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Gas migration behaviour in saturated, compacted bentonite, especially under rigid-boundary conditions, is controversial. Gas breakthrough phenomena, observed under higher pressure gradient conditions in laboratory experiments, are described in literatures by adopting visco-capillary or dilatancy-controlled flow concept. Since, under rigid-boundary conditions, volumetric expansion is restricted and/or water dissipation is not detected, these concepts cannot be implemented satisfactorily. Instead, a diffusion and solubility-controlled (DSC) flow concept was previously found to be adequate for describing the behaviours at lower temperatures (20 °C). The DSC concept describes gas breakthrough as a function of gas solubility. Breakthrough occurs when concentration of dissolved gas reaches or surpasses the solubility limit in the entire specimen. In this work, the DSC flow concept is applied to validate gas migration and breakthrough experiments conducted at higher temperatures, e.g. 40 and 60 °C. Good agreements are observed between the experimental and predicted results, suggesting that the DSC flow concept can be applied to describe gas migration behaviour satisfactorily in rigidly confined saturated bentonites (under constant volume conditions) for various temperature regimes. Results also show that helium dissolution and diffusion processes in saturated bentonite are sensitive to test temperature and pressure conditions. The processes become more stable with increasing gas injection pressure and ambient temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Meigs' syndrome is a rare gynecological disease characterized by the triad of benign ovarian tumor, ascites, and pleural effusion. Ovarian malignancies should be highly suspected in a postmenopausal woman with a pelvic mass, ascites, hydrothorax, and an elevated carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) level. It can be challenging to make a preoperative diagnosis of Meigs' syndrome. In this report, we present a case of Meigs' syndrome caused by an ovarian fibrothecoma and review the relevant literature to raise awareness and avoid misdiagnosis. Case Presentation: An 82-year-old woman with a 2-week history of abdominal distension was admitted to the Department of Gynecology. Ultrasound and thoracoabdominal computed tomography scans showed a left-sided hypoechoic mass in the pelvic cavity with bilateral pleural effusion and massive ascites. The CA125 concentration was 1040 U/mL (normal, 0– 35 U/mL). With a working diagnosis of ovarian malignancy, the patient underwent ultrasound-guided fine-needle puncture of the pelvic mass and paracentesis to drain the ascites. The fine-needle puncture and paracentesis fluid analysis results revealed that the ascites did not contain any tumor cells, and the pelvic mass was identified as a spindle cell tumor. Immunohistochemistry confirmed that it was a sex-cord stromal tumor. Total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral adnexectomy were performed under general anesthesia. The pathology results confirmed the mass to have been an ovarian fibrothecoma. At the 2-month postoperative follow-up, the ascites and hydrothorax had resolved and not recurred, and the CA125 level was normal. Conclusion: Despite the high suspicion of ovarian carcinoma in postmenopausal women presenting with pelvic mass, ascites, pleural effusion, and elevated CA125, Meigs' syndrome should be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macroalgae have been a key ecological component of marine ecosystems since the Proterozoic period and are common fossil forms in Cambrian Burgess Shale‐type Lagerstätten. However, in most cases, it is difficult to place these early fossil algae into modern groups because little distinctive morphology is preserved. Here, we describe a new form of macroalgae, Qingjiangthallus cystocarpium gen. & sp. nov., from the Qingjiang biota of South China. The new taxon is represented by 546 specimens remarkably preserved with characteristics that allow a phylogenetic placement into crown groups of red algae. Centimeter‐sized thalli resemble members of the extant Rhodymeniophycidae (a subclass of the class Florideophyceae), and hence suggest a florideophycean affinity, which indicates that ahnfeltiophycidaen and rhodymeniophycidaen algae may have diverged at least 518 Ma, accordant with estimations of molecular studies. The presence of possible cystocarps on Qingjiangthallus thalli suggests that evolutionary innovation of a triphasic life cycle in red algae may have occurred no later than the Early Cambrian. The branching patterns and branch width of Qingjiangthallus are consistent with the coarsely dichotomously branched morphogroup, which was previously present in the Ediacaran, Ordovician, and afterward, but absent in the Cambrian. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with osteosarcoma and synchronous lung metastasis (SLM) have poor survival. This study aimed to explore the epidemiology data and construct a predictive nomogram to identify cases at risk of SLM occurrence among pediatric and young adulthood osteosarcoma patients. Methods: All data were extracted from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 17 registries. The age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR) and annual percentage change was evaluated, and reported for the overall population and by age, gender, race, and primary site. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors associated with SLM occurrence, then significant factors were used to develop the nomogram. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and calibration curve were used to evaluated the predictive power of the nomogram. Survival analysis was assessed by the Kaplan-Meier method and the log-rank test. Multivariate Cox analysis was used to determine the prognostic factors. Results: A total of 278 out of 1965 patients (14.1%) presented with SLM at diagnosis. The ASIR increased significant from 0.46 to 0.66 per 1,000,000 person-years from year 2010 to 2019, with an annual percentage change of 3.5, mainly in patients with age 10–19 years, male and appendicular location. All patients were randomly assigned into train cohort and validation cohort with a spilt of 7:3. In the train cohort, higher tumor grade, bigger tumor size, positive lymph nodes and other site-specific metastases (SSM) were identified as significant risk factors associated with SLM occurrence. Then a nomogram was developed based on the four factors. The AUC and calibration curve in both train and validation cohorts demonstrated that the nomogram had moderate predictive power. The median cancer-specific survival was 25 months. Patients with age 20–39 years, male, positive lymph nodes, other SSM were adverse prognostic factors, while surgery was protective factor. Conclusions: This study performed a comprehensive analysis regarding pediatric and young adulthood osteosarcoma patients had SLM. A visual, clinically operable, and easy-to-interpret nomogram model was developed for predicting the risk of SLM, which could be used in clinic and help clinicians make better decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal chemotherapy in glioblastoma patients causes chemoresistance and further limits immune cells by creating an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that are difficult to solve by single‐drug therapeutic approaches. Here, this work designs hybrid drug‐loaded nanoliposomes by co‐loading the chemotherapeutic drug temozolomide (TMZ) and nitric oxide (NO) prodrug JS‐K with sphingosine‐1‐phosphate molecules (S1P) on the surface. The S1P‐S1P receptors axis endows nanoliposomes with rapid targeting and lysosomal escaping capability. Then, fine‐tuned TMZ release and NO gas production following JS‐K release in glioma microenvironment decrease chemoresistance and increase tumor immunogenicity through inhibiting the cellular autophagy as well as inducing mitochondrial dysfunction. RNA sequencing analysis demonstrates that the NO gas generation reprograms glioma microenvironment immune and inflammation‐related pathways. The positive immune response in turn effectively activates the enhanced efficacy of chemotherapy. NO gas generated nanoliposomes thus have attractive paradigm‐shifting applications in the treatment of "cold" tumors across a range of immunosuppressive indications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are crystalline porous polymers with the characteristics of a large specific surface area, controllable pore structures, high stability, and low mass density. Herein, we demonstrate the development of an exogenous coreactant-free electrochemiluminescent sensor based on a hydrazone-linked COF for sensing glucose. We synthesized a TFPPy-DMeTHz-COF with the hydrazone bond as the linkage and 2,5-dimethoxyterephthalohydrazide (DMeTHz) and 1,3,6,8-tetrakis(4-formylphenyl)pyrene (TFPPy) as the monomers. The obtained TFPPy-DMeTHz-COF exhibits high electrochemiluminescence (ECL) efficiency (21.7%) without either the addition of any coreactants or the removal of dissolved O2, and the ECL signal intensity of the TFPPy-DMeTHz-COF is 6.6 and 113-fold higher than those of TFPPy and DMeTHz, respectively. The enhanced ECL emission of the TFPPy-DMeTHz-COF is induced by OH− in PBS, and the ECL signal exhibits linear dependence on the pH value in the range from 3 to 10. When glucose is present, the addition