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Biochar application is widely recognized as an effective approach for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) and mitigating climate change in agroecosystems. However, the effects of biochar application on net accumulations and relative contributions of different SOC sources remain unclear. Here, we explored the effects of biochar application on plant‐derived (PDC) and microbial necromass C (MNC) in a 10‐year experimental rice–wheat rotation field receiving four different intensities of biochar application (0, 2.25, 11.5, and 22.5 t ha−1 for each crop season), using phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs), lignin phenols and amino sugars as biomarkers of microbial biomass, PDC and MNC, respectively. Our results showed that biochar application increased SOC content and stock by 32.6%–203% and 26.4%–145%, respectively. Higher biochar application (11.5 and 22.5 t ha−1) increased soil pH, total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), SOC/TN, and root biomass. In addition, higher biochar application enhanced bacterial, fungal, and total microbial biomass. Plant lignin phenols and MNC contents significantly increased, whereas their contributions to SOC significantly decreased with the increase in biochar application rates due to the disproportionate increase in PDC and MNC, and SOC. Fungal necromass had a greater contribution to SOC than bacterial necromass. The fungal/bacterial necromass decreased from 2.56 to 2.26 with increasing biochar application rates, because of the higher abundances of bacteria than that of fungi as indicated by PLFAs under higher biochar application rates. Random forest analyses revealed that pH, TP, and SOC/TN were the main factors controlling plant lignin and MNC accumulation. Structural equation modeling revealed that biochar application increased lignin phenols by stimulating root biomass, whereas enhanced MNC accumulation was primarily from increased microbial biomass and lignin phenols. Overall, our findings suggest that biochar application increases the accumulation of the two SOC sources but decreases their contributions to SOC in paddy soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The min–max multi-vehicle Chinese postman problem is an NP-hard problem, which is widely used in path planning problems based on road network graphs, such as urban road structure probing planning, urban road underground cavity detection planning, high-voltage line inspection planning, and so on. With the rapid increase in the number of nodes and connections of road network graph, the solution time and path equilibrium constraints pose new challenges to the problem solving. In this paper, we propose a critical-edge tabu search algorithm, CTA-kroutes, for solving the min–max multi-vehicle postman problem for large-scale road networks. First, the initial solution with balanced path lengths is obtained by segmenting the Eulerian paths; second, the critical edges are moved in the initial solution to construct the neighborhood solution, and the tabu search algorithm is used to find the optimal solution iteratively; and lastly, the solution optimization algorithm is used at the end of each iteration to de-duplicate and optimally reconstruct the current search result. Experiments show that the CTA-kroutes algorithm can effectively improve the equalization of multi-vehicle paths and its applicability to large-scale road networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to propose an image processing device based on load balancing algorithm, which can realize efficient and accurate data processing in physical fitness detection. The characteristics of optical sensor image processing equipment and the demand of physical fitness detection are studied and analyzed. Then, according to the principle and strategy of load balancing, a load balancing algorithm suitable for iot optical sensor image processing equipment is designed. The algorithm can automatically adjust the task allocation according to the load of the device and ensure the load balance of each device. Finally, the experiment is carried out in the actual scene, and the comparison with the traditional method is analyzed. The experimental results show that the iot optical sensor image processing equipment based on load balancing algorithm has excellent performance in the physical fitness detection. It can effectively reduce the load pressure of the equipment and improve the speed and accuracy of data processing. The application potential of the equipment is huge, and it can play an important role in sports training, health monitoring and other fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transient responses of distributed energy resources (DERs) in a microgrid are dynamically correlated in spatial and temporal dimensions. Hence, the transient stability prediction in microgrids would require an effective modeling of time-varying correlations and the mining of spatial–temporal features of electrical data. This paper proposes a refined DER-level transient stability prediction method for microgrids considering the time-varying spatial–temporal correlations of DERs. First, the spatial–temporal dynamic correlation of DERs was extracted and modeled by an attention-based mechanism. Then, a spatial–temporal graph convolution network was proposed to predict the dynamics of unstable DERs and the instability severity trend in a microgrid. The TSP model consisted of three parts: (1) several stacked spatial–temporal convolution modules to simultaneously mine the spatial–temporal dynamic features of microgrids, (2) an unstable DER identification module to predict the microgrid system stability and identify unstable DERs, and (3) an instability severity trend prediction module for DERs in a microgrid. The test results on a realistic 16-bus 10-DER microgrid demonstrated that the proposed prediction method possessed the desirable reliability and interpretability and outperformed the state-of-the-art baselines in unstable DER identifications and DER instability severity trend predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the effects of canagliflozin (20 mg/kg) on Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS) rat gut microbiota and salt-sensitive hypertension-induced kidney injury and further explore its possible mechanism. Rats were fed a high-salt diet to induce hypertension and kidney injury, and physical and physiological indicators were measured afterwards. This study employed 16S rRNA sequencing technology and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS)-based metabolic profiling combined with advanced differential and association analyses to investigate the correlation between the microbiome and the metabolome in male DSS rats. A high-salt diet disrupted the balance of the intestinal flora and increased toxic metabolites (methyhistidines, creatinine, homocitrulline, and indoxyl sulfate), resulting in severe kidney damage. Canagliflozin contributed to reconstructing the intestinal flora of DSS rats by significantly increasing the abundance of Corynebacterium spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Facklamia spp., Lactobacillus spp., Ruminococcus spp., Blautia spp., Coprococcus spp., and Allobaculum spp. Moreover, the reconstruction of the intestinal microbiota led to significant changes in host amino acid metabolite concentrations. The concentration of uremic toxins, such as methyhistidines, creatinine, and homocitrulline, in the serum of rats was decreased by canagliflozin, which resulted in oxidative stress and renal injury alleviation. Canagliflozin may change the production of metabolites and reduce the level of uremic toxins in the blood circulation by reconstructing the intestinal flora of DSS rats fed a high-salt diet, ultimately alleviating oxidative stress and renal injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil acidity is a crop production problem of increasing concern in acid red soil. The potential of biochar as a soil amendment/for soil acid management in agricultural fields is a recently recognized yet underutilized technology. Related evidence is currently limited to short-term indoor experiments with one-time BC applications and no crop cultivation, yet the degree to which soil acidity may be impacted by the biochar aging process on long-time scale remains unclear. To evaluate the effects of successive seasonal applications of rice straw-derived biochar (BC) on acidity and fertility of soil, a five-year outdoor column trial was conducted using wheat-millet rotated acidic upland soils from the south of China. BC was applied to the top 0–15 cm of soil at the rates of 0 (BC0), 2.25 (BCL), and 22.5 (BCM) Mg ha−1 with an identical dose of NPK fertilizers at the beginning of each crop season. Our results showed that the wheat-millet biomass yield gradually decreased over five rotation cycles in BC0 without BC application. In contrast, after five rotations, BCM led to an increase in the total wheat/millet