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Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of glucose-regulated protein 75 (Mortalin) on palmitic acid-induced lipotoxicity in MIN6 cells. Methods Twenty 6-8 weeks male C57BL/6J (20-24 g) with specific pathogen free (SPF) mice were randomly divided into standard diet (SD) and high-fat diet (HFD) groups, with 10 mice in each group. Mortalin expression levels in pancreatic tissues were detected by immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry. Mortalin knockdown stable cell lines were constructed by lentivirus transfection using MIN6 cells, and cells were divided into Mortalin short hairpin (Sh-Mortalin) group, Mortalin knockdown and null group (ShNC-Mortalin group), Sh-Mortalin+PA group, and ShNC-Mortalin+PA group according to whether they were treated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) or palmitic acid (PA). Moreover, cells were divided into Sh-Mortalin+dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) group, Sh-Mortalin+PA+DMSO group, Sh-Mortalin+U0126 group, and Sh-Mortalin+PA+U0126 group according to whether the extracellular regulated protein kinase (ERK) inhibitor U0126 or DMSO was applied. Cell proliferation rate was then measured using 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU). Apoptosis rate and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were measured by flow cytometry, and insulin levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Expression levels of ERK pathway-related proteins [phosphorylated extracellular regulatory protein kinase 1/2 (p-ERK1/2), phosphorylated v-raf-leukemia viral oncogene 1 (p-Raf-1)] were detected by Western blotting. The t-test was used for comparisons between two groups, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for comparisons between multiple groups. Results The results of in vivo experiments showed that Mortalin expression was significantly increased in the pancreas of mice in the HFD group compared with the SD group (P<0.01). The results of in vitro experiments showed that compared with the ShNC-Mortalin+PA group, the Sh-Mortalin+PA group showed significantly higher proliferation levels, lower apoptosis rates, lower ROS levels and higher insulin levels (P<0.05). Western blotting results showed that the p-ERK1/2 and p-Raf-1 protein levels decreased in a PA-time gradient in all cells, and the p-ERK1/2 protein level was higher in the Sh-Mortalin group compared with the ShNC-Mortalin group (P<0.05). Compared with the Sh-Mortalin+DMSO group, EdU positivity and p-ERK1/2 levels were significantly lower in the Sh-Mortalin+U0126 group, and cellular lipotoxic damage was significantly increased (P<0.05). Conclusion Mortalin is involved in regulating the process of lipotoxic damage in MIN6 cells and Mortalin knockdown attenuates PA-induced lipotoxic injury in MIN6 cells by activating the Raf-1/ERK signaling pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arsenopyrite activated by copper ions have similar flotation properties to chalcopyrite. Polyaspartic acid (PASP) and calcium oxide (CaO) using as combination depressants for the selective separation of copper-activated arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite were carried out by micro-flotation experiments, contact angle measurements, surface adsorption capacity tests, zeta potential measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) tests and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) analyses, and its depression mechanism was investigated. The results of flotation experiments showed that the recovery of arsenopyrite after addition of the depressants reached only 7.80 %, while the recovery of chalcopyrite reached 94.02 %. The results of contact angles, adsorption capacity tests and zeta potential measurements showed that the PASP-CaO can selectively enhance the hydrophilicity of arsenopyrite surface, but has little effect on the chalcopyrite. XPS analyses and ICP-OES tests further verified that the depressants first eliminated the activation of copper ions and then selectively adsorbed on the surface of arsenopyrite. ToF-SIMS analyses showed that the PASP-CaO would achieve selective depression of arsenopyrite in the form of PASP, PASP-Ca complexes and Ca(OH)+, respectively. Finally, the mechanism diagram of PASP-CaO selectively depressing arsenopyrite was derived. These results will provide an excellent theoretical reference for the flotation separation of copper arsenic sulfide ore. [Display omitted] • An innovative depressant of PASP-CaO was explored for depressing the FeAsS. • Recovery difference between FeAsS and CuFeS 2 reached 85.48 % after adding PASP-CaO. • PASP preferentially complexed with Cu2+ to eliminate the surface activation. • Ca(OH)+, PASP and PASP-Ca complexes adsorbing on the FeAsS surface were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial steam heating is a significant aspect of energy consumption in China, playing a crucial role in industrial energy efficiency. Historically, demand response research has predominantly focused on the electricity sector, with limited emphasis on steam supply. This study explores a novel Time-of-Use pricing approach for steam heating systems, anchored in the demand response theory of price incentives. It develops a peak-valley segmentation method by considering both the load differences between supply and demand and the thermal storage capacity of the pipeline system. Additionally, the paper delves into user response characteristics to formulate an optimized Time-of-Use pricing model for steam heating systems. Implemented in a Jiangsu-based case study, the model demonstrates significant efficiency improvements: it reduces the peak-valley load difference by up to 68.3% and cuts steam purchasing costs by ¥135,000. Furthermore, the alignment between the users' total steam load curve and the heat source's steam supply is enhanced by 18.8%, illustrating the model's effectiveness in balancing demand and supply. • Cluster analysis to extract steam user load characteristics. • Divide peak/valley times based on network storage and user traits. • Create a multi-objective Time-of-Use model for steam pricing optimization. • Carry out a case validation in an actual industrial park in Jiangsu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • PASP was used for the first time for copper-arsenic sulfide minerals separation. • Flotation recovery of arsenopyrite decreased by 41.01% after adding PASP. • The affinity of PASP to arsenopyrite was stronger than that of chalcopyrite. • PASP was adsorbed on the surface of arsenopyrite by chemisorption. • PASP reacted with Fe and As sites of arsenopyrite by —NH– to form stable complex. The selection of environmental-friendly and high-efficiency depressants is a major research priority for removing arsenic from copper concentrates. The polyaspartic acid (PASP, (C 4 H 6 O 3 N) n) was used for the selective separation of chalcopyrite from arsenopyrite to explore the depression mechanism of PASP using micro-flotation experiments, contact angle measurements, zeta potential measurements, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), local electrochemical impedance (LEIS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). The flotation results showed that recovery of chalcopyrite reached up 90.18 %, while the recovery of arsenopyrite was only 23.48 %, when the PASP was added. The contact angle measurements and zeta potential measurements showed that PASP selectively adsorbed on the surface of arsenopyrite, but was not adsorbed on the surface of chalcopyrite. The FT-IR tests further confirmed that the adsorption was chemical adsorption. The LEIS tests revealed that the conductivity of arsenopyrite surface increased with the addition of PASP, while chalcopyrite was almost unaffected. The ToF-SIMS analyses illustrated that the arsenopyrite with Fe and As sites was reacted with —NH– in the structure of PASP to form stable complexes. Finally, the mechanism diagram was designed to provide insight into the adsorption mechanism of PASP on the surface of arsenopyrite and its selective inhibition of arsenopyrite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents implementing and optimizing a