of glucose oxidase (GOx) to the O2-containing solution generates gluconic acid, and the resultant gluconic acid can induce the decrease of the pH value and the quenching of the ECL emission of the TFPPy-DMeTHz-COF. This exogenous coreactant-free electrochemiluminescent sensor exhibits good selectivity, excellent stability, and high sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.031 μM, and it can accurately detect glucose in human serum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigation of thermal effects on gas migration behavior in saturated bentonite materials is of great significance for the assessment of long-term safety and performance efficiency of a deep geological repository. In this study, a self-designed experimental apparatus was employed and the systemic water infiltration and subsequent gas injection experiments were performed on compacted GaoMiaoZi (GMZ) bentonite under temperature-controlled flexible conditions. Results show that both the capillary displacement and gas-induced pathway dilation played important roles for advective movement of gas through compacted bentonite, due to the reduction of water content and increases in specimen volume observed during gas injection tests. Experimental results also reveal that gas transport through saturated bentonite was extremely slow with an effective (apparent) gas permeability ranged from 1.12 × 10−23 to 1.25 × 10−22 m2. The confining pressure effects on the effective gas permeability depend on temperature. As the confining pressure increased from 3 to 7 MPa, the effective gas permeability decreased almost one order of magnitude for bentonite tested at 20 °C, while no obvious influence could be observed for higher temperatures. Meanwhile, at a same confining pressure, the impact of the gas injection pressure on the effective gas permeability could be neglected under lower temperature conditions, while the gas permeability showed a constant decreasing trend with increasing gas injection pressure at temperatures of 40 and 60 °C. This observation could be attributed to the relative importance of diffusional and advective gas fluxes at different temperatures. Moreover, as temperature continuously increased, the dominant mechanism for gas advection would convert from the dilatancy-controlled flow to visco-capillary flow under temperature-controlled flexible conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear entrance and stability of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), the smallest virus in mammals, are crucial for its infection and replication. However, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we found that the PCV2 virion maintains self-stability via the host importin 5 (IPO5) during infection. Coimmunoprecipitation combined with mass spectrometry and glutathione S-transferase pulldown assays showed that the capsid protein (Cap) of PCV2 binds directly to IPO5. Fine identification demonstrated that the N-terminal residue arginine24 of Cap is the most critical to efficient binding to the proline709 residue of IPO5. Detection of replication ability further showed that IPO5 supports PCV2 replication by promoting the nuclear import of incoming PCV2 virions. Knockdown of IPO5 delayed the nuclear transport of incoming PCV2 virions and significantly decreased the intracellular levels of overexpressed PCV2 Cap, which was reversed by treatment with a proteasome inhibitor or by rescuing IPO5 expression. Cycloheximide treatment showed that IPO5 increases the stability of the PCV2 Cap protein. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that during infection, IPO5 facilitates PCV2 replication by directly binding to the nuclear localization signal of Cap to block proteasome degradation. IMPORTANCE Circovirus is the smallest virus to cause immune suppression in pigs. The capsid protein (Cap) is the only viral structural protein that is closely related to viral infection. The nuclear entry and stability of Cap are necessary for PCV2 replication. However, the molecular mechanism maintaining the stability of Cap during nuclear trafficking of PCV2 is unknown. Here, we report that IPO5 aggregates within the nuclear periphery and combines with incoming PCV2 capsids to promote their nuclear entry. Concurrently, IPO5 inhibits the degradation of newly synthesized Cap protein, which facilitates the synthesis of virus proteins and virus replication. These findings highlight a mechanism whereby IPO5 plays a dual role in PCV2 infection, which not only enriches our understanding of the virus replication cycle but also lays the foundation for the subsequent development of antiviral drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species of the genus Oreolalax displayed crucial morphological characteristics of vertebrates transitioning from aquatic to terrestrial habitats; thus, they can be regarded as a representative vertebrate genus for this landing phenomenon. But the present phylogenetic status of Oreolalax omeimontis has been controversial with morphological and molecular approaches, and specific gene rearrangements were discovered in all six published Oreolalax mitogenomes, which are rarely observed in Archaeobatrachia. Therefore, this study determined the complete mitogenome of O. omeimontis with the aim of identifying its precise phylogenetic position and novel gene arrangement in Archaeobatrachia. Phylogenetic analysis with Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood indicates O. omeimontis is a sister group to O. lichuanensis, which is consistent with previous phylogenetic analysis based on morphological characteristics, but contrasts with other studies using multiple gene fragments. Moreover, although the duplication of trnM occurred in all seven Oreolalax species, the translocation of trnQ and trnM occurred differently in O. omeimontis to the other six, and this unique rearrangement would happen after the speciation of O. omeimontis. In general, this study sheds new light on the phylogenetic relationships and gene rearrangements of Archaeobatrachia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the increasing coverage of antiretroviral therapy, concerns for the emergence and transmission of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) are arising. HIVDR was divided into 5 levels: sensitive, potentially resistant, low resistant, intermediate resistant, and high resistant. Most of the articles on HIVDR involved low-level, intermediate-level, and high-level drug resistance to antiretroviral drug, and few articles deal with potential drug resistance. Treatment failure associated with the level of low-level, intermediate-level, and high-level resistance to antiretroviral drug has been reported. However, whether virological failure (VF) is related to potential resistance remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to describe the situation of potential resistance to antiretroviral drug and whether it is related to VF. Methods: We analyzed the demographic, behavioral information, medical history, and drug resistance–associated mutation data from subjects. Drug resistance mutations at baseline and time of failure in patients suffering VF were detected by using the Vela automated next-generation sequencing platform. The χ2 test or Fisher exact test and logistic regression were used to assess the risk factors that contribute to VF in the potential drug-resistant people. Results: The prevalence of overall pretreatment drug resistance was 7.06% (233/3300), and the prevalence of pretreatment potential resistance was 8.79% (290/3300). All these patients with pretreatment potential first-line drugs resistance showed potential resistance to nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), and some of them had potential drug resistance to NNRTIs and NRTIs or NNRTIs and PIs; among these patients, 94.71% (179/189) had V179 D/E mutations. The VF rate of first-line treatment for potentially resistant people is 17.99%. CD4+ T-cell count ≤200 cells/L at antiretroviral therapy initiation are risk factors for the failure of first-line treatment. Conclusions: The prevalence of potential drug resistance among individuals with HIV and the VF rate of first-line treatment for potential drug-resistant people were high. To better optimize clinical management, prevention, and control of HIV, attention should be devoted to the potential resistance of nonnucleoside drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acoustic array bunching is an effective method to realize the directional radiation of underwater plasma sound source (UPSS). The prebreakdown time is one of the decisive factors for the performance of acoustic array bunching. The working characteristics of the underwater plasma sound source and the prebreakdown process of underwater plasma arc discharge are deeply analyzed. The precondition of plasma sound source array bunching is given by analyzing the waveforms of electrical signals and acoustic signals. Through the experiments of arc discharge based on different aqueous solutions, a feasible scheme of underwater plasma sound source array bunching in salt water is proposed. Through the arc discharge experiments based on different system discharge parameters, the variation of prebreakdown time under the influence of different charging voltage, conductivity, and other parameters was studied. The experimental results show that the prebreakdown time decreases with the increase of charging voltage and conductivity. At