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Ultrahigh dose-rate (FLASH) radiotherapy is an emerging technology with excellent therapeutic effects and low biological toxicity. However, tumor recurrence largely impede the effectiveness of FLASH therapy. Overcoming tumor recurrence is crucial for practical FLASH applications. Here, we prepared an agarose-based thermosensitive hydrogel containing a mild photothermal agent (TPE-BBT) and a glutaminase inhibitor (CB-839). Within nanoparticles, TPE-BBT exhibits aggregation-induced emission peaked at 900 nm, while the unrestricted molecular motions endow TPE-BBT with a mild photothermy generation ability. The balanced photothermal effect and photoluminescence are ideal for phototheranostics. Upon 660-nm laser irradiation, the temperature-rising effect softens and hydrolyzes the hydrogel to release TPE-BBT and CB-839 into the tumor site for concurrent mild photothermal therapy and chemotherapy, jointly inhibiting homologous recombination repair of DNA. The enhanced FLASH radiotherapy efficiently kills the tumor tissue without recurrence and obvious systematic toxicity. This work deciphers the unrestricted molecular motions in bright organic fluorophores as a source of photothermy, and provides novel recurrence-resistant radiotherapy without adverse side effects.

The construction of dams for intercepting and storing water has altered surface water distributions, land-sea water exchanges, and the load response of the solid Earth. The lack of accurate estimation of reservoir properties through the land surface and hydrological models can lead to water storage simulation and extraction errors. This impact is particularly evident in many artificial reservoirs in China. The study aims to comprehensively assess the spatiotemporal distribution and trends of water storage in medium and large reservoirs (MLRs) in Chinese mainland during 1950–2016, and to investigate the gravity, displacement, and strain effects induced by the reservoir mass concentration using the load elasticity theory. In addition, the impoundment contributions of MLRs to the relative sea level changes were assessed using a sea-level equation. The results show impoundment increases in the MLRs during 1950–2016, particularly in the Yangtze River (Changjiang) and southern basins, causing significant elastic load effects in the surrounding areas of the reservoirs and increasing the relative sea level in China's offshore. However, long-term groundwater estimation trends are overestimated and underestimated in the Yangtze River and southwestern basins, respectively, due to the neglect of the MLRs impacts or the uncertainty of the hydrological model's output (e.g., soil moisture, etc.). The construction of MLRs may reduce the water mass input from land to the ocean, thus slowing global sea level rise. The results of the impact of human activities on the regional water cycle provide important references and data support for improving the integration of hydrological models, evaluating Earth's viscoelastic responses under long-term reservoir storage, enhancing in-situ and satellite geodetic measurements, and identifying the main factors driving sea level changes.

This paper systematically investigated the combined effects of sustained compressive loading and the salt frost resistance for recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) incorporating air-entraining agents (AEA) and nano silica (NS). The effects of different RCA replacement ratios, freeze-thaw cycles, AEA dosage and compressive stress level on the freeze-thaw damage properties including the apparent morphology, mass loss rate and relative dynamic elastic modulus (RDEM) were discussed. The microstructure evolution of RAC samples before and after freeze-thaw cycles were characterized and analyzed through the SEM observation, microhardness measurement and X-CT tests. The synergistic modification mechanism of NS and AEA on RAC under salt frost action were investigated, and the link between the macroscopic and microscopic properties of air-entrained NS-modified RAC was further explored. The results showed that the RAC mixed with a certain amount of AEA and NS dosages exhibited the stronger salt frost resistance compared to that of control group. The effect of AEA dosage and compressive stress level exhibited similar changing trends on the salt frost resistance of RAC. When adding a moderate amount of AEA and applying a certain sustained compressive loading, the RDEM loss of RAC was reduced so that the salt frost resistance was partly improved. Similarly, the moderate AEA dosages can reduce the deterioration at ITZs of RAC. The compound use of NS and AEA proved to be as an efficient method to strengthen the microstructure of RAC, further improving the frost resistance under the coupled actions of sustained compressive loading and chloride salt attack. This study provides a feasible approach to improve the salt frost resistance of RAC under the coupled actions of sustained compressive loading, which is expected to promote the application and extension of RAC in complex environmental regions.

Phosphorus (P) plays a vital role in fish life and its application in aquatic feed deserves thoroughly study. To evaluate the effects of dietary P on growth performance, serum biochemical parameters and intestinal microbiota of the juvenile hybrid of A. baerii♀ × A. schrenckii♂, five diets containing 3.7, 6.5, 9.6, 12.2 and 14.8 g/kg of available phosphorus (AP) were assigned to feed fish at initial weight of 10.06 ± 0.39 g for 8 weeks. The results showed that weight gain (WG) of juvenile hybrid sturgeon was improved significantly with dietary AP level up to 9.6 g/kg. Feed efficiency (FE) and P digestibility of fish were significantly enhanced by P supplementation, but were dropped when dietary AP level further increased to 12.2 and 14.8 g/kg. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity increased firstly and then slightly decreased at a stable level in the high dietary AP groups (12.2 and 14.8 g/kg). With dietary AP level increasing, significantly decrease of the content of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in serum were observed. Serum antioxidant indicators including superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) exhibited the improved activity by addition P in diet. Intestinal microbiota analysis indicated that the supplementation of P in diet increased the richness and diversity of bacteria communities. Cyanobacteria was the dominant phyla in the intestine of hybrid sturgeon, and was significantly increased in P addition group. Compared with the basal diet group, abundant genera in dietary P supplementation group exhibited a higher diversity and were composed of Clostridium, Cetobacterium, Bacteroides, Empedobacter, Ruminococcus, Faecalibacterium, Rhodococcus and Candidatus Arthromitus. In conclusion, appropriate dietary P supplementation could positively affect the growth, biological processes and intestinal microbial communities of fish, and a level of 8.5 g/kg of AP in diet is suggested for juvenile hybrid sturgeon.