high-order unstructured computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver using five shared-memory programming models: CUDA, OpenACC, OpenMP, Kokkos, and OP2. The study aims to evaluate the performance of these models on different hardware architectures, including NVIDIA GPUs, x86-based Intel/AMD, and Arm-based systems. The goal is to determine whether these models can provide developers with performance-portable solvers running efficiently on various architectures. The paper forms a more holistic view of a high-order solver across multiple platforms by visualizing performance portability (PP) and measuring productivity. It gives guidelines for translating existing codebases and their data structures to these models. • We port and optimize a high-order unstructured CFD application by using five shared-memory programming models. • We evaluate the performance portability of five programming models on diverse hardware. • We analyze the workload from the perspective of code volume and learning cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beta 1,4‐galactosyltransferase (B4GALT)‐family glycosyltransferases are involved in multiple biological processes promoting cancer progression, regulating the dynamic network of cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis, and are associated with metastasis. However, their roles in the dysregulation of expressions and functions in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. Herein, bioinformatic approaches have been applied to investigate their expression profiles, and to obtain correlations between gene expressions and clinicopathological parameters as well as downstream target genes in HCC. Multiple databases were used to screen the expressions of B4GALT family members in tumor tissues, and to evaluate their prognostic value among HCC patients in different aspects. Results indicated an overall upregulation of B4GALTs' transcription levels in tumor tissues and a strong correlation with poor prognosis. Through Gene Ontology analysis, gene set enrichment analysis, and verification of single‐cell RNA sequencing data, we established a connection between the B4GALT family and microtubule spindle assembly, which particularly highlighted the role of B4GALT4 in this phenomenon. B4GALT4 knockdown downregulated the production of lumican, and repressed the expressions of polo‐like kinase 1 and RHAMM by regulating the transforming growth factor‐beta pathway, thus suggesting that B4GALT4 is a critical promotor for HCC. We believe that these studies will provide valuable insight into the role of B4GALT family members in HCC and lead to the development of new strategies to improve the outcomes for patients with HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The endogenous mitochondrial quality control (MQC) system serves to protect mitochondria against cellular stressors. Although mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to cardiac damage during many pathological conditions, the regulatory signals influencing MQC disruption during septic cardiomyopathy (SC) remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) and prohibitin 2 (PHB2) interaction followed by MQC impairment in the pathogenesis of SC. We utilized LPS-induced SC models in PKM2 transgenic (PKM2TG) mice, PHB2S91D-knockin mice, and PKM2-overexpressing HL-1 cardiomyocytes. After LPS-induced SC, cardiac PKM2 expression was significantly downregulated in wild-type mice, whereas PKM2 overexpression in vivo sustained heart function, suppressed myocardial inflammation, and attenuated cardiomyocyte death. PKM2 overexpression relieved sepsis-related mitochondrial damage via MQC normalization, evidenced by balanced mitochondrial fission/fusion, activated mitophagy, restored mitochondrial biogenesis, and inhibited mitochondrial unfolded protein response. Docking simulations, co-IP, and domain deletion mutant protein transfection experiments showed that PKM2 phosphorylates PHB2 at Ser91, preventing LPS-mediated PHB2 degradation. Additionally, the A domain of PKM2 and the PHB domain of PHB2 are required for PKM2-PHB2 binding and PHB2 phosphorylation. After LPS exposure, expression of a phosphorylation-defective PHB2S91A mutant negated the protective effects of PKM2 overexpression. Moreover, knockin mice expressing a phosphorylation-mimetic PHB2S91D mutant showed improved heart function, reduced inflammation, and preserved mitochondrial function following sepsis induction. Abundant PKM2 expression is a prerequisite to sustain PKM2-PHB2 interaction which is a key element for preservation of PHB2 phosphorylation and MQC, presenting novel interventive targets for the treatment of septic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In December 2019, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in Wuhan city and spread rapidly throughout China and the world. In this study, we aimed to describe the clinical course and outcomes of older patients with COVID-19.Methods: This is a retrospective investigation of hospitalized older patients with confirmed COVID-19 at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from January 1, 2020, to February 10, 2020.Results: In total, 203 patients were diagnosed with COVID-19, with a median age of 54 years (interquartile range, 41-68; range, 20-91 years). Men accounted for 108 (53.2%) of the cases, and 55 patients (27.1%) were more than 65 years of age. Among patients who were 65 years and older, the mortality rate was 34.5% (19/55), which was significantly higher than that of the younger patients at 4.7% (7/148). Common symptoms of older patients with COVID-19 included fever (94.5%; n = 52), dry cough (69.1%; n = 38), and chest distress (63.6%; n = 35). Compared with young patients, older patients had more laboratory abnormalities and comorbidities. Through a multivariate analysis of the causes of death in older patients, we found that males, comorbidities, time from disease onset to hospitalization, abnormal kidney function, and elevated procalcitonin levels were all significantly associated with death.Conclusions: In the recent outbreak of COVID-19, our local hospital in Wuhan found that patients aged 65 and older had greater initial comorbidities, more severe symptoms, and were more likely to experience multiorgan involvement and death, as compared to younger patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was demonstrated that the electrochemical performance enhancements in KOH-activated carbon materials should be mainly due to the created polar oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs, such as such as C–O, C O, –OH, and O–C O), while the role of each OFGs on the electrochemical enhancements is still unclear. In this work, KOH activation treatments were systematically conducted on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to explore the role of each OFG on the performance enhancements of Li–S batteries (LSBs). Results showed that the capacity of activated-CNT-sulfur (a-CNT-S) cathodes is 33% higher than that of the pristine CNT-S cathodes, and their rate capability and cycling stability are also enhanced. And the electrochemical analysis combining with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy indicated that the formed C–O bonds are the real factor for the enhanced electrochemical performances of a-CNT-S cathodes. Furthermore, the optimal activation conditions on CNT-based cathodes for LSBs were optimized to be 10 min at 700 °C. Image 1 • KOH activated CNTs (a-CNTs) were used as the sulfur hosts for Li-S batteries. • FTIR tests indicated a-CNT-S cathodes' performances are linearly dependent on the C−O bonds. • The optimal activation conditions on CNT hosts were determined (10 min, 700 °C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geological models are essential components in various applications. To generate reliable realizations, the geostatistical method focuses on reproducing spatial structures from training images (TIs). Moreover, uncertainty plays an important role in Earth systems. It is beneficial for creating an ensemble of stochastic realizations with high diversity. In this work, we applied a pattern classification distribution (PCD) method to quantitatively evaluate geostatistical modeling. First, we