the same time, the discharge current increases, the oscillation time decreases, and the energy injection rate on the electrode accelerates. The research results are helpful to understand the prebreakdown mechanism of plasma sound source and optimize the underwater plasma sound source array bunching scheme and the acoustic shock wave waveform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Duplicated control regions have been reported several times in the tree frog family Rhacophoridae, and previous studies have mostly relied on sequence analysis to reconstruct their evolution. This is the first study to employ a phylogenetic method to demonstrate the existence of concerted and parallel evolution succinctly and intuitively in the duplicated control regions of the family Rhacophoridae. Phylogenetic relationships were also used to illustrate the parallel evolution of ATP8 loss of function in the genus Polypedates. In general, this study elucidated the evolutionary patterns and pathways of mitochondrial gene rearrangement of the family Rhacophoridae from a phylogenetic perspective, which aids in understanding the evolutionary history of this fascinating tree frog taxon from a molecular evolution standpoint. New developments in sequencing technology and nucleotide analysis have allowed us to make great advances in reconstructing anuran phylogeny. As a clade of representative amphibians that have radiated from aquatic to arboreal habitats, our understanding of the systematic status and molecular biology of rhacophorid tree frogs is still limited. We determined two new mitogenomes for the genus Polypedates (Rhacophoridae): P. impresus and P. mutus. We conducted comparative and phylogenetic analyses using our data and seven other rhacophorid mitogenomes. The mitogenomes of the genera Polypedates, Buergeria, and Zhangixalus were almost identical, except that the ATP8 gene in Polypedates had become a non-coding region; Buergeria maintained the legacy "LTPF" tRNA gene cluster compared to the novel "TLPF" order in the other two genera; and B. buergeri and Z. dennysi had no control region (CR) duplication. The resulting phylogenetic relationship supporting the above gene rearrangement pathway suggested parallel evolution of ATP8 gene loss of function (LoF) in Polypedates and CR duplication with concerted evolution of paralogous CRs in rhacophorids. Finally, conflicting topologies in the phylograms of 185 species reflected the advantages of phylogenetic analyses using multiple loci. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring cost-effective and highly active electrocatalysts is of great significance for sustainable electrochemical NH3 synthesis. Palladium (Pd)-based catalysts have been unanimously considered as one of the most efficient catalysts for the nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR). Herein, self-supported mesoporous Pd film with partial oxidation on Ni foam (mPd-PdO/NF) was synthesized through the micelle-assisted chemical replacement method coupled with air oxidation under 260 °C, and the mPd-PdO/NF electrocatalyst exhibited superior NRR performance with the maximum values of r NH3 (24.8 mg hâˆ'1 mgcat.âˆ'1) and FE (16.64%) were obtained at âˆ'0.1 V, relative to the single counterparts (mPd/NF and mPdO/NF). It is proposed that both metallic Pd and its oxide domains when co-existing with a phase boundary between them can facilitate nitrogen activation and hydrogenation, resulting in an enhanced NRR performance. This work provides an inspiring strategy for the rational design of highly active and durable metalâ€"metalâ€"oxide nanoarchitectonics for ammonia electrosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To ensure the long-term safety and performance efficiency of a deep geological repository for disposal of high-level radioactive waste, understanding and assessment of gas migration behaviour in its engineered barrier system are of significant importance. In this study, a coupled gas transport model is utilised to simulate and to analyse a series of gas injection/breakthrough experiments on saturated bentonite under rigid boundary or constant volume conditions. To explain the laboratory gas migration and breakthrough results, a diffusion and solubility-controlled gas transport mechanism, instead of controversial visco-capillary flow or dilatancy-controlled flow mechanisms, is implemented in the model. The aim is to examine the extent to which this mechanism can describe helium migration and breakthrough behaviours in rigidly confined, saturated bentonite specimens. The predicted results are found to be in good agreement, both qualitatively and quantitatively, with the observed experimental results indicating the adequacy of this mechanism to describe the transport processes. The model represents the gas breakthrough phenomenon as a function of gas solubility. When the dissolved concentration of the injected gas reaches the maximum soluble concentration in the entire porewater domain, gas breakthrough occurs. Since, the system reaches a steady state and no further gas can be dissolved in the rigidly confined specimens, any injected/dissolved gas must be equated by the amount dissipated to comply with the principle of mass conservation. The maximum solution concentrations of helium are predicted to be 2.01 × 10–5, 7.75 × 10–5, 1.07 × 10–4 mol/L for GMZ bentonite specimens with dry densities of 1.3, 1.5 and 1.7 g/cm3, respectively. The analysis of the injection pressure effects on gas migration behaviour revealed that, if sufficient time is permitted, gas breakthrough may occur at pressures lower than the laboratory observed injection pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a simple absorber composed of a Fabry–Pérot (FP) cavity and an array of an Au nanodisk is investigated via the temporal coupled-mode theory and numerical simulations, which enable perfect narrow-band absorption in the visible and near-infrared regions. The absorption of the optimized structure exceeds 99.9% at specific wavelengths, which is primarily attributed to the critical coupling between the FP cavity and the Au nanodisk array. Moreover, by modulating the length of the FP cavity, perfect absorption of multiple narrowbands is achieved. Compared with other results, the hybrid structure has the advantages of high efficiency and tunable multiple narrowband absorption in both visible and near-infrared wavebands, as well as excellent angular tolerance. We argue that this hybrid structure provides a promising route to utilize the FP cavity for designing multiple narrow-band absorbers, which can be used as optical filters, thermophotovoltaics, and biosensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agglomeration of fine particles, particularly PM2.5, into larger particles, has been a pivotal focus in the battle against atmospheric haze, garnering significant attention in regions addressing this challenge. In this study, a molecular dynamics (MD) simulations-based approach was proposed for the rapid screening of chemical agents and optimal operating conditions for the improved agglomeration of particulate matter in coal-fired power plants. Our findings reveal a distinct hierarchy in agglomeration effectiveness of chemical agents, with the following order: glucose/mannose > carboxylic acid (-COOH-) > nitrate (-ONO 2) > hydroxyl (-OH) > ester (-COOC-) > aldehyde (-CHO). Additionally, an exploration delves into fifteen water-soluble polymers, including soluble starch, carboxyl methylcellulose, etc. Remarkably, soluble starch emerges as the most promising agent for the agglomeration of fine particles. Through analyses of interaction energy and the Radial Distribution Function, it is evident that neutral conditions and a temperature at 378 K offer the most conducive environment for chemical agglomeration. Empirical experiments confirmed the outstanding performance of soluble starch in the agglomeration of fine particulate matter, resulting in the excellent fine particles agglomeration performance. [Display omitted] • A novel approach fusing MD simulations and tests for agglomeration agent evaluation. • Effectiveness ranking of chemical agglomerant functional groups was obtained. • The study identifies soluble starch and XTG as highly promising agglomerating agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A calculation method for the design of a new earthquake-resilient semi-rigid joint was proposed, and its accuracy was verified through cyclic loading tests. Finite element model analysis was performed to investigate the energy dissipation capacity of the new joint. The deformation characteristics, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness of energy dissipators with different shapes and lengths were compared. Subsequently, the computational method was improved. The parametric analysis results revealed the excellent seismic performance of the joint; the energy dissipator dissipated more than 75% of the energy. Furthermore, we assessed the influence of the area, shape, and length of the energy dissipators on their energy dissipation capacity. Increasing β (the ratio of the flange to web area in the energy-dissipating core area) and γ (the slenderness ratio of the energy-dissipating core area) resulted in an initial rise in the energy dissipation capacity followed by a decrease. The recommended values for β and γ are 0.67 and 7.71–9.21, respectively. • Novel beam-column joints with recoverable function are