grain yield by 138%, and the straw yield increased by 253% compared to the control. The cumulative above-ground nutrient uptake of P, K, Ca, Na, and Mg in BCM also increased by 139%, 171%, 129%, 182%, and 71%, respectively, compared to that in the control. This positive effect was attributed to the increase in soil pH (3.29 units), cation exchange capacity (5.66 cmol kg−1), soil available P (241%), K (513%), Ca (245%), Mg (265%), exchange base (3.36 cmol kg−1), base saturation percentage (65.7%), and decrease in the exchangeable acidity, especially exchangeable Al3+ content (<0.1 cmol kg−1). Our results demonstrated that rice straw-derived BC application to soil at 22.5 t ha−1 was found to be highly consistent in decreasing soil acidity and reducing soluble and exchangeable Al3+, indicating its higher ameliorating capacity in the south of China in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, at least four distinct double-stranded RNA viruses, including two partitiviruses, one bipartite virus, and a novel polymycovirus, were detected in the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium brunneum strain RCEF0736. We describe the characterization of one of these viruses, a novel polymycovirus, which we have named “Metarhizium brunneum polymycovirus 1” (MbPmV1). The genome of MbPmV1 has four dsRNA segments, ranging from 1153 to 2421 bp in length. dsRNA1, 2, and 3 of MbPmV1 each contain a single large open reading frame (ORF), while dsRNA4 has two ORFs. BLASTp analysis indicated that dsRNA1, 2, 3, and 4 of MbPmV1 have a high degree of similarity to the putative RdRp (59.45%), serine protease (44.22%), putative methyltransferase (48.76%), and proline-alanine-serine-rich protein (PASrp) (52.80%), respectively, of Phaeoacremonium minimum tetramycovirus 1 (PmTmV1). MbPmV1 was grouped in a cluster with members of the genus Polymycovirus and was most closely related to PmTmV1 in the phylogenetic tree. Thus, we propose that MbPmV1 represents a novel species of the genus Polymycovirus, family Polymycoviridae. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a polymycovirus in a member of the genus Metarhizium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diazabicyclooctane (DBO) has emerged as the attractive motif for the development of new β-lactamase inhibitors after the clinical approval of avibactam and relebactam. We are striving at improving the lactamase inhibition strength and antibacterial spectrum of the DBO derivatives. We synthesized the substituted-amidine derivatives (5a–5j) of the DBO, and determined the antibacterial efficacy of the two β-lactam drugs i.e. imipenem and meropenem, in combination with compounds 5a–5j. All these derivatives lowered the MIC values of the imipenem and meropenem, indicating their β-lactamase inhibition profile, however in variable strength. The best results were obtained when the compounds 5a–5j were combined with meropenem indicating the better association of these compounds with meropenem in comparison to imipenem. With meropenem, compounds 5a and 5b proved to be the most potent exhibiting the highest antibacterial efficacy against five out of ten microbial strains. Moreover, the MIC data showed that β-lactamase inhibition strength of compounds 5a and 5b was comparable to relebactam in eight out of ten bacterial strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the broad biological effects of the Hedgehog (Hh) pathway, there is potential clinical value in local application of Hh pathway modulators to restrict pathway activation of target tissues and avoid systemic pathway activation. One option to limit Hh pathway activation is using fibrin hydrogels to deliver pathway modulators directly to tissues of interest, bypassing systemic distribution of the drug. In this study, we loaded the potent Hh pathway agonist, SAG21k, into fibrin hydrogels. We describe the binding between fibrin and SAG21k and achieve sustained release of the drug in vitro. SAG21k-loaded fibrin hydrogels exhibit strong biological activity in vitro , using a pathway-specific reporter cell line. To test in vivo activity, we used a mouse model of facial nerve injury. Application of fibrin hydrogels is a common adjunct to surgical nerve repair, and the Hh pathway is known to play an important role in facial nerve injury and regeneration. Local application of the Hh pathway agonist SAG21k using a fibrin hydrogel applied to the site of facial nerve injury successfully activates the Hh pathway in treated nerve tissue. Importantly, this method appears to avoid systemic pathway activation when Hh-responsive organs are analyzed for transcriptional pathway activation. This method of local tissue Hh pathway agonist administration allows for effective pathway targeting surgically accessible tissues and may have translational value in situations where supranormal pathway activation is therapeutic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photothermal materials can improve the photothermal conversion efficiency. Here, we design and prepare a photothermal material which has both high light harvesting ability and high thermal conductivity for efficient utilization of light energy. Polypyrrole (PPy) was polymerized in the surface of boron nitride (h‐BN) to form polypyrrole/boron nitride (h‐BN/PPy) composites. The h‐BN/PPy composites can be dispersed in glycol‐water solution to form nanofluids with photothermal conversion properties. To further expand the field of h‐BN/PPy systems. By loading h‐BN and PPy on melamine sponge, MF/h‐BN/PPy composite sponges (MFBP) with high hydrophobicity was creatively obtained. The composite sponges can float on the surface of simulated seawater and has rich porous structure, which is conducive to the escape of water vapor. The evaporation rate of simulated seawater reached 1.21 kg m−2 h−1. Such a composite with simple preparation process and low energy consumption but high photothermal conversion efficiency has promise in photothermal conversion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) and ultrasound (US) can be used to diagnose inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in children. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of MRE and US in pediatric patients with IBD. Methods: PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for eligible studies published up to June 1, 2020. The outcomes were the performances of MRE and US at the segment and patient levels. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios (PLR and NLR), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves value (SROC) were analyzed. Results: Eight studies (340 children) were included. Compared with the reference standard, MRE showed pooled sensitivity of 93.0% (95% confidence interval (CI): 90.0–95.4%), specificity of 94.6% (95% CI: 92.1–96.5%), PLR of 11.146 (95% CI: 5.027–24.713), NLR of 0.094 (95% CI: 0.057–0.155), and DOR of 134.21 (95% CI: 40.72–442.29), with a SROC of 0.9721. Similar results were observed at the patient and segment levels. Compared with the reference standard, US had pooled sensitivity of 84.1% (95% CI: 69.9–93.4%), specificity of 82.9% (95% CI: 66.4–93.4%), PLR of 4.924 (95% CI: 2.351–10.310), NLR of 0.207 (95% CI: 0.103–0.413), and DOR of 25.919 (95% CI: 7.63–88.07), but only two studies were included. US (reader 1) had a similar diagnostic value to US (reader 2). Conclusions: The present meta-analysis shows that MRE has good performance in detecting IBD in pediatric patients. Only two studies used US, and additional studies are necessary to confirm the diagnostic performance of US for IBD in children. Key Points: • MRE has good performance in the detection of IBD in pediatric patients. • Similar results were observed at the patient and segment levels for MRE. • Only two studies were included for US, without differentiating patient/segment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective and scalable hydrodynamic interfacial polymerization approach was developed for engineering dense/porous Janus thin-film composite membranes for forward osmosis (FO) applications. The resulting Janus composite FO membrane experiences a smaller diffusion resistivity (K = 1.7×105 s/m) and minimises reverse solute flux (RSF ≤ 1 g m−2h−1) to deliver a significantly higher (by 1073.5%) perm-selectivity than that of the conventional polyamide-based FO membrane. [Display omitted] • An effective and scalable approach was proposed for engineering Janus FO membrane. • Dynamic interfacial shear was created for forming a thin, dense, and smooth PA layer. • The resulting Janus membrane experiences smaller diffusion resistivity and minimises RSF. • The FO membrane delivers a significantly high perm-selectivity. Limited by their intrinsic features, conventional forward osmosis (FO) membranes suffer from defect-triggered selectivity losses and blockage-induced low permeabilities. Herein, we developed a hydrodynamic interfacial polymerization (DIP) strategy for fabricating highly permselective thin-film composite (DTFC) membranes with dense/porous Janus