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The Vernier effect and harmonic Vernier effect have attracted ever-increasing interest due to their freely tailored spectrum envelope in tunable laser, modulator, and precision sensing. Most explorations have mainly focused on configuring two isolated optical resonators, namely the reference and tunable resonator. However, this configuration requires a stable reference resonator to guarantee robust readout, posing a significant challenge in applications. Here, we discover the coupled-resonators configuration enabling a reference-free envelope modulation to address this problem. Specifically, all parameters of one resonator theoretically span a hypersurface. When the resonator couples to another one, photon coupling merit an escaped solution from the hypersurface, resulting in an envelope modulation independent of reference. We have first experimentally verified this mechanism in a coupled air resonator and polydimethylsiloxane resonator by inserting a semi-transparent 2-mercaptobenzimidazole-modified silver nanowire network. In addition, this novel mechanism provides a new degree of freedom in the reciprocal space, suggesting alternative multiplexing to combine more envelope modulations simultaneously. This study facilitates the fundamental research in envelope multiplexing. More importantly, the combination of silver nanowire network and flexible microcavity experimentally progress the spectral envelope modulation in optoelectronic integration inside resonators.

Macrophytes play important roles in maintaining ecosystem health and stability of shallow lakes. Better understanding of their long-term dynamics has important theoretical and practical significance for both lake ecosystem restoration and eutrophication control. However, the knowledge about the historical status and changing patterns of macrophytes in China’s shallow lakes is still controversial and lacks systematic research. Here, we reviewed and synthesized the published records of submerged macrophytes from 14 typical shallow lakes in the eastern plain covering the past 100 years. The results suggest that submerged macrophytes have experienced three clear stages of change: rare period (the 1900s–the 1950s), growth period (the 1950s–the 1980s), and recession period (the 1980s–now). This finding is different from the traditional understanding that submerged macrophytes were abundant in the early 20th century and have been degrading since then. On this basis, we proposed the possible evolution pattern (less-more-less) of submerged macrophytes in the eastern plain lake region over the past 100 years, which provides new perspectives about the long-term evolution process of macrophytes in shallow lakes. Furthermore, we found that the decline of submerged macrophytes during the regime shift shows a gradual process at the interdecadal scale; this finding contradicts the classical regime shift theory that macrophytes decline sharply during the critical transition. This study has important theoretical value for the restoration of the eastern plain lakes in China from “turbid lake” to “clear lake”, especially for establishing the historical reference condition and restoration path of macrophytes.

Alpha-klotho (α-KL) is not only related to the regulation of calcium-phosphorus metabolism, and fibrosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD), it is also involved in the regulation of many cognitive disorders. We conducted this study to investigate the effects of CKD on cognitive dysfunction and α-KL.Doxorubicin was used to induce a CKD model, which was validated by weight, 24-hour urine protein quantification, serum creatinine (Cr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and kidney hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The Morris water maze (MWM) paradigm was used to assess the effects of CKD on cognitive behavior. The expression of α-KL in the hippocampus was detected using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry (IHC).(I) In the CKD group, the weight of the rats increased slowly (P0.001), 24-hour urine protein increased (P0.05), and Cr (P=0.026) and BUN levels (P=0.003) increased; (II) HE staining showed that in the CKD group there were changes in the structure, fibrosis, and inflammatory infiltration of the renal tissues, and changes in the structure, cell necrosis, and neuronal degeneration of the hippocampus; (III) in the MWM experiment, the escape latency of the CKD group was prolonged compared to that of the control group (P=0.043, 0.023), and the number of crossing the platform was reduced (P=0.003); (IV) in the CKD group, the expressions of α-KL messenger ribonucleic acid (P=0.0005) and α-KL protein (P=0.0005) in the hippocampus were downregulated. The IHC results showed that the expression of α-KL protein in the hippocampal region III cornus ammonis (CA3) of the CKD group region was also downregulated, and the α-KL-positive cells (P=0.019) and mean optical density (P=0.015) were decreased.The expression of α-KL appears to effect the cognitive function of CKD rats; thus, it may be a valuable target in the treatment of CKD with cognitive impairment.

