 and −6 V NGBS conditions. These phenomena indicate that the detrapping effect in the DS become dominant with increasing stress duration in the variation in ${V}_{\text {th}}$ under an NGBS of −8 V. Finally, based on these results, an improved kinetic model is proposed to separately describe the effects of traps in the BA and the DS. These results are useful for improving the performance of HD MOSFETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells have found their potential applications in the harvest of indoor light photons. However, the output power of such indoor devices is usually far from the demand of the internet of things. Therefore, it is essential to boost the output power of indoor organic photovoltaics to a much higher level. As wildly deployed among industrial and civil luminous environments, thermal radiation-based indoor light sources are alternative candidates to supply the essential power of the off-grid electronics with a broad consecutive emission spectrum. In this work, we evaluated the photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells under indoor incandescent and halogen illuminations. Impressively, under such thermal radiations, an improvement over 500% of the output power density can be achieved in comparison with that under light-emitting diodes and fluorescent lamps, reaching a record high value of 279.1 μW cm−2 by the PM6:Y6-based device. The remarkable power output is originated from the extra near-infrared spectrum of indoor thermal lights, which restricts the effective area under 10 cm2 in achieving 1 mW output power. This work clarifies the feasibility of collecting photons radiated from indoor thermal light sources through OPV cells, and enlightens the further applications of indoor OPV cells under multiple illumination environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the unique plastic deformation behavior of T2 rolled copper foils under ultrasonic impact (UI) and ultrasonic rolling (UR) has been studied systematically. The numerical simulation and test results show that with the decrease of the thickness of copper sheet, the equivalent plastic strain (PEEQ) value and plastic strain εp formed by UI or UR increase exponentially, and its distribution changes from gradient to uniform on the cross section, which is distinctive from the commonly observed gradient structure in ultrasonically treated bulk materials. Correspondingly, characterized by EBSD and TEM, the 100-μm-thick copper foil treated by UR shows the overall strengthening and forming a sub-micron grain structure with significant refinement and uniform distribution on the cross section. The microstructure homogenization of copper foil is attributed to the rigid wall effect facilitating the elastic-plastic stress wave bounce. The exponential increase of PEEQ and εp is explained as that with the decrease of the thickness of ultrasonic object, on the one hand, the acoustic softening and size effect which can reduce the elastic limit of copper foil are enhanced; on the other hand, the plastic deformation mode changes from stress superposition to dynamic impact. Through the establishment of a new theoretical model, the criterion of ultrasonic dynamic impact effect is deduced and verified by experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing interest in exploring the deep-space environment, the problems of health and safety of astronauts' bone induced by microgravity warrants an investigation. Recent studies have discovered that several microRNAs (miRNAs) have played a vital role in osteoblast differentiation and bone formation under microgravity, whereas the in-depth signaling pathway mechanisms are not yet completely understood. Here, we performed the hind limb unloading (HLU) mice model and 3D clinostat-random position machine (RPM) to simulate the effects of microgravity on bone at animal and cellular level, respectively. Firstly, we screened the different expressed miRNAs under simulated microgravity by miRNA sequencing, we then identified the highest different expressed miRNA (miR-138–5p) that was up-regulated under simulated microgravity and inhibited osteoblast differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells. Moreover, we analyzed miR-138's targets during osteogenic differentiation and we found that these targets regulated osteogenic differentiation through Wnt/β-catenin signaling, a key signaling pathway in controlling osteoblast differentiation. The association between miR-138–5p and β-catenin activity was determined by a luciferase reporter assay. Further experiments confirmed that miR-138–5p suppressed β-catenin expression and β-catenin activity. Moreover, β-catenin overexpression attenuated osteoblast differentiation reduction induced by increased miR-138–5p level in miR-138–5p overexpression osteoblastic cells. In addition, inhibition of miR-138–5p counteracted the negative effects of simulated microgravity on osteoblast differentiation and β-catenin expression in MC3T3-E1 cells. Our