structure. The dynamic fluid flow of reactant monomers at the immiscible liquid–liquid interface creates shear forces that enhance polyamide (PA) polymerization on the surface of a three-dimensional (3D) porous spinning skeleton. Computational fluid dynamics simulations confirm that interfacial shear flow acting on PA crystals induces the epitaxial growth of a dense, continuous, thin, and smooth PA layer. The resulting DTFC membrane showcased a significantly enhanced water/salt flux ratio (J w /J s), exceeding that of static thin-film composite (STFC) membrane by a substantial 1073.5 %, thus embodying exceptional permselectivity. This superior performance is attributable to a smaller diffusion resistivity (K = 1.7×105 s/m) and an ultralow reverse solute flux (RSF ≤ 1 g m−2h−1). These findings provide new insight into the role of interfacial control in regulating TFC structure and FO performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new h‐BN/CuO nanocomposite was prepared by using boron nitride (h‐BN) and CuSO4 ⋅ 5H2O as raw materials via hydrothermal synthesis. We studied loading the CuO nanoparticles on sheet of h‐BN substrate and the stability of the h‐BN/CuO water‐based (h‐BN/CuO) nanofluids. It had both well light absorbing ability and photothermal conversion efficiency in direct absorption solar collectors (DASCs). The results show that different molar ratios of CuO to h‐BN do not affect the size of CuO nanoparticles or h‐BN substrates, but within a suitable feed ratio range, there exists an optimum feed ratio: h‐BN/CuO 0.75 : 1 which the suspension stability is the best in the base fluid. Simultaneously, supporting CuO nanoparticles on h‐BN substrate can make the absorption capacity of sunlight stronger than that of pure h‐BN. Under the simulated sunlight source, the nanocomposite with feed ratio of 0.75 : 1 was selected for the photothermal conversion test. The highest photothermal temperature of 0.05 wt % h‐BN/CuO nanofluid can reach 92.21 °C, which is 37.58 °C higher than pure water at most. Meanwhile, compared with 35.35 % for pure water, its photothermal conversion efficiency can rise to 80.18 %. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We prove global existence backwards from the scattering data posed at infinity for the Maxwell Klein Gordon equations in Lorenz gauge satisfying the weak null condition. The asymptotics of the solutions to the Maxwell Klein Gordon equations in Lorenz gauge were shown to be wave like at null infinity and homogeneous towards timelike infinity in Candy et al. (Commun Math Phys 367(2):683–716, 2019) and expressed in terms of radiation fields, and thus our scattering data will be given in the form of radiation fields in the backward problem. We give a refinement of the asymptotics results in Candy et al. (2019), and then making use of this refinement, we find a global solution which attains the prescribed scattering data at infinity. Our work starts from the approach in [21] and is more delicate since it involves with nonlinearities with fewer derivatives. Our result corresponds to "existence of scattering states" in the scattering theory. The method of proof relies on a suitable construction of the approximate solution from the scattering data, a weighted conformal Morawetz energy estimate and a spacetime version of Hardy inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Owing to the intrinsic stability against common β-lactamases and metallo-lactamases, monobactams gathered special attention in antibiotic drug development. However, so far, aztreonam is the only monobactam approved by FDA for clinical use. We designed new derivatives of aztreonam to enhance its antibacterial efficacy. Methods. We synthesized a series of monocyclic β-lactams by modifying mainly at the C3 position of azetidinone ring. NH2 group at C3 of azetidinone was attached to thiazole and thiadiazole which in turn was linked to nitrogenous heterocyclic rings via amidine moieties. We then investigated the in vitro antibacterial activities of synthesized compounds against ten bacterial strains of clinical interest in comparison to aztreonam and ceftazidime. Results. All compounds showed improved antibacterial activities against tested strains compared to reference drugs. Compounds 14d and 14e were most potent and showed the highest potency against all bacterial strains, with MIC values ranging from 0.25 µg/mL to 8 µg/mL, as compared to aztreonam (MIC 16 µg/mL to >64 µg/mL) and ceftazidime (MIC >64 µg/mL). These compounds (14d and 14e) may be valuable lead targets against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several recent studies demonstrated that lung ultrasound could achieve desired diagnostic accuracy for transient tachypnea of the neonate (TTN). However, the diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound for TTN has not been systematically studied to date. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the performance of lung ultrasound in diagnosing TTN. The relevant literature was searched in PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Library, and Embase databases without any restriction in terms of language and time until January 31, 2021. Studies that assessed the diagnostic performance of lung ultrasound for TTN were included. Seven studies with 1514 participants were summarized. The lung ultrasound provided more accurate performance for diagnosing TTN with pooled sensitivity and specificity of 0.67 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.63–0.71] and 0.97 (95% CI = 0.95–0.98), respectively. A higher summarized area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was observed as 0.9906. Lower sensitivity and area under the curve (AUC) of B-lines for TTN were observed as 0.330 (95% CI = 0.27–0.38) and 0.5000, respectively. Lung ultrasound provided highly accurate AUC, sensitivity, and specificity in detecting TTN. Large-scale studies are warranted in the future to confirm these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although MR elastography allows for quantitative evaluation of liver stiffness to assess chronic liver diseases, it has associated drawbacks related to additional scanning time, patient discomfort, and added costs. Objective: To develop a machine learning model that can categorically classify the severity of liver stiffness using both anatomical T2-weighted MRI and clinical data for children and young adults with known or suspected pediatric chronic liver diseases. Materials and methods: We included 273 subjects with known or suspected chronic liver disease. We extracted data including axial T2-weighted fast spin-echo fat-suppressed images, clinical data (e.g., demographic/anthropomorphic data, particular medical diagnoses, laboratory values) and MR elastography liver stiffness measurements. We propose DeepLiverNet (a deep transfer learning model) to classify patients into one of two groups: no/mild liver stiffening (<3 kPa) or moderate/severe liver stiffening (≥3 kPa). We conducted internal cross-validation using 178 subjects, and external validation using an independent cohort of 95 subjects. We assessed diagnostic performance using accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AuROC). Results: In the internal cross-validation experiment, the combination of clinical and imaging data produced the best performance (AuROC=0.86) compared to clinical (AuROC=0.83) or imaging (AuROC=0.80) data alone. Using both clinical and imaging data, the DeepLiverNet correctly classified patients with accuracy of 88.0%, sensitivity of 74.3% and specificity of 94.6%. In our external validation experiment, this same deep learning model achieved an accuracy of 80.0%, sensitivity of 61.1%, specificity of 91.5% and AuROC of 0.79. Conclusion: A deep learning model that incorporates clinical data and anatomical T2-weighted MR images might provide a means of risk-stratifying liver stiffness and directing the use of MR elastography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oligosaccharide-containing macromolecular bio adhesives are emerging as highly promising eco-friendly materials to enhance the cytocompatibility of viscous hydrogels for wound healing applications. In our prior research, we extensively elucidated the properties of branch -structure fructo-oligosaccharides derived from Polygonatum Cyrtonema Hua (referred to as PCOS). However, the characteristics of hydrogels based on fructo-oligosaccharides remain to be fully explored. In present work, we developed an injectable, PCOS/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) hydrogel which is a dual ion-physical cross-linked hydrogel that can be considered as a potential diabetic wound dressing. The tests showed that the optimal ratios for hydrogel preparation were 2 % CBM 940 (Carbomer 940), 5 % CMC and 10 % PCOS. The resultant hydrogel was formulated into composite hydrogels that were then used for the treatment of full-thickness excisional wounds in a db/db diabetic mouse model. Wound closure and histological evaluation confirmed its beneficial effect on wound healing. Further morphological analysis through scanning electron microscopy images revealed a porous hydrogel structure, while Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy provided structural insights on the crosslinking reaction. Physicochemical properties of the hybrid hydrogels determined by rheological properties, thermogravimetric, water loss rate, et al., indicated that the double crosslinking PCOS/CMC hybrid hydrogel showed enhanced dynamic mechanical properties and water retention capacity compared to the CMC cellulose matrix hydrogels. Thus, this novel PCOS-hybrid hydrogel exhibited good dissolvability and injectable properties, which was proved to facilitate for the diabetic wound healing both in vitro and in vivo test and holds a potential clinical application in the wound healing. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aggregation-induced quenching effect and poor thermal stability issues of carbon dots (CDs) limit their further development in the solid-state lighting and display field. In this work, a red carbon dot/boron nitride nanosheet (rCDs/BNNS) composite was synthesized using boron nitride as a carrier by in-situ embedding of rCDs. Thanks to the uniform dispersion of rCDs and the restraint of BNNS, the prepared rCDs/BNNS composite has excellent fluorescence stability and thermal stability. rCDs/BNNS composites as fluorescent markers can be used to detect potential fingerprints on various surfaces. Furthermore, rCDs/BNNS were dispersed into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) polymers to prepare rCDs/BNNS/PVA flexible luminescent films. In addition to the excellent stability inherited from rCDs/BNNS, the thin film also exhibits high heat dissipation by reason of the establishment of a heat transfer channel in the PVA by rCDs/BNNS. Moreover, thin films can still maintain original fluorescence after undergoing hundreds or thousands of bends, while possessing sufficient tensile strength. This study provides a facile pathway for the preparation of highly stable CDs luminescent materials, and has a promising application in the forensic identification and flexible luminescent devices' thermal management fields. • A novel rCDs/BNNS composite was synthesized with excellent fluorescence stability and thermal stability. • The rCDs/BNNS/PVA film was obtained by encapsulating rCDs/BNNS into PVA. • Fluorescent film has good luminescence stability and mechanical flexibility. • The film displays outstanding heat dissipation in the application of LED lamp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threshold size for enlarged abdominal lymph nodes (E-ALNs), a common pediatric disorder, has yet to be standardized. According to the maximum short-axis diameter, this study divided ALNs into Grade A (≥ 10 mm), Grade B (8–10 mm), Grade C (5–8 mm), and Grade D (< 5 mm, normal). To identify the threshold size for E-ALNs, the prevalence of each grade was compared between asymptomatic individuals and symptomatic (e.g., abdominal pain) individuals without other diseases (e.g., appendicitis) that could explain the symptoms for different ages using data from > 200,000 individuals. The results showed the following: (1) For ages 1–3 years, the recommended threshold size is 8 mm, as the differences in the prevalence between the two groups were nonsignificant for Grade C but significant (p < 0.05) for both Grades A and B. (2) For ages 3–14 years, the recommended threshold size is 5 mm, as the differences between the two groups were significant (p < 0.05) for Grades A, B, and C. (3) The prevalence of Grades A, B, and C was very low for ages 0–1 years and high for ages 1–6 years. (4) The prevalence for males was generally higher than that for females for Grades A and B. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an acidic, ocean colloid polysaccharide, alginate is both a biopolymer and a polyelectrolyte that is considered to be biocompatible, nontoxic, nonimmunogenic, and biodegradable. A significant number of studies have confirmed the potential use of alginate-based platforms as effective vehicles for drug delivery for cancer-targeted treatment. In this review, the focus is on the formation of alginate-based cancer-targeted delivery systems. Specifically, some general chemical and physical properties of alginate and different types of alginate-based delivery systems are discussed, and various kinds of alginate-based carriers are introduced. Finally, recent innovative strategies to functionalize alginate-based vehicles for cancer targeting are described to highlight research towards the optimization of alginate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diffuse white matter abnormality (diffuse excessive high signal intensity) is the most common finding on structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term-equivalent age in very preterm infants. Yet, there remains a large gap in our understanding of the etiology of diffuse white matter abnormality. Our objective was to evaluate perinatal and neonatal inflammation-associated antecedents of diffuse white matter abnormality on MRI.Methods: We prospectively enrolled 110 very preterm infants born at ≤31 weeks gestational age and collected data on multiple perinatal/neonatal exposures, especially inflammation initiating-illnesses. We performed structural MRI at term-equivalent age and quantified the volume of diffuse white matter abnormality objectively. Multivariable regression was used to identify clinical antecedents of diffuse white matter abnormality.Results: The mean (S.D.) birth gestational age of the final study sample of 98 very preterm infants was 28.3 (2.5) weeks. Multiple inflammation initiating-illnesses were associated with diffuse white matter abnormality in univariate analyses. In multivariable linear regression analyses controlling for gestational age, severe retinopathy of prematurity (P < 0.001) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (P = 0.006) were independent risk factors, whereas maternal treatment with 17-hydroxyprogesterone (P < 0.001) was protective of later development of objectively quantified diffuse white matter abnormality.Conclusions: We identified several perinatal and neonatal antecedent clinical factors associated with diffuse white matter abnormality. Although we found some support for inflammation as a common underlying mechanism, larger studies are needed to validate inflammation as a potential common pathway to the development of diffuse white matter abnormality in very preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different domains of research are moving to cloud computing whether to carry out compute intensive experiments or to store large datasets. Large-scale computation in geophysical exploration is often inefficient, especially in the Just-in-time (JIT) environment. To alleviate this, we devised a new parallel magnetotelluric inversion method on high performance computing (HPC) multi-threads workloads cluster. This parallel algorithm adapted to single CPU or PC clusters with multi-threads workloads allocates different waves to each thread in a coarse-gained mode. In all multi-threads, the master thread deals with all parallel tasks, and other slave threads compute the electromagnetic field values of each wave in a parallel fork-join model. Experiments show that the proposed parallel algorithm not only achieves effective data accuracy, but is more efficient than the serial version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of Salmonella in natural freshwater and drinking water is a leading cause of intestinal illness all over the world; thus, the detection of Salmonella in water is of great importance to public health. The objective of this study is to develop a rapid screening method for the detection of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis in water involving surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), aptamers, and filtration. SERS offers a great alternative to traditional methods of pathogen detection, with a simplified detection assay and shortened detection time. The specific capturing and labeling of Salmonella Enteritidis are realized by a specific single-stranded DNA aptamer, which is modified with an additional chain of adenine and fluorescein (FAM) and used as presence/absence indicator of Salmonella Enteritidis. By incorporating a vacuum filtration system, bacterial cells recognized by the specific aptamer are concentrated onto a membrane. With additional filtration of gold nanoparticles, the aptamer signals were captured and used to construct a SERS mapping indicating the presence and absence of target bacterial strains with potential quantitative capability. The specificity of the method was validated by using other strains of bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes. The sensitivity of the method goes down to 103 CFU/mL for 1 mL of sample with a total detection and analyzing time within 3 h. This study demonstrates the capability of the filtration-based SERS platform