This is an article in the field of mining environment. Rivers are the main migration paths and convergence places of heavy metals produced in the process of mineral resources development. The impact of mineral resources development in Xiongershan ore concentration area on rivers is not clear. In order to clearly understand the impact of mineral resources development on river heavy metals in Xiongershan ore concentration area. Taking the water and sediment of small river basins in the mining area as the research object, the content characteristics of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, as, Hg heavy metals in the mainstream of the small river and its main tributaries and sediment were analyzed. The single pollution index and Nemero comprehensive pollution index were used to evaluate the pollution degree of heavy metals in water; The accumulation degree and pollution degree of heavy metals in river sediment were evaluated by geological accumulation index method and quality standard method. The results showed that the average contents of six heavy metals in the water body of the small river basin ranged from 0.08 to 289.866 μg/L, the pollution degree As>Hg>Cd>Pb>Cu>Zn, the main heavy metal pollutants are as and Hg, the main polluted river reaches are distributed in the areas with strong mining activities, and the development of mineral resources is the main factor causing river water pollution. The accumulation effect of Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, as and Hg in the river sediment of the small river basin is significant, and the pollution degree of heavy metals is serious. The evaluation results of the quality standard method show that all samples of Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, as and Hg in the river sediment are seriously polluted. According to the evaluation results of the comprehensive geological accumulation index method and the quality standard method, the pollution degree of the river sediment of the small river basin is: Pb>Cd >Cu>Zn>As>Hg, in which Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd are the main pollution elements, Hg, As is a secondary pollution element. The research shows that the development of mineral resources in Xiongershan ore concentration area is the main factor causing heavy metal pollution in the water body and river sediment of the small river basin. It has caused heavy metal pollution in different degrees to the river water body and sediment. Strengthening the source control and supervision in the whole process of mineral resources development is the fundamental means to protect and improve the heavy metal pollution in the small river basin.

Cellular Automaton (CA) is widely used because of its ability to simulate complex spatiotemporal dynamic processes through applying simple rules. The basis of the CA model is the definition of transformation rules. During a simulation process, the rules determine the change of the cell state. However, existing processing methods calculate the driving factors based on single-point time (start time or end time), making it difficult to reflect the fact that numerous driving factors affecting the cell conversion dynamically change with time. Based on the time dynamics perspective and the data set of multiple time series, this paper designs a method of dynamic adjustment of driving factors of urban expansion on the local cell-scale. It uses linear, exponential, logarithmic, and polynomial fitting to develop a CA model of dynamic adjustment that conforms to the characteristics of local spatial evolution. The main conclusions of the paper are as follows: (1) The polynomial fitting has the highest average R2, indicating that the driving factors experiences large fluctuations over time; (2) Secondly, the simulation result kappa obtained by the four fitting methods is between 0.781–0.810, which is higher than the simulation accuracy obtained by using only a single time point. In other words, the factor does not dynamically fit with time and (3) The fitting accuracy of road density is a key indicator of correct and incorrect simulation parts of construction land. Our results demonstrate that the precision of the CA model may be significantly improved by capturing the time development law of environmental variables affecting urban development at the micro-scale.

To improve the sustainable utilization of alkali-activated steel slag material, experiments were conducted to systematically investigate effects of sodium silicate modulus and GBFS content on the setting time, workability, mechanical properties and pore structure of alkali-activated steel slag cementitious material. Results show that the setting time is prolonged and workability is reduced as silicate modulus increases. The setting time is first shortened and then prolonged and workability is slightly reduced as GBFS content increases. Increasing silicate modulus and adding GBFS have positive effects on the development of elastic modulus, compressive and splitting tensile strength of alkali-activated steel slag material due to more refined pore structure. The highest compressive strength at 28 d can reach C35 strength level. Manufacturing alkali-activated steel slag material can achieve low energy consumption and carbon emission. If chemical activators can be replaced by some industrial wastes, cost, energy consumption and carbon footprint will be further decreased.

Hydration process, products, microstructure, and compressive strength of steel slag in alkaline environments at room and high temperature were investigated. Results show that high-temperature curing significantly promotes the early hydration, causing more products. The promoting effect of temperature becomes more apparent with higher activator content. The cumulative heat apparently increases by approximately twice at 6% alkali content. Increasing temperature has no effect on the types of products and hydration of inactive components. The products remain as Ca(OH)2 and C-(A)-S-H, but Ca/Si and Al/Si ratios significantly increase from 1.42 to 2.41 and from 0.14 to 0.21, respectively. High-temperature curing makes matrix denser, resulting in a substantial increase in the early strength. However, promoting effect on the strength diminishes over time. The growth rates of 28 d strength are only −1% and 4% at different alkali content. Moreover, alkali-activated steel slag material has great potential in the field of low-carbon cementitious materials.

Nanotechnology is revolutionising different areas from manufacturing to therapeutics in the health field. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), a promising drug candidate in nanomedicine, have attracted attention due to their excellent and unique mechanical, electronic, and physicochemical properties. This emerging nanomaterial has attracted a wide range of scientific interest in the last decade. Carbon nanotubes have many potential applications in cancer therapy, such as imaging, drug delivery, and combination therapy. Carbon nanotubes can be used as carriers for drug delivery systems by carrying anticancer drugs and enabling targeted release to improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce adverse effects on healthy tissues. In addition, carbon nanotubes can be combined with other therapeutic approaches, such as photothermal and photodynamic therapies, to work synergistically to destroy cancer cells. Carbon nanotubes have great potential as promising nanomaterials in the field of nanomedicine, offering new opportunities and properties for future cancer treatments. In this paper, the main focus is on the application of carbon nanotubes in cancer diagnostics, targeted therapies, and toxicity evaluation of carbon nanotubes at the biological level to ensure the safety and real-life and clinical applications of carbon nanotubes.

Abstract Understanding many-electron phenomena with competing near-degenerate electronic states is of fundamental importance to chemistry and condensed matter physics. One of the most significant challenges for exploring such many-electron phenomena is the necessity for large system sizes in order to realize competing states, far beyond those practical for first-principles methods. Here, we show how allowing non-integer nuclear charges expands the space of computationally tractable electron systems that host competing electronic states. The emergence of competing electronic states from non-integer nuclear charges is exemplified in the simple 2-electron H2 molecule and used to examine the microscopic structure of doped quasi-1D cuprate chains, showing how non-integer nuclear charges can open a window for first-principles calculations of difficult many-electron phenomena.

Abstract Immunogenic programmed cell death, such as pyroptosis and ferroptosis, efficiently induces an acute inflammatory response and boosts antitumor immunity. However, the exploration of dual-inducers, particularly nonmetallic inducers, capable of triggering both pyroptosis and ferroptosis remains limited. Here we show the construction of a covalent organic framework (COF-919) from planar and twisted AIEgen-based motifs as a dual-inducer of pyroptosis and ferroptosis for efficient antitumor immunity. Mechanistic studies reveal that COF-919 displays stronger near-infrared light absorption, lower band energy, and longer lifetime to favor the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and photothermal conversion, triggering pyroptosis. Because of its good ROS production capability, it upregulates intracellular lipid peroxidation, leading to glutathione depletion, low expression of glutathione peroxidase 4, and induction of ferroptosis. Additionally, the induction of pyroptosis and ferroptosis by COF-919 effectively inhibits tumor metastasis and recurrence, resulting in over 90% tumor growth inhibition and cure rates exceeding 80%.