Surface monitoring, vertical atmospheric column observation, and simulation using chemical transportation models are three dominant approaches for perception of fine particles with diameters less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) concentration. Here we explored an image-based methodology with a deep learning approach and machine learning approach to extend the ability on PM2.5 perception. Using 6976 images combined with daily weather conditions and hourly time data in Shanghai (2016), trained by hourly surface monitoring concentrations, an end-to-end model consisting of convolutional neural network and gradient boosting machine (GBM) was constructed. The mean absolute error, the root-mean-square error and the R-squared for PM2.5 concentration estimation using our proposed method is 3.56, 10.02, and 0.85 respectively. The transferability analysis showed that networks trained in Shanghai, fine-tuned with only 10% of images in other locations, achieved performances similar to ones from trained on data from target locations themselves. The sensitivity of different regions in the image to PM2.5 concentration was also quantified through the analysis of feature importance in GBM. All the required inputs in this study are commonly available, which greatly improved the accessibility of PM2.5 concentration for placed and period with no surface observation. And this study makes an exploratory attempt on pollution monitoring using graph theory and deep learning approach.

Due to their on-body and ubiquitous nature, wearables can generate a wide range of unique sensor data creating countless opportunities for deep learning tasks. We propose DeepWear, a deep learning (DL) framework for wearable devices to improve the performance and reduce the energy footprint. DeepWear strategically offloads DL tasks from a wearable device to its paired handheld device through local network connectivity such as Bluetooth. Compared to the remote-cloud-based offloading, DeepWear requires no Internet connectivity, consumes less energy, and is robust to privacy breach. DeepWear provides various novel techniques such as context-aware offloading, strategic model partition, and pipelining support to efficiently utilize the processing capacity from nearby paired handhelds. Deployed as a user-space library, DeepWear offers developer-friendly APIs that are as simple as those in traditional DL libraries such as TensorFlow. We have implemented DeepWear on the Android OS and evaluated it on COTS smartphones and smartwatches with real DL models. DeepWear brings up to 5.08X and 23.0X execution speedup, as well as 53.5 and 85.5 percent energy saving compared to wearable-only and handheld-only strategies, respectively.

The internal thickness of the carotid artery is the vertical distance between the intima of the carotid artery and the middle mold. Its normal thickness is less than 1 mm. It can be used to judge the degree of arteriosclerosis. Under normal circumstances, the change of the internal thickness of the carotid artery is caused by cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this article is to study the relationship between the thickness of the carotid artery and the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus, parathyroid hormone, microinflammatory state, and cardiovascular disease. This article uses ultrasound measurement to measure the IMT of ESRD patients and carotid arteries with normal renal function. The analysis includes blood pressure, blood phosphorus, blood calcium, blood creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, blood sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin, blood lipids, parathyroid hormone, and C reaction. The correlation between clinical indicators includes protein and carotid IMT in ESRD patients which can be used in designing a diagnostic plan for patients through correlation research. The results showed that the carotid artery IMT of ESRD nondialysis patients was 13% thicker than that of those with normal renal function, and it was significantly positively correlated with age, blood pressure, blood phosphorus, glycosylated hemoglobin, and C-reactive protein. The correlation ratio with calcium and phosphorus was about 0.1.

The chaotic light source is one of the most crucial foundations in optical physics studies and photonic devices. The microcavity provides the predominant solution of compact chaotic light sources in integrated photonics. Still, its prefixed feature has severely ruled out access to tuning for meeting the ever-increasing demands of the general-purpose chaotic light source in engineering. Here we report a demonstration of a chaotic light source with a switchable bandpass--band-stop chaotic emission and tunable bandwidth in a spinning microcavity anti-parity-time (anti-$\mathcal{PT}$). system. In addition, the arrangement of anti-$\mathcal{PT}$ microcavity presents several phenomena such as loss-induced chaotic emission and two different chaotic emissions from one microcavity light source. Such advantages offer another possible way to advance multiplex photonic devices and on-chip chaotic light source fabrication. These results provide a promising approach for the tunable chaotic source and serve as tools for applications in secure communications, electromechanical switching, and exploring non-Hermitian physics.