for detecting Salmonella Enteritidis in various aqueous matrices such as distilled water and rinsing water from fresh produce with high selectivity and sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar-mediated change in soil N transformations has gained much attention. Biochar properties undergo changes through ageing process that may impact variably on N cycling, yet the degree to which soil N transformations may be impacted by biochar ageing process on long-time scale remains unclear. Here, we compared the effects on nitrification, denitrification and N 2 /N 2 O gas flux of short-term fresh biochar addition with long-term biochar amendment over six consecutive years in a paddy soil under identical amounts of soil organic C contents. We found that short-term treatments elicited a stronger effect on nitrification than long-term treatments, due to more positive effects on soil pH and ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) abundance of ammonia oxidizing bacterial (AOB). However, there were contrasting effects on soil denitrification and total N gas loss for two types of biochar addition, where the long-term treatments limited availability of C and N, and decreased net NO 3 − reduction and total N gas (N 2 O + N 2) losses by up to 55.5% and 25%. Short-term biochar addition increased dissolved organic C, nutrient content and soil pH, enhanced net NO 3 − reduction by 88.7%, also reduced the ratio of nitrite reductase genes (nirS and nirK) and nitrous oxide reductase gene (nosZ) and N 2 O emissions, but increased total N gas loss by 0.2–1.2 times. Our study quantified the differences in nitrification and denitrification capacity in response to short-term biochar addition and long-term biochar amendment and bridged the knowledge-gaps of fresh and aged biochar-mediated N transformation. Image 1 • Two types of biochar addition consistently enhanced soil nitrification. • Short term biochar has more positive effect in soil pH and AOB amoA gene. • Short term addition enhanced while long-term decreased soil denitrification rates. • Short term addition enhanced while long-term decreased total N2O + N2 gas loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As concerns about health continue to grow, more and more works are being done in the field of food computing. One of the basic topics in food computing is how to extract important information from food and analysis it from a picture. However, food recognition poses some challenges. One challenge is that the type of food is closely related to its ingredients. Another challenge is that in Chinese dietary habits, a single meal typically includes multiple dishes. But existing food image datasets only contain single-food pictures. To address these challenges, we propose our model, Recognize After Early Fusion (RAEF): the Chinese food recognition based on the alignment of image and ingredients. We use a Vision Transformer as the backbone of our model and use an early fusion model to combine visual and ingredient features. Because there are no suitable datasets for multi-label food recognition models, we propose a new Chinese food dataset named Chinsefood-130. The dataset is in password: mr2b. After conducting experiments, we found that RAEF has great performance in both food and ingredient recognition. Compared to the performance of ViT, RAEF shows an F1 score improvement of 10% on food recognition and 12% on ingredient recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] New avibactam derivatives in which amide moiety is replaced by substituted amidine groupings were obtained in several steps, the key step having involved the conversion of 2-positioned cyano group of the 1,6-diazabicyclo[3.2.1]-octane framework into the amidine one. Synergistic antibacterial activity of the new compounds in combination with meropenem infers the agonistic effect of these derivatives against β-lactamases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the large fault inrush current threatens the safety of power electronic devices, the synchronverter should have the fault ride-through (FRT) capability and should be equipped with a reliable protection system. Therefore, it is important to study the transient fault characteristics of the synchronverter and propose its fault current estimation method. In this paper, by establishing the equivalent model of synchronverter, an asymmetric fault current analysis method using the instantaneous symmetric component method is proposed. In addition, the current components, peak value, peak time, time required for reaching two times of the rated current, and main influencing factors of the asymmetric fault current are also analyzed. It is found that the influencing factors mainly include the control loops of synchronverter, asymmetric fault type, line impedances, and fault occurring moment. Moreover, the time required to reach two times of the rated current is approximately within the range of one hundredth of a microsecond to five milliseconds. These fault current characteristics impose strict requirements on the response speed of FRT control strategies. Finally, the simulation and experiment results verified the correctness of the proposed analysis method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrophobic paper decorated Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with a uniform distribution was fabricated in an oil-paper-aqueous triphasic system via a facile in situ interfacial reduction approach. Interestingly, the Ag NPs formed at the paper/aqueous interface could migrate to the oil/paper interface. Moreover, these Ag NPs would not continue to migrate away the paper surface into the oil phase but was completely confined in the solid paper matrix. This phase confinement of migrated Ag NPs in the paper matrix creates abundant 3D hot spots for plasmonic enhancement. The obtained Ag-loaded paper exhibits an excellent SERS activity, reliable reproducibility and autofluorescence suppression effect, which enabling it as a promising platform for qualitative and quantitative SERS study. Due to its condensation effect, the hydrophobic paper surface can be used as a concentrator to enrich water-soluble analytes over the SERS active domains for highly sensitive detection (10 −9 mol/L −1 ). Furthermore, the Ag-loaded paper combined with the feature of chromatography and plamon-enhanced optical signals possesses ability to perform synchronous separation and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of complex samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitophagy is important for cancer development. Notably, the role of Parkin‑mediated mitophagy in colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality has not been fully determined. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of Parkin‑mediated mitophagy on CRC apoptosis. In addition, the present study investigated the therapeutic effects of Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) on the regulation of CRC cell death via mitophagy. Cellular apoptosis was measured following Tan IIA treatment. In addition, mitophagy activity was evaluated by immunofluorescence and western blotting. The results of the present study revealed that Tan IIA may enhance CRC cell death. In addition, the results demonstrated that Tan IIA enhanced mitochondrial apoptosis, as demonstrated by reduced mitochondrial membrane potential, elevated mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening, and increased oxidative stress, mitochondrial energy disorder and proapoptotic factor expression. Furthermore, the results of the present study demonstrated that Tan IIA induced mitochondrial apoptosis via inhibition of mitophagy. In addition, it was revealed that mitophagy could suppress mitochondrial apoptosis. Functional assays revealed that Tan IIA suppressed the adenosine monophosphate‑activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway, resulting in the inactivation of S‑phase kinase associated protein 2 (Skp2). Furthermore, reduced levels of Skp2 failed to activate Parkin, thus resulting in inhibition of mitophagy. Conversely, reactivation of AMPK and overexpression of Skp2 rescued mitophagy activity and thus attenuated the Tan IIA‑induced apoptosis of CRC cells. In conclusion, the results of the present study demonstrated the beneficial role of mitophagy in CRC cell survival and suggested that Tan IIA may be an effective therapeutic agent, which suppresses mitophagy activity and enhances CRC apoptosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sequence optimization in neonates might improve detection sensitivity of abnormalities for a variety of conditions. However this has been historically challenging because tissue properties such as the longitudinal relaxation time and proton density differ significantly between neonates and adults.Objective: To optimize the magnetization-prepared rapid gradient echo (MP-RAGE) sequence to enhance both signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) efficiencies.Materials and methods: We optimized neonatal MP-RAGE sequence through (1) reducing receive bandwidth to decrease noise, (2) shortening acquisition train length (acquisition number per repetition time or total number of read-out radiofrequency rephrasing pulses) using slice partial Fourier acquisition and (3) simulating the solution of Bloch’s equation under optimal receive bandwidth and acquisition train length. Using the optimized sequence parameters, we scanned 12 healthy full-term infants within 2 weeks of birth and four preterm infants at 40 weeks’ corrected age.Results: Compared with a previously published neonatal protocol, we were able to reduce the total scan time by reduce the total scan time by 60% and increase the average SNR efficiency by 160% (P<0.001) and the average CNR efficiency by 26% (P=0.029).Conclusion: Our in vivo neonatal brain imaging experiments confirmed that both SNR and CNR efficiencies significantly increased with our proposed protocol. Our proposed optimization methodology could be readily extended to other populations (e.g., older children, adults), as well as different organ systems, field strengths and MR sequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