proposed, their seismic performance is verified through tests. • A simple and effective method for calculating the load carrying capacity of joints is proposed. • Provide suggested cross-section shapes and length intervals for energy dissipators after finite element analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play a critical role in innate and adaptive immune responses. Thus, we aimed to identify ideal subtypes for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) based on immune-related lncRNAs. Methods: TCGA HNSCC cohort was divided into two datasets (training and validation dataset), and 960 previously characterized immune-related lncRNAs were extracted for non-negative matrix factorization analysis. We characterized our HNSCC subtypes based on biological behaviors, immune landscape and response to immunotherapy in both training and validation cohort. A lncRNA-signature was generated to predict our HNSCC subtypes, and essential lncRNAs involved in tumor microenvironment (TME) were identified. Results: We developed and validated two HNSCC subtypes (C1 and C2) based on the 70 lncRNAs in the training and validation cohort. C2 subtype displayed good prognosis, high immune cell infiltration, immune-related genes expression and sensitivity to PD-1 blockade. C1 subtype was associated with high activity of mTORC1 signaling and glycolysis as well as high fraction of inactive immune cells. Finally, we generated a 31-lncRNA signature that could predict our above subtypes with high accurate. Additionally, TRG-AS1 was identified as the essential lncRNA involving TME formation. Knockdown of TRG-AS1 inhibited the expression of HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11. High expression of TRG-AS1 indicated a favorable prognosis in HNSCC and anti-PD-L1 cohort (IMvigor210). Conclusions: Our study establishes a novel HNSCC classification on the basis of 31-lncRNA, helping to identify beneficiaries for anti-PD-1 treatment. In addition, a critical lncRNA TRG-AS1 is identified as a new potential prognosis biomarker as well as therapeutic target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. Urine is an easily obtained clinical sample that has been widely applied for diagnostic purposes. However, changes in the urinary proteome during T. gondii infection have never been investigated. Methods: Twenty four-hour urine samples were obtained from BALB/c mice with acute infection [11 days post infection (DPI)], mice with chronic infection (35 DPI) and healthy controls, and were analyzed using a label-free liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Results: We identified a total of 13,414 peptides on 1802 proteins, of which 169 and 47 proteins were significantly differentially expressed at acute and chronic infection phases, respectively. Clustering analysis revealed obvious differences in proteome profiles among all groups. Gene ontology analysis showed that a large number of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) detected in acute infection were associated with biological binding activity and single-organism processes. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the majority of these DEPs were involved in disease-related and metabolic pathways. Conclusions: Our findings revealed global reprogramming of the urine proteome following T.gondii infection, and data obtained in this study will enhance our understanding of the host responses to T. gondii infection and lead to the identification of new diagnostic biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic resonance can detect weak periodic signals from strong background noise without loss of signal energy. However, the classical bistable stochastic resonance has the inherent output saturation defect, which limits the detection performance of system. And it is more difficult to detect signal with strong background noise. In this article, we constructed improved unsaturated bistable stochastic resonance to overcome this shortcoming. The improved bistable potential function makes the output signal more easily oscillate in two potential wells. To improve the stability and the accuracy of the method, we further propose an adaptive improved unsaturated bistable stochastic resonance (AIUBSR) by constructing a synthetic index (SI). The SI combines zero‐crossing ratio and structural correlation coefficient, which can measure the periodicity of output signal and the accuracy of detective frequency at the same time. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations show that the proposed AIUBSR can have good weak signal detection capability in strong background noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While numerous studies have evaluated the real-world performance of rapid antigen tests (RATs), data on the effect of Omicron sublineages such as XBB and reinfections on RAT performance is limited. We assessed the performance of RATs and factors associated with RAT-negative results among individuals who tested SARS-CoV-2-positive by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Methods: We conducted a retrospective study among Singapore residents who underwent testing for SARS-CoV-2 with RAT (Acon Flowflex or SD Biosensor) and RT-PCR in the same clinical encounter between 9 May 2022 and 21 November 2022. RT-PCR served as a reference standard for RAT performance. Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (OR) of factors associated with negative RAT results among RT-PCR-positive cases. Results: Of 8,620 clinical encounters analysed, 3,519 (40.8%) were SARS-CoV-2-positive on RT-PCR. Overall sensitivity and specificity of RAT was 84.6% (95% CI 83.3–85.7%) and 99.4% (95% CI 99.1–99.6%) respectively. Acon Flowflex consistently achieved higher sensitivity and specificity than SD Biosensor test kit. Among RT-PCR-positive cases, individuals who had a previous documented SARS-CoV-2 infection, coinfection with another respiratory pathogen or tested ≥ 6 days from symptom onset had higher odds of testing RAT-negative, but the associations were attenuated after adjustment for cycle threshold values (proxy for viral load). There was no significant difference in RAT performance between Omicron sublineages BA.2, BA.5 and XBB.1. Conclusion: Diagnostic performance of RAT was not affected by changes in predominant circulating Omicron sublineages. However, reinfection cases may be under ascertained by RAT. In individuals with a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection episode or symptom onset ≥ 6 days prior to testing, a confirmatory RT-PCR may be considered if there is high clinical suspicion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at risk for occupationally acquired Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection and tuberculosis (TB) disease due to repeated exposure to workplace tubercle bacilli. To determine whether continual mycobacterial stimulation correlates with increased expression of inhibitory T cell receptors, here we compared PD-1 receptor expression on surfaces of circulating T cells between naïve (uninfected) HCWs and HCWs with latent TB infection (LTBI). Result: Data collected from 133 medical workers who met study selection criteria were included in the final analysis. QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-​Tube (QFT-GIT) testing yielded positive results for 32 HCWs, for an overall LTBI rate of 24.1%. Multivariate analysis identified HCW length of service > 15 years as an independent risk factor for a positive QFT-GIT result. In addition, comparisons of blood T cell subgroup profiles between QFT- and QFT+ groups indicated QFT+ subjects possessed greater proportions of mature (TM), transitional memory (TTM) and effector memory (TEM) CD4+ T cell subgroups and lower proportions of naïve T cells (TN). Moreover, the QFT+ group percentage of CD8+ T cells with detectable surface PD-1 was significantly higher than the corresponding percentage for the QFT- group. Meanwhile, no statistical intergroup difference was observed in percentages of CD4+ T cells with detectible surface PD-1. Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that upregulated PD-1 expression on circulating CD8+, but not CD4+ T cells, was associated with latent TB infection of HCWs. As compared to other hospitals, occupational TB infection risk in our hospital was substantially mitigated by implementation of multitiered infection control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. Urine is an easily obtained clinical sample that has been widely applied for diagnostic purposes. However, changes in the urinary proteome during T. gondii infection have never been investigated. Methods: Twenty four-hour urine samples were obtained from BALB/c mice with acute infection [11 days post infection (DPI)], mice with chronic infection (35 DPI) and healthy controls, and were analyzed using a label-free liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Results: We identified a total of 13,414 peptides on 1802 proteins, of which 169 and 47 proteins were significantly differentially expressed at acute and chronic infection phases, respectively. Clustering analysis revealed obvious differences in proteome profiles among all groups. Gene ontology analysis showed that a large number of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) detected in acute infection were associated with biological binding activity and single-organism processes. KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the majority of these DEPs were involved in disease-related and metabolic pathways. Conclusions: Our findings revealed global reprogramming of the urine proteome following T.gondii infection, and data obtained in this study will enhance our understanding of the host responses to T. gondii infection and lead to the identification of new diagnostic biomarkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of mobile terminal devices, mobile user activities can be carried out anytime and anywhere through various mobile terminals. The current research on mobile communication network is mainly focused on extracting useful and interesting information for mobile user from massive and disordered information. However, the sparsity of scoring data matrix results in low quality of recommendation algorithm. In order to overcome this drawback, the traditional collaborative filtering algorithm is improved. First, the user-interest matrix and item-feature matrix were obtained by analyzing mobile user behavior and item attributes. Fuzzy trust based model is utilized for collaborative filtering analysis for mobile user preferences. Then, the similarity between different mobile users was calculated by weighted calculation. With this method, mobile user preference can be predicted effectively, making it possible to recommend rational resource and waste less time in extracting resources out of the massive information. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm reduces the mean absolute error (MAE) and the impact of sparse scoring matrix data compared with the traditional collaborative filtering algorithm, and improves the recommendation effect to a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obesity is defined as an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, and it is a serious risk factor of non-communicable diseases. Recently many studies have shown that promoting browning of white adipose tissue (WAT) to increase energy consumption has a great therapeutic potential for obesity. Sesamol, a lignan from sesame oil, had shown potential beneficial functions on obesity treatment. Objective: In this study, we used C57BL/6J mice and 3T3-L1 adipocytes to investigate the effects and the fundamental mechanisms of sesamol in enhancing the browning of white adipocytes to ameliorate obesity. Methods: Sixteen-week-old C57BL/6J male mice were fed high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks to establish the obesity models. Half of the obese mice were administered with sesamol (100 mg/kg body weight [b.w.]/day [d] by gavage for another 8 weeks. Triacylglycerol (TG) and total cholesterol assay kits were used to quantify serum TG and total cholesterol (TC). Oil red O staining was used to detect lipid droplet in vitro. Mito-Tracker Green was used to detect the mitochondrial content. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect the levels of beige-specific genes. Immunoblotting was used to detect the proteins involved in beige adipocytes formation. Results: Sesamol decreased the content of body fat and suppressed lipid accumulation in HFD-induced obese mice. In addition, sesamol significantly upregulated uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) protein in adipose tissue. Further research found that sesamol also significantly activated the browning program in mature 3T3-L1 adipocytes, manifested by the increase in beige-specific genes and proteins. Moreover, sesamol greatly increased mitochondrial biogenesis, as proved by the upregulated protein levels of mitochondrial biogenesis, and the inhibition of the proteins associated with mitophagy. Furthermore, β3-adrenergic receptor (β3-AR), protein kinase A-C (PKA-C) and Phospho-protein kinase A (p-PKA) substrate were elevated by sesamol, and these effects were abolished by the pretreatment of antagonists β3-AR. Conclusion: Sesamol promoted browning of white adipocytes by inducing mitochondrial biogenesis and inhibiting mitophagy through the β3-AR/PKA pathway. This preclinical data promised the potential to consider sesamol as a metabolic modulator of HFD-induced obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a reliable technique for cancer detection, with the potential to improve accuracy in identifying cancerous tissue through effective use of OCT image data. We proposed an optimized depth resolution estimation based optical attenuation coefficient (OAC) mapping method to reduce the error effect caused by discretization without considering whether the light is completely attenuated or not. The attenuation coefficient maps of gastric tissue were reconstructed using this method. Features were extracted from these maps using gray-level co-occurrence matrix and gray histogram, and a support vector machine was employed as a classifier for identifying gastric cancer tissues. The recognition accuracy achieved was 98.60%, which was higher than the 94.30% accuracy in the control group without OACs. This approach enhances the utilization of OCT image information and improves its practical application ability by increasing the recognition accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate for the first time the construction of a low background electrochemical biosensor with tandem signal amplification for sensitive microRNA assay based on target-activated catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) of heteroduplex-templated copper nanoparticles. This electrochemical biosensor exhibits high sensitivity, good specificity, single-base mismatch discrimination capability, excellent stability and reproducibility, and it can sensitively detect microRNA in cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing multifunctional materials with oil/water separation, dye adsorption, and antibacterial activities presents an enticing prospect for wastewater treatment. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) porous cellulose (CE)/quaternized cellulose (QCE) composite aerogel with super-wettability through co-deposition of polydopamine (PDA) and polyethylenimine (PEI) is reported. The PDA/PEI coating endows the aerogel with superhydrophilicity (WCA = 0°), and the QCE act as an anionic dye sorbent at the same time, endowing the material with antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli). Oil/water mixtures can be separated on an as-prepared aerogel with high efficiency (>99%), even when the filtration was repeated 10 times, and the as-prepared aerogel can also separate oil-in-water emulsions. Moreover, the as-prepared aerogel exhibited excellent adsorption performance for alizarin red, with a calculated maximum adsorption capacity of 454.545 mg g−1. Besides, our modification also endowed the aerogel with antibacterial and anti-oil-fouling activities. The inhibition zone test verified the efficient elimination of E. coli. This work may open a new avenue for designing versatile aerogel with multiple functions for waste water remediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dual‐loop wet flue gas desulfurization spray tower (DLST) is particularly suitable for achieving "ultralow" emission of SO2 for high‐sulfur coal‐fired power plants. The separator is the key piece of equipment for the DLST. In this study, to overcome the disadvantages of a traditional bowl separator, novel groove separators are proposed and compared with the traditional separator. The effects of different separators on the flue gas flow characteristic, slurry droplet distribution, mass transfer resistance, and desulfurization efficiency were analyzed through numerical simulation based on the Euler–Lagrange method and two‐film theory. The results show that, compared with the traditional bowl separator, the proposed groove separator can improve the uniformity of the gas–liquid flow field in the upper loop, increase the liquid‐film side mass transfer rate significantly, eliminate the empty spaces caused by the high‐speed bypass flue gas, and avoid the "flooding" phenomenon completely. Therefore, the resistance losses caused by the separator can be reduced, the desulfurization efficiency can also be improved by adopting the novel groove separators, and the lower the liquid‐to‐gas ratio, the more obvious the increase in desulfurization efficiency. In general, the advantages of the novel groove separators over the traditional bowl separator are obvious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latent friend recommendation in online social media is interesting, yet challenging, because the user-item ratings and the user–user relationships are both sparse. In this paper, we propose a new dual implicit mining-based latent friend recommendation model that simultaneously considers the implicit interest topics of users and the implicit link relationships between the users in the local topic cliques. Specifically, we first propose an algorithm called all reviews from a user and all tags from their corresponding items to learn the implicit interest topics of the users and their corresponding topic weights, then compute the user interest topic similarity using a symmetric Jensen–Shannon divergence. After that, we adopt the proposed weighted local random walk with restart algorithm to analyze the implicit link relationships between the users in the local topic cliques and calculate the weighted link relationship similarity between the users. Combining the user interest topic similarity with the weighted link relationship similarity in a unified way, we get the final latent friend