Systematic and scientific assessments on heavy metal pollution are greatly important to protecting the coastal eco-environment. In this paper, the spatial distribution, pollution degree, ecological toxicity and possible sources of eight heavy metal elements collected from the 126 marine and 715 terrestrial surface sediments surrounding Dingzi Bay were analyzed by obtaining concentration measurements. The results revealed that the concentrations of heavy metals followed a pattern: inner bay > terrestrial areas > outer bay. Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Hg were found to accumulate in fine particles (0.25 mm and

Herein, the spatial evolution characteristics of high-level Grade A tourist attractions in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration, from 2001 to 2021, are studied by comprehensively applying the nearest neighbor index, kernel density analysis, standard deviation ellipse, and spatial autocorrelation. High-level Grade A tourist attractions are investigated using the random forest model as the driving mechanism of the spatial pattern. Results show that 1) the spatial distribution of high-level Class A tourist attractions in the YRD city cluster has grown to be an agglomeration, and the high-density areas have evolved from "point-like dispersion to regiment-like combination," gradually forming a B-shaped core density structure. 2) The spatial distribution comprises an overall "northwest-southeast" direction, a small counterclockwise rotation, the distribution of the center of gravity to the southwest migration, and the center of gravity from the territory of Suzhou City to the territory of Huzhou City. 3) The high-level Class A tourist attractions in the YRD city cluster as a whole show a strong positive spatial correlation, and the significantly clustered areas include three types: high-high (H-H), low-low (L-L), and low-high (L-H). 4) The spatial distribution of high, A-level tourist attractions in the YRD city cluster results from the combined action of the natural environment, resource endowment, socioeconomy, and policy background. Each element has a nonlinear and complex influence on the distribution of scenic spots.

Water inflow poses a critical safety concern in coal mining. The pressing challenge in current mine water inflow research is the need to enhance the prediction of dynamic changes in mine water inflow across different mining stages. In this study, the hydrogeological conditions and aquifer structural characteristics of the Wutongzhuang Coal Mine in Hebei Province, China were analyzed, and the results were combined with pumping test and drilling data. A numerical model of groundwater flow in the study area was established using Visual MODFLOW and the model was calibrated and verified by comparing its results with the measured values to ensure that it realistically reflected the state of groundwater movement in the study area. The results of numerical simulation indicated that: (1) The water level of the Ordovician aquifer varies significantly by season. A large exposed area of Ordovician limestone in the western mountainous region receives a large amount of rainfall infiltration recharge in the summer rainy period that raises the water level of the Ordovician aquifer in the study area. (2) The groundwater system in the study area is in an equilibrium state, with the water inflow approximately equal to the outflow. (3) The recharge of mine drainage water has a slight positive effect on the Ordovician water level and the floor water inflow, with the impact on the water level of the aquifer decreasing as the distance from the recharge well and the import of Ordovician limestone water increase. In cases in which there is mine water recharge, the water level of the Ordovician aquifer is approximately 0.33 to 1.37 m higher than in cases without recharge, resulting in an increase in water inflow of approximately 10.6 m3/d. (4) In cases in which there is recharge of all drainage water, the maximum water inflow into the fifth mining area is 3,491.3 m3/d, which is 12.5 m3/d higher than in the case without recharge. These results provide important technical references for the formulation of mining schemes and water prevention measures in mining areas.

Abstract Proximity effect, which refers to the low-lying (n,π*) and (π,π*) states with close energy levels, usually plays a negative role in the luminescent behaviors of heterocyclic luminogens. However, no systematic study attempts to reveal and manipulate proximity effect on luminescent properties. Here, we report a series of methylquinoxaline derivatives with different electron-donating groups, which show different photophysical properties and aggregation-induced emission behaviors. Experimental results and theoretical calculation reveal the gradually changed energy levels and different coupling effects of the closely related (n,π*) and (π,π*) states, which intrinsically regulate proximity effect and aggregation-induced emission behaviors of these luminogens. With the intrinsic nature of heterocycle-containing compounds, they are utilized for sensors and information encryption with dynamic responses to acid/base stimuli. This work reveals both positive and negative impacts of proximity effect in heterocyclic aggregation-induced emission systems and provides a perspective to develop functional and responsive luminogens with aggregation-induced emission properties.

Abstract The recently discovered infinite-layer nickelates show great promise in helping to disentangle the various cooperative mechanisms responsible for high-temperature superconductivity. However, lack of antiferromagnetic order in the pristine nickelates presents a challenge for connecting the physics of the cuprates and nickelates. Here, by using a quantum many-body Green’s function-based approach to treat the electronic and magnetic structures, we unveil the presence of many two- and three-dimensional magnetic stripe instabilities that are shown to persist across the phase diagram of LaNiO2. Our analysis indicates that the magnetic properties of the infinite-layer nickelates are closer to those of the doped cuprates, which host a stripe ground state, rather than the undoped cuprates. The computed longitudinal-spin, transverse-spin, and charge spectra of LaNiO2 are found to contain an admixture of contributions from localized and itinerant carriers. Theoretically obtained dispersion of magnetic excitations (spin-flip) is found to be in good accord with the results of recent resonant inelastic X-ray scattering experiments. Our study gives insight into the origin of strong magnetic competition in the infinite-layer nickelates and their relationship with the cuprates.

The development of water‐soluble aggregation‐induced emission luminogens (AIEgens) emitting in the near‐infrared (NIR) window holds promise for efficient biomedical applications. Nevertheless, synthesizing water‐soluble counterparts of NIR AIEgens presents difficulties due to their intrinsic hydrophobic properties. To address this issue, researchers have developed various molecular design strategies to improve the water solubility of NIR AIEgens. The integration of hydrophilic groups and targeting moieties is a crucial aspect of achieving precise phototheranostics. Here, diverse approaches to attain water‐soluble NIR AIEgens for biomedical applications are presented, and three commonly used strategies that involve decorating NIR AIEgens with positively or negatively charged groups, hydrophilic chains, and bioactive moieties are elaborated. These rational design strategies are believed to provide solutions for enhancing the water solubility and biological performance of NIR AIEgens in a single action. The remaining challenges and opportunities in this field are also discussed. The aim is to provide new insights into the design of water‐soluble NIR AIEgens and inspire more researchers to make significant contributions to this promising research area.