Objective: To explore the expression of LncRNA KCNQ1OT1 in diabetic nephropathy (DN), and its correlation with MEK/ERK signaling pathway. Methods: 148 patients with type 2 diabetes in our hospital were selected as research subjects, including 83 patients with simple type 2 diabetes (T2D group) and 65 patients with type 2 diabetes with DN (DN group). Another 50 non-diabetic patients were enrolled as the control group. The expressions of LncRNA KCNQ1OT1 and MEK/ERK signaling pathway related molecules in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of the three groups of subjects were detected and their correlations were analyzed. In addition, 30 Wistar rats were divided into a control group, diabetes group and DN model group, and the expression of LncRNA KCNQ1OT1 and MEK/ERK signal pathway-related molecules in kidney tissue of the three groups was detected and compared. Results: The relative expression of LncRNA KCNQ1OT1, MEK-5 and ERK2 in the control group was lower than that of the T2D group and DN group (P

Freight emissions management has entered the deep-water zone. This study evaluated road freight emissions from supply chain perspective using China's 2007, 2010 and 2012 multiregional input-output table. For the first time, we quantified road freight emission based on sectors in China. Heavy industries, mining, agriculture and light industry contributed 71%,14%, 12% and 3% of total NOx emissions in 2012 from production perspective. Construction was the largest consumption sector (43%) responsible for road freight emission from consumption perspective. Upstream transport and final product transport emitted 3.04 Tg (80%) and 0.77 Tg (20%) NOx in 2012. Huge disparities of road freight emissions flows and allocation patterns were found across provinces in China in terms of resource endowments, geographical position and economic development. The road freight emission increased rapidly from 2007 to 2012, and economic growth effect outpaced emission control effect caused by emission standard upgrade and thus dominated the emission growth. The production structure and consumption pattern changes also promoted the emission growth. It is thus important to mitigate freight emissions with different strategies based on a certain sector's freight emissions features from the whole supply chain.

Immune tolerance research is essential for kidney transplantation. Other than antibody and T cell-mediated immune rejection, macrophage-mediated innate immunity plays an important role in the onset phase of transplantation rejection. However, due to the complexity of the kidney environment as well as its diversity and low abundance, studies pertaining to monocyte/macrophages in kidney transplantation require further elucidation. In this study, kidney samples taken from healthy human adults and biopsy specimens from patients undergoing rejection following kidney transplantation were analysed and studied. By conducting a single-cell RNA analysis, the type and status of monocyte/macrophages in kidney transplantation were described, in which monocyte/macrophages were observed to form two different subpopulations: resident and infiltrating monocyte/macrophages. Furthermore, previously defined genes were mapped to all monocyte/macrophage types in the kidney and enriched the differential genes of the two main subpopulations using gene expression databases. Considering that various cases of rejection may be of the monocyte/macrophage type, the present data may serve as a reference for studies regarding immune tolerance following kidney transplantation.

Surface monitoring, vertical atmospheric column observation, and simulation using chemical transportation models are three dominant approaches for perception of fine particles with diameters less than 2.5 micrometers (PM

A second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections emerged in Beijing in summer 2020, which provided an opportunity to explore the response of air pollution to reduced human activity. Proton-transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry (PTR-ToF-MS) coupled with positive matrix factorization (PMF) source apportionment were applied to evaluate the pollution pattern and capture the detailed dynamic emission characteristics of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the representative period, with the occurrence of O3 pollution episodes and the Beijing resurgence of COVID-19. The level of anthropogenic VOC was lower than during the same period in previous years due to the pandemic and emission reduction measures. More than two thirds of the days during the observation period were identified as high-O3 days and VOCs exhibited higher mixing ratios and faster consumption rates in the daytime on high-O3 days. The identified VOC emission sources and the corresponding contributions during the whole observation period included: vehicle + fuel (12.41 ± 9.43%), industrial process (9.40 ± 8.65%), solvent usage (19.58 ± 13.46%), biogenic (6.03 ± 5.40%), background + long-lived (5.62 ± 11.37%), and two groups of oxygenated VOC (OVOC) factors (primary emission and secondary formation, 26.14 ± 15.20% and 20.84 ± 14.0%, respectively). Refined dynamic source apportionment results show that the ‘stay at home’ tendency led to decreased emission (−34.47 ± 1.90%) and a weakened morning peak of vehicle + fuel during the Beijing resurgence. However, a growing emission of primary OVOCs (+51.10 ± 8.28%) with similar diurnal variation was observed in the new outbreak and afterwards, which might be related to the enhanced usage of products intended to clean and disinfect. The present study illustrated that more stringent VOC reduction measures towards pandemic products should be carried out to achieve the balanced emission abatement of NO x and VOC when adhering to regular epidemic prevention and control measures.