recommendation list. The experiments on real-world datasets demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art latent friend recommendation methods under four different types of evaluation metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA has been considered an ideal raw material to build nanostructures. However, the majority of known DNA branched polyhedra are composed of multiple components. In this research, we propose a rational approach to design and analyze DNA Platonic branched polyhedra with two components according to the topological view. The results show that the fragments number and the strand configurations give a great impact on the minimal number of components. Insights from our research can provide practical benefits for the design and synthesis of DNA polyhedra or other highly complex polyhedral structures in labs. • Two DNA fragments are designed to reduce component number. • The component number is reduced further from the aspect of topological view. • DNA Platonic polyhedra with two kinds of component are designed and analyzed. • Our results can provide practical benefits for the design and synthesis of DNA polyhedra or other polyhedral structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrate for the first time that host–guest recognition coupled with triple signal amplification endows an electrochemiluminescent (ECL) biosensor with enhanced sensitivity for uracil DNA glycosylase (UDG) assay. This biosensor exhibits good selectivity and extremely high sensitivity, and it can be used to screen UDG inhibitors and measure the cellular UDG activity as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging edge computing has seen latency- sensitive services moving rapidly from cloud to the edge to take advantage of its close vicinity to end users, while cloud is retained for carrying out latency-insensitive and computation-intensive tasks. When more edge computing service providers come to the market, the network will become increasingly more fragmented because of their proprietary services and policies deployed in the network. This means that the Internet can become more cumbersome and riskier as there will be more tiers and potential vulnerabilities that could be exploited. To tackle this issue, we envisage a federated service chaining paradigm in which operators can share and put service functions in other participants' networks so as to improve resource utilization, collaboratively mitigate cyber threats, and enable service innovations. In this position article, building on our past experience in enabling federated cloud infrastructure and heterogeneous service chaining, we present a Federated Service Chaining architecture followed by discussions of its key components. Several key research challenges are described for the successful realization of such architecture. We hope this article can open a discussion in the research community and generate enough research interest to significantly advance this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A three dimensional semi-rigid coordination polymer {Cd3(OH){cpta}2(bpe)2(H2O)·xSolvents}n (1) was solvothermal synthesized with a V-shaped semi-rigid carboxylic acid, H3cpta = 3-(3-carboxyphenoxy)phthalic acid (H3cpta) and auxiliary ligand, 1,2-di(pyridin-4-yl)ethene (bpe). Single crystal X-ray analysis shows that 1 features a P-1 space group with three crystal independent Cd(II) ions, which are connected by carboxylate ligands and auxiliary ligand. There is a porous metal–organic layer subunit constructed by carboxylate ligands and Cd ions, which shows porous coordination polymers could be synthesized by this type of semi-rigid organic spacers. However, reactions without auxiliary ligands were also investigated, but no product was obtained, which shows N-contained auxiliary ligands show important templates in the solvothermal synthesis condition of the semi-rigid coordination polymers. Besides, the luminescent and thermal properties were also studied. The CCDC number of 1 is 1894883. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitric oxide (NO) is an endogenous gas with several physiological activities. Owing to the NO physiological functions, such as inhibition of platelet aggregation and adhesion, vascular muscle relaxation, modulation of inflammation and immune response, antibacterial and anticancer activity, increasing attensions have been paid to the development of biomaterials with the ability to release this medical gas. Nowadays, numerous prodrugs have been developed to release NO in vivo. However, due to the low payloads and non-controlled delivery of the prodrug, the NO-releasing devices do not fulfil the expectations, which restricts their widespread application. Recently, several methods have been proposed to address the issue above, including physical and chemical methods and specific designs. This review aims to briefly introduce the latest achievements with recent 3 years involving coatings which mimic the vascular endothelium to treat atherosclerosis, nanocarriers which generate NO for a sustained anticancer treatment, and a framework which modifies the prodrug as a stable cardiovascular stent or as an anticancer targeted drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new oxidovanadium(V) complex, [VOL(OCH3)(CH3OH)] (1), was prepared from N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)-3,5-dimethoxybenzohydrazide (H2L). Reaction of 1 with ethyl maltol (HL') in methanol afforded the new oxidovanadium(V) complex, [VOLL'] (2). The complexes were characterized by IR, UV and 1H NMR spectra. Structures of the complexes were further confirmed by single crystal X-ray determination. The V ions in the complexes are octahedral. The hydrazone ligands coordinate to V through the phenolate O, imino N, and enolate O. The ethyl maltolate ligand coordinates to V through the carbonyl and hydroxy oxygens. Both complexes show effective antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. Thermogravimetric analysis was also performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new VV complexes with the bromo-substituted hydrazones N'-(3-bromo-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-3-hydroxy- 4-methoxybenzohydrazide (H2L¹), N'-(3-bromo-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-3,5-dimethoxybenzohydrazide (H2L2), [VOL¹(OCH3)(CH3OH)] (1) and [VOL²(OCH3)(CH3OH)] (2), were synthesized and structurally characterized by IR, UV-Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy, as well as single-crystal X-ray determination. The V atom in the mononuclear complexes are six-coordinated in octahedral geometry. The free hydrazones and the complexes were studied on their antibacterial activity on S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli and P. fluorescence, and antifungal activity on C. albicans and A. niger. The bromo groups of the hydrazone ligands may increase their antibacterial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the gas migration mechanism in an initially saturated bentonite is of great importance for evaluation of the long-term performance of a deep geological repository for disposal of high-level radioactive wastes. Previous researches usually neglect the gas diffusion process, but adopted the advective gas flow theory (visco-capillary flow or dilatant gas flow) to describe the gas transport in the initially water-saturated bentonite clays. In this study, gas migration process was regarded as results of a combination of diffusive transport of dissolved gas through pore water and advective flow along the gas pathways formed in the bentonite matrix. Meanwhile, dilation of the gas flow pathways with variation of the external stress and gas pressure during the advective flow was also considered. Based on this concept, a new model was proposed to describe the advective and diffusive gas transports with consideration of temperature. Validation was conducted using the gas injection tests performed under different boundary conditions in literature. Comparisons show that the diffusion and advection-controlled process provided by the proposed model can effectively simulate gas transport in the compacted GMZ bentonite. For gas migration under lower injection pressures, the contributions of advective gas flow to the gas flux are comparable to that of diffusion. With the increase of the injection pressure, the advective gas fluxes would gradually dominate over the diffusive transport. Meanwhile, predicted degree of saturation of the compacted bentonite is maintained at above 99% during the whole gas migration process, indicating that advective movement of gas was highly discrete in initially saturated bentonite. • Gas migration process was regarded as a combination of diffusive and advective gas flow. • Flow paths dilate with variations of the external stress and gas pressure applied. • A model was proposed to describe the advective and diffusive gas transport with consideration of temperature. • Advective gas flux would gradually dominate over the diffusive transport with increasing injection pressure. • The advective movement of gas was highly discrete in an initially saturated bentonite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new linear trinuclear Schiff base nickel(II) complex, [Ni{NiL(μ2-η¹:η¹-OAc)(OH2)}2]·H2O, where L is the dianionic form of N,N'-bis(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzylidene)-1,3-propanediamine (H2L), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, and