Asymmetric electrochemical synthesis via ion-pairing catalysis is challenging due to interference of the electrolyte with the ion-pairing catalyst. Here, the authors describe a biphasic system to enable the asymmetric ion-pairing catalysis under electrochemical conditions.

Objectives: Caffeine has been shown to reduce the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). To investigate the protective mechanism of caffeine in a hyperoxia-based cell model of BPD in vitro.Methods: Type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECs II) were isolated and randomly divided into 6 groups: the normal, hyperoxia, caffeine (50 μM caffeine), antagonist (5 μM ZM241385), agonist (5 μM CGS21680), and DMSO groups. Transfection with siRNA against adenosine A2A receptor (siA2AR) was performed in AECs II.Results: Caffeine alone or in combination with adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) antagonist inhibited apoptosis, promoted proliferation and reduced oxidative stress (OS). The cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), protein kinase A (PKA) mRNA, A2AR mRNA and the protein levels of A2AR, phospho-Src, phospho-ERK1/2, phospho-P38 and cleaved caspase-3 were decreased in the caffeine and antagonist groups compared with that in the hyperoxia group. However, the effects of caffeine above were weakened by the A2AR agonist. Knockdown of A2AR showed similar results to caffeine.Discussion: Caffeine can reduce apoptosis, promote proliferation, and alleviate OS in hyperoxia-induced AECs II injury by inhibiting the A2AR/cAMP/PKA/Src/ERK1/2/p38MAPK signaling pathway. A2AR may serve as a promising therapeutic target for BPD in prematurity.

Steel slag and GBFS are wastes generated during the steel and iron smelting process, characterized by their considerable production rates and extensive storage capacities. After grinding, they are often used as supplementary cementitious materials. However, the intrinsic slow hydration kinetics of steel slag–GBFS cementitious material (SGM) when exposed to a pure water environment result in prolonged setting times and diminished early-age strength development. The incorporation of modifiers such as gypsum, clinker, or alkaline activators can effectively improve the various properties of SGM. This comprehensive review delves into existing research on the utilization of SGM, examining their hydration mechanisms, workability, setting time, mechanical strengths, durability, and shrinkage. Critical parameters including the performance of base materials (water-to-cement ratio, fineness, and composition) and modifiers (type, alkali content, and dosage) are scrutinized to understand their effects on the final properties of the cementitious materials. The improvement mechanisms of various modifiers on properties are discussed. This promotes resource utilization of industrial solid wastes and provides theoretical support for the engineering application of SGM.

Over the past decade, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have emerged as essential tools for landslide studies, particularly in on-site investigations. This paper reviews UAV applications in landslide studies, with a focus on static geological characteristics, monitoring temporal and spatial dynamics, and responses post-events. We discuss the functions and limitations of various types of UAVs and sensors (RGB cameras, multi-spectral cameras, thermal IR cameras, SAR, LiDAR), outlining their roles and data processing methods in landslide applications. This review focuses on the UAVs’ roles in landslide geology surveys, emphasizing landslide mapping, modeling and characterization. For change monitoring, it provides an overview of the temporal and spatial evolution through UAV-based monitoring, shedding light on dynamic landslide processes. Moreover, this paper underscores UAVs’ crucial role in emergent response scenarios, detailing strategies and automated detection using machine learning algorithms. The discussion on challenges and opportunities highlights the need for ongoing UAV technology advancements, addressing regulatory hurdles, hover time limitations, 3D reconstruction accuracy and potential integration with technologies like UAV swarms.

Coastal tidal flats provide valuable ecosystems, but are highly sensitive to tidal dynamics, sea-level rise, and human activities. Tidal inundation depth and frequency are known to affect tidal flat morphodynamics. However, the causes, processes and extent remain uncertain, particularly given the associated changes in sediment availability. In this study, we monitored the hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and morphological changes on two tidal flats in the northern and southern parts of the Yellow River Delta, with contrasting tidal regimes. The data showed that longer inundation periods under diurnal tides gained additional sediment and deposition than under semi-diurnal tides, because of the associated increase in water depth and sediment availability. The wave impact increased at the site with a semi-diurnal tidal regime owing to the lower water depth, where a larger bed shear stress led to tidal flat erosion. These results indicated that the combination of tidal regime and the occurrence of powerful waves played a joint role in controlling bed erosion, sediment availability, and short-term tidal flat evolution. This has implications for coping with delta erosion by enhancing local sediment availability in diurnal tidal regions and restoring vegetation to attenuate waves in semi-diurnal regions of the Yellow River Delta.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most common primary bone cancer in children and young adults, patient survival rates have not improved in recent decades. To further understand the interrelationship between different cell types in the tumor microenvironment of osteosarcoma, we comprehensively analyzed single-cell sequencing data from six patients with untreated osteosarcoma. Nine major cell types were identified from a total of 46,046 cells based on unbiased clustering of gene expression profiles and canonical markers. Osteosarcoma from different patients display heterogeneity in cellular composition. Myeloid cells were the most commonly represented cell type, followed by osteoblastic and TILs. Copy number variation (CNV) results identified amplifications and deletions in malignant osteoblastic cells and fibroblasts. Trajectory analysis based on RNA velocity showed that osteoclasts in the OS microenvironment could be differentiated from myeloid cells. Furthermore, we explored the intercellular communications in OS microenvironment and identified multiple ligand-receptor pairs between myeloid cells, osteoblastic cells and their cells, including 21 ligand-receptor pair genes that significantly associated with survival outcomes. Importantly, we found chemotherapy may have an effect on cellular communication in the OS microenvironment by analyzing single-cell sequencing data from seven primary osteosarcoma patients who received chemotherapy. We believe these observations will improve our understanding of potential mechanisms of microenvironment contributions to OS progression and help identify potential targets for new treatment development in the future.

Black phosphorus (BP), also referred to as phosphorene, has gained significant attention in recent years due to its unique structure and properties since its successful exfoliation in 2014. BP’s remarkable optical and mechanical properties, electrical conductivity, and electron transfer capabilities position it as a promising alternative to graphene for various biomedical applications. This article provides an overview of the use of BP in cancer imaging, drug delivery, and combination therapy, as well as the challenges and prospects of utilizing BP in practical biomedical applications. While BP shows great potential for biomedical applications, practical implementation remains challenging. Therefore, this review article aims to summarize the latest research on BP and provide insights into its future applications in the biomedical field.