proposed a correlation-driven template method to capture geological patterns. According to the spatial dependency of the TI, region growing and elbow-point detection were launched to create an adaptive template. Second, a combination of clustering and classification was suggested to characterize geological realizations. Aiming at simplifying parameter specification, the program employed hierarchical clustering and decision tree to categorize geological structures. Third, we designed a stacking framework to develop the multi-grid analysis. The contribution of each grid was calculated based on the morphological characteristics of TI. Our program was extensively examined by a channel model, a 2D nonstationary flume system, 2D subglacial bed topographic models in Antarctica, and 3D sandstone models. We activated various geostatistical programs to produce realizations. The experimental results indicated that PCD is capable of addressing multiple geological categories, continuous variables, and high-dimensional structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The partially-embeddedMnO/ECNF composite electrodes exhibit an much lower decay rate (0.004‰ per cycle for 20,000 cycles) than those of the traditionnal MnO 2 /ECNF ones (decay rate of 0.015‰ per cycle for 8000 cycles). • The MnO nanocubes were partially inserted into the ECNF skeletons to make a strong joint between them. • The h-MnO/ECNF electrodes exhibit a super excellent cycling stability. • The h-MnO/ECNF electrodes can well work within −1 V to +1 V. Post-grown hierarchical pseudocapacitive nanostructures often suffer from their bad long-term cycling stability. In this work, a type of hierarchical partially-embedded MnO nanocube/electrospun carbon nanofiber composites (pe-MnO/ECNFs) was designed. Results show the MnO nanocubes are partially embedded into the ECNFs skeletons, showing a strong joint between them. The pe-MnO/ECNFs electrodes exhibit a high specific capacitance of 146 F g−1 (to the whole electrode mass) at scan rate of 5 mV s−1, and an ultralow decay rate of 0.004‰ per cycle for 20,000 cycles at 10 A g−1, which is much better than those of the MnO 2 /ECNF ones (96 F g−1, decay rate of 0.015‰ per cycle). Furthermore, the assembled flexible symmetric supercapacitors show an high energy density of 6.8 W h kg−1, a high dynamic bending stability, and a robust long cycling stability (low decay rate of 0.003‰ per cycle for 6000 cycles at 1 A g−1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are often used to settle down the sluggish reaction kinetics in lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs). However, the self-aggregation of CNTs often makes them fail to effectively inhibit the shuttling effect of soluble lithium polysulfide (LiPS) intermediates. Herein, a type of ultra-stable carbon micro/nano-scale interconnected "carbon cages" has been designed by incorporating polar acid-treated carbon fibers (ACF) into three-dimensional (3D) CNT frameworks during vacuum filtration processes. Results show that the ACF-CNT composite frameworks possess a reinforced-concrete-like structure, in which the ACFs can well work as the main mechanical supporting frames for the composite electrodes, and the oxygen-containing functional groups (OFGs) formed on them as cross linker between ACFs and CNTs. Benefitted from this design, the ACF-CNT/S cathodes deliver an excellent rate capability (retain 72.6% at 4C). More impressively, the ACF-CNT/S cathodes also show an ultrahigh cycling stability (capacity decay rate of 0.001% per cycle over 350 cycles at 2C). And further optimization suggests that the suitable treatment on CFs could balance the chemical adsorption (OFGs) and physical confinement (carbon cages), leading to fast and durable electrochemical reaction dynamics. In addition, the assembled soft-pack LSBs further show a high dynamic bending stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have yielded conflicting findings on the association of asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) level with cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This meta-analysis sought to evaluate the association of blood ADMA level with cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in CKD patients. PubMed and Embase databases were comprehensively searched until September 9, 2020 for studies investigating the association of ADMA level with cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in CKD patients. Data were collected from nine prospective studies involving 6553 patients. The pooled adjusted risk ratio (RR) of all-cause mortality was 2.06 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43–2.96) for the highest versus the lowest ADMA level. Each 0.20 μmol/L ADMA increase was associated with 21% (95% CI 1.09–1.35) higher risk of all-cause mortality but not cardiovascular mortality (RR 1.07; 95% CI 0. 99–1.16). Subgroup analysis showed that each 0.20 μmol/L ADMA increase was significantly associated with all-cause mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients (RR 1.22; 95% CI 1.05–1.41) but not in patients with stage 3 to 4 CKD (RR 1.16; 95% CI 0.86–1.56). Elevated ADMA level is independently associated with higher risk of all-cause mortality in ESRD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OP2 is a domain-specific language-based programming framework for unstructured mesh applications. It supports automatic code generation targeting multiple parallel modes, with CUDA included. However, using OP2 to generate efficient CUDA code for real-world applications is a challenging task. This paper reports our efforts optimizing the CUDA code performance when refactoring an unstructured high-order CFD application (namely HOUR2D) based on OP2. A series of novel methods are realized, including utilizing appropriate execution strategies, using local arrays, and optimizing the OP2 data transfer function, etc. Performance evaluation shows that our optimizations significantly improve the performance of the finally generated CUDA code. The overall performance of our optimized OP2-CUDA code is 13.2 times higher than the unoptimized OP2-CUDA code and 2.4 times higher than the manual CUDA code. Meanwhile, these optimizations do not affect the portability of HOUR2D as an OP2 application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the traffic application based on vision in the single traffic‐monitoring scene has been widely studied and developed. However, cross‐regional research is still in its infancy. In order to help solve the application of cross‐regional traffic surveillance scenarios, this paper proposes a more reliable and accurate road scene mosaic method under multi‐camera surveillance. The mosaic road panorama contains physical information, which can be used to achieve a cross‐regional measurement. It also lays the foundation for vehicle spatial location, vehicle speed and traffic incident detection across regions. First, the mapping relationship between the three‐dimensional sub‐world coordinates and their corresponding two‐dimensional image coordinates is established by camera calibration. Second, the projection transformation relationship between two cameras is established by two sub‐world coordinate systems and their common information. Finally, we use the proposed inverse projection idea and translation vector relationship to complete the mosaic of two traffic‐monitoring road scenes. The experimental results show that the camera calibration accuracy can reach more than 97% in a single scene. The measurement accuracy of the mosaic block is over 95%. The experimental results show that the proposed method has a higher accuracy, which has great value in related theoretical research and practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complex rutile ore containing TiO2 and ZrO2 exhibited a high economical value. To effectively recover TiO2 and ZrO2 from the raw sample, a complete gravity separation process including a spiral chute and a shaking table was proposed. Chemical constituents, phase, liberation degree and size distribution were firstly characterized by XRF, chemical analyses, XRD, EPMA-EDS and screening to understand the mineralogy. Then, two stages of spiral chute separation tests were