X-ray single-crystal determination. There are three bridges across the Ni-Ni atom pairs, involving two phenolate O atoms of a Schiff base ligand, and an O-C-O moiety of a μ2-η¹:η¹-OAc group. The Ni atoms have octahedral coordination. The acetate bridges linking the central and terminal nickel atoms are mutually trans. The adjacent Ni∙∙∙Ni distances are 3.047(1) Å. The complex was evaluated for its antibacterial (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and antifungal (Candida albicans and Aspergillus niger) activities by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Temperature-controlled steady state water permeability tests and gas injection tests were conducted. • Intrinsic (water) permeability, gas permeability and breakthrough pressures at temperatures were obtained. • Intrinsic permeability of GMZ bentonite ranges between 3.2 E-20 and 5.83 E-20 m2, and increases as temperature increases. • Measured effective gas permeability slightly fluctuates with time and increases with temperature increases. • Measured gas breakthrough pressures are much higher than the snap-off pressures. Determination of parameters for description of gas migration in saturated bentonite is of great importance for the design and construction of artificial barriers in the geological repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive nuclear waste. In this paper, temperature-controlled gas injection tests were conducted on initially water-saturated bentonite specimens using the residual capillary pressure (RCP) technique. Effective gas permeabilities in low injection pressures and the gas breakthrough pressures at temperatures 20, 40 and 60 °C were obtained. Results show that: (i) for all the temperatures tested, the intrinsic water permeabilities (k i n) range between 3.2 × 10−20 and 5.72 × 10−20 m2, furthermore, those values increase with rising temperature. Meanwhile, the intrinsic water permeabilities derived from the steady state tests are lower than those obtained from the non-steady state tests; (ii) for all the temperatures tested, the effective gas permeabilities (k e f f) corresponding to the viscous gas flow before gas breakthrough range between 4.81 × 10 - 24 and 2.74 × 10 - 22 m2, with slight fluctuations with time. The maximum effective gas permeabilities measured at the occurrence of gas breakthrough on the initially water-saturated bentonite specimens extend from 2.27 × 10 - 18 up to 3.32 × 10 - 17 m2 and increase as temperature increases, while the time required for gas breakthrough decreases as temperature increases; (iii) for all the temperatures tested, the gas breakthrough pressures measured on the initially water-saturated bentonite specimens vary from 2.74 to 4.08 MPa, while the residual capillary pressure differences, also denoted as snap-off pressures (P snap-off), range from 0.2 to 0.38 MPa. Additionally, the gas breakthrough pressures and the residual capillary pressures decrease as temperature increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today’s data center operators deploy network policies in both physical (e.g., middleboxes, switches) and virtualized (e.g., virtual machines on general purpose servers) network function boxes (NFBs), which reside in different points of the network, to exploit their efficiency and agility respectively. Nevertheless, such heterogeneity has resulted in a great number of independent network nodes that can dynamically generate and implement inconsistent and conflicting network policies, making correct policy implementation a difficult problem to solve. Since these nodes have varying capabilities, services running atop are also faced with profound performance unpredictability. In this paper, we propose a Heterogeneous netwOrk Policy Enforcement (HOPE) scheme to overcome these challenges. HOPE guarantees that network functions (NFs) that implement a policy chain are optimally placed onto heterogeneous NFBs such that the network cost of the policy is minimized. We first experimentally demonstrate that the processing capacity of NFBs is the dominant performance factor. This observation is then used to formulate the Heterogeneous Network Policy Placement problem, which is shown to be NP-Hard. To solve the problem efficiently, an online algorithm is proposed. Our experimental results demonstrate that HOPE achieves the same optimality as Branch-and-bound optimization but is 3 orders of magnitude more efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a substrate-free and label-free electrocatalysis-assisted biosensor for sensitive detection of microRNA using the iron-embedded nitrogen-rich carbon nanotubes (FeCN) as the catalytic elements. This biosensor exhibits excellent selectivity and high sensitivity with a detection limit of 8.53 × 10−16 M and a large dynamic range of 6 orders of magnitude. It can be further applied for accurate quantification of microRNA in lung cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We develop for the first time a new electrochemical biosensor for signal-on detection of T4 polynucleotide kinase (PNK) based on the enhanced quasi-reversible redox signal of prussian blue generated by self-sacrificial label of iron metal-organic framework (FeMOF). The DNA hairpin probe modified with FeMOF@AuNPs at the 3'-thiol end acts as the substrate of PNK. The presence of PNK enables the 5'-phosphorylation of hairpin probe, which may subsequently function as the substrate of lambda exonuclease. Lambda exonuclease removes the 5' mononucleotides from the stem, unfolding the hairpin structure and releasing the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). The resultant FeMOF@AuNP-modified ssDNA may specifically hybridize with the capture probe to form the double-strand DNA (dsDNA) duplex, enabling the immobilization of FeMOF on the electrode surface. The reaction of Fe3+ in the MOF with K 4 Fe(CN) 6 leads to the formation of prussian blue on the electrode surface and consequently the generation of a high electrochemical signal. This assay is very simple without the involvement of the pre-synthesized prussian blue which is unstable in neutral buffer, and the self-sacrificial label of FeMOF can achieve great signal amplification without the involvement of any extra functional materials. Due to the introduction of self-sacrificial label of FeMOF and the formation of prussian blue nanolayers with good quasi-reversible cyclic voltammetric electrochemical activity, this biosensor exhibits high sensitivity and a large dynamic range. Moreover, this biosensor can be used to screen the PNK inhibitors, holding great potential in disease diagnosis and drug discovery. Highlights • We develop a new electrochemical biosensor for signal-on detection of T4 polynucleotide kinase (PNK). • This electrochemical biosensor is based on the enhanced quasi-reversible redox signal of prussian blue generated by self-sacrificial label of iron metal-organic framework (FeMOF). • This assay is very simple without the involvement of the pre-synthesized prussian blue which is unstable in neutral buffer. • The self-sacrificial label of FeMOF can achieve great signal amplification without the involvement of any extra functional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic outcome for the treatment of glioma was often limited due to the two barriers involved: the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and blood-brain tumor barrier (BBTB). Therefore, the development of nanocarriers that possess both BBB and BBTB permeability and glioma-targeting ability is of great importance for the chemotherapy of glioma. New frontiers in nanomedicine are advancing the research of new biomaterials. Here we constructed a natural high-density lipoprotein particle (HDL)-based drug delivery system with the dual-modification of T7 and dA7R peptide ligand (T7/dA7R-HDL) to achieve the above goals. HDL, the smallest lipoprotein, plays a biological role and is highly suitable as a platform for delivering imaging and therapeutic agents. T7 is a seven-peptide ligand of transferrin receptors (TfR) capable of circumventing the BBB and then targeting glioma. dA7R is a D-peptide ligand of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR 2) overexpressed on angiogenesis, presenting excellent glioma-homing property. 