β-Galactosidases are widely used in industry for elimination of lactose from milk products. A new β-galactosidase was obtained from bacterial strain Erwinia sp. E602, newly isolated in northeast China. The enzyme was purified with the methods of ammonium sulfate fractionation, ion exchange, and gel filtration chromatography for further study of the enzymatic characteristics. The purified enzyme had a molecular weight of near 110 kDa. The optimum reaction temperature and pH of this enzyme was determined to be 40°C and 7.0, respectively, indicating that this enzyme was a mesophilic neutral β-galactosidase. Furthermore, the enzyme retained near 10% of the activity at 0°C, which also suggested its cold-adapted property. Kinetics of the β-galactosidase was studied, and the Km (Michaelis constant) and Vmax (maximum enzymatic reaction rate) of this enzyme were 0.21 mmol/L and 263.16 µmol/mg per minute, respectively. The effects of metal ions on the enzymatic activity and the lactose hydrolysis efficiency in milk, as well as its trans-glycosylation activity, were studied in this work. The β-galactosidase coding gene was cloned to be a 3-kb length fragment, which shared at most 81% of identity with the published sequences in NCBI Blast database (https://blast.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Results in this work suggested it is a new β-galactosidase and it has potential to be used in dairy and food processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To investigate the distribution of the incidence and genotypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) among women with cervical cancer (CC) and precancerous cervical lesions in Yueyang City, China, to develop prevention and control strategies for CC. Methods: A total of 3674 patients with cervical lesions and cervical cancer who attended 7 hospitals in Yueyang City between September 2019 and September 2022 were included. They included 1910 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I, 718 CIN II, 576 CIN II and 470 CC, respectively. The HPV genotyping of the above patients was detected by Real time-PCR in the laboratory department of each hospital. Results: The total HPV prevalence was 74.69% (95% CI 73.28–76.09%) in 3674 patients. The incidence of high- and low-risk HPV was 73.46% and 7.21%, respectively. The prevalence of HPV in CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, and invasive CC (ICC) groups was 66.65% (1273/1910, 95% CI 64.53–68.77%), 80.78% (580/718, 95% CI 77.89–83.67%), 83.88% (483/576, 95% CI 80.84–86.87%), and 86.81% (408/470, 95% CI 83.74–89.88%), respectively. The top three HPV subtypes in ICC are HPV16, HPV52, and HPV58. The prevalence of HPV 16 increased with increasing disease severity, with this genotype being present in 12.57%, 20.89%, 36.98%, and 50.85% of CIN I, CIN II, CIN III, and ICC cases, respectively (p < 0.001). Single HPV infection was predominant in cervical lesions, with a prevalence of 48.50% (95% CI 46.89–50.12%). The HPV prevalence varied by age, being highest among women with ICC, CIN I, CIN II and CIN III aged ≥ 60 years, 50–59 years, 40–49 years, and 40–49 years, respectively. Conclusion: The prevalence of HPV in patients with cervical lesions in Yueyang City was very high, with HPV 16, 52, 58, 53, and 51 being the five most common HPV genotypes in patients with cervical lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smilax glabra ( SG ) is commonly used as a traditional edible herb in eastern Asia. Recently, sulfur-fumigation has been frequently used in order to obtain better color and a longer storage lifetime. However, the chemical alterations caused by this process remain unknown. The aim of this research was to explore potential chemical differences between non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated SG samples . A novel approach was developed by using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS/MS) with principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial squared discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Fifty-eight compounds were unambiguously characterized or tentatively identified in the chemical profiles for the first time. Six newly generated sulfur-containing compounds, namely glucosyringic acid sulfate, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfite, 3-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfite, 5-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfate, 3-O-caffeoylshikimic acid sulfate and astilbin sulfate, were screened out to be the most characteristic markers for distinguishing non-fumigated and sulfur-fumigated SG . This newly proposed approach can not only be applied for exploring chemical markers but can also be used to investigate the chemical transformation mechanism associated with sulfur for other edible herbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term studies that advance our mechanistic understanding of biochar (BC)‑nitrogen (N) interactions in agricultural soils are lacking. In this study, soil potential nitrification rates (PNR), the abundance and composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) communities following 4-year of BC application were investigated using the shaken-slurry procedure and molecular sequencing techniques for an acidic Oxisol (QU) and an alkaline Cambisol (YU). Soils were obtained from an outdoor soil column experiment with straw-BC application rates of 0 (BC0), 2.25 (BC2.25) and 11.3 (BC11.3) Mg ha − 1 per cropping season for eight consecutive wheat/millet seasons. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing techniques were performed to quantify and sequence amoA gene copies and composition of AOA and AOB. Results showed that QU had lower PNR and a higher ratio of amoA gene copies of AOA to AOB than YU, PNR of QU with BC application was significantly associated with the amoA gene of AOB. Similar to previous short-term findings, BC application enhanced QU soil nitrification, which may be explained by the significant increase in AOB abundance and a shift in AOB community structure from Nitrosospira cluster 2 toward cluster 3, along with the disappearance of some obligate acidophile AOA groups, leading to the appearance of ammonia-oxidizers from neutral-alkaline soils in BC-amended acid soils. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that soil pH was the most important factor driving shifts in ammonia-oxidizers composition. Although BC application did not have significant effects on PNR in YU, BC11.3 decreased AOA and AOB gene copies and influenced the relative abundance of community structure. Our findings represent the first investigation of long-term BC effects on AOA and AOB communities in agricultural soils using 454 high-throughput pyrosequencing, showing that BC application can alter soil characteristics and influence ammonia oxidizer community composition, abundance, especially in acid soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In-situ SERS monitoring of direct plasmon-driven photocatalysis was achieved using relatively earth-abundant Cu NPs following their decoration with tiny amounts of silver, which promoted excellent SERS and high catalytic activity. The SERS and catalytic performance of the Ag-Cu NPs can be tuned by changing their composition. In particular, it was found that the surface oxidation state of copper could be switched to its metallic state via self-plasmon catalysis under laser irradiation, highlighting the potential of air-unstable copper NPs as stable plasmonic catalysts. These dual functional Ag-Cu NPs were used for SERS real-time monitoring of plasmon-driven photocatalysis reactions involving the degradation of Rhodamine 6G and the dimerization of 4-nitrothiophenol. The corresponding catalytic reaction mechanisms were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The host structural maintenance of chromosomes 