findings demonstrated that a signaling pathway mechanism of miR-138–5p in regulating osteoblast differentiation under simulated microgravity, which may reveal a novel mechanism for astronauts' bone loss induced by microgravity and provide a potential therapeutic target for disused osteoprosis. • MiR-138–5p is a microgravity-sensitive miRNA. • MiR-138–5p inhibits osteoblast differentiation in MC3T3-E1 cells. • MiR-138–5p inhibits β-catenin expression and β-catenin activity. • Inhibition of miR-138–5p counteracts decrease of osteoblast differentiation induced bysimulated microgravity. • Providing a novel mechanism and a potential therapeutic target for disused osteoprosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative molecule design strategy holds promise for the development of next‐generation acceptor materials for efficient organic solar cells with low non‐radiative energy loss (ΔEnr). In this study, we designed and prepared three novel acceptors, namely BTP‐Biso, BTP‐Bme and BTP‐B, with sterically structured triisopropylbenzene, trimethylbenzene and benzene as side chains inserted into the shoulder of the central core. The progressively enlarged steric hindrance from BTP‐B to BTP‐Bme and BTP‐Biso induces suppressed intramolecular rotation and altered the molecule packing mode in their aggregation states, leading to significant changes in absorption spectra and energy levels. By regulating the intermolecular π–π interactions, BTP‐Bme possesses relatively reduced non‐radiative recombination rate and extended exciton diffusion lengths. The binary device based on PB2 : BTP‐Bme exhibits an impressive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.5 % with a low ΔEnr of 0.19 eV. Furthermore, the ternary device comprising PB2 : PBDB‐TF : BTP‐Bme achieves an outstanding PCE of 19.3 %. The molecule design strategy in this study proposed new perspectives for developing high‐performance acceptors with low ΔEnr in OSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occluded person re‐identification (Re‐ID) is to identify a particular person when the person's body parts are occluded. However, challenges remain in enhancing effective information representation and suppressing background clutter when considering occlusion scenes. This paper proposes a novel attention map‐driven network (AMD‐Net) for occluded person Re‐ID. In AMD‐Net, human parsing labels are introduced to supervise the generation of partial attention maps, while a spatial‐frequency interaction module is suggested to complement the higher‐order semantic information from the frequency domain. Furthermore, a Taylor‐inspired feature filter for mitigating background disturbance and extracting fine‐grained features is proposed. Moreover, a part‐soft triplet loss, which is robust to non‐discriminative body partial features is also designed. Experimental results on Occluded‐Duke, Occluded‐Reid, Market‐1501, and Duke‐MTMC datasets show that this method outperforms existing state‐of‐the‐art methods. The code is available at: https://github.com/ISCLab‐Bistu/SA‐ReID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The curative criteria after endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric carcinoma were updated by the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association. No study has shown promising results with endoscopic submucosal dissection for early adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction based on the new curative criteria. The purpose of this study was to validate clinical efficacy of the application of the curative criteria of the 5th edition Japanese gastric cancer treatment guidelines for early adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction after endoscopic submucosal dissection. Methods: Patients who underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection for Siewert type II adenocarcinoma between January 2013 and June 2018 were eligible for this study. Clinical and pathological features and treatment outcomes were retrospectively reviewed using medical records. Results: The success rate for en-bloc resection was 97.2% (172/177) and the curative resection rate was 71.2% (126/177). Additional endoscopic submucosal dissection or radical surgery was conducted in 10 patients (5.6%) who did not fulfil the curative resection criteria, while one patient with curative resection remedied with endoscopic submucosal dissection because of recurrence. According to eCura scoring system, 94 patients (53.1%) were categorized into eCura A, 34 patients (19.2%) into eCura B, 11 patients (6.2%) into eCura C-1, and 38 patients (21.5%) into eCura C-2. Five patients categorized as eCura C-2 underwent radical surgery, two of whom have lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: Endoscopic submucosal dissection for early adenocarcinoma of esophagogastric junction that met the expanded criteria of the 5th edition Japanese gastric cancer treatment guidelines were acceptable and should be the standard treatment