Abstract Background Nuclear hormone receptors are involved in transcriptional regulation and many important cellular processes including development and metabolism. However, its role in DNA damage-induced apoptosis remains elusive. Methods Synchronized young adult animals were irradiated with different doses of gamma-Ray, and then put back to culture at 20 °C. Germline cell apoptosis was scored at different time point. Results Deletion of nhr-14 led to decreased DNA damage-induced germline apoptosis, but not the physiological programmed cell death. We also demonstrate that nhr-14 functions downstream of the DNA damage checkpoint pathway. Moreover, we show that nhr-14 regulates egl-1 and ced-13 transcription upon DNA damage. Mechanistically, NHR-14 forms a complex with CEP-1/p53 and binds directly to the egl-1 promoter to promote egl-1 transcription.. Conclusions Our results indicate that NHR-14/HNF4α cooperates with CEP-1/p53 to regulate DNA damage-induced apoptosis. Graphic abstract Video abstract

Objective: The BRAF inhibitor, vemurafenib, has been widely used in the treatment of patients with melanoma-bearing BRAFV600E mutations. While the initial response to vemurafenib is usually excellent, the majority of patients eventually develop resistance and metastatic disease. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains elusive. The objective of this study was therefore to identify additional molecular targets responsible for vemurafenib resistance. Methods: Western blots and immunohistochemistry analyses were used to evaluate expressions of PYK2 and p-PYK2 in cultured cells and melanoma tissue microarrays. The relationships of p-PYK2 with clinicopathological parameters were statistically analyzed. Invadopodia cell invasion, and a Ca2+ assay were used to determine the effect of vemurafenib resistance-induced p-PYK2 on melanoma progression. A mouse model was used to assess the effects of PYK2 on melanoma metastasis. Results: Elevated p-PYK2 levels were detected in vemurafenib-resistant melanoma cells, and PYK2 was shown to regulate invadopodia formation in melanoma cells. Vemurafenib triggered invadopodia formation by activation of PYK2. Inhibition of PYK2 with either shRNA or the small molecule inhibitor, PF562711, dramatically reduced vemurafenib-induced invadopodia formation. Furthermore, knockdown of PYK2 significantly reduced melanoma lung metastasis in vivo. Increased expressions of p-PYK2 in melanoma patients were positively correlated with advanced stage (P = 0.002), metastasis (P < 0.001), and Clark grade (P < 0.001), and were also associated with short overall survival [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.304, P = 0.007] and progression-free survival (HR = 2.930, P = 0.001). Conclusions: PYK2 mediated vemurafenib-induced melanoma cell migration and invasion. Inhibition of PYK2 resensitized melanoma cells to vemurafenib. Phospho-PYK2 was a prognostic biomarker in melanoma patients.

Although mature and systematic theories of molecular photophysics have been developed, it is still challenging to endow clusteroluminogens (CLgens) with designed photophysical properties by manipulating through-space interactions. Here, the authors design three CLgens that show multiple emissions and white-light emission in the crystalline state, and emphasize the important role of secondary through-space interactions between the acceptor and non-conjugated donor units.

Abstract We discuss the crystal, electronic, and magnetic structures of La2−x Sr x CuO4 (LSCO) for x = 0.0 and x = 0.25 employing 13 density functional approximations, representing the local, semi-local, and hybrid exchange-correlation approximations within the Perdew–Schmidt hierarchy. The meta-generalized gradient approximation (meta-GGA) class of functionals is found to perform well in capturing the key properties of LSCO, a prototypical high-temperature cuprate superconductor. In contrast, the localspin-density approximation, GGA, and the hybrid density functional fail to capture the metal-insulator transition under doping.

Traditional feet robots have shortcomings of mechanism flexibility insufficient in adaptive walking on complex terrain. A bio-tensegrity foot mechanism is proposed for promoting the performance of adaptive terrain and stable locking locomotion of the conventional foot robots on sloped terrain based on the similarity between musculoskeletal systems and a tensegrity structure. The equivalent mapping model of a tensegrity structure is established by the matching of tension unit，the design of configuration of the mechanism achieved by the method of bionic design，a physical sample is made and an experimental platform is built. The results show that the proposed bionic foot mechanism has good flexibility and stability，the adaptive and stable walking ability of the traditional foot robot on slope terrain are improved.

The spatiotemporal transformations of rural residential lands and populations reflect changes in rural human–land relations. This study uses high-precision rural residential land patches and population distribution data to detect the area, population density, and spatial heterogeneity of newly added rural residential land (NARRL) in China from 2000 to 2020 through spatial local clustering and geographically weighted regression. The patch results were summarized into county-level units for regional comparison, spatial clustering identification, and policy recommendations. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) The total rural residential area increased by 13.86% between 2000 and 2020. The average population density of NARRL (APDNARRL) at patch scale is 701.64 person/km2, significantly exceeding the 507.23 person/km2 of the remaining patches. (2) There are obvious spatial differences in the distribution of APDNARRL as per county-level statistics. There are significant differences in APDNARRL on both sides of the Hu Huanyong Line; the APDNARRL on the left is significantly lower than that on the right. (3) Spatial heterogeneity was found to be among the driving factors of APDNARRL. This study also detected the number and location of hollowing counties; it is significant for monitoring dynamic changes in rural residential lands, revealing their spatial distribution patterns and driving factors, thus improving the optimization of rural land resources.

Hepatocyte Nuclear Factor 4 Alpha (HNF4α) is a master transcription factor mainly expressed in the liver, kidney, intestine and endocrine pancreas. It regulates multiple target genes involved in embryonic development and metabolism. HNF4α-related diseases include non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus. Recently, HNF4α has been emerging as a key player in a variety of cancers. In this review, we summarized the role and mechanism of HNF4α in different types of cancers, especially in liver and colorectal cancer, aiming to provide additional guidance for intervention of these diseases.

Catalytic asymmetric dearomatization is a powerful tool for the rapid construction of diverse chiral cyclic molecules from cheap and easily available arenes. Here the authors show an organocatalytic enantioselective dearomatization of substituted thiophenes in the context of a rare remote asymmetric 1,10-conjugate addition.