5/6 complex (Smc5/6) is a restriction factor of hepatitis B virus (HBV) that inhibits the transcription of viral ccDNA. HBV antagonizes this restriction by expressing the regulatory X protein (HBx) which targets Smc5/6 for degradation via DNA damage-binding protein 1 (DDB1) E3 ubiquitin ligase. However, the molecular insights into how Smc5/6 interacts with HBx remain elusive. In this study, we systematically investigated the interaction between Smc5/6 and HBx. Smc5/6 interacts with HBx through multiple sites in the absence of DDB1 in the pull-down assay. HBx C-terminal is sufficient for the interaction. Most importantly, residue Phe132, which is strictly conserved in all HBV subtypes, is critical for interaction with Smc5/6 both in vitro and in vivo. Mutation of this site (F132A) results in defect in Smc5/6 interaction, extrachromosomal reporter transcription, and HBV production both in cells and in mouse model. Collectively, our data identifies a key residue on HBx for Smc5/6 interaction and viral production. These results provide valuable information for both basic research and therapeutic drugs targeting HBx. • Smc5/6 interacts with HBx through multiple sites in the absence of DDB1 in the in vitro pull-down assay. • HBx Phe132 is critical for interaction with Smc5/6. • HBx F132A is defective in Smc5/6 degradation and extrachromosomal reporter transcription. • HBx Phe132 is critical for blocking HBV production both in cells and in mouse model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microwave absorbing composite material with good thermal conductivity has been prepared to solve the problem of electromagnetic wave pollution in high-power density electronic equipment without increasing the heat load of the equipment. Herein, we prepared the quaternary absorbing material hydroxylated boron nitride nanosheets (BN-o)/reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) @Fe 3 O 4 @polyaniline (PAn) (BCFA) and adjusted the content of PAn to enhance the impedance matching and modulate the microwave absorption effect. At a PAn content of 40 wt%, the absorber exhibits admirable microwave absorption performance, the lowest reflection loss (RLmin) of −54.72 dB and effective microwave absorption bandwidth (RL < −10 dB, EAB) of 3.12 GHz at a thickness and frequency of 3.5 mm and 7.2 GHz, respectively. The excellent microwave absorption is due to a suitable mechanism of dielectric and magnetic losses and the excellent impedance matching of the absorber. Moreover, the high thermal conductivity and phonon transport properties of the BN-o/r-GO van der Waals heterostructure give the composite thermal conductivity of 1.69 W(m·K)−1 when the BN-o/r-GO content is approximately 14 wt%. Therefore, BCFA has become a candidate material to solve the electromagnetic pollution problem of high-power density electronic equipment. [Display omitted] • The research highlights of this paper are list below: • The core-shell BN-o/r-GO@Fe 3 O 4 @PAn nanocomposite with dual functions was prepared. • The RL min of the BN-o/r-GO@Fe 3 O 4 @PAn can reach −54.72 dB, and the EAB is close to 3.12 GHz. • The thermal conductivity of BN-o/r-GO@Fe 3 O 4 @PAn reaches 1.69 W(m·K)−1 when the BN-o/r-GO content is approximately 14 wt%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimension Fast Low Angle SHot Magnetic Resonance Imaging (3D FLASH) sequence has been widely adopted in medical diagnostic imaging because of its availability, simplicity, and high spatial resolution. To improve the quality of structural brain images acquired with the 3D FLASH sequence, we developed a parameter optimization scheme and image inhomogeneity correction methods. The optimal imaging parameters were determined by maximizing gray-matter and white-matter CNR efficiency. Compared to protocols based on published parameters, applying the proposed optimal imaging parameters increased CNR efficiency by > 10%. Image inhomogeneity, including signal and CNR inhomogeneity, was corrected by the choice of an optimal flip angle, estimated transmit function, and estimated receive sensitivity. As a result, our optimization and image inhomogeneity correction greatly improved the quality of images acquired with the 3D FLASH sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogenic amines (BAs) play significant roles in indicating human health or food quality. Aiming to simultaneously determine three structures (aliphatic, aromatic and heterocyclic) of underivatized BAs, we explored a simple and rapid capillary electrophoresis (CE) method only coupled with conventional UV detector for the separation of thirteen key BAs. The strategy is to choose a UV absorbing probe as co-ion in the background electrolyte (BGE), and different BAs could be characterized by positive or negative peaks according to the fact that their UV absorptivity coefficients at a certain wavelength are better or worse than that of the UV absorbing probe. After the detailed investigation of critical parameters as pH, the concentration of Imidazole (Im) and α-cyclodextrin (α-CD), the optimized BGE consisted of 12.0 mmol/L Im as the UV probe and 10.0 mmol/L α-CD as the additive (at pH 4.50 adjusted with acetic acid). With such condition, the targets of thirteen BAs were baseline separated in 9.0 min and appeared at nine positive peaks and four negative peaks at 200 nm. The obtained LODs and LOQs (S/N = 3 or 10) were in the range of 0.36–3.67 and 1.2–12.2 μmol/L, respectively. The interday RSDs of migration time and peak area were less than 0.7% and 4.7% (n = 6), respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on separating diverse structures of BAs by using Im as UV absorbing probe. The thirteen BAs were simultaneously detected by direct and indirect UV detection in a CE process. To verify the applicability, this method was used to analyze BAs in commercial beer samples. The recoveries of all BAs except carnosine (not identified by the interference) ranged from 70.4 to 119.6%, and four aliphatic and aromatic amines were satisfactorily identified and quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] 2- O -β- d -glucopyranosyl- l -ascorbic acid (AA-2βG) provides a source of sustained release of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) upon α-glucosidase activity inside the human body, and is therefore an ingredient of cosmetics, food, and medicinal products. Commercial synthesis of the compound is highly demanded and is attempted from time to time, aimed at improved and commercially viable strategies. We synthesized the AA-2βG in five steps starting from ascorbic acid with a 31.4% overall yield. The synthetic steps do not need column purification except one, and the final product is pure enough to be utilized for application purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrification rates in Oxisols vary with soil pH and substrate availability. Biochar can be used to improve acid soils. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the interactive impacts of 1% and 5% ( w/w) rice-straw biochar application on nitrification, ammonia oxidizer populations and nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emissions over short periods of microcosm incubation in two agricultural Oxisols derived from granite (RGU) and tertiary red sandstone (RTU), respectively. We measured soil nitrate (NO 3 − ) and ammonium (NH 4 + ) concentrations during the incubation and used nitrification kinetic model to assess the response of nitrification to biochar addition. We also performed real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to quantify the copies of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) genes, and collected N 2 O gas at various intervals during the 56-day incubation. The addition of ammonium sulfate ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 -N) stimulated nitrification in both soils. In RGU, biochar treatments altered soil nitrification patterns to a first-order reaction model; this stimulation was more pronounced with the increase of biochar application rates. In RTU, 1% biochar treatment increased nitrification rate constants, and 5% biochar treatment altered nitrification patterns from a zero-order to a first-order reaction model. Treating the two soils with 5% biochar rates significantly increased AOB gene copy numbers up to 7.88- and 14-fold compared with the no biochar controls in RGU and RTU, respectively, while the treatments had little or reduced effect on AOA gene copy numbers. Biochar addition significantly reduced cumulative N 2 O emissions up to 37.6% in RGU and 46.4% in RTU, respectively. These results underscore the potential of biochar in the restoration of nitrification and the reduction of greenhouse gas N 2 O emission in Oxisols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical Cu nanoparticles/rGO (CuNPs/rGO) composites were synthesized through the kinetic reaction mediated by hydrophobic methyl trioctyl ammonium chloride (A336) and 2-hydroxy-5-nonyl-acetophenone oxime (LIX84I). The CuNPs/rGO composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and