instead of surgical resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal osteoclast differentiation causes various bone disorders such as osteoporosis. Targeting the formation and activation of osteoclasts has been recognized as an effective approach for preventing osteoporosis. Herein, we synthesized eleven 2-NMPA derivatives which are (2-(2-chlorophenoxy)- N -(4-alkoxy-2-morpholinophenyl) acetamides, and evaluated their suppression effects on osteoclastogenesis in vitro by using TRAP-staining assay. Among the synthesized eleven novel 2-NMPAs, 4-(2-(2-chlorophenoxy)acetamido)-3-morpholinophenyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (11b), 4-(2-(2-chlorophenoxy) acetamido)-3-morpholinophenyl-3-(N -(2-oxo-2-((2-(phenylthio) phenyl) amino) ethyl)methylsulfonamido)benzoate (11d), and 4-(2-(2-chlorophenoxy) acetamido)-3-morpholinophenyl 4-acetamidobenzenesulfonate (11h) displayed highly inhibitory bioactivity on the differentiation of primary osteoclasts. 11h was selected for further investigation of the inhibitory effects and potential mechanism involved in the suppression of osteoclastogenesis. In vitro analysis suggested that 11h inhibited osteoclastogenesis with an IC 50 of 358.29 nM, decreased the formation of F-action belts and bone resorption, without interfering cell viability and osteoblast differentiation. Furthermore, the mRNA expressions of osteoclast-specific genes such as Acp5 , Nfatc1 , Dc-stamp , Atp6v0d2 , Mmp9 , and Ctsk significantly decreased following 11h treatment. RANKL-induced osteoclast-specific proteins analysis demonstrated that 11h suppressed osteoclast differentiation by downregulating of RANKL-mediated TRAF6 expression, followed by inactivation of PI3K/AKT and IκBα/NF-κB signaling pathways. Finally, 11h inhibited ovariectomy-induced bone loss in vivo. Therefore, the current work highlighted the therapeutic potential of 11h as an anti-osteoporosis lead compound. [Display omitted] • Thirteen novel 2-NMPA derivatives were synthesized using the late stage functionalization strategy. • 4-(2-(2-Chlorophenoxy)acetamido)-3-morpholinophenyl 4-acetamidobenzene sulfonate (11h) downregulates TRAF6 to inhibit PI3K/AKT and IκBα/NF-κB signaling pathway activation during RANKL-induced osteoclastogenesis. • 11h ameliorated OVX-induced bone loss in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the developments in microwave diamond field‐effect transistor (D‐FET) technologies. Due to the ultrawide‐bandgap and high carrier velocity and thermal conductivity of diamond, it is a potential candidate for microwave power devices with high output power and operating frequency. Here, the properties of semiconductor materials for microwave applications are described. Then, the mechanisms of various diamond FETs are detailed. In recent years, hydrogen‐terminated diamond metal‐oxide‐semiconductor field‐effect transistors (HD MOSFETs) have been widely studied for their potential use in microwave power devices. Therefore, the structures and developments of HD MOSFETs are mainly discussed. Finally, in the prospective application of the HD FET microwave circuit, the state‐of‐the‐art large‐signal modeling of HD MOSFETs is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SnO 2 nanocontainers are synthesized using LBL assembly technology. • pH-sensitive release of the encapsulated molybdate inhibitors is observed. • PDA acts as a multifunctional gatekeeper for the SnO 2 nanocontainer. • Smart epoxy coatings are developed based on the PDA-decorated SnO 2 nanocontainers. • The smart coatings exhibit excellent anti-corrosion and self-healing performance. Polydopamine (PDA), which is a mussel-inspired synthetic polymer, is widely used in surface modification field because of the high potential of the dopamine functional groups. Herein, we develop an SnO 2 nanocontainer and deposit polypyrrole (PPy), molybdate corrosion inhibitors and PDA layers using the layer-by-layer self-assembly technology. Then, the SnO 2 nanocontainer were incorporated into the epoxy coating to improve their corrosion resistance and self-healing ability and realize the active corrosion protection of stainless steels. The XRD, FTIR, TGA and Zeta potential results confirm the deposition of each layer on the surface of the SnO 2 nanocontainer. The FESEM and HRTEM images confirm the formation of the core-shell structures on the SnO 2 nanocontainers. The ICP-MS test indicates the slow-release tendency of the encapsulated molybdate corrosion inhibitors the in neutral environments. Further, the corrosion behaviors of the epoxy-based coatings with/without 10 wt% SnO 2 nanocontainers are evaluated using electrochemical tests in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. Results suggest that epoxy coatings with PDA-decorated SnO 2 nanocontainers exhibit a high corrosion resistance and an excellent self-healing performance. The enhanced anti-corrosion and self-healing properties of the epoxy coatings can be attributed to the deposited PDA layer on the SnO 2 