performed to treat the complex rutile ore. A rough zircon concentrate containing 33.18% ZrO2 was obtained after the first-stage spiral chute and a rough rutile concentrate containing 56.77% TiO2 was obtained after the second-stage spiral chute. To further improve the grade and recovery of ZrO2 and TiO2 in the rough products obtained by spiral chutes, shaking table tests were performed. A zircon concentrate containing 42.65% ZrO2 and a rutile concentrate containing 61.75% TiO2 were obtained. For the tailing of the first-stage spiral chute, a rutile product assaying 57.50% TiO2 was obtained, and the tailing was directly discarded as waste after the shaking table tests. Moreover, the distribution regularities of ZrO2 and TiO2 in the products were further revealed by XRD analyses. Finally, a closed-circuit beneficiation process was proposed to treat the complex rutile ore for achieving comprehensive and effective utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the effectiveness and scalability of implicit algorithms has long been a subject that attracted scientific computing researchers. The generalized minimal residual (GMRES) method is one of the efficient algorithms employed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). However, due to the inherent sequential properties, GMRES encountered difficulties in achieving high parallel computing performance. Diverse HPC architecture trends also introduce challenges in algorithm migration. In this work, based on the separation of concerns thought, a performance-portable parallel GMRES algorithm is proposed to efficiently solve compressible Navier–Stokes equations on unstructured grids in parallel on different platforms. First, the Jacobian evaluation for the GMRES algorithm is improved. This method explicitly calculates a more accurate Jacobian matrix derived analytically instead of using the matrix-free method to enhance the convergence. In addition, it is convenient to call the highly optimized linear algebra libraries to achieve performance and portability, manually implementing the high-level Jacobian matrix computation and leaving the rest algorithm part and low-level optimization on target architecture to the library. Combined with a fine-grained parallel LU-SGS (lower-upper symmetric Gauss–Seidel) preconditioner, the algorithm can run efficiently on multi-core or many-core architectures such as GPUs. The proposed method has been used to compute some typical compressible flow configurations. Experimental results show that the proposed method has obvious advantages over the commonly used implicit algorithms like matrix-free GMRES and LU-SGS in terms of convergence and portability of parallel performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic segmentation is a fundamental but meaningful task in the remote sensing image understanding community. Great progress has been made in optical sensor photography technology, which poses an opportunity and a challenge for remote sensing image segmentation task. But, in fact, a longstanding and intractable problem is that many hard pixels in special position, i.e. the prevalent intra-class noise and a poor boundary delineation, is difficult to classify due to their inherent uncertainty. In this paper, we comprehensively consider the characteristics of deep learning and introduce traditional pattern recognition methods to drive structure learning, which can leverage the corresponding fuzzy logic model to alleviate the aforementioned problem in remote sensing images. Specifically, this paper designs a multiscale bidirectional fuzzy-driven learning network (MBFNet), which takes advantage of both deep learning and fuzzy logic to effectively alleviate the inherent uncertainty of these hard pixels. The structure of convolutional neural networks driven by fuzzy systems also provides a new modelling paradigm for solving the uncertain problem in remote sensing images. Meanwhile, multiscale techniques and bidirectional fusion are introduced to enhance feature aggregation and avoid the potential adverse effects of fuzzy systems, respectively. Experimental results on two datasets demonstrate qualitatively and quantitatively that the proposed MBFNet is competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To investigate the relationship between polymorphism of FOXA1 gene rs12894364 and rs7144658 and susceptibility to gastric cancer. Methods. A case-control study was conducted to select 577 cases of primary gastric cancer and 678 cases of normal control. We extracted whole blood genomic DNA and amplified the target gene fragment by PCR. The genotyping and allele was tested through a snapshot method. Results. There was no significant difference in the frequency distribution of genotype between the case group and control group (P > 0.05). Stratified analyses showed the SNPs were not correlated with the susceptibility of GC according to different age, gender, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking status. Conclusion. There is no significant correlation between the polymorphisms of FOXA1 gene rs12894364 and rs7144658 and the risk of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin resistance and many metabolic disorders are causally linked to mitochondrial dysfunction or defective mitochondrial quality control. Mitophagy is a highly selective mechanism that recognizes and removes damaged mitochondria to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis. Here, we addressed the potential role of FUNDC1, a mediator of mitophagy, in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction under lipotoxicity. In pancreatic MIN6 cells, FUNDC1 deficiency aggravated palmitate-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, which led to cell death and insulin insensitivity. Interestingly, FUNDC1 overexpression prevented these cellular harms brought on by palmitate. In mice models, pancreatic-specific FUNDC1 overexpression alleviated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced insulin resistance and obesity. Mechanistically, pancreatic-specific overexpression of FUNDC1 ameliorated mitochondrial defects and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress upon HFD. Our research indicates that FUNDC1 plays an essential role in apoptosis and dysfunction of pancreatic β-cells via modulating lipotoxicity-induced mitochondrial defects. • FUNDC1 overexpression attenuates palmitate-induced apoptosis in pancreatic MIN6 cells. • FUNDC1 overexpression diminishes palmitate-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in MIN6 cells. • Pancreatic FUNDC1-overexpression mice are resistant to high-fat diet-induced obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Constant driving environment monitoring resulted in a faster development of driver sleepiness. • Driver sleepiness and constant NDRTs impaired takeover performances in prolonged automated driving. • Scheduled driving environment monitoring helped maintaining alertness and improving takeover performance. Introduction : Vehicle automation is thought to improve road safety since numerous accidents are caused by human error. However, the lack of active involvement and monotonous driving environments due to automation may contribute to drivers' passive fatigue and sleepiness. Previous research indicated that non-driving related tasks (NDRTs) were beneficial in maintaining drivers' arousal levels but detrimental to takeover performance. Method: A 3·2 mixed design (between subjects: driving condition; within subjects: takeover orders) simulator experiment was conducted to explore the development of driver sleepiness in prolonged automated driving context and the effect of NDRTs on driver sleepiness development, and to further evaluate the impact of driver sleepiness and NDRTs on takeover performance. Sixty-three participants were randomly assigned to three driving conditions, each lasting 60 min: automated driving while performing driving environment monitoring task; visual NDRTs task; and visual NDRTs with scheduled driving environment monitoring task. Two hazardous events occurring at about the 5th and 55th min needed to be handled during the respective driving. Results: Drivers performing monitoring tasks had a faster development of driver sleepiness than drivers in the other two conditions in terms of both subjective and objective indicators. Takeover performance of drivers performing monitoring task were undermined due to driver sleepiness in terms of braking and steering reaction times, the time between saccade latency and braking or steering reaction times, and so forth. Additionally, NDRTs impaired the drivers' takeover ability in terms of saccade latency, max braking pedal input, max steering velocity, minimum time to collision, and so forth. This study shows that NDRTs with scheduled road environment monitoring task improve takeover performance during prolonged automated driving by helping to maintain driver alertness. Practical Applications : Findings from this work provide some technical assistance in the development of driver sleepiness monitoring systems for conditionally automated vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Inconsistent results on the prognostic significance of C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) in colorectal cancer patients have been reported. This meta-analysis sought to assess the prognostic value of pretreatment CAR for survival outcomes in colorectal cancer patients. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature search of PubMed and Embase databases until February 16, 2019. Observational studies investigating the prognostic role of pretreatment CAR for survival outcome in patients with colorectal cancer were included. Outcome measures included overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), or progression-free survival (PFS). Pooled hazard ratio (HR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was utilized to summarize the prognostic significance of CAR for patient survival. Results: Nine retrospective studies involving 2492 colorectal cancer patients were identified. A fixed-effect model meta-analysis showed that high pretreatment CAR was an independent predictor of poor OS (HR 2.25; 95% CI 1.84–2.76) and DFS (HR 2.49; 95% CI 1.43–4.33). On the other hand, no significant association was observed between high CAR and PFS (HR 1.71; 95% CI 0.44–6.60). The predictive values of OS with high pretreatment CAR caused no significant changes in different sample sizes, countries, cut-off values of CAR, treatment methods, and study quality of subgroups. Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that CAR may be a powerful prognostic indicator for colorectal cancer prognosis. High pretreatment CAR is associated with poor OS and DFS in patients with colorectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and their related hybrids grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method have been frequently used as energy-storage electrode materials. In most cases, the tips of CNTs are almost well closed, which often limits the utilization efficiency of their tubular structure in storage of charges. In this work, the authors have designed a type of tip-open CNT/CNF hierarchical hybrids via KOH activation on the CVD-grown Al/Fe-catalyzed CNT/CNF precursors. Results showed that the CNT hierarchies' tips can be fully opened via KOH activation at 700–750 °C for 90 min. As expected, the tip-open CNT-CNF hybrids show a highly improved specific capacitance, which increases by 3.3 times that of the pristine ones. Moreover, sweep analysis indicated that the diffusion-type capacitance increases by 3.7 times while the Helmholtz-type capacitance increases only by 1.5 times, indicating that the tip-open CNTs contribute to ∼30% of the increase in double-layer capacitance. Further optimization on activation time and temperature indicated that activation at 700 °C for 90 min is suitable for opening the tips of CNT hierarchies and protecting the CNTs' tubular structure. This research would give some useful advice for the preparation of high-performance CNT-related electrode materials for energy storage. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The removal rate and degradation pathway of Sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in bioelectrochemical system (BES) and the elimination dynamics of SMX in a BES driven by stacked constructed wetland-coupled microbial fuel cells (CW-MFCs) were investigated. The results found that SMX (30 mg L −1 ) was rapidly degraded in the BES, and the SMX removal kinetics was simulated well by a first-order kinetic model ( R 2 > 0.93). Low current had no effect on the degradation products but enhanced the SMX removal rate. Biotransformation was the main pathway for the SMX elimination in the BES. The CW-MFCs supplied adequate and stable electricity (0.84–1.01 V) to support the BES for rapid SMX degradation without additional energy inputs. The relative abundance of Methanosarcina (18.7%) and VadinCA11 (3.1%) increased with an increase in voltage up to 1.2 V. However, the opposite was observed for Methanosaeta and Methanomassiliicoccus . The current in the BES influenced the methanogenic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

π-Conjugated-group systems are fascinating and have been pursued for nonlinear materials owing to their superior optical and electronic properties, but are so far quite limited. Here, we report a new ultraviolet (UV) nonlinear-optical (NLO) beryllium borate crystal PbBe2B2O6 that manifests an unprecedented π–π interacting BeBO5 group, constructed by interconnected π-conjugated BeO3 and BO3 units. The PbBe2B2O6 crystal has a short UV cutoff wavelength of 249 nm, phase-matching behavior in the whole transmission region from UV to IR light region (249–3166 nm), and remarkably the largest NLO effect (18.5 × KDP) among the π-conjugated UV NLO crystal materials. Theoretical calculation unravels that the highly NLO-active BeBO5 group has strong π–π interactions. This work offers an innovative source of BeO3-participating NLO materials and expands the frontier of NLO research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nuclear orphan receptor TLX is an essential regulator of the growth of neural stem cells. However, its exact function in pancreatic islet cells is still unknown. In the present study, gene expression profiling analysis revealed that overexpression of TLX in beta cell line MIN6 causes suppression of 176 genes and upregulation of 49 genes, including a cadre of cell cycle, cell proliferation and cell death control genes, such as Btg2, Ddit3 and Gadd45a. We next examined the effects of TLX overexpression on proliferation, apoptosis and insulin secretion in MIN6 cells. Proliferation analysis using EdU assay showed that overexpression of TLX increased percentage of EdU-positive cells. Cell cycle and apoptosis analysis revealed that overexpression of TLX in MIN6 cells resulted in higher percentage of cells exiting G1 into S-phase, and a 58.8% decrease of cell apoptosis induced by 0.5 mM palmitate. Moreover, TLX overexpression did not cause impairment of insulin secretion. Together, we conclude that TLX is among factors capable of controlling beta cell proliferation and survival, which may serve as a target for the development of novel therapies for diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Na 2 S 2 O 8 used as a new activator was introduced to improve ilmenite flotation. • Na 2 S 2 O 8 effectively oxidized Fe2+ into Fe3+ on the surface of ilmenite. • The increase in active sites of iron enhanced the adsorption of NaOL. • A reaction model of Na 2 S 2 O 8 activating the ilmenite was proposed. In this study, an innovative method was proposed to treat ilmenite by using sodium persulfate (Na 2 S 2 O 8) as a surface activator to enhance the flotation of ilmenite. The action mechanism of Na 2 S 2 O 8 on the ilmenite surface was investigated by micro-flotation, adsorption tests, powder contact angle, zeta potential detection, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. Micro-flotation experiments showed that recovery of the ilmenite was effectively enhanced in the pH range of 4.0 ∼ 10.0 by adding Na 2 S 2 O 8. The adsorption tests illustrated that the introduction of Na 2 S 2 O 8 effectively enhanced the adsorption of NaOL on the surface of ilmenite. The powder contact angle tests presented that the contact angle of samples increased after treatment with Na 2 S 2 O 8 and NaOL. The zeta potential