The recent discovery of superconducting nickelates has reignited interest in these materials and whether they can shed light on the mechanism of unconventional superconductivity in the cuprates. Here, the authors use first principles calculations to investigate the f electrons and magnetic ordering effects in the infinite layer nickelates and elaborate on the role of the cuprate-like 3dx2-y2 band.

This paper presents a novel integrated study of the aerodynamic performance and acoustic signature of multirotor propellers with a specific focus on the blade twist angle effect. Experimental measurements and computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were utilized to examine and compare the aerodynamic performance and noise reduction between twisted and untwisted blades. A 2D phase-locked particle image velocimetry (PIV) was employed to visualize flow structures at specific blade locations in terms of tip vortices and trailing edge vortices. Good consistency between the simulations and measurements was observed in aerodynamic and acoustic performance. It is verified that the propellers with twisted blades enable a maximum increase of 9.3% in the figure of merit compared to untwisted blades while achieving the same thrust production and are further capable to reduce overall sound pressure level by a maximum of 4.3 dB. CFD results reveal that the twisted propeller remarkedly reduces far-field loading noise by suppressing trailing-edge vortices, hence mitigating kinetic energy fluctuation at the blade tip, while having minimal impact on thickness noise. This study points to the crucial role of blade twists in altering the aeroacoustic characteristics, indicating that optimal designs could lead to significant improvements in both aerodynamic and acoustic performance.

In conventional ceramic–metal matrix composites, with the addition of the ceramic phase, although it can significantly improve the performance of the material in one aspect, it tends to weaken some of the excellent properties of the metal matrix as well. In order to meet the high toughness and high strength requirements of composites for practical production applications, researchers have searched for possible reinforcing structures from nature. They found that fractal structures, which are widely found in nature, have the potential to improve the mechanical properties of materials. However, it is often not feasible to manufacture these geometric structures using conventional processes. In this study, alumina ceramic fractal structures were prepared by 3D printing technology, and aluminum composites containing fractal ceramic structures were fabricated by spark plasma sintering technology. We have studied the effect of the fractal structure of alumina ceramics on the mechanical properties of composites. The compression strength of samples was measured by a universal testing machine and the torsional properties of samples were measured by a torsional modulus meter. The results show that a fractal structure improves the compressive strength of aluminum/alumina ceramic composites by 10.97% and the torsional properties by 17.45%. The results of the study will provide a new method for improving the mechanical properties of materials.

Owing to their unique chemical properties, α-alkylidene succinimides generally act as versatile synthons in organic synthesis. Compared with well-established annulations, nucleophilic alkylations of α-alkylidene succinimides are very limited. Accordingly, an organocatalytic allylic alkylation of α-benzylidene succinimides with Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) carbonates was established. In the presence of a chiral phosphine catalyst, α-benzylidene succinimides reacted smoothly with MBH carbonates under mild conditions to furnish a series of optical active succinimides in high yields and enantioselectivities. Different from the reported results, the organocatalytic enantioselective construction of pyrrolidine-2,5-dione frameworks bearing contiguous chiral tertiary carbon centers was achieved via this synthetic strategy. Scaling up the reaction indicated that it is a practical strategy for the organocatalytic enantioselective alkylation of α-alkylidene succinimides. A possible reaction mechanism was also proposed.

Weyl electrons are intensely studied due to novel charge transport phenomena such as chiral anomaly, Fermi arcs, and photogalvanic effect. Recent theoretical works suggest that Weyl electrons can also participate in magnetic interactions, and the Weyl-mediated indirect exchange coupling between local moments is proposed as a new mechanism to induce spiral magnetic ordering by involving chiral Weyl electrons. Here, we present evidence of Weyl-mediated spiral magnetism in SmAlSi from neutron diffraction, transport, and thermodynamic data. We show that the spiral order in SmAlSi results from the nesting between topologically nontrivial Fermi pockets and weak magnetocrystalline anisotropy, unlike related materials (Ce,Pr,Nd)AlSi, where a strong anisotropy prevents the spins from freely rotating. We map the magnetic phase diagram of SmAlSi and reveal an A phase where topological magnetic excitations may exist. Within the A phase, we find a large topological Hall effect whose variation with the magnetic field direction suggests a dominant helical instead of cycloidal character, as theoretically predicted for the Weyl-induced spiral order.

Abstract The advantages of the direct combustion of agricultural biomass for power generation are restricted due to the drawbacks of this biomass and the deep peak shaving trend. Hydrothermal carbonization can improve the physical and thermochemical properties of raw materials. Corn stalk samples were selected as the research object in this study. Corn stalk hydrochars were prepared with reaction pressures of 0–3 MPa, reaction temperatures of 160–240 °C, and residence times of 1–10 h. The effects of the process parameters on the physicochemical properties of hydrochar and on the removal of alkali and alkaline earth metals (AAEMs) were studied by measuring the hydrochar mass, energy yield, product composition, morphology, as well as the removal efficiency of AAEMs. The results indicated that the corn stalk hydrochar had higher mass and energy yields than the raw corn stalk. X‐ray diffraction showed that the carbon content in the hydrochar was greater than that in raw corn stalk. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the reaction temperature played a more significant role in the hydrothermal carbonization process than the reaction pressure and residence time.

Abstract Background To evaluate the efficacy and safety of recombinant human serum albumin /granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (rHSA/G-CSF) in breast cancer following receipt of cytotoxic agents. Methods The phase 1b trial assessed the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and safety of dose-escalation, ranging from rHSA/G-CSF 1800 μg, 2100 μg, and 2400 μg. Randomized controlled phase 2b trial was further conducted to ensure the comparative efficacy and safety of rHSA/G-CSF 2400 μg and rhG-CSF 5 μg/kg. In multicenter, randomized, open-label, parallel, phase 2 study, participants treated with anthracycline-containing chemotherapy were assigned in a ratio 1:1:1 to receive double delivery of rHSA/G-CSF 1200 μg, 1500 μg, and continuous rhG-CSF 5 μg/kg. Results Between December 16, 2014, to July 23, 2018, a total of 320 patients were enrolled, including 25 individuals in phase 1b trial, 80 patients in phase 2b trial, and 215 participants in phase 2 study. The mean duration of agranulocytosis during the first chemotherapeutic intermission was observed as 1.14 ± 1.35 days in rHSA/G-CSF 1500 μg, which was comparable with that of 1.07 ± 0.97 days obtained in rhG-CSF control (P = 0.71). Safety profiles were assessed to be acceptable ranging from rHSA/G-CSF 1800 μg to 2400 μg, while the double delivery of HSA/G-CSF 2400 μg failed to meet the noninferiority in comparison with rhG-CSF. Conclusion The prospective randomized controlled trials demonstrated that rHSA/G-CSF was efficacious and well-tolerated with an approachable frequency and expense of application for prophylactic management of agranulocytosis. The double delivery of rHSA/G-CSF 1500 μg in comparisons with paralleling G-CSF preparations is warranted in the phase 3 trial. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifiers: NCT02465801 (11/17/2014), NCT03246009 (08/08/2017), NCT03251768 (08/07/2017).