nanocontainer, which serves as a pH-sensitive gatekeeper that can control the on-demand release of the molybdate corrosion inhibitor and promote the reformation of the cracked polymer networks using the dopamine functional groups and iron oxide. Furthermore, various OH groups provided by PDA facilitates the dispersion of the SnO 2 nanocontainers in epoxy coatings. The application of multi-functional dopamine-based gatekeepers will allow more applications with respect to multi-functional intelligent anti-corrosive coating formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Threshold voltage analysis can help reveal the reliability of semiconductor transistors and its underlying mechanism. Herein, negative constant voltage stress (NCVS)-induced threshold voltage instability is studied in hydrogen-terminated diamond metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (HD MOSFETs) with an Al2O3 dielectric layer deposited via atomic layer deposition at 90 °C. An unusual bidirectional shift in threshold voltage (Vth) can be observed with time. When a weak gate NCVS is applied, Vth gradually decreases during the first 500 s but increases in the next 500 s. A similar but opposite phenomenon is observed when the HD MOSFETs are in a recovery stage upon removing the NCVS, i.e., Vth increases in the first 500 s but decreases in the next 4500 s. A kinetic hydrogen motion model shows that this phenomenon can be attributed to the larger characteristic time constant of the unactuated oxygen-dangling bonds (UODBs) compared to that of the traps in the gate dielectric. Consequently, the trapping effect dominates and decreases Vth at the onset of NCVS. After 500 s, the UODB effects can be observed, increasing Vth. In the recovery stage, Vth is larger than the initial value. Further, modified hydrogen kinetic equations accounting for the dynamic effects of UODBs and traps are provided to quantitatively analyze the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The width of cut tobacco strands is an important indicator for physical parameters as well as for the smoking quality. In some countries, cut width helps to distinguish fine-cut tobacco and pipe tobacco and thus differentiates taxation rate. A new method for rapid measurement of the width of cut tobacco strands was developed based on digital image processing, because the method described in ISO 20193, though easy to implement in factories, proved time consuming and generated high testing costs. The essence of this method is to determine the statistic width of incisions. The straight-line segments represent the width of strands of cut tobacco, from which the determination of the width for randomly placed tobacco strands could be achieved. Five kinds of samples ('ISO collaborative study samples 0.4 mm, 1.0 mm, 1.6 mm and 3.0 mm' and 'Guangdong baked 0.9 mm') were used to study the comparability of the measurement results between the method presented in this work and the current ISO method. Results show that accuracy and repeatability are comparable. In addition, the testing efficiency of the method presented in this work appears to be higher than the current ISO method, and it is thus a promising alternative method for measuring the width of strands of cut tobacco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, (Ni 0.2 Cu 0.2 Zn 0.6 O) 1.03 (Fe 2 O 3) 0.97 ferrite ceramics with low microwave loss were synthesized through low-temperature sintering and doped with low eutectic mixture Bi 2 O 3 –CuO. Additionally, the influence of Bi 2 O 3 –CuO doping amount on phase composition, microstructure, and microwave performance of NiCuZn ferrite ceramics was systematically explored. It was found that all samples exhibited pure spinel phase. Moreover, scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that appropriate doping amount of the Bi 2 O 3 –CuO mixture promoted grain growth and densification, leading to dense dual microstructure in NiCuZn ferrite ceramics. Notably, this microstructure significantly enhanced microwave properties of the material. For Bi 2 O 3 –CuO doping amount of 0.5 wt % and at sintering temperature of 910 °C, the NiCuZn ferrite ceramics exhibited low ferromagnetic resonance linewidth (ΔH ≈ 90 Oe), minimal dielectric loss (tan δ ε ≈ 2.73 × 10−4) at 9.3 GHz, and high saturation magnetization (4π Ms ≈ 3644 Gauss). These results highlight the potential of Bi 2 O 3 –CuO as promising sintering aid, which could support the application of NiCuZn ferrite ceramics to microwave devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cross-linked conducting polypyrrole hydrogel (CPH) network is designed for preparing the corrosion-resistant and self-healing epoxy coatings, which are used for the long-term active corrosion control of Mg alloys substrate in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. The encapsulated phytic acid (PA) inhibitors are uniformly distributed in the crosslinked CPH network with an encapsulation amount of 16.77%. The inductively coupled plasma–optical