testing results showed that surface potential of the ilmenite treated with Na 2 S 2 O 8 and NaOL was negatively migrated in the pH ranging from 3.5 to 10.0, revealing that the mineral surface adsorbed more oleic acid anions. FT-IR analyses suggested that the chemical adsorption of oleic acid on the surface of ilmenite was enhanced after treating with Na 2 S 2 O 8. XPS analyses revealed that the addition of Na 2 S 2 O 8 induced a transformation of Fe (+Ⅱ) into Fe (+Ⅲ) and enhanced adsorption of NaOL on the ilmenite surface. A reaction model of Na 2 S 2 O 8 interacting with the surface of ilmenite was proposed to interpret the activation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) from different regions exhibits different histological, genetic characteristics, and molecular subtypes, even in response to conventional chemotherapies and immunotherapies. To characterize the immune landscape in different regions of CRC and search for potential therapeutic targets, we analyzed 39,484 single-cell transcription data from 19 samples of CRC and paired normal tissues from four regions to identify the immune characteristics of CRC among anatomic locations, especially in B cells. We discovered that immune cell infiltration in tumors significantly varied among different regions of CRC. B cells from right- and left-sided CRC had different development trajectories, but both had extensive interactions with myeloid cells and T cells. Survival analysis suggested that CD20+ B cells correlated with good prognosis in CRC patients, especially on the right side. Furthermore, the depletion of CD20+ B cells demonstrated that anti-CD20 promoted tumor growth progression and reversed the tumor-killing activity of anti-PD-1 treatment in vivo and in vitro. Our results highlight the characterization of the immune landscape of CRC in different regions. CD20+ B-cell infiltration has been associated with CRC patient prognosis and may promote the tumor-killing role of PD-1 antibodies. • The distinct immune characterization of colorectal cancer from different regions is systematically revealed. • B cells from different CRC regions differentiate and develop differently and interact extensively with other immune cells. • TCGA data and IHC specimens support CD20+B cells are associated with prognosis in CRC and RCC. • CD20+B cell infiltration may promote the therapeutic efficacy of the PD-1 antibody. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Hyperglycemia induces vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) proliferation and may thus contribute to the formation of atherosclerotic lesions. Glucose fluctuations are strong predictor of diabetic vascular complications. We investigate the effects of exposure to constant and intermittent high glucose concentrations on the proliferation and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 activity of rat aortic VSMCs in culture, as well as the expression of osteopontin (OPN). Methods: Rat aortic VSMCs were grown to confluence and then exposed to 5mmol/L glucose, 25mmol/L glucose, or 5mmol/L alternating with 25mmol/L glucose in the absence or presence of neutralizing antibodies to OPN, β3 integrin receptor and β5 integrin receptor. The cell proliferation, MMP-2 activity and the expression of OPN were assessed. Results: In cultured VSMCs, treatment with constant or intermittent high glucose significantly increased [3H]thymidine incorporation in a time-dependent manner. A modest increase was observed at 12h, and further deteriorated afterwards, and reached the maximum expression at 48h. However, [3H]thymidine incorporation was more pronounced in intermittent high glucose than in constant high glucose. Treatment with constant high glucose for 48h significantly increase cell number, MMP-2 activation, OPN protein and mRNA expression compared with VSMCs treated with the cells normal glucose, and these effects were further enhanced when VSMCs were treated with intermittent high glucose. In addition, neutralizing antibodies to either OPN or its receptor β3 integrin but not neutralizing antibodies to β5 integrin significantly suppressed increase in [3H]thymidine incorporation and MMP-2 activity induced by constant or intermittent high glucose. Conclusions: In cultured VSMCs, constant high glucose concentrations enhanced MMP-2 activity, cell proliferation and OPN expression. These effects are enhanced following intermittent exposure to high glucose, indicating that short lived excursions in glycaemic control have important pathological effects on the development of diabetic atherosclerosis, which is mediated by the stimulation of OPN expression and synthesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Subfossil chironomids are regarded as a useful biological proxy for palaeoenvironmental research, but picking chironomid head capsules from aquatic sediments is extremely time-consuming. This is often the case for finding and isolating small head capsules from the deflocculated sediment. In this study, two stains (aniline blue and cotton blue) were used to dye chironomid head capsules in lake and peat sediments to improve the traditional pretreatment method and boost the picking efficiency. The results suggested that: (1) there were sharp contrasts between chironomids and residues after staining, which could shorten picking time for both lake and peat samples; (2) different parts of head capsules showed distinctive colour in stained samples and thus facilitated identification and taxonomy of subfossil chironomids; (3) the dyeing effects of two stains were comparable and no significant effect of staining on chironomid composition has been observed compared with unstained samples. This study demonstrates that aniline blue and cotton blue stain can promote picking efficiency of subfossil chironomids, and can be widely applied to pretreatment of sedimentary chironomids in palaeoenvironmental studies on lakes and peatlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs were designed with a V-channel electrospinning method. • The diameter of small SnO 2 NFs can be well tube between 20 and 80 nm. • The DSSCs based on SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs show the maximum PCE of 8.3%. SnO 2 /TiO 2 type II heterojunctions are often introduced to enhance the separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers in photoelectrochemical electrodes, while most of these heterojunctions are of core–shell structure, which often limits the synergistic effect from the two components. In this work, dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 side-by-side bi-component nanofibers (SBNFs) with tunable composition ratios have been prepared by a novel needleless electrospinning technique with two V-shape connected conductive channels (V-channel electrospinning). Results show that this V-channel electrospinning technique is more stable, controllable and tunable for the large-scale preparation of SBNF materials compared to the traditional electrospinning using two side-by-side metal needles. And these SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs are dissymmetric and comprised of a tiny SnO 2 NF (tunable diameter within 20–80 nm) and a Sn-doped TiO 2 NF (diameter of ~ 250 nm) with a side-by-side structure. Moreover, the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based these dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 SBNFs show the maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 8.3%, which is 2.59 times that of the ones based on the TiO 2 NFs. Series of analyses indicate that the enhancements in PCE could mainly be due to the improved electron transport via SnO 2 NFs and the enhanced carrier separation via dissymmetric SnO 2 /TiO 2 heterojunction interface. This research will give some new insight in the preparation of SBNFs for high-performance photoelectrochemical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Fever and cough are the most common symptoms in patients with COVID-19. • The most prevalent comorbidities are hypertension and diabetes which are associated with the severity of COVID-19. • ARDS and ACI may be the main obstacles to treatment recovery for patients. • The case severe rate and mortality is lower than that of SARS and MERS. Since being first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 8, 2019, the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, has spread globally. Some case studies regarding the characteristics and outcome of patients with COVID-19 have been published recently. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the risk factors of COVID-19. Medline, SinoMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were searched for clinical and epidemiological studies on confirmed cases of COVID-19. The incidence of fever, cough, fatigue, and dyspnea symptoms were 85.6 % (95CI 81.3–89.9 %), 65.7 % (95CI 60.1–71.4 %), 42.4 % (95CI 32.2–52.6 %) and 21.4 % (95CI 15.3–27.5 %). The prevalence of diabetes was 7.7 % (95CI 6.1–9.3 %), hypertension was 15.6 % (95CI 12.6–18.6 %), cardiovascular disease was 4.7 % (95CI 3.1–6.2 %), and malignancy was 1.2 % (95CI 0.5–1.8 %). The complications, including ARDS risk, ranged from 5.6–13.2 %, with the pooled estimate of ARDS risk at 9.4 %, ACI at 5.8 % (95CI 0.7–10.8 %), AKI at 2.1 % (95CI 0.6–3.7 %), and shock at 4.7 % (95CI 0.9–8.6 %). The risks of severity and mortality ranged from 12.6 to 23.5% and from 2.0 to 4.4 %, with pooled estimates at 18.0 and 3.2 %, respectively. The percentage of critical cases in diabetes and hypertension was 44.5 % (95CI 27.0–61.9 %) and 41.7 % (95CI 26.4–56.9 %), respectively. Fever is the most common symptom in patients with COVID-19. The most prevalent comorbidities are hypertension and diabetes which are associated with the severity of COVID-19. ARDS and ACI may be the main obstacles for patients to treatment recovery. The case severe rate and mortality is lower than that of SARS and MERS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanomaterials have been frequently used to physically inhibit the lithium polysulfide's shuttle in lithium–sulfur batteries, especially those crumpled structure of graphene. Here, a type of reduced graphene oxide fiber enwrapped nano-sulfur (rGOF@nano-S) hybrids were synthesized by a simple sulfur-containing-ion assisted microwave (MW) synthesis method and then utilized as a sulfur host for lithium–sulfur batteries. The synergistic reactions of MW treatments and sulfur-containing-ion force on the precursor GO nanosheets (NSs) have induced a well-crumpled fibrous structure, and simultaneously uniformly wrapped the nano-S particles in them, which would make the resultant cathodes achieve improved electrochemical performances. The rGOF@nano-S hybrid cathodes showed a high reversible capacity (886 mA h g−1 at 0.1 C rate), a high rate capability (remaining 61% at 2 C rate), and an excellent cycling stability (with a minimal decay rate of 0.04% per cycle over 800 cycles at 1 C), which are highly improved compared to those of the hybrids without MW treatments. In addition, the optimal MW treatment time on rGOF@nano-S hybrid cathodes were also explored to be 2.4 min under 700-W power. This work suggests that MW treatments would be a useful strategy for the preparation of high-performance cathodes for Li–S batteries. Image 1 • A sulfur-containing ion assisted microwave synthesis method was developed. • A type of rGOF@nano-S fibrous hybrids was designed. • The obtained cathodes showed an excellent cycling stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To investigate the relationship between polymorphism of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 and rs2277438 and susceptibility to gastric cancer. Methods. A case-control study was conducted to select 577 cases of primary gastric cancer and 678 cases of normal control. We extracted whole blood genomic DNA and amplified the target gene fragment by PCR. The genotyping and allele were tested through the snapshot method. Results. In this case-control study, we observed that there was a difference in the genotype distribution of TNFRSF11 gene rs9533156 between the case group and the control group. The frequency distribution of TC heterozygous mutation in the case group was higher than that in the control group. The smoking rate in the case group (34.49%) was higher than that in the control group (27.29%), and the difference in frequency distribution between the two groups was statistically significant (P = 0.006). Our findings suggest that TNFRSF11 rs9533156 is associated with susceptibility to GC, which is more evident among elderly patients (>62 years), nonsmokers, and patients who do not consume alcohol. The analysis of the relationship between the TNFSF11 gene rs9533156 site variant and clinical factors of gastric cancer showed that, compared with the tumor size <2 cm group, patients with tumor size ≥2 cm and whom carrying rs9533156 site mutations had a higher frequency distribution, and the difference was statistically significant (P = 0.022). Compared with the nonhyperglycemic group, the frequency distribution of patients with rs9533156 site mutations in the diabetes group was higher, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusion. This study shows that there is a correlation between smoking and the occurrence of gastric cancer. Based on our research, the functional SNP TNFRSF11 TC genotype may be an indicator of individual susceptibility to GC. The mutation at rs9533156 may be related to the size of gastric cancer. The mutation rate of rs9533156 of TNFSF11 gene is higher in diabetic gastric cancer patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. This study was designed to investigate risk factors related to atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), as well as the relationship between AIP and chronic microvascular complications in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods. This study included 2523 patients with T2DM who had not been treated with lipid-lowering drugs and were admitted to the Department of Endocrinology at Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, during the period from January 2015 to February 2018. Anthropometric indicators were measured after overnight fasting. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG) were detected by enzymatic analysis. Standard 75 g oral glucose tolerance testing was performed to measure 0 and 2 hr plasma levels of glucose and insulin. Insulin sensitivity was assessed with HOMA-IR. Results. Increase in AIP was associated with an increased risk for hypertension (P<0.05), HbA1c (P<0.05), HOMA-IR (P<0.05), UA (P<0.05), and decreased eGFR levels (P<0.05). Furthermore, AIP values directly correlated with BMI (r=0.182, P<0.001), waist circumference (r=0.129, P<0.001), blood glucose index (FBG (r=0.153, P<0.001), PPBG (r=0.117, P<0.001), and HbA1c (r=0.074, P<0.001)), insulin resistance (HOMA-IR; r=0.112, P<0.001), and uric acid (UA, r=0.177, P<0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that waist circumference, HOMA-IR, FBG, systolic blood pressure, and UA were independent risk factors for AIP (all P<0.05). The prevalence of diabetic neuropathy and metabolic syndrome was significantly higher among patients with higher AIP. Conclusion. AIP represents a clinically convenient indicator for the detection of T2DM with high risk of complications and associated diseases and thus is a good predictor and indicator for follow-up monitoring in the treatment of patients with high-risk type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spalt-like (Sall) proteins are a class of transcription factors. The role of Sall2 in beta cells remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed to explore whether Sall2 involved in lipotoxicity-mediated dysfunction and apoptosis in pancreatic NIT-1 beta cells. Our results showed that high concentrations of palmitic acid (PA) led to impaired cell viability and decreased Sall2 expression in NIT-1 cells. Knocking down of Sall2 in NIT-1 cells resulted in increased sensitivity to lipotoxicity and caused higher rates of cell apoptosis following PA treatment. Additionally, Sall2 Knockdown impaired insulin synthesis and secretion in response to glucose. Further research indicated Sall2 knockdown attenuate antioxidant capacity and decreased expression level of Peroxiredoxin 2 in NIT-1 cells. These finding implicate that Sall2 may play a significant role in NIT-1 cell function and cell apoptosis under lipotoxic conditions. Therefore, the