Our objective was to analyze the correlation between serum uric acid (SUA) levels and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and explore the relationship between SUA and carotid atherosclerosis in different glucose metabolism patterns. A total of 614 patients were enrolled in this case-control study, including 406 in the normouricemia group and 208 in the hyperuricemia group. The two groups were each divided into three groups according to fasting blood glucose (FBG) level: normal, impaired fasting glucose (IFG), and diabetes mellitus (DM). CIMT and the CIMT thickening rate in the hyperuricemia group were significantly higher than those in the normouricemia group: 0.17 (0.11–0.24) cm vs. 0.12 (0.08–0.15) cm and 73.56% vs. 51.97% (p < 0.001). Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that age, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, FBG, triglyceride, SUA, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen were positively correlated with CIMT, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and total cholesterol were negatively correlated with CIMT. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that age, SUA, FBG, and SBP were independent factors that affected CIMT. Furthermore, age and SBP were independent factors in the normouricemia group, and FBG was an independent factor that affected CIMT in the hyperuricemia group (p < 0.05). In the hyperuricemia group, CIMT in the DM group was significantly higher than that in the normal group [0.20 (0.14–0.25)cm vs. 0.15 (0.1–0.25); p < 0.05], and the CIMT thickening rate in the DM group was significantly higher than those in the IFG and normal groups (90.38% vs. 78.38%, 90.38% vs. 65.81%; p < 0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that uric acid combined with age, SBP, and FBG had the highest area under the curve (AUC) for predicting CIMT thickening [0.855 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.804–0.906)], followed by uric acid combined with FBG [AUC: 0.767 (95% CI: 0.726–0.808)]. In conclusion, SUA was closely associated with an increase in CIMT in patients with specific FBG metabolic patterns and may be an independent risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis. SUA, especially in combination with other factors (such as age, SBP, FBG), may serve as a specific model to help predict the incidence of CIMT thickening. Clinical Trial Registration:http://www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2000039124.

To combat climate change and meet energy conservation and emission reduction goals, the building sector must adopt low-carbon technologies and low-carbon management methods. To systematically explore existing research areas and track future research trends of carbon emission in the construction stage (CECS), this study conducts a bibliometric and content analysis of CECS studies. 563 relevant publications published between 2000 and 2022 are examined and analyzed using data from the Web of Science (WoS) core collection database. The findings reveal that studies of CECS have evolved through three stages: preliminary exploratory period, stable development period, and rapid development period. In addition, the literature co-citation network and content analysis classify the 13 found co-citation clusters into four knowledge domains: sources definition, data statistics, assessment methods, and carbon reduction strategies. Finally, a knowledge map of CECS studies is presented, outlining significant aspects of research, existing gaps in knowledge, and directions for future study. This work will make it easier for academics and professionals to pinpoint promising areas of study, fill in knowledge gaps, and broaden the scope of existing research on CECS.

In order to overcome the obstacle surmounting ability of ordinary wheel structures on unstructured terrains and the disadvantage of moving speed of leg-type robots on structured terrains， an innovative tensegrity variable diameter walking wheel mechanism is proposed based on the advantages of adaptability， self-stability and flexible mechanism. The basic tensegrity walking unit of the variable diameter wheel is designed after the analysis of two-bar and three-cable plane tensegrity mechanism. The kinematics analysis of the tensegrity variable diameter unit is carried out by using the principle of minimum potential energy， and the parameters of the walking wheel are obtained by Matlab software. On this basis， the wheel hub structure and limited mechanism of the walking wheel are determined through the optimal principle of the stretch-reducing walking wheel and the mechanism model of the tensegrity wheel is established using Catia software. Then， the simulation model using Adams software is built and is applied to simulate the motions of the tensegrity wheel. Thus， the changed rule of the radius of the tensegrity wheel with time is obtained. The stable walking in different terrains can be realized and transformed between wheeled and walking mode by the designed tensegrity variable diameter walking wheel. The validity of the proposed method and the correctness of the theoretical model are verified.

In this paper, we report, for the first time, on the electrochemical catalytic activity of 2D titanium carbonitride MXene for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). According to our study, 2D titanium carbonitride exhibited much higher electrocatalytic activity than its carbide analogues, achieving an onset overpotential of 53 ​mV and Tafel slope of 86 ​mV dec−1, superior to the titanium carbide with onset overpotential of 649 ​mV and Tafel slope of 303 ​mV dec−1. The obtained onset overpotential for 2D titanium carbonitride is lower than those of all the reported transition metal carbides MXene catalysts without additives, so far. Density functional theory calculations were conducted to further understand the electrochemical performance. The calculation results show that a greater number of occupied states are active for Ti3CNO2, revealing free energy for the adsorption of atomic hydrogen closer to 0 than that of Ti3C2O2. Both experimental and calculation studies demonstrate the excellent electrocatalytic behavior of titanium carbonitride. The investigation of 2D titanium carbonitride opens up a promising paradigm for the conscious design of high-performance non-precious metal catalyst for hydrogen generation.