emission spectrometry test indicates that the releasing rate of the PA inhibitors from the crosslinked CPH network rises with the increased pH values, reflecting their pH-responsive feature. Afterward, the epoxy coatings impregnated with various contents of the CPH network are coated on the Mg alloy surface, and their corrosion resistance and self-healing performances are evaluated using electrochemical and immersion tests. Results indicate that the epoxy coatings with 5 wt% CPH displays the most durable corrosion-resistant and self-healing performances with the highest coating resistance (4.39 × 105 Ω cm2) and charge-transfer resistance (8.28 × 105 Ω cm2) values even after 28 days of immersion. The encapsulated PA inhibitors continuously release to the cracked region in response to the local pH variations and react with Mg2+ ions generated from the active corrosion site. Consequently, an Mg-PA protective layer is formed to suppress further corrosion activities. Both the enhanced inherent barrier effect of epoxy coatings, the pH-responsive release behaviors of the PA inhibitors from crosslinked CPH network and the durable anodic protection effect of CPH are beneficial for improving the anti-corrosive performance of the epoxy coatings. It is believed that this kind of crosslinked CPH network will provide a new strategy for designing highly self-healing and anti-corrosive performance of epoxy coatings for the active corrosion control of other metals. [Display omitted] • The crosslinked CPH network is prepared for the active corrosion control system. • pH-sensitive release of encapsulated phytic acid inhibitors is observed. • The Epoxy-5CPH coating exhibits excellent physical barrier and adhesion strength. • The embedded CPH network enhances the corrosion resistance and self-healing effect of coatings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Tannic acid (TA) coating replaces harsh chemical treatment for NF membrane preparation. • TA serves as an intermediary for MXene and PEI LBL self-assembly. • TA facilitates the formation of a high-quality selective layer. • The membrane had a 204.0 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 water permeance and a 99.2% EB rejection. • The membrane had an ultra-high dye/salt separation factor of 758. The traditional layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly method used to prepare nanofiltration (NF) membranes with polyelectrolytes often suffers from low permeability caused by the restricted free volume of the selective layer. Furthermore, substrate surfaces typically require rigorous chemical treatment with potent acids or bases to achieve the necessary charge for adsorbing the initial polyelectrolyte layer. To address these issues, a green and straightforward aqueous immersion method was utilized in this investigation to form a coating of plant polyphenol tannic acid (TA) on the substrate surface. The TA coating served as an intermediary for the LBL self-assembly of negatively charged 2-dimensional material MXene nanosheets and positively charged polyethyleneimine (PEI), resulting in a well-structured NF membrane. By utilizing a 4-bilayer number, 0.05 mg/mL MXene concentration, 1.0 mg/mL PEI concentration, and PEI molecular weight of 1800 g mol−1, an NF membrane with an ultrahigh pure water permeance of 204.0 L m−2 h−1 bar−1 and 99.9% Evans Blue rejection was produced. Furthermore, the membrane possesses an ultra-high dye/salt separation factor of 758.1, surpassing most of the previously reported data. The innovative plant polyphenol-mediated MXene and PEI LBL self-assembly strategy proposed can be applied not only in NF membrane preparation but also in inspiring the design of advanced MXene composite materials for environmental and energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basketball is a high-intensity sport, and sports injuries often occur. Therefore, how to monitor the sports status of basketball players in real time, discover and prevent the occurrence of sports injuries in time, has become an urgent problem for athletes and coaches. In this paper, a motion capture system based on CNN sensor is proposed. Through the application of sensor, real-time monitoring of athletes' motion state, the system can collect athletes' movement track, speed, acceleration, stride frequency, heart rate, energy consumption and other parameters in real time. By analyzing the movement data, it can timely warn and deal with the occurrence of sports injuries. In this paper, convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to process and analyze motion data, so that the motion capture system has higher precision and accuracy. Through the training and optimization of CNN, the system can identify and analyze motion data more accurately, and improve the performance and effect of the motion capture system. The motion capture system based on CNN sensor can realize real-time monitoring and prevention of sports injuries for basketball players, provide more