used as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) measurements. The hierarchical CuNPs/rGO composites formed with A336 were assemblies of Cu nanosubunits with a crystal size of 5–10 nm and some observable pinholes, whereas compact Cu nanospheres and nanorods on rGO sheets were formed with LIX84I. Therefore, a hydrophobic ligand-mediated kinetic mechanism was proposed. A synergetic effect on SERS performance was observed for CuNPs/rGO composites and the ratio between CuNPs and rGO was optimized. Moreover, the SERS activity of CuNPs/rGO-A336 was much stronger than CuNPs/rGO-LIX84I owing to the hierarchical structure of CuNPs/rGO-A336. For the CuNPs/rGO-A336 substrate, the detection limit reached 10−8 mol L−1 for R6G molecules, and quantitative SERS analysis was achieved. The CuNPs/rGO-A336 substrate showed good reproducibility and a high enhancement factor of 2.75 × 106, which is superior to other Cu-based substrates in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-D electromagnetic model with a line source uses Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient to solve the stiffness matrix and Herrmann's pseudo-delta function to simulate the neighborhood of the singular source. We employ this Finite Element Method (FEM) on Fermi-GPU, which is the third generation GPU for the general computing purpose. Our algorithm takes advantage of the GPU's particular characteristics of Single Instruction Multiple Thread (SIMT) architecture and runs entirely on the GPU to minimize the transfer time between CPU and GPU. Meanwhile, we design a reasonable pre-conditioner (Diagonal Pre-conditioner) on the GPU and inject a mixed scheme into our algorithm for obtaining the good performance. In the numerical experiments, the correctness of the algorithm is acknowledged, and it achieves high performance by outperforming CPU solvers over hundreds of times. Indeed, it allows finer mesh generation so as to obtain more accurate resolutions and advance the ability of data interpretation of geophysical prospecting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Bacterial responses to antibiotics observed using SERS were investigated. • The experimental protocol used had a major impact on the resulting SERS signal. • Incubating in a nutrient-rich broth led to stronger signals than using PBS or water. • Washing the bacteria with water was also necessary for observing the SERS patterns. • These findings can improve future SERS methods for testing antibiotic sensitivity. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has been applied to analyze bacterial cells and their responses to antibiotic exposure. However, significant knowledge gaps remain regarding the origins of specific antibiotic response patterns and the necessary experimental steps required to see them clearly in the SERS spectra, particularly involving SERS responses observed in the extracellular matrix liquid of bacterial samples. In this study, a variety of experimental parameters were tested to assess the antibiotic response patterns seen in liquid samples from E. coli under different conditions. These include testing the impact of washing the cells with water after incubating them with antibiotics, as well as the effect of using different types of liquids with varying characteristics for incubating the bacteria with the antibiotics. It was found that the experimental procedure has a significant impact on the resulting SERS signals, and the target patterns could only be observed in specific conditions. In particular, the step of washing the bacteria with water is necessary for observing the antibiotic response patterns, and incubating the bacteria and antibiotics in a nutrient-rich growth medium is preferable to incubating the cells in a buffer or in distilled water. These findings can be used to improve existing methods for testing antibiotic responses with SERS, and could potentially help to further develop and optimize SERS-based procedures for assessing antibiotic sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, carbon dots (CDs) have gained much attention in optoelectronic fields on account of their superior optical and environmentally friendly properties. Nevertheless, aggregation-induced quenching (AIQ) effect of solid-state CDs and thermal quenching caused by high temperatures severely hinders their further development. Herein, a novel wCDs/BNNS-OH hybrid nanostructure was synthesized by combining blue CDs (bCDs) and yellow CDs (yCDs) to the hydroxylated boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS–OH) surface. The uniform dispersion of CDs in BNNS-OH effectively alleviates the undesirable AIQ effect, and enables CDs/BNNS-OH composites to have color-tunable fluorescence characteristics. The wCDs/BNNS-OH/PVA composite film was obtained by encapsulating wCDs/BNNS-OH into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The film exhibits excellent luminescence stability in the air, ultraviolet light, water, and high-temperature environment. Meanwhile, since wCDs/BNNS-OH establishes an effective heat transfer channel in the PVA matrix, the working temperature of CDs in the wCDs/BNNS-OH/PVA film is greatly reduced. Moreover, the prepared wCDs/BNNS-OH/PVA film is flexible enough to retain the photoluminescence intensity unchanged after thousands of bending cycles. This high stability and heat dissipation wCDs/BNNS-OH/PVA composite film will facilitate the application of CDs in flexible and foldable lighting devices. [Display omitted] • A novel wCDs/BNNS-OH composite was synthesized through hydrogen bond interaction. • The wCDs/BNNS-OH/PVA film was obtained by encapsulating wCDs/BNNS-OH into PVA. • Flexible and foldable white light emission film has good luminescence stability. • The film displays outstanding heat dissipation in the application of LED lamp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid and selective identification of heavy metal ions is crucial for environmental water safety. In this study, a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active catcher was designed for Cu(II) detection using a hydrophobic hydroxyoxime-mediated plasmonic silver membrane (HOX@Ag-PVDF). Uniformly dispersed Ag nanoparticles (ca. 80 nm) and hydroxyoxime molecules were synchronously decorated on the skeleton of the polyvinylidene fluoride membrane via an in situ interfacial assembly strategy. HOX@Ag-PVDF shows excellent SERS activity (EF = 2.5 × 107), high reproducibility (~8% RSD), and long-term stability (50 days) for detecting 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP). Moreover, HOX@Ag-PVDF can serve as a new platform for rapid and dry-free SERS detection of Cu(II) owing to its strong affinity and surface hydrophobicity. Cu(II) ions can be rapidly captured in 5 s and selectively recognized by SERS signals without interference from other metal ions. HOX@Ag-PVDF exhibits linear SERS response signals at low concentrations ranging from 10−6 to 10−10 mol/L Cu(II) (R2 = 0.9893) with a low detection limit (LOD) of 52.0 pmol/L. This hydrophobic plasmonic membrane, with its simple sampling and rapid SERS response characteristics, provides ultrasensitive recognition and heavy metal detection for practical applications. [Display omitted] • Hydrophobic HOX@Ag-PVDF membrane was prepared by in situ interfacial assembly method. • HOX@Ag-PVDF shows excellent SERS activity, reproducibility, and stability. • HOX@Ag-PVDF can achieve rapid and ultraselective SERS detection of Cu(II). • HOX@Ag-PVDF has linear SERS response and low detection limit of 52 pmol/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phase change materials (PCM) have limited practical application due to their high rigidity, poor photothermal conversion, low thermal conductivity, and insufficient drive capability. In this work, a flexible CF/(HO-BNNS@CuO)/PEG composite with high thermal conductivity and photothermal conversion capacity was prepared by using carbon foam (CF) as flexible supporting material, hydroxyl boron nitride nanosheets (HO-BNNS) as thermal conductivity filler, and copper oxide (CuO) as photothermal conversion agent. In CF/(HO-BNNS@CuO)/PEG containing 90 wt% PEG, the photothermal conversion storage efficiency reached 91.8% and the thermal conductivity was improved by 348% compared to pure PEG. It also presents excellent thermally driven shape memory properties (98 s) with the elastic characteristics of CF and the phase change characteristics of PEG. This provides a strategy to prepare flexible PCM with outstanding comprehensive performance, which helps to broaden the practical application of PCM. • Carbon foam (CF) has high elastic modulus and complete three-dimensional skeleton. • The photothermal conversion storage efficiency of CF/(HO-BNNS@CuO)/PEG(90) is as high as 91.8%. • CF/(HO-BNNS@CuO)/PEG(90) presents excellent thermally driven shape memory properties (98 s). • CF/(HO-BNNS@CuO)/PEG(90) has high heat storage capacity and fast heat transfer speed (1.12 W/m·K). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]