Intermediate-volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) have been found as important sources for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. IVOC emissions from nonroad construction machineries (NRCMs), including two road rollers and three motor graders, were characterized under three operation modes using an improved portable emission measurement system. The fuel-based IVOC emission factors (EFs) of NRCMs varied from 245.85 to 1802.19 mg/kg·fuel, which were comparable at magnitudes to the reported results of an ocean-going ship and on-road diesel vehicles without filters. The discrepancy of IVOC EFs is significant within different operation modes. IVOC EFs under the idling mode were 1.24-3.28 times higher than those under moving/working modes. Unspeciated b-alkanes and cyclic compounds, which were the unresolved components in IVOCs at the molecular level, accounted for approximately 91% of total IVOCs from NRCMs. The SOA production potential analysis shows that IVOCs dominated SOA formation of NRCMs. Our results demonstrate that IVOC emissions from NRCMs are non-negligible. Thus, an accurate estimation of their IVOC emissions would benefit the understanding of SOA formation in the urban atmosphere.

Marine trade has significantly expanded over the past decades aiding to the economic development of the maritime countries, yet, this has been associated with a considerable increase in pollution emission from shipping operation. This study aims at considering both sides of the spectrum at the same time, which is including both public and shipping business. Of the key significance would be to optimize the operation of the shipping industry, such that its impact on air pollution is minimized, without, however, significant escalation of its cost, and therefore to protect the whole seaborne trade. To do this, we considered the impacts of three control strategies, including the current emission control area (ECA) design, as well two additional ones. Thus the first scenario (DECA1) was based on the China's domestic emission control area (DECA), which was set up in 2016. The DECA1 scale was only 12 nautical miles, which was much smaller than the emission control areas in US or Europe. We defined the second scenario (DECA2), by stretching the zone to 200 nautical miles towards the ocean, modeling it on the ECA in North America. The third scenario (DECA3), on the other hand, expanded the 12 nautical miles control zone along the whole coastline. To investigate the impact of shipping emissions on air quality, a shipping emission calculation model and an air quality simulation model were used, and Pearl River Delta (PRD), China was chosen to serve as a case study. The study demonstrated that in 2013 marine shipping emissions contributed on average 0.33 and 0.60 μg·m− 3, respectively to the land SO2 and PM2.5 concentrations in the PRD, and that the concentrations were high along the coastline. The DECA1 policy could effectively reduce SO2 and PM2.5 concentrations in the port regions, and the average reduction in the land area were 9.54% and 2.7%, respectively. Compared with DECA1, DECA2 would not measurably improve the air quality, while DECA3 would effectively decrease the pollution in the entire coast area. Thus, instead of expanding emission control area far to the ocean, it is more effective to control emissions along the coastline to secure the best air quality and lower the health impacts. By doing this, 19 million dollars of fuel cost could be saved per year. The saved cost could help the ship owners to endure, considering the current low profits of the seaborne trade, and thus to protect the overall growth of the economy.

Aims To prolong the short lifespan of oxyntomodulin (OXM) for treating obesity and diabetes, we designed a novel fused OXM analog, containing an albumin-binding sequence, a protease cleavable tetrapeptide, and a mutated OXM. Main methods We screened two albumin-binding sequences (S3 and S6) to construct OXM derivatives, termed S3-2 (with two cysteines) and S6-0 (without cysteine). After peptides were synthesized, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was applied to assess binding-affinity for HSA. Further in vivo acute efficacies evaluation and candidate selection were performed in diabetic db/db mice via oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and glucose-lowering duration test. Chronic efficacy test of selected candidate was also performed in diabetic mice. Results Firstly, S3-2 and S6-0 with purity over 99% were prepared. ITC measurements demonstrated that S3-2 and S6-0 associate with HSA with high-affinity (Kd = 12.81 ± 1.11 nM and 26.98 ± 2.39 nM, respectively). Then hypoglycemic efficacies showed deoxidation S3-2 (S3-2re) showed longer hypoglycemic duration than the oxidation one (S3-2ox), and better blood glucose level (BGL) control effect than S6-0. OGTTs in diabetic mice revealed the glucose-lowering efficacies of S3-2re were similar to Liraglutide. The protracted antidiabetic effects of S3-2re were further confirmed by multiple OGTTs in db/db mice. Furthermore, twice weekly injection of S3-2re to db/db mice achieved beneficial effects on body weight gain, glucose tolerance, postprandial BGL and obesity. Moreover, S3-2 produces significantly protective effects on the impaired renal functions of the diabetic mice. Conclusion S3-2re exhibits outstanding therapeutical potential as a candidate drug for treating the obesity and diabetes.