comprehensive, scientific and real-time sports data for athletes and coaches, help them better conduct training and adjust tactics, and improve the competitive level and safety of basketball games. • A motion capture system based on CNN sensor is proposed. • By analyzing the movement data, it can timely warn and deal with the occurrence of sports injuries. • Convolutional neural network is used to process and analyze motion data [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The structural transformation of the amorphous carbon film was investigated. • A combination of experiments and molecular dynamics simulations was employed. • Metastable structural transformation of amorphous carbon film occurs between sp3-C and sp2-C during friction. • Structural transformation and the degree of structural ordering influence tribological performances. The previous experimental research showed that the structure of the amorphous carbon film transformed from sp3-C atom to sp2-C atom after the frictional process. However, due to its metastable characteristics of the amorphous carbon film, whether the transformation can occur from the sp2-C atom to the sp3-C atom during friction is unclear. This study is conducted to get an insight into the effect of frictional load and velocity on the structural transformation of the amorphous carbon film. The relevant results have shown that due to the effect of pressure and shear force, the amorphous carbon film generates sp3-C atoms during the friction process, and this metastable structural transformation recovers with the disappearance of the force. Furthermore, there are differences in the effects of frictional load and velocity on structural transformation. The increased frictional load and velocity inhibit the increase in the proportion of sp2-C atoms, and the structural order of the frictional contact interface is significantly enhanced under a larger frictional load, while the frictional velocity has no obvious effect in this regard. The proportion of sp2-C atoms and the degree of structural order of the friction contact interface in combination affect the tribological performance of the amorphous carbon film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effect of repair welding on the fatigue behavior of AA6082-T6 welded T-joints in marine structures was investigated based on experiments and the fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment in BS7910. Repair welding led to an increase in residual stress and a decline in fatigue life according to fatigue tests and FEA. Meanwhile, repair welding changed the crack initiation site (CIS) and crack shape factor (CSF, the ratio of crack depth a to length 2 c ; i.e., a /2 c), as indicated by fatigue fractography. In addition, when FFS assessment was performed, two methods for characterizing the CSF under different repair welding lengths during fatigue crack growth were presented: fixed and non-fixed a /2 c. The results showed that repair welding led to a transition from ductile fracture to brittle fracture. For a fixed CSF, the critical crack depth and crack opening area of T-joints with repair welding lengths of 30 mm were greatly reduced by 63–66% and 86–89%, respectively, compared to T-joints without repair welding. However, the corresponding reductions for the non-fixed a /2 c method were approximately 40% and 90%. The comparison indicated the results obtained with a non-fixed CSF were more consistent with the experiments, with a deviation below 15%. • The effect of repair welding on the fatigue behavior of T-joints was investigated based on fatigue tests and FEA. • Two methods were used for characterizing crack shape factor (CSF) with different repair welding lengths. • Fitness-for-service (FFS) assessment of T-joints with different repair welding lengths was conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the correlation between the size of a single quantum dot (QD) and its photoluminescence (PL) properties is a challenging task. In the study, we determine the size of each QD by measuring its absorption cross section, which allows for accurate investigation of size-dependent PL blinking mechanisms and volume scaling of the biexciton Auger recombination at the single-particle level. A significant correlation between the blinking mechanism and QD size is observed under low excitation conditions. When the QD size is smaller than their Bohr diameter, single CsPbI3 perovskite QDs tend to exhibit BC-blinking, whereas they tend to exhibit Auger-blinking when the QD size exceeds their Bohr diameter. In addition, by extracting bright-state photons from the PL intensity trajectories, the effects of QD charging and surface defects on the biexcitons are effectively reduced. This allows for a more accurate measurement of the volume scaling of biexciton Auger recombination in weakly confined CsPbI3 perovskite QDs at the single-dot level, revealing a superlinear volume scaling (τXX,Auger ∝ σ1.96). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]