10-Hydroxycamptothecin (HCPT), a hydrophobic anti-cancer drug, was used as the model drug in this study. By combining the dual-targeting delivery effect, the dual-modified HDL displayed higher glioma localization than that of single ligand-modified HDL or free HCPT. After loading with HCPT, T7/dA7R-HDL showed the most favorable anti-glioma effect in vivo. These results demonstrated that the dual-targeting natural nanocarriers strategy provides a potential method for improving brain drug delivery and anti-glioma treatment efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s coal production and consumption levels rank first in the world. Coal-fired power plants currently account for 65.5% of the total electricity output of China’s power grid. Coal-fired thermal power is the main industry consuming coal in China and the main source of atmospheric pollutants. To alleviate environmental pollution, the Chinese government recently released stringent flue gas emission standards for coal-fired power units. These standards require that the emission of dust, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides does not exceed 10 mg/m³, 35 mg/m³, and 50 mg/m³, respectively, to achieve ultra-clean emissions. Life-cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods are combined to analyze and compare the environmental and economic effects before and after ultra-clean emission retrofit in a 315 MW unit. The environmental impact of flue gas processing for 1000 kWh power plants decreased from 0.1529 to 0.1295 after ultra-clean emission retrofit. Desulfurization and discharged flue gas after treatment are the key processes examined in this case study, while power consumption during desulfurization and residual mercury in flue gas are key substances. Therefore, looking ahead, decreasing power consumption in desulfurization and using mercury removal technology are important aspects for decreasing the environmental impact of flue gas treatment systems in coal power units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coal-fired boilers tend to be equipped with considerable pollutant control equipment given the increase in environmental protection standard, thereby continuously increasing operating cost and decreasing the output rate of coal resources. Synergistic capture of pollutants may be a potential solution. In this work, a method for installing a cooling heat exchanger at the outlet of wet flue gas desulfurization scrubber is proposed to recover waste heat and capture fine particles. The cooling process of this method uses wet atmosphere, thereby indicating that this work differs from previous relevant works that are mainly based on dry deposition. Accordingly, the activity of particle reduction in the exchanger is also considered different. Thus, relevant mechanisms are recently explored on the basis of wet deposition through experiments. In addition to diffusiophoretic and thermophoretic depositions, particle growth or agglomeration is considered a dominant factor. Moreover, condensed water is crucial for cleaning, which may resolve the risk of fouling. Variable analysis of the influences of flue gas temperature drop, trapping surface area, initial particle concentration, and flue gas flow rate are also addressed in this work to provide references for engineering applications. Technical feasibility and economic evaluation of this method are discussed, through which possible measures for improvement are proposed. Furthermore, an applicable mode for heat recovery and a synergistic particle capture are presented, and an acceptable economic performance is estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MoC/MoO 2 nano dots (QDs) heterostructure and defect engineering can promote each other to deliver electrons to the carbon substrate. Eventually, driven by the electronic modulation of multi-interface, MoC/MoO 2 -NCF can effectively accelerate the overall reaction kinetics. [Display omitted] The design and fabrication of advanced counter electrodes (CEs) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are limited by the scarcity of active sites and poor durability. Herein, we report the controlled preparation of a heterostructured nanoreactor CE based on defect-rich N -doped carbon nanoflowers (NCF) encapsulating MoC/MoO 2 nano dots (NDs) in a well-defined heterophase (MoC/MoO 2 -NCF). The MoC/MoO 2 NDs were uniformly dispersed on the NCF, and the NCF limited the size of the MoC/MoO 2 NDs and prevented their agglomeration, thus maximizing the electrochemically active surface area of MoC/MoO 2. Moreover, the synergistic effect between the MoC/MoO 2 interface and the N -defects is conducive to the full exposure of the active sites. Furthermore, theoretical calculations revealed that the MoC/MoO 2 heterojunction played a unique role in modulating the electronic structure and regulating the adsorption energy of tri-iodide in the iodide reduction reaction. The MoC/MoO 2 -NCF CEs in DSSCs demonstrated a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 9.92% and high durability, exceeding the PCE (8.36%) and durability of Pt CEs. Overall, this study offers insights into the controlled synthesis of high-performance Mo-based composite CE materials for DSSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Viral nucleic acid testing of intraocular fluid using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a major laboratory examination in the diagnosis of acute retinal necrosis (ARN). Importantly, false negative PCR results may occur in several special situations. We reported a case of ARN with a negative PCR result in the aqueous humour in the very early stages of disease. Case presentation: A female patient presented to the ophthalmologist with complaints of blurred vision and redness in her left eye. Her medical history included ARN in her right eye 10 years prior. Although the result of the aqueous viral analysis by PCR in her left eye was negative the first time (one day after the appearance of ocular symptoms), ARN in her left eye was presumed based on the clinical signs. With timely antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments, the retinal lesions diminished. The viral load of herpes simplex virus (HSV) turned positive (7.25 × 103 copies/mL) one week later, increased to 2.49 × 105 copies/mL after three weeks, and finally turned negative about five weeks after the onset of disease. The initial HSV-IgG level in the aqueous humour was 0.01 U/mL and increased to 222.64 U/mL in the final sampling. Conclusions: The results of PCR analysis can be negative in the very early stages of ARN. Diagnosis of ARN should be made based on the clinical features, and antiviral treatments should not be delayed. Repeated PCR analysis of the aqueous humour is necessary to confirm the diagnosis and monitor the disease process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A temperature controlled triaxial apparatus was developed for investigating gas transport in geomaterials. • A gas flux detection unit including a microprocessor and four flowmeters was designed to measure gas outflow. • Eddy current sensors were well located for non-contact measurement of specimen deformation. • Verification tests were performed on the developed apparatus using Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite. The gas flow in geological materials with ultra-low permeability can vary dramatically, i. e., from almost no measurable quantity of gas before breakthrough to a massive gas flux at breakthrough. It is a great challenge to realize the whole process measurement of gas transport in saturated geomaterials with ultra-low permeability. In this work, a newly designed temperature-controlled triaxial apparatus was developed. In which, a water-to-gas-exchanger was designed for precise injection of gas at a constant pressure or constant injection rate, due to that water is less compressible and much more difficult to leak through the seal of a regulator. Meanwhile, eddy current sensors and displacement transducer with high resolutions were utilized to accurately measure the specimen deformation at different locations in a non-contact way to explore the mechanism of gas entry and breakthrough. In addition, a gas flow detection device that contains four gas flowmeters with different measurement ranges and can automatically switch between these flowmeters was developed to monitor the gas outflow of the whole process. To validate the performance of the developed apparatus, systematic gas injection tests on Gaomiaozi (GMZ) bentonite were conducted, during which the helium gas was injected in a constant rate. Real-time data on inlet gas pressure, gas outflow rate, stress state (both isotropic and axial stresses) and volume deformation (both axially and radially) were monitored. Results show that the developed apparatus could successfully capture the gas entry and the subsequent breakthrough points of the compacted bentonite with ultralow permeability. For compacted bentonite with high saturation, capillary flow, dilatant flow and interfacial leakage could co-exist during the gas transport process and the dominated mechanism was closely related to the gas injection pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanocrystals with distinct characteristics of high brightness, large Stokes shift and broad absorption spectra, large molar extinction coefficients, high quantum yield, good photostability and long fluorescence lifetime. The QDs have replaced the conventional fluorophores with wide applications in immunoassays, microarrays, fluorescence imaging, targeted drug delivery and therapy. The integration of QDs with various nanomaterials such as noble metal nanoparticles, carbon allotropes, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs), metal oxides and metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) brings new opportunities and possibilities in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In this review, we summarize the recent advances in the integration of QDs with various nanomaterials for biomedical and environmental applications including sensing, bioimaging, theranostics and cancer therapy. We highlight the involved interactions such as fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), plasmon enhanced fluorescence (PEF), and nanometal surface energy transfer (NSET) as well as the synergistic effect resulting from the integration of QDs with nanomaterials. In addition, we discuss the sensing and imaging mechanisms of different strategies and give new insight into the challenges and future direction as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]