Incorporation of high-loading redox-active materials with small amounts of graphene is a general protocol to achieve high-performance catalysts. Herein, hierarchical MoS2-reduced graphene oxide nanosheet (denoted as MoS2–rGO nanosheets) hybrids with a loading of MoS2 as high as 94 wt% are synthesized. The obtained hierarchical MoS2–rGO nanosheets simultaneously integrate the structural and compositional design rationales for high-efficiency and durable electrocatalysts based on high weight ratio of MoS2 in hybrid composite, highly stable/conducting rGO, well-dispersed two-dimensional ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets, more exposed edge sites and micro/nano hierarchical structure. When evaluated as electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions, the hierarchical MoS2–rGO nanosheets demonstrates enhanced activity and excellent stability, promising their applications in MoS2 based electrochemical, photo-catalytic and photo-elecrocatalytic cells.

Background/Aims: Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of inhibition of transient receptor potential cation channel C6 (TRPC6) on podocyte injury induced by TGF-β1 via nephrin and desmin mechanisms. Methods: A rat model of nephropathy was first induced by intravenous injections of adriamycin to determine TRPC6 signal pathway engaged in glomerulosclerosis in vivo. Conditionally immortalized podocytes were cultured in vitro and they were divided into four groups: control; TGF-β1 treatment; TGF-β1 with TRPC6 knockdown and TGF-β1 without TRPC6 knockdown. Real time RT-PCR and Western blot analysis were employed to determine the mRNA and protein of expression of nephrin, desmin and caspase-9, respectively. Flow cytometry was used to examine the apoptotic rate of podocytes and DAPI fluorescent staining was used to determine apoptotic morphology. Results: In vivo experiment, adriamycin significantly upregulated the protein expression of TGF-β1, TRPC6, desmin and caspase-9, and decreased nephrin. Consistent with the latter results, in vitro experiment mRNA and protein expression of desmin and caspase-9 was increased in cultured TGF-β1-treated podocytes, whereas nephrin was declined as compared with the control group. Importantly, TRPC6 knockdown significantly attenuated the upregulated desmin and caspase-9, and alleviated impairment of nephrin induced by TGF-β1. Moreover, typical morphologic features were presented in apoptotic podocytes. The number of apoptotic podocytes was increased after exposure to TGF-β1 and this was alleviated after TRPC6 knockdown. TRPC6 knockdown also decreased an apoptosis rate of TGF-β1-treated podocytes. Note that negative TRPC6 transfection control failed to alter an increase of the apoptosis rate in TGF-β1-treated podocytes. Conclusions: TGF-β1 induced by glomerulosclerosis impairs the protein expression of nephrin and amplifies the protein expression of desmin and caspase -9 via TRPC6 signal pathway. Inhibition of TRPC6 alleviates these changes in podocytes-treated with TGF-β1 and attenuated apoptosis of podocytes. Our data suggest that TRPC6 signal plays an important role in mediating TGF-β1-induced podocyte injury via nephrin, desmin and caspase-9. Results of the current study also indicate that blocking TRPC6 signal pathway has a protective effect on podocyte injury. Targeting one or more of these signaling molecules may present new opportunities for treatment and management of podocyte injury observed in glomerulosclerosis.

The core-shell Mn3O4/birnessite-MnO2 (Mn3O4/MnO2) was successfully established by assembly of birnessite-type MnO2 over Mn3O4 backbones. The product was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as UV–vis absorption spectra (UV–vis) to assess its adsorption of methylene blue (MB) from neutral aqueous solutions. Compared to the individual Mn3O4, the prepared Mn3O4/MnO2 shows enhanced adsorption capability towards MB. Such enhancement is due to the higher surface area and the unique nanosheet shells. The adsorption of MB on the surface of Mn3O4/MnO2 was studied in terms of pseudo-first-order and the pseudo-second-order kinetic models, and the latter was found better. The present study indicates that hierarchically structured core-shell manganese oxides are promising adsorbents for wastewater treatment.