Background Infantile pneumonia (IP) seriously affects the health of children. This article mainly discussed the protective effect of long non-coding RNA NKILA (lnc NKILA) on IP by detecting cell viability, apoptosis and inflammatory response of MRC5 cells.Methods Cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to detect cell viability, while flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. The expression of apoptosis-associated factors (Bcl-2, Bax, PARP and Cleaved-PARP) and NF-κB and JNK pathway-related factors (t-IκBα, p-IκBα, t-p65, p-p65, β-actin, t-JNK and p-JNK) were tested by western blot. Otherwise, productions of inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and western blot. Furthermore, RNA levels were respectively tested and changed by RT-qPCR and cell transfection.Results Tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) treatment reduced cell viability, induced cell apoptosis and promoted inflammatory factors expression. NKILA overexpression remitted TNF-α-induced injury. Moreover, NKILA positively regulated miR-21. miR-21 inhibition could weaken the functions of NKILA overexpression on TNF-α-induced injury. At last, NKILA and miR-21 were involved in the regulation of JNK and NF-κB pathways.Conclusions NKILA overexpression remitted TNF-α-induced MRC5 cell injury by up-regulation of miR-21 and via inactivation of JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

Blast furnace ferronickel slag (BFNS), currently an underutilized metallurgical residue, was investigated for use as a precursor for alkaline activation. Water glass solutions with various moduli (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0) were used at the same water glass concentration of 10% to investigate the influence of the modulus on hydration and mechanical properties. The results show that the modulus has a certain impact on the hydration and mechanical strength development of alkali-activated BFNS. Increasing the modulus of water glass does not change the type of hydration product and the activity of the Mg-containing phases, but it decreases the amount of C2AS, the Ca/Si and Al/Si ratios of the (N,C)-A(M)-S-H gel. In addition, a high silicate modulus deteriorates the pore structure, which has an adverse effect on the development of compressive strength and splitting tensile strength.

Brittle matrix composites such as concrete are susceptible to damage in the form of cracks. Most of the current self-repair and self-healing techniques have repair limits on crack widths or high costs of an external stimulator, or have an unfavorable effect on the composite’s strength. This paper proposes a new concept of corrosion-induced intelligent fiber (CIF) and a new self-repairing system that uses the CIFs to close cracks in brittle matrix composites within a corrosive environment without external help, and without compromising the strength. The CIF comprises an inner core fiber and an outer corrodible coating that are in equilibrium, with the core fiber in tension and the corrodible coating in compression. The preparation steps and shape recovery mechanism of the CIF and the self-repair mechanism of the CIF composites are explained. Based on these concepts, this paper also describes several mechanical models built to predict the magnitude of pre-stress stored in the core fiber, and the maximum pre-stress released to the matrix composites, and the minimum length of the reliable anchor ends of CIF. The sample calculation results show that the recovery strain was 0.5% for the CIF with the steel core fiber and 12.7% for the CIF with the nylon core fiber; the maximum crack closing force provided by the CIF to concrete can be increased by increasing the amount of the CIFs in concrete and the initial tensile stress of the core fiber. This paper provides some suggestions for enhancing the self-repair capability of brittle composites in complex working environments.

Objective Stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) overexpression has been reported to play an important role in progression of several cancers. However, the mechanism of STIM1 overexpression and its relationship with hypoxia in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains unclear. Methods STIM1 and HIF-1α expression was tested using immunohistochemistry in tissue microarray (TMA) including pancreatic cancer and matched normal pancreatic tissues, and their relationships with clinicopathological parameters were statistically analyzed. q-PCR, Western blot, ChIP, and luciferase assay were employed to 030 analyze transcriptional regulation between HIF-1α and STIM1 in pancreatic cancer PANC-1 cells.Results Both STIM1 and HIF-1α showed higher positive rates and up-regulated expression in cancer tissues compared to that of normal tissues (P < 0.05). The Kaplan–Meier method revealed that higher HIF-1α and STIM1 expression levels were significantly correlated with decreased disease-free survival (P = 0.025 and P = 0.029, respectively). The expression of HIF-1α showed a significant positive correlation with that of STIM1 in cancer tissues (rs = 0.3343, P = 0.0011) and pancreatic cancer cell lines. Furthermore, ChIP and luciferase assays confirmed that HIF-1α bound to the STIM1 promoter and regulated its expression in PANC-1 cells. Conclusions In hypoxia microenvironment, up-regulated expression of STIM1 mediated by HIF-1α promotes PDAC progression. HIF-1α and STIM1 are potential prognostic markers and/or therapeutic targets for PDAC treatment.

Saliency detection has become a valuable tool in computer vision processing, which has been attracting a good deal of attention. Although a lot of research has been done, it cannot obtain ideal performance. In most saliency detection framework, the single difference cue is often used to detect saliency map, but their results were far from satisfaction for low discriminative power of single cue. In addition to the composition of the detection cues during the whole process, the used cues which could only describe the low level information could also lead to poor detection. In order to solve this problem effectively, the paper proposed a novel saliency detection framework by fusing multi-cue difference with high level difference. Basically, the comprehensive information is coupled into multi-cues vectors to remove the non-salient regions and enhance the brightness of the salient area. Specifically, we utilize the fusion of multi-cues and high-level information to improve the ability of understanding images. To further improve the performance of the proposed framework in AUC, we adopt multiple assignments strategy while enhancing the precision of saliency detection. Extensive experiments indicate that the newly constructed multi-cues with high level information could effectively suppress the influence of background information on salient regions. In order to verify the effectiveness of the new algorithm, our experiment uses several standard benchmark datasets (MSRA, ASD, SED1, SED2, and SOD) to test the performance of the algorithm. The experimental results demonstrate that this method has achieved good saliency detection result and good AUC performance in the test. More importantly, the experimental results also show that the proposed method is well complementary to many existing algorithms.

To help people with impairment of lower extremity movement regain the ability to stand and walk, and to enhance limb function, this study proposes an anthropomorphic design of an electrically driven, lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot. The angular range of the robot’s motion was determined according to the characteristics of the targeted lower-limb joints; the robot was given an active–passive anthropomorphic design with 12 degrees of freedom. The multi-degree-of-freedom hip exoskeleton, bionic artificial knee exoskeleton and passive rigid-flexible coupling ankle exoskeleton can assist patients in rehabilitation exercises with better wear comfort and exercise flexibility. A kinetic model of the seven-rod lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot was built, and data analysis of the dynamically captured motion trajectory was conducted. These provided a theoretical basis for gait planning and the control system of the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot. The results show that the lower-limb exoskeleton rehabilitation robot system possesses sound wearing comfort and movement flexibility, and the degree of freedom of movement of the exoskeleton robot matches well with that of human movement. The robot can thus provide effective assistance to patients’ standing and walking rehabilitation training.

This paper summarized and reviewed the mechanism and macro-performance of alkali-activated metallurgical slag, including steel slag, copper slag, ferronickel slag, and lead-zinc slag. Better activated method and alkali-activator are still needed to be developed to improve the performance of the metallurgical slag with low reactivity. Besides, the chemical components’ variation of these metallurgical slags from different regions will lead to unpredictable performance, which needs further study.