study of Sall2 in NIT-1 cells provided a new perspective for molecular mechanism of lipotoxicity mediating dysfunction and apoptosis of beta cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbial fuel cell-coupled constructed wetlands (CW-MFCs) use electrochemical, biological, and ecological functions to treat wastewater. However, few studies have investigated the risks of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) when using such systems to remove antibiotics. Therefore, three CW-MFCs were designed to assess the dynamics of ARGs in filler biofilm and effluent over 5000 h of operation. The experimental results indicated that relatively high steady voltages of 605.8 mV, 613.7 mV, and 541.4 mV were obtained at total influent antibiotic concentrations of 400, 1,000, and 1600 μg L −1 , respectively. The 16S rRNA gene level in the cathode layer was higher than those in the anode and two middle layers, but the opposite trend was observed for the sul and tet genes. The relative abundance of the three tested sul genes were in the order sulI > sulII > sulIII , and those of the five tet genes were in the order tetA > tetC > tetW > tetO > tetQ. The levels of sul and tet genes in the media biofilm showed an increase over the treatment period. The effluent water had relatively low abundances of sul and tet genes compared with the filler biofilm. No increases were observed for most ARGs over the treatment period, and no significant correlations were observed between the ARGs and 16S rRNA gene copy numbers, except for sulI and tetW in the effluent. However, significant correlations were observed among most of the ARG copy numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

T-2 toxin (T-2) is a trichothecene-A-type mycotoxin produced by the fungus Fusarium spp., which can contaminate animal feed. It is toxic to many living cells especially the hepatocytes and bone marrow cells. The effects of dietary T-2 on growth, biochemical and immunity parameters, and histopathological changes in the hepatopancreas of white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei ) were studied. Shrimp with an initial body weight of 3.5 ± 0.5 g were fed five diets (n = 50/group) containing 0, 0.5, 1.2, 2.4, or 4.8 mg kg − 1 T-2. Dietary exposure to T-2 significantly decreased shrimp growth rate and specific growth rate ( P < 0.5), but not the fat content, compared with the control group. Exposure to T-2 damaged the hepatopancreas microstructure in a dose-dependent manner and this may have contributed to a lower hemolymph albumin concentration and lower phenoloxidase activity. Total hemocyte counts and activity of hemolymph glutamic-pyruvic transaminase > glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase and alkaline phosphatase enzymes increased initially in a dose-dependent manner but declined thereafter. This study showed that T-2 is a multi-organ toxin with effects on the hemolymph, immune system, and hepatopancreas of shrimp. Collectively, these effects may have contributed to the inhibition of growth and decreased survival rate leading to a lower yield and quality of shrimp meat with resultant economic loss. Statement of relevance It is proposed that hemolymph phenoloxidase enzyme activity could be used as a cheap non-specific biomarker for initial screening of shrimp exposed to even low T-2 toxin concentrations, instead of more expensive LC-MS/MS T-2 analysis — although a dose response was not evident at high exposure concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road traffic safety is a very important issue in the field of intelligent transportation system (ITS). Vehicle segmentation and behavior analysis are an significant part for solving this problem. However, 2D image detection technology is difficult to reconstruct missing information of damaged image. In this paper, a bottom-up analysis method is employed to study the related technical problems, and it will provide a strong data foundation for road traffic safety. Firstly, the M-BRISK descriptor algorithm is proposed to describe the local feature points. Secondly, we propose a 3D feature analysis method based on rigid motion constraints for vehicle trajectory. Thirdly, a similarity measure method is proposed for trajectory clustering. Finally, we used the obtained 3D information of vehicles to analyze the vehicle behavior to find the abnormal vehicles for road traffic safety. The experimental results confirm that the M-BRISK descriptor performs well comparing with the state-of-the-art feature descriptors, and the proposed clustering method improves the accuracy of the trajectory clustering. Moreover, the vehicle motion information contained in the trajectory data can be analyzed to recognize vehicle behavior. The presented work in this paper provides an important foundation for vehicle abnormal behavior detection for road traffic safety. • Construct a hybrid binary feature descriptor based on BRISK. • Propose a 3D feature analysis method of vehicle trajectory based on rigid motion constraints. • Construct a new similarity measure between trajectories. • Behavior model and semantic analysis of vehicles in traffic scene are built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electric field intensity of multilayer of GNPs coupled with gold film was studied. • The RI sensitivity of the double-layer gold nanospheres sensor was 15747 nm/RIU. • The RI sensitivity of the double-layer gold nanorods sensor was 25642 nm/RIU. • The LOD of double-layer gold nanospheres biosensor is 10 ng/mL. • The LOD of double-layer gold nanorods biosensor is 4.6 ng/mL. The main challenge for all biosensors is how to measure the biological samples at very low concentrations. In this paper, a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fiber biosensor using multi-layer gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)/Au film coupling to enhance sensitivity was proposed. The coupling effect between such longitudinally aligned multilayer nanoparticles increases the intensity of the local electromagnetic field and the depth of propagation to the outside. We used the finite element method to analyze the local enhancement effect of multi-layer Au nanospheres and Au nanorods, and the fabricated double-layer Au NPs (Au nanospheres and Au nanorods)/Au film coupling enhancement sensors. These two sensors' refractive index sensitivities are 15,747 nm/RIU and 25,642 nm/RIU, respectively. By changing biomolecules immobilized on the sensor's surface, the highly sensitive double-layer Au nanoparticle/Au film fiber sensor enables high-precision measurement of different biomarkers at low concentration. For detection of human IgG, the detection limit of gold nanosphere sensor is 10 ng/mL and gold nanorod sensor is 4.6 ng/mL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Hexagonal WS 2 -rimmed Co 9 S 8 heterostructures were designed. • The WS 2 @Co 9 S 8 composites show a good confinement on the lithium polysulfides. • The WS 2 @Co 9 S 8 composites can also catalyze the electrochemical reactions. • The designed CNF@WS 2 @Co 9 S 8 cathodes show excellent electrochemical performances. Many heterostructures containing two types of strong polar bonds were often designed to synergistically increase the chemical confining for soluble lithium polysulfide in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). To make maximum use of the two chemical interactions on confining the polysulfides, a novel structure of 2D hexagonal WS 2 -rimmed Co 9 S 8 heterostructure nanoflakes was designed on the surface of carbon nanofiber (CNF) skeletons via a simple technique. The composite nanoflakes are ~50 nm in diameter and ~5 nm in thickness, and comprised of a ~40-nm Co 9 S 8 core and a 3–4 WS 2 edge. In this design, the Co 9 S 8 core and WS 2 edge can confine the polysulfides and catalyze the electrochemical progresses at the same time. Electrochemical tests indicated that the CNF@WS 2 @Co 9 S 8 -S cathodes show a high capacity (1175 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C), an excellent rate capability (keep 77.85% at 2.0 C), and a superior cycling stability (a low decay rate of 0.061% per cycle at 2.0 C, even lower at 7.0 C and 12.0 C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]